Ron and I got to spend another lovely and inspiring Sunday afternoon at the always-amazing Trudi Mann’s always-lovely Open Mic. One of the highlight’s was hearing the amazing Richard Rodney Bennett (oops, Sir Richard Rodney Bennett) who stopped in, as well as just getting to sing accompanied by Jon Delfin and Sadi Zane.
Here’s what and who you missed if you weren’t there:
- Richard Rodney Bennett
- Judy (Trudi)
- Angel Eyes
- In the Wee, Small Hours of the Morning
- David Burke
- Lookey, Lookey, Lookey
- The Butler Song
- Mary’s Bar
- Susie Christy
- You Light Up My Life
- I’ve Got a Lot of Living to Do
- Henry Dee
- Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans
- Non Dimenticar
- Caroline Ferenge
- I’ve Got the World on a String
- Just in Time
- Judy Gallagher
- On a Wonderful Day…
- Tennessee Waltz
- Joe Gimble
- It’s a New Day
- Skylark
- Helena Grineaux
- Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good To You
- For Good
- Ken Greeves
- Now I Know
- Love Came on Stealthy Fingers
- Peter Kyle
- The Rose
- This Land Is Your Land
- Angelo Lovullo
- Blame It On My Youth
- I’ll Remember April
- Trudi Mann
- Out of This World
- I’m Too Old to Die Young
- Jackie Messina
- Loverly
- For All We Know
- Michael Miyazaki
- At Long last Love
- Dog Passages
- Ray Norman
- I Don’t Look Good…
- Sure Thing
- Earl Okun
- When I Fall in Love
- AI Don’t Know How…
- Joe Regan
- Hi Lili, Hi Lo
- Baby, Baby All the Time
- Bernice Sacks
- While We’re Young
- A Lot of Livin’
- Richie Shalon
- On My Own
- The Long and Winding Road
- Sheldon Silverstein
- If I Were a Rich Man
- Chicago (My Kind of Tonw)
- Ron Squeri
- So In Love
- False Starts
- Frank Stern
- Emily
- Feel Like Makin’ Love
- Tom Wright
- Almost Like Being In Love
- Love Is a Many Splendored Thing
Your blogger extends special thanks to the lovely Joe Regan who could always identify the (almost embarassingly many) songs I didn’t know.
November 18, 2008 at 9:29 pm |
Bless Ron!!! Thanks!!
November 22, 2008 at 2:57 am |
thank you. It’s great material, and people need to hear it.
April 13, 2009 at 4:18 pm |
Hi Michael,
I’m a professional violinist here in the local Maryland/DC area with a very extensive performing background. I play classical repertoire, I also do strolling (standards, Broadway, etc.), and I can improvise blues/jazz as well. I not only play here in the area, but I go to NYC on a regular basis, just about every other month, to do lots of playing and promote myself for more work up there. Each time that I am in NYC, I play for Jim Caruso’s Cast Party at Birdland, the musical salon at the Algonquin Hotel, with legendary “lounge” pianist Irving Fields at Nino’s Tuscany, and I also play for Trudi Mann’s open mic/musical showcase. These open mic/showcase events are wonderful because they keep you in great shape for performing before audiences. I see that you also perform at Trudi’s open mic. Good for you. Trudi is wonderful! And she and her husband gave me the warmest welcome, and she’s very generous with the amount of playing time that she gives me. It’s always a pleasure to work with the “house” musicians! And I’ve met the loveliest group of people who are all so talented! It’s always a pleasure to see Joe Regan, Ken Greeves, Sue Matsuki, Sharon Paige, and all of the others.
Carolyn Ohlbaum
May 4, 2009 at 9:40 pm |
I was in NYC April 18-26. As usual, I had a ball! Lots of violin playing. I was going to play at Nino’s on April 18, but I decided to get extra rest instead since I had not had much sleep the night before. On Sunday, April 19, after a good night’s rest, I went over to Butterfield 8 to play. Trudi was not there. The very talented Ken Greeves filled in for her. We had engaging performances from Joe Regan, Henry Dee and others. Also, a very touching performance by Angelo Lovullo. Keep up the great work, Angelo! I did some standards. That evening, I played at the Algonquin Hotel for their musical salon. The evening theme was “Frank” songs, so I selected “Strangers In The Night” since Frank Sinatra happens to be my very favorite vocalist. On Monday evening, April 20, I played for Jim Caruso’s Cast Party at Birdland. I did “Georgia” and “Begin The Beguine”, backed by the wonderful Ted Firth on piano and Steve Doyle on bass. After Cast Party ended at 1 am, I was not tired and still had lots of energy. So I decided to go up two blocks to Don’t Tell Mama. I played “Georgia” and “S’Wonderful”, backed by Michael Edelstein; on April 21, I went to Nino’s and played some standards/show tunes with Irving Fields. At 10 pm, I walked down to Don’t Tell Mama. Tracy Stark was at the piano. We did “Georgia” and “Satin Doll”. And just after I packed up my violin in the case, a woman approached me and asked me to do play “It Had To Be You”. So I got out the violin and played it for her. She threw her arms around me and thanked me. It was nice. Things like this make it all worthwhile! On April 22, I went back to Don’t Tell Mama to play “Georgia” in a bluesey/improvisational style. Eric James backed me on piano. The next day, April 23, I was back at Nino’s again with Irving. And then afterwards, on to Don’t Tell Mama. At Mama’s, I did “Georgia” and “Nevertheless”, backed by Kenny Davidson on piano. On April 24, I returned to Don’t Tell Mama to play with Eric James again, and we did “Georgia”. On Saturday, April 25, I went back to Nino’s to play with Irving. We did some standards/show tunes again, and we also did “Melody For Moses”. Irving composed it and it is beautiful and perfectly suited for the violin. The next day, April 26, I returned home. Next week, I will be playing the “strolling” repertoire for a big private reception in downtown DC. I will be making another trip to NYC in June – 20-28. I will be playing at all of the very same venues again, and if my schedule permits, I may be able to add another one. I look forward to it. It’s always so much fun for me!
Carolyn Ohlbaum