The Cabaret Chronicles: Tony DeSare, Cast Party, and MetroJam!

It’s been another week of great NYC nightlife, beginning with a return trip to Bemelmans Bar on Sunday evening, where I was able to catch another performance of Tony DeSare’s!  As I wrote last week, I always have a great time at Tony’s shows, and this evening was no exception. 

Joined by Ed Decker on guitar and Steve Doyle on bass, Tony wound his way through standards, pop, and original songs, and even threw in his Elton John impression for good measure!  In addition to his super-smooth vocals, Tony is also an accomplished pianist, and one of my favorite parts of seeing him perform is when he turns his piano solos into variations on a theme – he takes the song and re-creates it in any number of styles, from swing to boogie-woogie to ragtime, for example.  It’s such a unique talent, and he does it amazingly well, yet somehow manages to make it seem effortless – truly amazing!  He just announced that he’ll be back at Bemelmans in September – if you can find your way over there, I’d highly recommend it!

On Monday evening, I headed over to Jim Caruso’s Cast Party at Birdland, which was terrific, as usual.  I had an earlier commitment, so I only got there for about the last hour, but I did get to catch the tail end of a tune sung by the marvelous Marilyn Maye and I also got to hear a bunch of other terrifically talented performers, including Steve Sorokoff (who was celebrating his anniversary with his lovely wife Eda that evening!), Joan Crowe, and the aforementioned Tony DeSare!  Tedd Firth on piano and Steve Doyle on bass were fantastic, as always, and this week they were joined by Dave Meade on drums, which was a great treat!

Friday evening found me at the Metropolitan Room for MetroJam, which is the monthly open mic I host!  We had a wonderful lineup of singers, including Vin Martin, who did a swingin’ “Fly Me To the Moon”; Darren Williams, who brought the house down with a sneak preview from his upcoming Metropolitan Room show, David Goldman, who sang one of my favorite songs in the world (which he happened to co-write!), “Sorry said The Moon”; and Mayra Zimmet, who had the whole room bopping along to her snappy “Cheek To Cheek!”  Our special guest for the evening was Scott Coulter, who lent his beautiful voice to a great 3-song set (“I Honestly Love You,” “Drop Me Off In Harlem,” and “For Good”) as the centerpiece of the evening.  As always, the MetroJam band was absolutely terrific - John DiPinto on piano, Skip Ward on bass, and Bobby Sher on drums provided top-notch accompaniment for everyone, and did some amazing solo work as well!  It was a great night - I can’t wait for September’s MetroJam!

The Cabaret Chronicles will be on hiatus next week, but check back in two weeks for the latest news!