Laurel Massé

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.

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.

Mark your calendars!

Here is the first heads-up for my January gig in New York. I will be singing at the Metropolitan Room on 22nd St here in Manhattan this coming January 23 - 27, with one show nightly at the civilized hour of 7:30 PM (7 on the 27th). So lovely to go onstage well before my bedtime! Tex Arnold will be accompanying me again, and we are meeting tomorrow morning to start to put the show together. We have some new tunes to look at; right this moment I have no idea what the song list will turn out to be. No idea, none. Stay tuned...

Still here!

Yes, I am still here. Many distractions and scheduling crunches have elbowed their way into this moving-toward-Christmas season. But this afternoon I dug down to the actual surface of my desk, and have been promised a day of rotten weather tomorrow, which will be perfect for staying in and writing. There is so much to tell. For now, today is the first Sunday of Advent, and here in New York City a beautiful snow drifted down from the grey morning sky. Because I only found my way to it last Lent, this was the first time I have seen the Cathedral through falling snow.
It's a really BIG snow globe...

Autumn in New York

I walked across Central Park today to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's closed on Mondays, which  I had forgotten. So I didn't visit great works of art, at least not framed ones. But I did see the most beautiful Irish Wolfhound imaginable. He was big-boned, well-built, magnificent. A different kind of work of art and greatness. I asked to pet him, his owner acquiesced, the dog graciously accepted my attention.

Then, as I walked back across the park to the west side, I felt myself slip into sadness. Or rather, there was suddenly a sadness on me, a beautiful and apt Irish expression. The sadness was on me, not in me. I miss my dogs. I usually feel this as an inner glow of joy for having had them at all. Sometimes, though, I feel the weight of their absence, heavy, grey, and sad.

I don't remember what I have written about them, but here is what they were: Shekinah, a Belgian Tervuren named after the feminine aspect of God, was courage and willfulness and incandescence. Wisdom 7:22 - 25a actually describes her perfectly, and here is some of it:

For within her is a spirit intelligent, holy,
unique, manifold, subtle,
mobile, incisive, unsullied,
lucid, invulnerable, benevolent, shrewd,
irresistible, beneficent, friendly to human beings,
steadfast, dependable...
quicker to move than any motion...
She is a breath of the power of God...

Shekinah was pushy. She taught that a car ride is an adventure, a walk is pure joy, and that sometimes it is appropriate to stand your ground, growl, and show an elegant sharp tooth.

My Shadow, a Belgian Sheepdog, was a quieter soul, devotion embodied. Faithfulness. Trust.  This dog had a noble heart and attitude, friendly to all people, but adoring only one. This was not so as to be adored in return, not like we do when we say "I love you" so as to force the reply "I love you, too,"  but rather loving  because he couldn't help himself, because he could do no other, a constant outpouring of love. He made more friends in his brief time here in the city than I had ever dreamed possible, as people gravitated to him, and felt good in his presence. His verse is Acts 18:9b - 10:

I am with you. I have so many people that belong to me in this city that no one will attempt to hurt you.

These are the companions I am missing today, on a crisp autumn day, when the sunlight is golden, the air in the park smells of earth and leaves,and none of the dogs are mine. It seems to me, though, that I still have my dog-inspired tasks: Christ calls us to love - can't I be as joyous as Shekinah? and as devoted as my Shadow? It's the least a human can do.