SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 2013
Roe Jan Library Library Gala
Cabaret Singer Laurel Massé and Mike Schiffer’s Jazz Trio will perform at 100th Anniversary Gala
The Roeliff Jansen Community Library’s 2013 annual fundraising gala will feature cabaret singer Laurel Massé, founding member of The Manhattan Transfer, and instrumental jazz music by the Mike Schiffer trio.
The gala will be a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the library’s founding in 1913, and is being billed as “The Birthday Party for the Century.” The event will take place on Saturday, June 8, from 5:00 to 7:30 pm, at Camp Pontiac in West Copake. Gala tickets are $100. Tickets can be ordered online at Roe Jan Library website. Visit www.roejanlibrary.org
“The library’s 100th Birthday Gala entertainment is truly special,” says Chair of the Entertainment Committee, Cheryl Jones. “We will have the Mike Schiffer Trio, who did such a fantastic job last year, performing instrumental jazz. And for the showcase cabaret event, the very talented, versatile, witty, and acclaimed Laurel Massé.”
Laurel Massé began her music career as a founding member of the universally acclaimed Manhattan Transfer. She toured internationally with the Transfer for seven years, recording four albums (since, certified gold and platinum) and a movie soundtrack. Numerous television appearances included a 1974 Mary Tyler Moore television special, and the Manhattan Transfer Show in 1975. In 1978, a near-fatal automobile accident cut short her tenure with the group.
When Massé resumed her career after nearly two years of convalescence, it was as a solo artist. Her continuing development as a jazz singer led to the recording of several successful albums. Two of her early solo recordings made the Billboard Jazz charts, and one was a People magazine pick. Her 1999 recording Feather and Bone was described by the audiophile magazine The Absolute Sound as “a recording of extraordinary musical and sonic value.” As a studio singer, Massé has appeared on CDs of many artists and genres, including Tony Trischka, Barry Manilow, percussionist Layne Redmond, songwriter Carol Hall and former Manhattan Transfer cohort Janis Siegel. She appears frequently on television and radio, and was the creator and host of The Laurel Massé Jazz Show, which ran for two years on WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
Ms. Massé has been part of the teaching staff of Jay Ungar and Molly Mason’s Ashokan Fiddle and Dance Camp since 1997 as vocal coach in jazz, western, and swing styles. In 2004 she also joined the faculty of The International Cabaret Conference at Yale as a master instructor of jazz and cabaret. Nationally and internationally, she teaches master classes in song interpretation, improvisation, and performance for professionals and amateurs, and is also an adjudicator of jazz and show choir competitions.
In 2004 she, along with the four current members of the Manhattan Transfer, received the prized Lifetime Achievement Award of the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs. In 2009 she was given the Bistro Award for Best Jazz Vocalist; and the same year, with JaLaLa, a vocal trio formed with Manhattan Transfer colleague Janis Siegel, and Lauren Kinhan of New York Voices, released an all-Mercer recording, That Ol’ Mercer Magic. Once in a Million Moons, a CD recorded with renowned pianist/arranger Tex Arnold, was released in summer 2012.
Pianist Mike Schiffer, whose trio will be performing instrumental jazz music for the gala event, has been a popular performer in Berkshire venues since 1968.
“Schiffer is one of the most accomplished piano men around, as comfortable with a bunch of traditional Dixieland sidemen, as he is happy and effective improvising by himself for a silent movie, or integrating into a bop-inflected combo for which he provides a solid rhythmic background and some highly inventive solo choruses,” said critic Simon Wainrib of the Berkshire Record.
In addition to the notable performers, the library gala will feature food from area chefs and restaurants, a silent auction (including a large raffle basket), a live auction with guest auctioneer Louis Caropreso, and a slide show of photographs by B. Docktor of library patrons and donors.
The Roeliff Jansen Community Library, which is chartered to serve Ancram, Copake and Hillsdale, is located at 9091 Rt. 22 in Copake, approximately one mile south of the light at the intersection of Routes 22 and 23. For information on hours and events, call 518-325-4101, or visit the library’s website at www.roejanlibrary.org.
The Roeliff Jansen Community Library’s 2013 annual fundraising gala will feature cabaret singer Laurel Massé, founding member of The Manhattan Transfer, and instrumental jazz music by the Mike Schiffer trio.
The gala will be a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the library’s founding in 1913, and is being billed as “The Birthday Party for the Century.” The event will take place on Saturday, June 8, from 5:00 to 7:30 pm, at Camp Pontiac in West Copake. Gala tickets are $100. Tickets can be ordered online at Roe Jan Library website. Visit www.roejanlibrary.org
“The library’s 100th Birthday Gala entertainment is truly special,” says Chair of the Entertainment Committee, Cheryl Jones. “We will have the Mike Schiffer Trio, who did such a fantastic job last year, performing instrumental jazz. And for the showcase cabaret event, the very talented, versatile, witty, and acclaimed Laurel Massé.”
Laurel Massé began her music career as a founding member of the universally acclaimed Manhattan Transfer. She toured internationally with the Transfer for seven years, recording four albums (since, certified gold and platinum) and a movie soundtrack. Numerous television appearances included a 1974 Mary Tyler Moore television special, and the Manhattan Transfer Show in 1975. In 1978, a near-fatal automobile accident cut short her tenure with the group.
When Massé resumed her career after nearly two years of convalescence, it was as a solo artist. Her continuing development as a jazz singer led to the recording of several successful albums. Two of her early solo recordings made the Billboard Jazz charts, and one was a People magazine pick. Her 1999 recording Feather and Bone was described by the audiophile magazine The Absolute Sound as “a recording of extraordinary musical and sonic value.” As a studio singer, Massé has appeared on CDs of many artists and genres, including Tony Trischka, Barry Manilow, percussionist Layne Redmond, songwriter Carol Hall and former Manhattan Transfer cohort Janis Siegel. She appears frequently on television and radio, and was the creator and host of The Laurel Massé Jazz Show, which ran for two years on WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
Ms. Massé has been part of the teaching staff of Jay Ungar and Molly Mason’s Ashokan Fiddle and Dance Camp since 1997 as vocal coach in jazz, western, and swing styles. In 2004 she also joined the faculty of The International Cabaret Conference at Yale as a master instructor of jazz and cabaret. Nationally and internationally, she teaches master classes in song interpretation, improvisation, and performance for professionals and amateurs, and is also an adjudicator of jazz and show choir competitions.
In 2004 she, along with the four current members of the Manhattan Transfer, received the prized Lifetime Achievement Award of the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs. In 2009 she was given the Bistro Award for Best Jazz Vocalist; and the same year, with JaLaLa, a vocal trio formed with Manhattan Transfer colleague Janis Siegel, and Lauren Kinhan of New York Voices, released an all-Mercer recording, That Ol’ Mercer Magic. Once in a Million Moons, a CD recorded with renowned pianist/arranger Tex Arnold, was released in summer 2012.
Pianist Mike Schiffer, whose trio will be performing instrumental jazz music for the gala event, has been a popular performer in Berkshire venues since 1968.
“Schiffer is one of the most accomplished piano men around, as comfortable with a bunch of traditional Dixieland sidemen, as he is happy and effective improvising by himself for a silent movie, or integrating into a bop-inflected combo for which he provides a solid rhythmic background and some highly inventive solo choruses,” said critic Simon Wainrib of the Berkshire Record.
In addition to the notable performers, the library gala will feature food from area chefs and restaurants, a silent auction (including a large raffle basket), a live auction with guest auctioneer Louis Caropreso, and a slide show of photographs by B. Docktor of library patrons and donors.
The Roeliff Jansen Community Library, which is chartered to serve Ancram, Copake and Hillsdale, is located at 9091 Rt. 22 in Copake, approximately one mile south of the light at the intersection of Routes 22 and 23. For information on hours and events, call 518-325-4101, or visit the library’s website at www.roejanlibrary.org.
