For the mid-show "three razor blade" set, Robin and Rick returned to the spotlight to perform the romantically persistent "You'll See," which featuring witty lyrics and soaring melody. Robin next sang Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life," which was written when the composer was only 16 years old, revealing a maturity beyond his age. Robin first heard this piece when she was 16, but for some reason didn't heed the warnings within the song's lyrics. To close out the set, she sang one of my favorite songs (which my grandmother used to sing), the wistful "Say It Isn't So," complete with mid-song comedic monologue that placed this classical wistful tune into a very different light. At the end of the evening, Rick returned to the piano and Robin returned to the performer mic to sing the swinging classic little ditty "If I Had You."
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| Robin Kradles in "Gambling on Love" |
Salon Spotlight: Lina Koutrakos
For our Salon Spotlight, Lina Koutrakos, a multiple award-winning performer, director, and teacher, stepped up to the mic with glamour, sass, and tales of her encounters with men like the one and only Gregory Hines. With Rick Jensen at the piano, and a grounded, dark, husky voice, Lina started out with her own composition; the rock blues piece, "Gregory Hines Song." Lina has a strong presence, and a soulful rock voice that both soothes and stimulates. She also is a terrific storyteller, and embues her work with a heart-on-her-sleeves and knife-in-her-pocket honesty. After a lovely story about singing the next song at a same-sex wedding, she and Rick sang the moving "Make You Feel My Love" as a beautiful duet. Then, to exemplify her ability to take pop lyrics and transform them into fully invested acting songs, she poured her voice and soul into an introspective and powerful rendition of "Midnight Train to Georgia."
Lina is soon traveling to Mykonos, Greece, to teach her performance workshop, and in the fall, she and Rick will perform the show "Torch" on October 28th at 7pm at The Metropolitan Room, 34 W 22nd St, NYC.
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| Lina Koutrakos |
In 1845, Adolf Bernhard Marx published a book in Germany on musical composition that spread into the musical world the idea of masculine/feminine themes (quoted below). According to him, there is a duality of musical themes within music; one is more forthright than the other; one is more flexible, lyrical...practically more 'curvy' than the other. The masculine cadence ends on the downbeat, where feminine ends on the second beat. While today these terms are somewhat passe (we don't think of those roles necessarily in that way), his idea lived on throughout the following centuries, and influenced German composer and music critic Robert Schumann. Schumann wrote works like Carnavale (as in mardi-gras) and carried with him two characters throughout his life that were considered masculine and feminine: Florestan, the bold and impetuous, and Eusebius, the subtle, introspective, and soft. In fact, Schumann based many of his works upon these two characters, and Mark pointed out how both of these characters are in all of us to some degree. For example, Kreisleriana's opening theme showed off these two in stark contrast, alternating between fast/bold, and flowing/soft movements.
Even harmony and the setting (or accompaniment) can change a piece from the "feminine" to the "masculine." Chopin also engaged in this duality many times. For example, the Chopin Ballades are the most complex and diverse of piano solo pieces, and Mark played thru a number of these works, including the Raindrop Prelude, a piece which is both pleasant and deadly. Mark also remembered how he would play through Chopin's Fm and Gm Ballades while he was in College, and he recreated this experience by playing thru a few sections; one had a dreamy and optimistic mode that melded into a dreamy yet not-so-optimistic feeling. Dramatic sequences with rolling and beautiful canonesque pieces were interspersed within these same dual themes. The final piece he played through, Chopin's 1st Ballade, takes us through the tragically romantic story of Romeo & Juliet, which features a beautiful theme melting into an ominous dissonance, a heart-wrenchingly tragic opening (with plenty of dissonance), and a robust transition that is brought back with new keys, new feelings and both masculine and feminine powers, into crescendo that leads to a deadly finality.
“In this pair of themes… the first theme is the one determined at the outset, that is, with a primary freshness and energy – consequently that which is energetically, emphatically, absolutely shaped… the dominating and determining feature. On the other hand, the second theme… is the [idea] created afterward, serving as a contrast, dependent on and determined by the former – consequently, and according to its nature, the milder [idea], one more supple than emphatically shaped, as if it were the feminine to that preceding masculine. In just this sense each of the two themes is different, and only with one another [do they constitute something] higher, more perfect.”
--Adolf Bernhard Marx (1795-1866)
"A Practical and Theoretical Method of Musical Composition," 2nd edition (1845)
Roster of performers for the evening (in order of appearance):
Click link to visit the performer’s website or other links, when available.
All piano accompaniment by Mark Janas unless otherwise noted.
Co-host: Robin Kradles (with Rick Jensen on piano)
Elaine St. George
Jerome Weinstein
Richard Eisenberg
Monica Salvi
Laurel Kallen
Pam Edgar
Patti Botino-Bravo (with Rick Jensen at the piano)
Fred Aiese (with Rick Jensen at the piano)
Bob Diamond (with Rick Jensen at the piano)
Doris Dear (with Rick Jensen at the piano)
Sally Darling
David Ballard
Sierra Rein
Marnie Klar
Salon Spotlight: Lina Koutrakos (with Rick Jensen on piano)
Classical Corner: Mark Janas
BREAK
Co-host: Robin Kradles (with Rick Jensen on piano)
Tanya Moberly
Becca Kidwell
Ira Lee Collings
Joan Jaffe
Newbern and Co. - Meryl and Wade Newbern (with Wade Newbern on piano)
Co-host: Robin Kradles (with Rick Jensen on piano)
Special thanks to tonight’s musicians: Mark Janas, Wade Newbern and Rick Jensen!
Thank you to James Eden for offering his videography services, to Gil Alexandre on lights and sound, and to David Ballard and our amazing waitstaff!
Ongoing Shows:
Monday nights (7pm): Opera Open Mic at Shanghai Mong with Mark Janas and Matthew Martin Ward, 30 West 32nd Street, NYC.
Monday and Wednesday nights (8pm): Bill Zeffiro performs weekly at La Rivista, 313 West 46th St, NYC.
This summer: Tanya Moberly is judging Mama's Next Big Act at Don't Tell Mama, 343 West 46th Street, NYC, and a few of our regular Salon members are taking part!
Upcoming Shows:
Friday, August 4th (7pm): Sally Darling and other 2017 Cabaret Award-Nominated Vocalists sing "Together" at Don't Tell Mama, 345 West 46th Street, NYC.
Thursday, August 10th (7pm): Robin Kradles will star in "Gambling on Love" on at Don't Tell Mama 343 W 46th St, NYC, with Music Direction by Rick Jensen and Direction by Lennie Watts.
Friday, September 15th (7pm): Tanya Moberly and Sean Harkness at Don't Tell Mama, 345 West 46th Street, NYC.
Saturday, September 23rd (4pm): Becca Kidwell brings back her show "A Song and It's Girl" to Don't Tell Mama, 345 West 46th Street, NYC.
Tuesday, September 26th: Ira Lee Collings returns with his show "Life is a Song So Why Not Sing it - Plus Weed Songs" to Don't Tell Mama, 45 West 46th Street, NYC.
Monday, October 2nd: Ira Lee Collings returns with his show "Life is a Song So Why Not Sing it - Plus Weed Songs" to Don't Tell Mama, 45 West 46th Street, NYC.
Friday, October 6th (7pm): Tanya Moberly and Ritt Henn at Don't Tell Mama, 345 West 46th Street, NYC.
Saturday, October 7th (4pm): Monica Salvi will bring all her "Mad Women in My Attic" as part of the United Solo Theatre Festival in Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street, NYC.
Friday, October 27th (7pm): Tanya Moberly and Ian Herman at Don't Tell Mama, 345 West 46th Street, NYC.
Saturday, October 28th (7pm): Lina Koutrakos, with Rick Jensen at the piano, will perform "Torch" at The Metropolitan Room, 34 W 22nd St, NYC.
Sunday, October 29th: Ira Lee Collings returns with his show "Life is a Song So Why Not Sing it - Plus Weed Songs" to Don't Tell Mama, 45 West 46th Street, NYC.
Friday, November 17th (7pm): Tanya Moberly and Mark Janas at Don't Tell Mama, 345 West 46th Street, NYC.
Wednesday, December 13th: "The Doris Dear Christmas Special" starring Doris Dear at The Metropolitan Room, 34 W 22nd St, NYC.
Friday, December 8th (7pm): Tanya Moberly and Steven Ray Watkins at Don't Tell Mama, 345 West 46th Street, NYC.
Wednesday, December 20th: "The Doris Dear Christmas Special" starring Doris Dear at The Metropolitan Room, 34 W 22nd St, NYC.
Thursday, December 21st: "The Doris Dear Christmas Special" starring Doris Dear at The Metropolitan Room, 34 W 22nd St, NYC.
Friday, December 29th (7pm): Tanya Moberly and Sean Harkness at Don't Tell Mama, 345 West 46th Street, NYC.
NEXT SALON! Sunday, July 23rd, the theme of the evening will be "Along For The Ride"! So get out your travel bag and roller-coaster-relationship songs and sing with composer-turned-Co-Host Richie Eisenberg at the wheel. In the passenger seat will be our Salon Spotlight, Ann Kittredge! Have fun as only The Salon performers can!
-Sierra Rein
Blogger for The Salon
See an oops? Email me.
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