Will Friedwald's CLIP JOINT: A VIDEO MUSIC MIXTAPE Premieres Tonight at Stage 72

Will Friedwald's "Clip Joint: A Video Music Mixtape" will premiere on Tuesday, April 29 at 7 PM at Stage 72 / The Triad (Green Room.

Attendees are invited to make requests in advance! To make a request, contact Will Friedwald at wfriedwald@gmail.com.

Will Friedwald's "Clip Joint" is a monthly video presentation, designed for bar-room and nightclub-sized venues, utilizing either a video projector or a large ?at-screen television set. Curated by Will Friedwald, columnist for THE WALL STREET JOURNAL and author of eight books on music and popular culture, "Clip Joint" is a two to three hour presentation that covers the entire range and spectrum of musical performances as documented on ?lm and video: both classic and contemporary, from jazz and Broadway to rock and pop to country & western, blues, opera, comedy and novelty songs, world music, and the Great American Songbook.

There are three elements that make "Clip Joint" an amazing experience:

* The overall excellence of the material: Absolutely every clip is selected by Will Friedwald, representing the best - or sometimes the most outrageous - of what a particular artist has to offer. Some of the numbers are classics, some are pure camp, but all of them are highly entertaining.

* Sheer variety: one second you'll be watching a vintage clip of Frank Sinatra, at the pinnacle of his powers, singing one of his signature numbers like "I've Got You Under My Skin," then you'll see an iconic singer-songwriter such as Bob Dylan doing one of his own classics like "Mr. Tambourine Man." This might be followed by a gypsy brass band such as Fanfare Cioc?rlia doing their own outrageous Rumanian dance party version of a classic rock hit like Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild." The next number might be Nat King Cole, Bob Marley, Louis Armstrong, Hank Williams, Tom Waits, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, The Muppets or Bugs Bunny - or some Hindu pop star that you've probably never heard of. It might be Elvis Presley, doing one of his breakthrough hits, or even one of the very entertaining goofball movie songs that he was also known for (like "Do The Clam").

* The communal experience: even in the age of YouTube and DVDs, when more video is available than ever before, it's crucial to enjoy this music in the company of others. Just as these performances were ?lmed in front of live audiences, the clips themselves are not meant to be watched alone, in front of a TV or computer monitor, but they're meant to shared with a roomful of people. Unless you've seen something like Tony Bennett & Bill Evans, Ray Charles, Billie Holiday, or Edith Piaf with a group, you haven't seen them at all. (And, on top of which, much of the material presented in Clip Joint never been released on home video or on youtube.)

Over the course of two hours and roughly 40 different numbers, the mood changes with almost every "clip," with performances both sublime and ridiculous. Some of the songs are brilliant, others are notable for their very weirdness - like a Bollywood version of "The Twist," or a seven foot musical clown (that famous baritone Puddles Pity Party) crooning a famous country ballad.

The footage has been culled from vintage movies, both classic and obscure, historic television broadcasts, and, also, in many cases, shot live directly for Clip Joint.

Some of the performers and styles included in "Clip Joint" Include:

* Numbers from classic Hollywood musicals: Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Shirley Temple, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Julie Andrews, and dozens of others; the choreographic brilliance of Busby Berkeley, Vincent Minnelli, and the great dance directors.

* Classic TV variety show performances: numbers from THE HOLLYWOOD PALACE, THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW, THE DEAN MARTIN SHOW, THE COLGATE COMEDY HOUR, THE TONIGHT SHOW, and dozens of others from the 1950s to today.

* Rare footage from one and two reel short subjects made during the golden age of Hollywood, clips from soundies (jukebox movies), "telescriptions" and other left-?eld sources.

* Animated musical numbers, featuring the likes of Bugs Bunny and Betty Boop onscreen, but featuring such greats as Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, and Ella Fitzgerald on the soundtracks.

* Outstanding contemporary artists, in every area, from living jazz greats like Dianne Reeves and Patti LuPone to Lady Rizo, Meow Meow, Alan Cumming, Ann Hampton Callaway, Shana Farr, Kurt Elling, MIchael Buble, Michael Feinstein, Gregory Porter, and Harry Connick, Jr..

* The great comic geniuses of music, from Danny Kaye, Spike Jones, and Mickey Katz to such contemporary comedy masters as Richard Cheese and Bridget Everett.

* A Special Emphasis on the Afro-American Giants of Music, from Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong to James Brown, Freddy Cole, Andy Bey, Little Jimmy Scott.

* The greats of modern jazz: John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Dave Brubeck, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Cannonball Adderley, from live concerts & classic shows like JAZZ CASUAL, JAZZ 625, THE TIMEX ALL STAR JAZZ SHOW.

* An ongoing focus on world music and numbers that illustrate the relationship between American and International music, from American bands and singers doing songs that evoke far away places (with strange sounding names) to a Chinese band playing American dance music, French manouche gypsy bands, Mambo & Salsa bands, reggae, and Indian pop musical numbers.

* As the series progresses there will be special events, such as an all-Sinatra evening to commemorate his birthday in December, or shows devoted to certain songwriters or themes. There also will be guest curators, such as Justin Sayre, Vince Giordano, Dan Morgenstern, Mark Sendroff, Ricky Riccardi, Terry Teachout, Cary Hoffman.

The Triad requests a $10 house fee from each attendee, to cover the services of a waiter to serve drinks that evening to reserve a seat at the event, RSVP to Bob Levis at levis4402@yahoo.com

Attendees are invited to make requests in advance. To make a request, contact Will Friedwald <wfriedwald@gmail.com>

The entire show lasts roughly two and a half fast-moving hours. Attendees are encouraged to stay for the whole show, but are also free to come and go as your schedule allows.

Will Friedwald writes about jazz and nightlife for THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. He also is the author of eight books on music and popular culture, including the award-winning A BIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE TO THE GREAT JAZZ AND POP SINGERS, SINATRA: THE SONG IS YOU, STARDUST MELODIES, TONY BENNETT: THE GOOD LIFE, and JAZZ SINGING. He has written over 600 liner notes for compact discs, received ten Grammy nominations, and appears frequently on television and other documentaries.