Laurel Massé

To Sir, with love

A rose is a rose, even when it's a McCartney rose. It was many years ago today (or some other day) that not-yet-Sir Paul McCartney pulled a perfect rose from a table centerpiece and tossed it into my hands as I was singing Heart's Desire with my Manhattan Transfer colleagues at the Brit Awards. At least, I think the event was the Brits. I was completely focused on Sir P. I confess that I was singing right to (or perhaps even at) him, and he... well, the story is going into my memoir, which I had hoped to write this morning, but it's too darn hot.

On Sir's birthday, June 18th, I am going to be singing a few of his tunes in Beacon, NY. Not too many, though. I don't want to hurt Johnny Mercer or Willie Nelson's feelings. Cole Porter can be pretty touchy, too. With me will be Tex Arnold on the piano, and because we had such a good time in Washington CT last month, my sister Babette will again be joining me in a few songs, along with guitarist (and nephew) Alex Brown.

The Howland Cultural Center is a very interesting venue. Built in the "Norwegian" style in 1872 as a library, and placed on the National Historic Register one hundred years later, it is now a performance space and art gallery. It's geothermally cooled (which cannot be said of my apartment, alas). I hope to see some of you there. If you are planning on coming, please do make your reservation right away, so as to be sure to have a seat.

By the way, the McCartney Rose, shown above, is a hybrid tea rose, introduced in 1995. It is described as a hardy repeating bloomer (like me and my career!) with a strong and intoxicating fragrance. This pleases me. Though a rose by any other name would smell as sweet in Shakespeare's time, most of the cut roses one can buy these days have no perfume at all. One sniffs a bouquet, and there's nothing.

Heavy the heart that, via the nose, encounters the unscented rose.

JaLaLa tralala

Here I am, arriving at the Kennedy Center for the JaLaLa soundcheck, with our drummer Matt Wilson. It looks like an ECM cover, yes? Except, of course, for the presence of people in the shot.  I doubt the architect's original vision included the trash bin. In case you are curious, it's a cuppa tea I am holding. Not a very good one, alas, but that is one of the sorrows of being on the road. One endures, and carries on, hoping for a better cup tomorrow.

I don't know who the gent in the blue shirt is on the right. Perhaps he is a member of the Jazz Police, defending the nation against extra choruses of unnecessary scatting.

Those of you with sharp eyes (or good spectacles) may have already read the JaLaLa set list from the Kennedy Center performance on our Facebook page. Here are both the May 16 Birdland set list and the May 19 (DC) setlist , for those who - like me - save their squinting for identifying birds on the wing and dollar bills on the sidewalk.

Birdland, Monday May 16, 2011

1. Spring, Spring, Spring (That Old Mercer Magic)

2.It's You (Boswell Sisters)

3. You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby (Mercer)

4. Come to Baby, Do (Doris Day)

5. Moon River / Moon Country (Mercer)

6. solo -  Lauren - Avalon (full band)

7. solo - Laurel - I'm Old-Fashioned (voice and bass)

8. solo - Janis - Begin the Beguine (voice and drums)

9. Crazy People (Boswells again)

10. Unsquare Dance (Brubeck/Kerchner)

11. Killer Queen (do I have to tell you?)

12. Honeymoon Suite - medley

13. It's Sand, Man (Lambert, Hendricks and Ross)

Encore (dedicated to Phoebe Snow) - Dream

 

In Washington, DC, at the Kennedy Center, we had less time, and decided to forego the solo turns. That set was:

And now the truth is out: we admire our brothers and sisters in the accordion community.

The following day, we were back at the Kennedy to teach a jazz vocal master class for ten very talented high school students from four area schools. The singers were delightful, as were their accompanists. I particularly love teaching in the master class format, because magic invariably happens.

And I love magic! Why else would I be a singer?

 

 

 

JaLaLa Sings in Manhattan!

JaLaLa in a rare NYC performance      Tuesday, January 18, 2011   8:30 PM Cornelia Street Cafe 29 Cornelia Street, NY    $15 Cover charge Reservations highly recommended 212-989-9319   photo by Andrzej Pilarczyk JaLaLa is Janis Siegel, Lauren Kinhan, and Laurel Massé

"O, she will sing the savageness out of a bear." William Shakespeare   We are doing a winter date here in the city. In case you don't know yet, JaLaLa is Janis Siegel (Manhattan Transfer), Lauren Kinhan (New York Voices), and me. For years, Janis and I shared a dream of a female vocal trio to continue in the lineage of the great girl groups like the Boswell Sisters and the Ronettes, and when Lauren joined us, JaLaLa was born. We have a tour coming up in May that includes the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, but we couldn't wait that long to have some fun together. So, if you are in town, join us in the Village, and spend some time listening to great tunes in three-part harmony, and solo songs you may not have heard before, backed by a terrific swinging duo of Yaron Gershovsky on piano and Steve LaSpina on bass. I hope to see you there.

What we sang: JaLaLa set list

Here is the set list from the recent JaLaLa dates at The Egg in Albany and Birdland in New York City. Everything marked with a trefoil (♣) can be found on our CD, That Old Mercer Magic.

Crazy People - an old Boswell Sisters favorite

Spring, Spring, Spring -  ♣

You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby - with guest Lew Soloff on trumpet at Birdland

Jeepers Creepers - Janis, solo, ♣

Have You Got Any Castles, Baby? - Laurel, solo, ♣

Riding on the Moon - Lauren, solo, with Lew sitting in, ♣

Honeymoon Suite - our thoughts on marriage, arranged by Tex Arnold

Moon River / Moon Country - Laurel solo on Moon RIver, ♣

Accentuate the Positive - another Mercer gem, ♣

Move Over Sunshine - one of Lauren's original tunes

Killer Queen - betcha didn't see THAT coming! By Queen, arranged by Tex Arnold

Bach Minuet from 1st Cello Suite - Laurel, accapella solo

My Ship - Janis, solo (at Birdland, Midnight Sun)

Avalon - another Lauren Kinhan original

It's Sand, Man - Lambert, Hendricks and Ross with surprise guest Jon Hendricks at Birdland

Encore: Dream - Johnny Mercer has the last word, and the last notes.♣

Our wonderful band was Yaron Gershovsky on piano (long-time music director of Manhattan Transfer, Yaron supplied all the instrumental arrangements except for those of Honeymoon Suite and Killer Queen), Steve LaSpina on bass, and Deric Dickens on drums. Here we all are at Birdland, getting ourselves organized to do a final bow (thanks, Rachel Freedman, for the photo).

You can see that we are getting a standing ovation, which I will say out loud felt very very good indeed! Thanks to everyone at both venues who made it easy and fun for us.

Where three are one: JaLaLa in Concert!

via www.facebook.com

This photo was taken at our concert at our June 5 concert at The Egg, in Albany, NY, by my friend Andrzej Pilarczyk. I think you can tell that Janis, Lauren, and I are having a pretty fine time together. 

Thanks, Andrezej, and thank you Yolanda for putting this on the JaLaLa Fan Club Facebook page. You can read Andrezej's review here.

Ready, set...

Just a couple of days to go now before the JaLaLa dates, and I am marveling at how many lyrics there are to these songs! and how few of them seem to be sticking in my head at the moment. Not surprising. It's very hot and humid in the city, and I have not had a chance to install air conditioning yet. Bob the Cat and I are luxuriating in the heat. That's the right word to describe Bob's state, at least. For mine, not so right, really. Poaching is more apt. I keep checking the sky. There are supposed to be thunderstorms any minute, and when they start crashing, I will be enjoying the only up-side I have found to not having my lovely dogs with me anymore. They were both afraid of thunder. In fact, Shekinah the Brave, who was afraid of nothing but thunder, was so frightened by it that she would shake until her teeth literally clattered. It made the storms impossible to enjoy (though I should say that she was less afraid outdoors, where she would bark right back at the sky's roaring). In contrast, Bob is rather phlegmatic about storms. "Good for sleeping through" seems to be his attitude.

Tomorrow I have the great privilege of taking a lesson with my wonderful voice teacher, Marge Rivingston, author of Do You Hear What I Hear? She lives in California, but is in the city for a visit, and will be at the Birdland show, and that has me looking forward to that show even more than I was before, as she has not heard us live before. I have been working with Marge since 1980; for me, she has been the teacher.

Here's a little preview of what we're going to be doing, from a CD release celebration last August. It was hot that day, too, as I recall it, and there was a huge storm. That must just be our kind of atmospheric disturbance. A signature of sorts. Get an umbrella, and come to the show!

via www.youtube.com

JaLaLa sings!

Here we go!

JaLaLa is having her first in-public performance (and cd signing!) in New York City. Come join us to celebrate the release of our first recording, That Old Mercer Magic when we sing at Borders at 10 Columbus Circle at 7 PM on Tuesday, August 18th. For information, call Borders at 212.823.9775.

Dream team

Enrique just sent me this link. It takes you to the Amazon.com page of That Ol' Mercer Magic, the debut CD of the trio, JaLaLa. You can listen to samples (!!!!), which I just did. That listening has blown my illusion of keeping cool, and I started dancing around my apartment, a sophisticated and elegant dance, of course, even though it did include some jumping up and down, bubbly little jumps with giggling, like coffee percolating.

Or like champagne.

Apparently you're never to old to become suddenly unblasé. I have been looking forward to this release, but my excitement is taking me by surprise. I have been in the business for 37 years, for heaven's sake!  JaLaLa is the fruition of the idea Janis Siegel and I first dreamed with Cheryl Bentyne, when we sang together as Moxie. When Cheryl bowed out because of time commitments, we called Lauren Kinhan of New York Voices, who said yes, and JaLaLa stepped out of the dream and into the kitchen (thereby obeying the three Rules of Rehearsal: 1: there must be food, 2: the food has to be as good as the music, and 3: save the wine for the end of rehearsal).

My dears, tonight is wine to me. So raise a glass, and cheers!

 

That night at Birdland

If my head was not attached to my neck.... I meant to post this right after the gig a month ago, and realized (with some bemusement and embarrassment) that I never said anything about how the Birdland show went, at least not in the Land o' Blog. So here is the set list, with my apologies for the delay.

1. Something’s Coming  Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim

2. On the Street Where You Live  Alan Jay Lerner / Frederick Loewe

3. Seven Years in Four Minutes  Medley arr. by Tex Arnold and Laurel Massé

4. Think About Your Troubles   Harry Nillsson

5. Dublin in the Rain  Hubert “Tex” Arnold / Carol Hall

6. Can’t Teach My Old Heart New Tricks  Richard Whiting/Johnny Mercer

7. Minuet and Gigue  Johann Sebastian Bach

8. My Blue Heaven  Walter Donaldson / George Whiting

9. It’s Only a Paper Moon  Harold Arlen / E.Y. Harburg & Billy Rose

10. Dividing Day  Adam Guettal

11. Crazy  Willie Nelson

12. It’s Only a Broken Heart  Carol Hall

13. Old Devil Moon  Burton Lane / E.Y. Harburg

14.  Obsession Medley: Losing My Mind   Stephen Sondheim
                                      With Every Breath I Take  Cy Coleman / David Zippel
                                      Breathing  Michele Brourman / Amanda McBroom

15. Fascinating Rhythm  George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin

16. Finding Beauty  Ann Hampton Callaway

(Encore: Doodlin’  Horace Silver / Jon Hendricks)


Seven Years in Four Minutes is my Manhattan Transfer medley, by the way.

In all this I was ably assisted and inspired by Tex Arnold on piano, Richard de Rosa on drums, and Steve LaSpina on bass. Everything went very very well, and I was specially pleased that the new pieces were as I had heard them in my imagination. What a great rhythm section!

The audience was wonderful, too. Folks were there from many different parts of my life: Transfer, jazz musicians, Cathedral choir folk and clergy and volunteers, classical musicians, Ashokan friends, blog readers, media, fellow artists, students, Yale Cabaret folks. Very fine indeed.

My secret wish,though, is this: one day, having just sung the last notes of the Bach piece, I will see my cello teacher from Paris, Alain Meunier, in the house, smiling and applauding. That will really be a dream-come-true.