Laurel Massé

Songbird at Dusk

Jo Stafford has died in her home in California. Stephen Holden has written a lovely tribute and obituary in the New York Times; please read it here.

Jo Stafford had all the qualities I most admire in a singer. Her voice was lovely and natural, but that naturalness concealed a great technique and she made singing sound easy. Her diction was clear and conversational, her intonation flawless. Everything she sang was imbued with a quality of honesty that made the listener believe her. There were no mannerisms, and no pyrotechnics; her understatement was the greatest ally a lyricist could have, because she let the song speak for itself. And she could swing, oh my yes, and without "jazzy" mannerisms. Hers was a glowing and burnished sound, and hers also a grace that is very rare these days. It is our loss that we don't seem to have another Jo waiting in the wings.

She was a tremendous influence on me, and so tonight, I grieve for her death, and celebrate her life and  all the songs she sang, the hearts she comforted, and the smiles she teased onto our faces. I will miss her.

Gig updates

Hello all -

This is my interpretive dance called "Summer": a rhythm of being very busy, interspersed with periods of lying on the floor in heat-induced stupor. But I have some gigs coming up that I want you all to know about.

This week, starting tomorrow! Ashokan Fiddle and Dance Western and Swing Week. Learn more about this extraordinary musical experience by going to www.ashokan.org and clicking on Ashokan FIddle and Dance Camps. Then reserve your space for next year!

In July I am co-producing CDs for two other artists here in the city, which is fascinating work. Then on Thursday, July 24th, I will be at Stone Mountain Center for the Arts in Brownfield, ME. I sang there last year, and it was a revelation. The venue is delightful, and the owners, one of whom, Carol Noonan, is a highly-regarded folksinger, have done everything they can to create a performance space that is pleasurable for audience and performer alike. And the food is very fine. (Note: this date has been postponed. I will repost as soon as the new date is finalized).

The next day, Tex Arnold and I drive down to New Haven for the start of this year's Cabaret Conference at Yale. This year I am again part of a splendid teaching staff, and will be singing several songs in the faculty concert on Sunday, July 27th.

August will be devoted to practice and planning. I am doing a concert of sacred music at the Church of St. Francis Xavier on 16th Street in Chelsea (Monday, November 17th), as part of their annual PAX concert series. I have not done such a concert for a few years; the last ones were a capella, but this time I plan to  have accompaniment. The concert must be designed, and new arrangements created. I am also  putting together an Advent/Christmas concert (more on that when the tentative booking is confirmed). And Jalala will be rehearsing! Janis (Siegel, Manhattan Transfer), Lauren (Kinhan, New York Voices) and I have a lovely repertoire started, and will be continuing to arrange, rehearse, and refine so as to step into the studio in September as part of jazz guitarist Frank Vignola's new recording.

On Monday, September 15th, I will be making my solo debut at Birdland. I have not sung there since Moxie (Janis, Cheryl Bentyne and I) played sold-out shows there back in 2000. So I am very excited about this upcoming date, and sincerely hope that I will see some of you there.

Finally, on Saturday, September 27th, in Washington, DC, Wendy Lane Bailey and I will be teaching another master class for performers. These classes are genre-free: the basic principles of song interpretation and stagecraft are the same regardless of genre. If you sing jazz, great! Musical theater? Fantastic! Opera? Welcome! Western Swing? Let's dance! Folk? Country? All are welcome. Not so sure about my heavy metal performance chops, but I did meet Ozzie Osbourne back in the Transfer years... For information and to register, write to parkroadmanagement@verizon.net

At the moment, that's the performance news. More to come, my friends... and more kinds of news, too.

Quick gig update

I am singing this Thursday, June 19th, in Norwood, NY, in the bandshell on the village green. This is an outdoor concert in a lovely setting, and it is free to the public. Bring a blanket, bring a chair, bring your children and dogs, and you will feel at home. I remember standing on the stage there, looking out at the folks, and thinking that I was looking at our collective dream of community.
The concert starts at 7, and will be all done by 9 PM.

Dancing on the Air

It was about ten years ago - possibly eleven - that I answered the phone in my home in the Adirondacks to find Jay Ungar and Molly Mason on the line. They were calling to invite me to do a guest appearance on their live radio show, Dancing on the Air. I said yes, drove south on the appointed date, and met these two musicians who, over the course of the next few years, quietly changed my life. A month or two after that show, they called again, this time asking me to teach that summer at Ashokan Fiddle and Dance, their yearly music camp in the Catskills. Again I said yes, though I had decided that I would be singing a capella the rest of my life, though I had never taught singing before, though I had never been to a sleepaway camp in my childhood. That "yes" proved - and proves again every year - to be one of the wisest decisions I have ever made.

How to describe Ashokan? I could speak of the lovely wooded setting, the lake, the stars at night. I could speak of the caliber of the musicianship of the staff (and the campers). Of the dancing every night to live music. Of the wonderful food prepared with fresh ingredients, the greatest of which is love.

Buit what I describe most often, and always with gratitude, is the mutual appreciation that is in the very air. The competitive model of the world is so often discovered to be not very useful. One sighs, one shrugs, one murmurs that nothing can be done. But at Ashokan something has been done: that model has been tossed aside. Instead, campers are encouraged and inspired by a great teaching staff, and applauded for the courage it takes to learn new skills. That staff, all professional musicians and dance teachers, delight in each other's growth and excellence. This means that is is OK to take up a new instrument, to ask for help in a tricky bit of music, to try a dance step, to look like a fool - because in all these one is supported and cherished. This is where I learned that what I thought, as a teenager, is true: competition is not natural. You have to be taught. What is natural is to gather in community and to delight in each others' accomplishments and triumphs, and to grieve over each others' sorrows (for a fascinating theological/philosophical view of the origins of competition and misdirected desire, I recommend Réné Girard's book, I See Satan Fall Like Lightning). Teaching at Western and Swing Week has become the north star of my year, and my reminder that we are all family, and I am looking forward again to being there this summer (for information on dates and on Western and Swing, Northern, and Southern weeks, click here.

Today, I am taking a car ride, leaving the city and driving north to Albany with accompanist/arranger Tex Arnold to make another guest appearance on Dancing on the Air. It has been a few years since my last time on the stage at the Linda Norris Auditorium, and Tex has never been there. I have picked out the songs I will sing, but I know that there will be some last minute additions, and some spontaneous musical combinations that will reflect Jay and Molly's own eclectic musical tastes and their camaraderie, and their belief in the power of music and in people. I invite you to tune in and join us, no matter where you are.  The show is aired on WAMC at 8 PM (eastern daylight savings time) and can be heard online at www.wamc.org.

I'm back

I haven't written for a while. A long while. I didn't realize how long until someone asked if everything was OK.

Yes, everything is OK. So why did I stop writing for a time?

Well, I had a few comments about the content of the site, from people who felt I was making a big mistake in discussing matters of faith. "Nobody wants to read this", said one."They'll think you are one of those people who go around trying to convert everyone." "This is bad for your career," said another. "Stick to music."

I had to think about that for a little while. I appreciate the comments, and the concern behind them. I will continue to write about the things that mean most to me. I choose not to go backwards. The barn door is open, and the horse is already racing the wind.

Blessings to all.

Since You've Asked

The Metropolitan Room dates went so very well artistically that I am still in the spell of the wonderful arrangements Tex Arnold wrote, and of the musical excellence of the trio I was so blessed to have: Tex on piano, Tom Hubbard on bass, and Richard de Rosa on drums. Some of you have asked which songs I sang - here is the list, with the credits:

Something's Coming  Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim

East of the Sun  Brooks Bowman

Once in a Million Moons  Jerome Kern/Yip Harburg / Folhas Secas   Nelson Cavaquinho/Guilherme de Brito

The Right Thing  Don Breithaupt/Jeff Breithaupt

Noir Medley: Blue Pacific Blues  Lester Lee/Ned Washington / Pete Kelly's Blues  Ray Heindorf/Sammy Cahn / Laura  David Raksin/Johnny Mercer / I'll Cry Tomorrow  Alex North/Johnny Mercer

Have You Got Any Castles, Baby?  Richard Whiting/Johnny Mercer

My Ideal  Richard Whiting/Leo Robin/Newell Case

Burcham Woods  Hubert "Tex" Arnold

Blue Rondo  Dave Brubeck/Bill Crofut/Chris Brubeck/Laurel Massé

Can't Teach My Old Heart New Tricks  Richard Whiting/Johnny Mercer

Stay Away  Chris Thile

It Only Takes a Moment  Jerry Herman

The Blackest Crow  Traditional/Laurel Massé

I had never sing in Portuguese before, so that was a challenge, and all but three of the tunes are new additions to my repertoire. Because I had been ill, we were behind schedule in rehearsing; I only heard the final versions of the new arrangements on the Monday before the Wednesday opening night. This is where being a jazz singer pays off, as one develops a certain comfort level with the not-completely-known ...and I have a great great arranger, who made the songs fit me like a glove.

Also - I have been working with Wendy Lane Bailey on the structure of the shows I have done since I moved back to New York City, giving more attention to intention, to a more thought-out style of performance than was possible over my years in jazz clubs where the lighting often consisted of on or off, the stage (if there was one) was the size of a suitcase, and the patrons sometimes louder than the band. I haven't been "staged" since my days with the Transfer. I understand the reasons for it so much better now. Yes it can be artifice for the sake of artifice, and a burden for the artist. But good staging can take away everything that stands between the singer and the song, and between the song and the audience. And that is magic.

Let's Rise to the Occasion

Tomorrow American voters in twenty-four states have the privilege of voting in their primary elections. I have made my choice of candidate, as I am hoping you have. Please exercise your right, raise your voice, cast your vote. Together we can do great things.
Blessings on you all.

Metropolitan Room, 1/23 - 28

The tunes are picked, the arrangements written, the set list figured out. The band - Tex Arnold on piano, Tom Hubbard on bass, and Rich de Rosa on drums - has rehearsed. I'm not coughing anymore, and I know what shoes I am going to wear. Tomorrow is the first night of my five-night run at the Metropolitan Room in Manhattan (see Upcoming Performances in the sidebar for more info).

For this gig I chose about a dozen new tunes, new to me, at least, thereby throwing a gauntlet down in front of my own feet. I was beginning to feel quite nervous, but when I heard Tex's arrangements yesterday - yes, only yesterday - that nervousness shifted to excitement. They are better than anything I had imagined, and I can't wait to sing them again.

Wish me luck. I hope to see some of you there.

I met the grand array...

Some thoughts flitting about as I really should be practicing...

1. How wise were those Wise Men? According to Matthew, they came to Jerusalem, asking, 'Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we have observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage. When King Herod heard this, he was frightened...(NRSV). Other translations use troubled or perturbed. My French Bible uses ému, which means overwhelmed with emotion. How would he not be? Wasn't he king of the Jews?
So It occurs to me that the wise men were very observant of the heavens, but oblivious to human behavior. They went to the royal city to ask "where's the child who will is the real king?"; this might be like saying to your wife, "I just met the most fascinating woman", when you don't mean her. There are things one might think twice about saying.
Wise, OK. Smart? Perhaps not so very.

2. Herod wasn't quite up on his reading of prophecy - other things to do - and sent for his own chief priests and scribes to find out where the Messiah was to be born. I wonder - these priests seem to have been neglecting to remind Herod of those prophecies. He had to send for them to ask. The account doesn't say that they withdrew to research the literature. No, they apparently answered immediately, telling him "Bethlehem", and quoting the relevant writings. So they knew. And Bethlehem is not far from Jerusalem, only about five miles. An easy walk, even carrying weapons...

Must practice songs, must practice.

Merry Christmas!

God has come among us. A joyous Christmas to all!

The gift of keeping Advent is this: Christmas is newly-born only last night, and now there are twelve days of it to relish. God rest you merry one and all, every early and late, every dark, every light.