The Salon Wrap-Up for March 6, 2011: "ROCK ON!"

Dude, it was totally rocking' in a knarly way last Sunday at The Salon! I don't know if I spelled knarly right…ah well…in any event, the rafters of Etcetera Etcetera were shaking last Salon, as Hey Guy (Boris Pelkh, Leo Pelekh, Tommy Shull and Daniel Jakubovic) co-hosted an evening of rock-inspired work.  They brought two guitars, an electric bass, and a percussion box with them to blast out songs of their own, and to accompany anyone who wanted to throw them into a piece.  They began by singing two tracks from their brand new CD "hey guy" - "In My Head" and "Always Wanted."  Their sound (at least with the current set up), mixed with Boris Pelkh's lead vocals, reminded me of Trent Reznor, Nirvana, and The Beatles all in one.

Raissa Katona Bennett then took the mic and, with Charlie Lindberg at the piano, swung her way effortlessly through "Make Someone Happy."  Another songstress with a classical style, Maureen Taylor, took the Carly Simon song "Coming Around Again" and artfully wrapped her silver tones around it.  Taking advantage of a familiar tune, Adam Shapiro next blasted through "Eat It!" (music by Michael Jackson, parody lyrics by Weird Al Yankovic) with Hey Guy and Mark Janas accompanying him - it was hilarious, but rocked my world at the same time!  Barb Malley then sang a beautiful folk-rock song (one I'd never heard before) entitled "Strong Woman Number" by Gretchen Cryer.  Next, another newly-becoming-a-Salon-regular Elaine St. George sweetly sang the Beatles' "I've Just Seen a Face."

We were then attacked by a series of singer-pianists, starting with Charles Lindberg, who created an instant singalong with "Build Me Up Buttercup" (how can you not try to sing the echo and harmony with this number?).  Throwing a touch of class into the mix, Stacey Ward MacAdams accompanied himself on the title song to Woody Allen's film "Everyone Says I Love You."  Stacey can next be seen in "Stacey Ward McAdams and Friends" at the Metropolitan Room  on March 30th at 7pm.  Next, Bill Zeffiro brought in yet another Randy Newman song, "I Want You To Hurt Like I Do."  Bill will be hosting his very own open performance venue each Tuesday night, 8-11pm, at San Martin on 49th Street!

Then, in a blatant attempt to thumb her nose at the whole proceedings, Etceterette Jan Brennan threw her arms up and defiantly belted out "I'm Singing Broadway," which...well...rocked!!!  Blogette Sierra Rein (that's me) then invited Hey Guy up to swing the pendulum back with Janis Joplin's "Move Over."  This song is from Marquee Five's show, "8-Track Throwback," which will perform at the Laurie Beechman Theatre on March 26th, 4pm, and will hopefully be a CD (pre-order and help us fund the CD at Kickstarter.com by March 31st!).  Hey Guy stayed onstage as Producer Tanya Moberly ripped through "Black Dog," a perfect song for her vocal prowess - it was sexy and absolutely rockin'.

For this week's Classical Corner, Mark invited Hey Guy and Stephen Wilde (who arrived just in time from a long plane trip) to explore how rock has been inspired by classical music over the past 50 years or so.  The Beatles, obviously, came from a classical approach, and often utilized harmonies, orchestrations (think of the string quartet in "Eleanor Rigby"), and other elements from classical origins in their rock songs.  Mark pointed out that songwriters like Barry Manilow would steal...uh...be inspired by entire chord progressions from Classical composers like Chopin.  He played a bit of Chopin's "E minor Prelute" and then tied it into the modern rock band Radiohead.  Stephen Wilde then took the guitar and lead vocals and, with Hey Guy, sang Radiohead's "Breathe" from the film version of "Romeo and Juliet" - a song that quotes the same Chopin prelude!  It was a beautiful rendition, and closed the first half of the evening.

After the break, Hey Guy rushed the stage, grabbed their guitars, and smashed them against the piano! Nah, they didn't but they did play an excellent set of three songs. They started out with "How Long" from their new CD "hey guy." Then, Boris replaced Tommy at the piano and sang through a new song not found on the CD, "You." They completed the set with "Something's Coming" from their CD. One thing I noticed was that the guys were able to switch instruments effortlessly - Boris sang lead vocals, played guitar and piano, and Daniel and Leo switched from bass to guitar to percussion without hesitation!  You can find the CD "hey guy" on iTunes!!!

After Hey Guy, the tall and lovely Marnie Klar brought in some 80's rock/pop nostalgia with Cindy Lauper's "Time After Time," in a lovely slower piano ballad version (and Daniel jumped in on percussion right at the lyric "The drum beats out of time"- it was great!).  Marnie will showcase her work in a full set at the University Glee Club's "Afterglow" next Thursday, March 24th. After Marnie, Adam Shapiro returned with "When Will I Hold You Again?" by Barry Manilow (p.s. "soon" was Boris' answer...). Maureen Taylor, with Bill Zeffiro at the piano, sang "To Make the Boy A Man" from Goodbye Charlie, then Barb Malley (again with Mr. Zeffiro playing) sang "I Get Along Without You Very Well" by Hoagy Carmichael. Bill then stayed at the piano to sing his work, "The Final Daze," a song that should always be accompanied by something on the rocks. Stephen Wilde, again with Hey Guy backing him up, sang a full-bodied "Fake Plastic Trees" by Radiohead

Next, the second Janis Joplin song of the evening, "Piece of My Heart," was rocked out by Elaine St. George, and Sierra Rein sang Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich's rock comedy song "Fifteen Pounds (Away From My Love)." Marnie Klar returned to vamp through Tori Amos' "Leather" (imagine Betty Boop singing Tori Amos, sexy and cute!). Hey Guy grabbed their instruments and did two final songs for the end of the evening - the first, an amazing cover of late R&B singer Aliyah's "If I Let You Go." The second, the track "Let It Out" from their CD, was a great rock anthem, and the band encouraged the audience to sing in multi-harmony with the chorus - a fabulous, huge and totally rockin' sound to end the night on!

TONIGHT! Sunday the 13th, funny jazz lady Joan Crowe and uber-jazz pianist Dan Furman will co-host the evening. The theme is "Blues in the Night" so anything having to do with the night, the moon, the color blue, having the blues, or singing in the style of the blues will be great! But remember, off-theme material is always welcome too! See you then!

Tanya Moberly - "Black Dog"

Hey Guy and Stephen Wilde

Boris and Daniel

Tommy at the piano

Leo on bass

-Sierra Rein
The Blogette for The Salon
Spelling mistakes? URL's I missed? Did I mess up? Please email me.

Update from Producer Tanya Moberly - March 7, 2011

SALON, that unique, Bistro & MAC Award winning Weekly Open Mic Event created and hosted by Mark Janas returns to Etcetera, Etcetera - 352 West 44th Street, NYC 10036 – on Sunday, March 13th from 7-10:30PM.

The optional theme for the evening is “Blues in the Night!”

Remember, any material, on or off theme, is always welcome at Salon.

Our Co-Host will be the Fabulous MAC Award winning Joan Crowe! Joan is appearing with Sue Matsuki and Splenda Mamas, her all "Hot Mama" band, every Friday 9pm-1am at PORT 41 - 355 West 41st St, NYC, 10019, 212-244-4408. For more information: www.joancrowe.com.

Our Guest Host/Pianist will be the Wonderful Dan Furman! Dan will be appearing with his trio on March 24th 7-11pm at Cleopatra's Needle - 2485 Broadway (at 92nd St), NYC 10025, 212-769-6969. For more information: www.danfurman.com.

There will be a $10 cash cover collected at the door by Blogette, Sierra Rein, and a $15 food/drink minimum (cash or credit) per person. (For further information visit www.etcrestaurant.com or call 212-399-4141). There are no reservations; seating is on a first come/ first served basis, with one intermission. Doors open and sign up begins at 6:15pm with Etceterette, Arianna.

Salon continues every Sunday! (Except April 3rd & April 24th)

March 20th:
Theme: It's In The Stars
Co-Host: Maureen Taylor

March 27th:
Theme: The 8 Track to the ipod – Tunes On the Go since 1965
Co-Hosts: Marquee Five (Julie Reyburn, Mick Bleyer, Adam West Hemming, Sierra Rein & Vanessa Parvin)

April 3rd: NO SALON

April 10th:
Theme: It's a Country Thing
Co-Host: Roger Anthony Mapes

April 17th:
Theme: The Great Escape
Co-Host: Donna Coney Island

April 24th: NO SALON

Visit our website at www.markjanasthesalon.com and look for us on Facebook!

Here's some important information about the Salon you should know. The Salon is an ongoing open entertainment event in which singers, writers and musicians share their talent with each other and audience members. We are currently enjoying our new venue, Etcetera, Etcetera where there is a $10 COVER (cash) AND a $15 FOOD/BEVERAGE MINIMUM (cash or credit). You may sign up to perform starting at 6:15 by seeing one the evening's 'Etceterettes' to fill out a card with your name, the name of your song, whether it's a ballad or an up tempo,(up tempos and comic songs are greatly encouraged!) and any upcoming events you'd like the co-host to announce. Please remember that we do not present performers in order of sign-up and, due to our time restraints and other variables, filling out a card does not guarantee you will perform, but we do our very best to get you up! It is usually a good idea to bring a few different song choices to avoid duplication. All types of material including spoken word are welcome at the Salon but please limit your selections to three or four minutes in length and please bring clear, complete charts for Mark to read. Sitting on the piano is not allowed, nor is flash photography. If you would like to add a (or remove your) name from our list, e-mail me at tanya@tanyamoberly.com

Looking forward to seeing you all Sunday, March 13th!

Thanks,

Tanya Moberly
Producer

-Sierra Rein
The Blogette for The Salon
Spelling mistakes? URL's I missed? Did I mess up? Please email me.

The Salon Wrap-Up for February 20, 2011: "That's Historical!”

Miles Phillips

Hello Saloners! Took me a while to hit "post" on this blog entry - for some reason, I've felt a bit woozy ever since I hung out with James Franco backstage at the Oscars...

What occurred on February 20th at Etcetera Etcetera Restaurant was one for the history books, as the theme was "That's Historical!"  The co-host of the evening, who has a looooooong history with Mark Janas, was award-winning director and cabaret singer Miles Phillips!  Miles began the evening by singing "I Can't Tell A Lie" from Holiday Inn, and the lovely "Take Care of This House," sung by the character of Abigail Adams in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  Next, Mark Levy jovially reminded us of "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo," a song from 1892 France (probably the oldest song sung that night).  We then heard from beautiful voice teacher and performer Carolann Sarita, who heartfully sang through "A Way Back to Then" from title of show.  Richard Eisenberg then gave us a little history lesson about the clarification of when Washington's birthday actually was, then gave us a rousing rendition of his original piece "All Good Things Must Come to an End."

Newcomer Joel Harrington then came to the mic and, in a rich baritone, sang and dedicated the song "I Leave The World" from Good Time Charlie to his mother.  Then, one of Joel's voice students, Kelly Nowik sang "But Where Can We Go From Here?" with Joel at the piano.  Next, Stephen Hanks brought the Mayflower-themed Paul Simon song "American Tune" and Chris Kelley Karel sang "My Man's Gone Now" from Porgy and Bess.   Chris is excited to be shooting Episode 5 of a new web series "Sherry's Kitchen," in which she plays both the roles of "Connie" and "Tina."  We then got to hear from her husband, Chuck Karel, who is a Broadway Babe incarnate: he was in numerous Jerry Herman musicals on Broadway (Hello Dolly, Milk and Honey, Dear World), was in the Metropolitan and City Operas, and understudied Anthony Quinn in Zorba!  He graced us with a swinging "Rockabye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody."

Janice Hall, the songstress currently performing her Marlene Dietrich show for the "Musical Legends" series at Urban Stages, brought in Marlene's audition song for Blue Angel, "You're the Cream in My Coffee."  Then, Michael Colby sang "I Know Everybody's Business," a very cute lyric he wrote with Gerald Jay Markoe for Delphi or Bust. He's having several shows in June and July coming up, so keep an eye out for them!  We then were treated by Barb Malley, who switched from funny to poignant by singing Jacques Brel's "I Loved" - she'll soon be announcing her benefit performance for the Jackie Robinson Foundation soon.  To round out the final singers for the first act, we heard David Ballard (who was fabulous at Sue Matsuki's "People You Should Know" series on Saturday!) sing "Way Ahead of My Time," Erin Cronican flawlessly vamp her way through "A Call from the Vatican" (Nine), and Sierra Rein (me!) sang "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables (watch video) with composer/pianist Brian Allan Hobbs at the piano (FYI, my group Marquee Five is raising funds for a CD).

The Classical Corner with Mark Janas that night concentrated on the concept of how composers of yore would write "machines" of accompaniment to support the overlying main melody.  Leonard Bernstein once said of Sondheim that he was not merely a composer, but a writer of "perpetual machines" - these running machines can be heard supporting the music in Sweeney Todd, Company, Into the Woods and many others.  However, the inspiration for these compositional machines goes back throughout music history to include Franz Schubert (who was a genius according to Beethoven).  Schubert wrote machines to reflect the physical action of the subjects he wrote for, including the clip-clop of horses hooves, rushing water, or the spinning wheel of "Gretchen am Spinnrade."   Mark then asked opera singer Ivan Miller to sing through a section of Schubert's "Der Erlkönig (Elf King)," which required him to voice four different people, and Mark Janas to maintain steady 8th notes all the way through.  Ivan sang with a booming voice (no mic needed) in a fantastic baritone - it was magnificent!

Ivan Miller

After the break, Miles Phillips returned to sing a short set! First, he sang the theme-appropriate "Today is Tomorrow's Yesterday" (a song featured in Kevin McMullan's show "Twist of Fate," which Miles directed and which he is bringing back to the Beechman Theatre in April).  Then, he simply and beautifully sang "As Long as He Needs Me" from Oliver.  Next, he invited Raissa Katona Bennett to sing the duet "Too Many Mornings" from Follies.  Raissa stayed on stage as Miles introduced her husband, Dr. Garrett Bennett (co-Producer for The Salon), to the stage.  Garrett grabbed a microphone and sang the Raoul to Raissa's Christine in "All I Ask of You" (The Phantom of the Opera).  Garrett even included a whipping off of the glasses and a romantic dip of Raissa into a kiss!  Hearts were certainly a flutter and a lot of "awwwwww"'s were audible!

Producer Tanya Moberly (a special spot guest for the "People You Should Know" concert), was ever to reinterpret classic musical theater on her terms and sang the Medieval fable-made-history-based "The Simple Joys of Maidenhood" from Camelot.  Ross Lacy sang "On The Street Where You Live" from My Fair Lady, and Joan Jaffe brought in an inquisitive piece from 1923 entitled "Red Riding Hood."  We then heard Lea McKenna-Garcia, a newcomer to Salon, who richly sang "It Never Was You," and Salon regular Elaine St. George performed the clever lyrics of "Napoleon" - Elaine's Ray Charles show "InspiRaytion" will return in April and May of this year!  Stephen Wilde energetically roused us with "Streets of Dublin," and painted each picture of what it felt like to be there.  To complete the evening, Miles Phillips returned to sing "Some Other Time" by Bernstein.

THIS SUNDAY, MARCH 6th - the theme is "ROCK ON!"  The co-hosts will be rock band Hey Guy, which features our very own sound engineer Tommy Shull!!! So wear your leather pants, bleach or tease your hair, and come in with your interpretation of what it means to ROCK!

PS! For our MAC members, please consider The Salon and many of our regular performers in the preliminary ballots! We appreciate it.

PPS....for anyone who's ever thought "What would it looks like if Mark Janas went back thru history to battle Nazis on a train?", here's your answer:

Burt Lancaster in "The Train"

-Sierra Rein
The Blogette for The Salon
Spelling mistakes? URL's I missed? Did I mess up? Please email me.