LAUREL MASSÉ FANSITE: junio 2008

30.6.08

Manhattan Transfer Tie One On Competition ~ Clipping ~ Opens The Photo

28.6.08

June 29 - July 5, 2008

LAUREL MASSÉ IN ASHOKAN

CLASSES & ACTIVITIES INCLUDE: Lindy and West Coast swing, C&W dances, squares & contras, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, singing, piano, lap steel, vocal workshops, swing & country band clinics, improvisation, music theory, dance parties, jam sessions, song swaps and more...

http://www.ashokan.org/ashokan/campwsw.shtml

14.6.08

The Norwood Village Green Concert Series presents : Laurel Massé with Tex Arnold and her trio on Thursday, June 19 at 7 p.m.

The Norwood Village Green Concert Series presents singer/songwriters and a return visit by Laurel Massé in the next few days.

The "In the Neighborhood" Singer/Songwriter Festival is Sunday, June 15 starting at 5 p.m. Partnering with North Country Public Radio's UpNorth Music project, the concert series will present three acts recorded for that project, Celia Evans, John and Orion Kribs, and Jim and Gwen Tracy.

Some may know Celia Evans for her song "90 Miles...of Family and Friends," the official song of the Adirondack Canoe Classic. Others may know her as Dr. Evans, associate professor of ecology at Paul Smith's College. The lyrics to her songs have been described as filled with love of nature, rich in nature images that describe the beauty of the rural northern landscapes and the people that inhabit them.

Father and son guitarists, singers, and songwriters John and Orion Kribs have been making music together for a long time. Both are accomplished multi-instrumentalists whose eclectic styles cover everything from Elvis and Carl Perkins to Gershwin, John Lee Hooker and Jack Johnson. Their sound is that of musical styles not only passed down from father to son but of endless hours of playing, listening and learning together.

Always interested in being a musician, Jim Tracy has been a member of several bands in and around his hometown Big Moose. His daughter Gwen remembers waking up Saturday mornings to the sound of her father playing guitar, and her mother singing in the house. Gwen is the lead vocalist in Delia, a band that allows her strong blues voice to shine.Laurel Massé appears with Tex Arnold and her trio on Thursday, June 19 at 7 p.m.

http://norwoodvillagegreenconcertseries.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=26

8.6.08

"The Lads Who Will Never Be Old" - Benefit concert - Sunday 1 June

Photo from the concert "The Lads Who Will Never Be Old". It was a collection of songs from American Civil War, First World War, and Second World War. Money from tickets was donated to Doctors Without Borders.

6.6.08

Dancing on the Air - June 11 - Laurel Massé with Tex Arnold

http://www.wamcarts.org/artsched.html

http://www.dancingontheair.com/

Laurel Massé is the 'real thing'

Laurel Masse is the 'real thing'
By Kitty Montgomery, Reviewer
06/06/2008

When you come out to catch Laurel Masse, the cabaret and all-that-jazz singer who performed for the Chamber Arts Festival of Marbletown, May 24, do not anticipate some retro, tucked-up chick act.

This diva who crested the top of the 70s music scene as one fourth of Manhattan Transfer and got redirected, career wise, by a close encounter with the Grim Reaper, is the real, be-here-now deal.

Floated in a double set by a two-man band at Quimby Auditorium on the Ulster County Community College campus - with giants like pianist arranger Tex Arnold, the great Margaret Whiting's musical director for a quarter of a century; and bass man Tom Hubbard, who could ask for anything more -- Masse's lyric spirit hovers someplace between wide-eyed waif and red-hot mama (Yo, even Caucasian ladies get the blues).

Tuned through a mic, her clear soaring soprano casts lines that web bridges to worlds within songs most singers just surf, to serve personal glory. A true artist, touching "the great American song book" like a Lieder singer, it is Masse's gift to suffer her material, which is one giant step beyond dramatizing it.

Though she never wide wails with her voice, you will think Judy Garland, maybe Edith Piaf, as her vulnerability engages you in tunes that seem drawn for "real life." And touching on her own life, in riffs between these tunes, Masse morphs to Garland as innocent, courageous Dorothy, on the way to some Oz, just a little down the road. It's an infectious approach to existence that leads us to take the Masse phenom closer to heart with each song.

Those songs, their wistfulness, their light is underscored by Arnold and Hubbard's mix. You have to ask, since the term "swing" is used in connection with Masse's work, just what the word means.

We think of slightly more rocking groove, a subliminal boogie, than what this band turns out, but their music percolated, insidious, effervescent, swinging, so to speak, the night along. To pick a favorite among a double dozen numbers? - The play list rests beside us, memories of the romances flashing by as we glance.

The bubble of the Brubeck family's "Blue Rondo," lyricized by Masse in articulate tongue twisting lines? Brooks Bowman's "Once in a Million Moons," Chris Thiele's devil song, "Stay Away," that "Seven Years in Under Four Minutes" Manhattan Transfer medley, in case you wondered what that platinum and gold album band was all about? Or how about Willie Nelson's "Crazy," which song turf Masse shares with Patsy Cline? We'll take 'em all.

©Daily Freeman 2008

2.6.08

CLIPPING

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LIVE: JaLaLa @ The Egg, 6/5/10

The name JaLaLa is a clever use of the first two letters of the first names of the three internationally acclaimed songbirds fronting the fabulous trio.

Janis Siegel, Laurel Masse and Lauren Kinhan are certainly no strangers to the jazz community. Their considerable vocal talents have long been an integral part of such world-renowned ensembles as Manhattan Transfer (Siegel & Masse) and the New York Voices (Kinhan).

Last Saturday night, vocal sparks ignited the pyrotechnic vocal-fun at The Egg in Albany when these three distinct voices joined forces to sing, swing and scat their way through an uninterrupted set of originals, American jazz, Broadway standards and the classic Johnny Mercer songbook. (JaLaLa’s debut album is a tribute titled, “That Old Mercer Magic!”)

Backing the three chanteuses was a crack rhythm section featuring bassist Steve LaSpina, drummer Deric Dickens and long-time Manhattan Transfer music director/pianist Yaron Gershovsky.

http://www.nippertown.com

Birdland

JALALA = Janis Siegel, Laurel Masse and Lauren Kinhan…three gals who know from vocal groups. Janis has been with the Manhattan Transfer since the beginning. Laurel was part of the original Transfer. Lauren is one of the New York Voices. Happily, they have joined forces for this fabulous vocal klatch called JaLaLa. They sold-out Birdland on Monday night, showing off with their signature harmonies and gorgeous solo vocals, but a dazzling highlight came during the encore. The trio had planned a re-interpretation of the Lambert, Hendricks & Ross masterpiece, “It’s Sand, Man,” but Janis had spied the song’s creater and King of Vocalese, Mr. Jon Hendricks, sneak into the club to catch the act. They invited him onstage (left) to add some extra-special hip to the scene, making it one of the more historic moments we’ve witnessed! Thanks, Ja, La, and La for an amazing night!

http://castpartynyc.com/

LAUREL MASSÉ

Laurel Massé, founding member of Grammy award-winning vocal group Manhattan Transfer, toured internationally for seven years with the group and recorded five albums. In 1979, a serious automobile accident forced her departure. After two years of convalescence, she began touring again both in the States and in Europe. She has released four solo CDs. The first two, Alone Together and Easy Living, both hit the Billboard Jazz charts; the third, Again, was a People magazine pick. Feather and Bone, her 2000 release, was picked by audiophile magazine The Absolute Sound as "a recording of extraordinary musical and sonic value". In 2002 she released Ballads.

Coming Out nº1 in Europe

COMING OUT/BRITISH BPI GOLD LP AWARD 1977

Coming Out sold millions of copies in Europe, where a single from the album, "Chanson D'Amour," hit #1 in France and in England, a chart-topper on both sides of the English Channel. On the strength of "Chanson D'Amour," the Manhattan Transfer toured Europe again, including a show at the MIDEM music business convention in Cannes. In a 1977 interview, Alan Paul remembered how that song was chosen and recorded. "The song was written in 1957. We'd been recording all day and we hadn't gotten that far. Just as we were about to leave, Laurel shouted, 'Hey wait a minute, I've got an idea.' She used an Edith Piaf sound in her voice and we recorded it in one take. She wanted to get a romantic French feel behind it."

The Manhattan Transfer Show/CBS TV

Because of the lack of rehearsal time to learn new material, the Manhattan Transfer mined their catalog for over 30 different songs during the show's four-week run - they went through all their recorded material, the stuff that hadn't been recorded yet, enough music to record a new studio album every Sunday night. "We didn't want to get picked up for another season," said Tim, "because we knew that we couldn't do another season. These shows are put together in a week, and this is why television is what it is.

PASTICHE

Pastiche (Atlantic 19163), lived up to its name - a mixture of various musical styles and genres. By this time, the Manhattan Transfer were experimenting with more open voicings and less block harmony, adding new depth to their vocal precision. Between Pastiche's list of Cole Porter and Duke Ellington songs, the Manhattan Transfer collaborated for the first time with JonHendricks, the vocal jazz legend and one-third of the Lambert, Hendricks and Ross vocal jazz group. The collaboration, "Four Brothers," was originally written by Jimmy Giuffre for Woody Herman's Second Herd. For this song, the Manhattan Transfer replicated - using only their voices and Jon Hendricks' lyrics - the melodies of Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, Herbie Steward and Serge Chaloff, Woody Herman's sax section.

Pastiche Nº10 in UK and nº 1 in Norway

Pastiche sold well in Europe, but could climb no higher than #66 on the American album charts. Tim, Alan, Janis and Laurel toured Europe, playing concerts in support of Pastiche, and listening to different music in anticipation of using some new ideas for a new album. "We had just come back from Europe," said Alan, "we were in Europe for a couple of months touring, and we were scheduled to open in the Roxy Theater in Los Angeles, and we had all these new ideas and things that we wanted to present to the public."

THE BEGINNINGS

The Manhattan Transfer re-emerged as a four-piece, with Janis Siegel (alto), Laurel Massé (soprano), and Alan Paul (tenor), who found each other in a series of happy accidents. Tim Hauser was driving a cab at the time, and picked up passenger Laurel Masse; they got to talking. Tim met Janis Siegel through a drummer acquaintance. Janis had been performing at the Greenwich Village coffeehouse scene with a group called "Laurel Canyon." Alan Paul had been appearing in the musical "Grease!" (Laurel's boyfriend was a musician in the production, and referred him).