Brussell, Owen & More Set For The Met Room In April

APRIL AT THE METROPOLITAN ROOM
Join them every Friday and Saturday from 11PM-2AM for our nightly piano lounge. No cover, no minimum!

4/1 7PM Barbara Brussell "Brilliance from on High...BORN IN THE BRONX" Accompanied by musical director Tex Arnold, this marks their first time venturing a new show together. This also marks her first time being directed by the highly acclaimed singer-actor-director, Eric Michael Gillett. The show is coming directly from its debut at Wave Hill, Riverdale, in the Bronx. To mark the 100th year of The Grand Concourse (in the Bronx), artistic director, Andrew Apel, along with Cabaret's Crown prince, Steve Ross, have created a cabaret series, celebrating the centennial, by singing not only the songs of, but the praises of the artists "BORN IN THE BRONX." They have even commissioned a new song in honor of the Grand Concourse, written by Ray Jessel (born in the Bronx of Great Britain ... Wales.) $20
10PM Metrojam Join host Joe Bachana for our monthly open mic! Sit back and enjoy the music, or sign up and sing with some of New York's hottest musicians. $10

 

4/2 7:30PM Barbara Brussell "Brilliance from on High...BORN IN THE BRONX" $20

9:45PM Judith Owen Judith Owen has relentlessly followed her muse, independently releasing recordings that have captivated fans, Hollywood music supervisors, fellow artists and the most discerning critics. With the same determination she has applied to finding her voice, she has also found her audience. Her albums and tours have led to her being featured by NBC's "Today Show" and NPR's "Weekend Edition Sunday" and lauded by The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The Washington Post and many others.Equal parts musicality and wit, Owen's music combines pop, rock, jazz, classical, R&B and theatrical influences. Variety effusively describes her as "a charmer and a seducer, a rocker, and a jazz chanteuse." The Los Angeles Times, in a Sunday Calendar profile, called Owen "whip smart, soulfully cool and deeply introspective." The Washington Post praises Owen's "rare talent for effortlessly crossing genres" adding, "her alluring vocals are a gift that keeps on giving." $25

4/3 7:30 Barbara Brussell "Brilliance from on High...BORN IN THE BRONX" $20

9:45 Judith Owen $25

11PM-2AM Piano Lounge

4/4 5PM Shaynee Rainbolt "Charmed Life: Shaynee Rainbolt Sings Russell Garcia" featuring Shaynee Rainbolt and her Four Trombone Band. Whether Russell Garcia was composing film scores In Hollywood (The Time Machine, Atlantis the Lost Continent, Charlie Chaplin's Limelight etc.), arranging for Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Anita O'Day, Julie London, Blossom Dearie, Mel Torme, or Frances Faye (to name just a few) or composing ground-breaking modern symphonic Jazz for Stan Kenton in the 50's, it is undisputed that Garcia's musical contributions created the template by which so much of our modern movie music, big band and pop-jazz have sprung. Garcia literally wrote the book on arranging that musicians around the world have relied on since the 40's, and he continues to write, teach and perform today at the tender age of 92.MAC Award wining singer Shaynee Rainbolt has gone into the studio with this legendary composer/arranger to create the first-ever vocal album of Russ Garcia originals. In concert, Shaynee brings us Russ Garcia's music - originals as well as some of your favorite standards, ALL ARRANGED BY GARCIA for Shaynee and her Four Trombone Band, "taking us all back to the the Glory Days of swing and singer-fronted big bands with a mix of warm nostalgia and present-day adventurousness" (Jazz Improv) with "a voice, sweet as jasmine and honeysuckle, bold as brass and yet as seductive as a candlelit boudoir." (Jazz Times). "Rainbolt, with her vocal ability and appreciation, becomes the perfect conduit to introduce in one package these soon to be classic songs." (WHPC 90.3 FM) $20

7:30PM Barbara Brussell "Brilliance from on High...BORN IN THE BRONX" $20

9:45PM Judith Owen $25

11PM-2AM Piano Lounge

4/5 4PM Meg Flather "More View Points" After thirteen years writing, recording and promoting her five original contemporary folk/rock albums, singer/songwriter Meg Flather returns to her Cabaret roots with a unique twist. In her return to The Metropolitan Room, Meg takes a fresh look at the classic and contemporary musical theater standard that inspired her to perform once upon a time, but with her original compositions mirroring each choice. With Paul Greenwood on piano, John Mettam on drums and guitar and Jamie Rogers on bass, it is sure to be a refreshing twist to the typical one woman show. $20

7PM Lennie Watts "Manilow ‘73-‘83" Multi MAC, Bistro, & Nightlife Award winning vocalist, Lennie Watts brings his critically acclaimed show, "Manilow '73-‘83" back for one night only! "The songs are vocally demanding, full of big key changes and don't always leave lot of room to catch your breath. In this walloping new show, "Manilow: 73-83," Watts ebulliently rises to the occasion like a True Blue Technicolor Miracle as he belts through a high-energy hour of all things Manilow." Accompanied by his remarkable band led by musical director Steven Ray Watkins on piano with Jerry Smith on drums and Matt Wigton on bass, along with Tanya Holt, Karen Mack and Alisa Schiff on backup vocals, Watts delivers a "High Voltage" evening of music. "The only thing Lennie Watts lacks in his new show, are smoke machines and holographs. In their place, Lennie Watts substitutes interpretation, bringing the songs alive through his life. He is funny, he is winsome, he is heartbreaking." All proceeds go to Help Is On The Way Today, an inclusive organization for all children, specifically, to aid cases in which current government sponsored programs fall short in covering existing medical expenses.$20

 

9:30PM Jade Bartlett and Nick Boddington "Sound and Fury" New songwriters Jade and Nick are making their debut at the Metropolitan
Room. Their music is heavily influenced by piano pop, classic R&B, and folk styles. Jade and Nick have been writing songs together for some time, and have known each other even longer, both hailing from Memphis, TN where they met competing against one another in a talent competition. Both attended acting and music school in Manhattan, and live on Riverside with their adorable and bionic cat, Dinah. $10

4/6 7PM Chuck Cooper "Blackberry Tones" They say "the blacker the berry the sweeter the juice". Well the same is true of the distinctly American sound of the black baritone. In his new act "Blackberry Tones", Tony Award winner Chuck Cooper sings the music of Lou Rawls, Joe Williams, and Johnny Hartman. Come taste some Jazz, Blues, and some sweetly crooned ballads. $25

9:30PM Martin Vidnovic "Martin Vidnovic Sings Broadway...With a Few Exceptions" Martin Returns to the Metropolitan Room after playing Signor Naccarelli in The Pioneer Theatre's production of THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA. Before that he played Bellomy in Tom Jones' revival of THE FANTASTICKS at The Jerry Orbach Theatre. Prior to that Martin toured nationally as the King in THE KING AND I starring Sandy Duncan, starred with Bebe Neuwirth in HERE LIES JENNY at the Post Street Theatre in San Francisco, and then played Grandfather in the world premier of Tony Kushner's play BUT THE JIRAFFE at The New Victory Theatre. Martin received a Tony nomination as Tommy in BRIGADOON. His other Broadway credits include a Drama Desk Award for Nick in Maltby and Shire's BABY, an L.A. Drama Critic's Award as Jud in OKLAHOMA!, during it's pre-Broadway tour, Lun Tha in THE KING AND I and Antinuous in HOME SWEET HOMER, both starring Yul Brynner, Sky Masterson in Jerry Zaks award winning revival of GUYS AND DOLLS, King Saul in Disney's KING DAVID, and a Backstage Bistro Award for The Roundabout Theatre's production of A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING when it premiered at The Rainbow And Stars cabaret. He also has appeared at The King Cole Room, Rainbow And Stars, and The Kennedy Center's Terrace Theatre in revues by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, and Irving Berlin. Martin can be heard as the voice of the King in the animated feature film of THE KING AND I now in CD and DVD release $25

 

4/7 7PM Patti Wicks "Songs of Love and April" Jazz pianist/vocalist Patti Wicks, accompanied by bassist Linc Milliman, presents songs of love and spring-the joy of new love, the bittersweet memories of lost love, featuring songs of love in April. $20

9:30PM Annie Ross Annie Ross is one of the pioneers of vocalese and the composer of "Twisted", one of the most well known examples of that art, as well as "Farmers Market", "Jackie" and many others. A founding member of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, considered the greatest jazz vocal ensemble of all time, her influence is present in all subsequent practitioners of vocalese. "Twisted" has been recorded by a host of vocalists, including some not normally associated with jazz, including Joni Mitchell and Bette Midler. $25

 

4/8 7:30PM Patti Wicks "Songs of Love and April" $20

9:45PM Lee Torica "Sings East and West" Lee Torchia is a singer of Jazz Standards whose voice has been described as "Beautiful". Her CD: "Loverman" has been reviewed on ITUNES as "Oh jazz, Oh jazz...Highly recommended!" She is included in the newly released "Jazz Singers Book" by Scott Yanow". But what really makes her special is her musical journey to the East and her 20-year discipleship with the renowned Pandit Pran Nath (1918-1996). Lee is an acclaimed singer of East Indian Classical Music, whose audience members describe their experience as "Cosmic", "So mesmerizing", and oNe Young adult exclaimed, "This is better than the Hard Rock Café". Lee is going to give her jazz audience a taste of this experience tonight by ending the evening with a special performance of a complete Classical Raga (alap, vilambit and drut) in five minutes. Lee will sing songs from her Jazz CD, "Loverman", debut originals, and end with a surprise premiere of a "Five-Minute Classical Indian Raga". $15

 

4/9 7:30PM Patti Wicks "Songs of Love and April" $20

 

4/10 7:30PM Barbara Brussell "Brilliance from on High...BORN IN THE BRONX" $20

9:45PM Patti Wicks "Songs of Love and April" $20

11PM-2AM Piano Lounge

 

4/11 5PM Grace Cosgrove GRACE COSGROVE RETURNS TO THE METROPOLITAN ROOM! IN JUMP/CUT, HER EXCITING AND PROVOCATIVE CABARET ACT GRACE, ALONG WITH HER MUSICAL DIRECTOR Tedd Firth AND DIRECTOR ERIC Michael GillETT, EXPLORES CONTEMPORARY LIFE IN THE QUIRKY YET ELEGANT WAY THAT ONLY SHE CAN. JUMP/CUT IS A COLLECTION OF SONGS AND STORIES THAT ALLOW GRACE TO ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT HER LIFE AS IT IS TODAY AND HOW THE JOY OF MUSIC HAS ILLUMINATED HER WORLD AND ALL OF OURS. $15.00

7:30PM Barbara Brussell "Brilliance from on High...BORN IN THE BRONX" 420

9:45 Patti Wicks "Songs of Love and April" $20

11PM-2AM Piano Lounge

 

4/12 7PM Eddie Bruce "Bruce on Bennett" Eddie Bruce is the consummate entertainer. For more than 25 years, he has been performing his unique repertoire of music that ranges from Top 40, R & B, Disco and house music to Swing and Sinatra. His interest in music began when he was a child, and he has never wavered from this passion. He has blended his natural entrepreneurial skills with his love of music and created one of the most successful orchestras in the region and one of the best reputations as a much sought-after performer. Whether he's entertaining a group of 50 or 500, there's no one better as the leader of an orchestra that entertains at social and corporate events. A regular at Caesar's in Atlantic City, the Eddie Bruce Orchestra has also performed at Bally's Park Place, the Etess Arena of Trump Taj Mahal as well as such major events as the prestigious Grand Gala Opening of the Kimmel Center for The Performing Arts in Philadelphia. Added to his great satisfaction in producing outstanding musical events and celebrations, Eddie Bruce has a dual-career as a cabaret artist. He has performed cabaret in the past ten years at Bally's in Atlantic City, Odette's in New Hope and in New York at 88's, The Supper Club and Danny's. $20

9:30PM Jason Walker "One Voice, One Keyboard, One Evening" Billboard #1 Recording Artist Jason Walker joins forces with musician

extraordinaire Rami Ramirez to bring you all new Walker/Ramirez compositions plus a few surprises! The sound can be described as "John Mayer meets Celine Dion" and if you're tilting your head wondering....Come see for yourself! $10

 

4/13 7PM Chuck Cooper "Blackberry Tones" $25

9:45PM Martin Vidnovic "Martin Vidnovic Sings Broadway...With a Few Exceptions" $25

 

4/14 7PM Aaron Lee Battle

9:30PM Annie Ross $25

 

4/15 7:30PM ALFIO Australian native ALFIO makes his Metropolitan Room. Considered one of the great voices in contemporary music today, ALFIO is a modern throwback to the legendary crooners to which he is often compared. Following a Top 10 record in Australia on Warner Music and a successful tour around the world, ALFIO returns to New York to perform for one night only. This international sensation, known as the "Voice of Passion," extends his love of music through his voice and tenor range. An accomplished songwriter and musician, ALFIO will be performing songs from his new album "CLASSIC REWINDS," a tribute to some of the greatest Italian-American singers of our time such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and many more, singing classics, contemporary and Italian songs he loves. Come to the show and enjoy an evening filled with stellar vocals, beautiful music and Australian charm. $20

9:45PM Luciano Troja and Giancarlo Mazzu Jazz tradition, spontaneous composition, counterpoint, Italian melody of the end of '800, music for theatre, and a bit of humour. Giancarlo Mazzù, on guitar and Luciano Troja, on piano, make the debut at Metropolitan Room. The Italian jazz duo takes inspirations from various musical influences. "Seven Tales About Standards Vol. 2" is their second CD about a creative approach to the most famous tunes of the American Songbook.
Premiere new CD, produced and released by the prestigious italian jazz label Splasc(H) Records. $15

4/16 7:30PM Baby Jane Dexter "If" Hold on! Baby Jane Dexter brings her brand new show, IF (what might have been...what could have been...what is!) back to the Metropolitan Room for 9 shows. The program will include songs from Rodgers & Hammerstein, Leslie Bricusse, Bacharach & David, Harry Nilsson, Lucinda Williams, Kander & Ebb and Bonnie Bramlett. Ross Patterson is Music Director/Arranger. Boots Maleson is on bass. The show was conceived and directed by Elissa Patterson. $25

4/17 7:30PM Baby Jane Dexter "If" $25

11PM-2AM Piano Lounge

 

4/18 5PM Rob Langeder "Any Place I Hang My Hat" MAC Award-winning vocalist Rob Langeder presents a raucous romp through all-time song favorites - as well as a few lesser-known gems! This terrific tune-fest includes songs made famous by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat Cole and Elvis Costello among others! "A major talent who made cabaret richer by his presence." - John Hoglund, TheaterScene.net. With The Fortune 5 featuring Musical Director Fortune Esposito on guitar and special guest Jenna Esposito $20

7:30PM Baby Jane Dexter "If" $25

9:45PM Anna Bergman "My Heart Stood Still: The Love Songs of Richard Rodgers" Anna Bergman, celebrated singer and actress, has been hailed by The Washington Post as "a songstress who has triumphed in everything from Broadway-flavored tunes to opera arias and the sultry innuendoes of the cabaret chanteuse" and called "the real prize" by Variety. Anna enjoys an international career performing in concerts, cabaret, theatre, opera and on television and recordings. Anna is delighted to return to the Metropolitan Room where she premiered her acclaimed show Wherever Love Takes Me in the fall of 2007. Anna just returned from London where she performed at Pizza on the Park in Jeff Harnar's American Songbook in London. Other recent appearances include 59E59 Theatre in Jeff Harnar's 1959 Broadway Songbook, Lincoln Center's American Songbook (a tribute to David Zippel with Barbara Cook); a concert version of The Light in the Piazza (as Margaret) with Adam Guettel at Seattle's Intiman Theatre, and a return engagement in September '08 at Feinstein's at Loews Regency with her new show My Heart Stood Still: The Love Songs of Richard Rodgers. She has performed in the Kennedy Center's Sondheim Celebration in A Little Night Music and as soloist in Carnegie Hall's centennial tribute to Ira Gershwin, at the White House, with the Pasadena Pops Orchestra and in The Women with Maureen Lipman at the King's Head Theatre in London. $20

11PM-2AM Piano Lounge

 

4/19 4PM Loli Marquez-Sterling "Shaken Not Stirred" Life is like a cocktail, straight up, neat on the rocks or Shaken not Stirred and Loli and her 9 musicians invite you to a cocktail party to end all cocktail parties With her show Shaken not Stirred Loli takes you on a journey infused with her Cuban heritage, and mixed with cocktail in hand. Her satisfying concoctions will invigorate and stimulate the room. Maybe it's the cocktail, maybe not. $20

7PM Scott Barbarino and The Bev Naps "One Night Only" Many drinks later, crooner/comedian Scott Barbarino returns with his retro Doo-Wop vocal comedy group, The Bev-Naps. The show, featuring tight harmonies and lots of the old group's classic shtick, will include many of the songs ("Ain't That A Kick In The Head?", "You Belong To Me", "Sea Cruise" and "Twilight Time") that had audiences thoroughly entertained as they joined the antics and strolled down memory lane. Marle Becker of WBAI described them as being "like Rodney Dangerfield and the McGuire Sisters meet the Rat Pack on "Saturday Night Live!" They're cool, campy and committed---or at least they should be." Winners of the 1999 & 2000 MAC Awards for Vocal Group & Musical Comedy Group, Peter Leavy of Cabaret Scenes said, "Those who want to spend an hour smiling and feeling good should catch this group." The Bev-Naps are Musical Director Kevin Ray, Stephen Tyler Davis, Brandon Ellis, and Eric Engelhardt. The show promises "to induce pangs of nostalgia!" with guest Ruth-Anne Bender.

$20

9:30PM Yvonne Constant Yvonne has brought to you la Chanson Realiste from the 20's to the 30's, followed by "The Road To Piaf" and the men in her life. Now she brings to you songs of the 60's that are closer to you. "There Is Life After Piaf"! $20

 

4/20 7PM Bipolar Bipolar is a jazz quintet which plays insanely inventive

arrangements of music written between 1720 and 2009 by composers as varied as J.S. Bach, Miles Davis, Maurice Ravel, Toots Thielemans, Cole Porter, Jed Feuer, Johannes Brahms, Paul McCartney, Gabriel Faure, Richard Rodgers, Craig Swanson, Claude Debussy, & Ludwig Van Beethoven. The critics rave: "This Jed Feuer led crew brings it on in fine form in the classic Blue Note/Verve sense, the familiar tracks draw you in but the playing keeps you tuned in with a bunch of fearless new charts that will make you sit up and pay attention." "Their rendition of Beethoven's "Op. 130 will surprise you, and you'll hear their talent shining right through." "HIGHLY RECOMMENDED" "Swanson's ‘9/13' swings solidly as Stephanie Long's reeds on this

tune bounce you right on down the highway, & make for a very pleasant journey."

Please supply a bio or web site where one may be obtained- Jed Feuer, noted composer of "Eating Raoul", who is currently writing an opera based on Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five", founded Bipolar in 2005. With Feuer on trumpet & flügelhorn, Stephanie Long on saxophones & flute, Craig Swanson at the

piano, David Ostrem on double bass, and Barbara Merjan on drums,Bipolar is paving new roads into jazz repertoires and performance possibilities. Relying on strongly tailored arrangements of tunes as wide-ranging as Bach's B minor prelude to Joe Henderson's Serenity, as well as captivating originals by Feuer and Swanson, Bipolar draws from the most unusual and eclectic pool of source material to be used by a jazz quintet. Audiences respond with roaring approval. $20

9:30PM Martin Vidnovic "Martin Vidnovic Sings Broadway...With a Few Exceptions" $25

 

4/21 9:30 Annie Ross $25

 

4/22 7:30PM Anna Bergman "My Heart Stood Still: The Love Songs of Richard Rodgers" $20

 

4/23 7:30PM Baby Jane Dexter "If" $25

9:45PM Gerard Edery

 

4/24 7:30PM Baby Jane Dexter "If" $25

9:45PM The Bobs Think Monty Python meets Manhattan Transfer meets... Robin Williams. This Grammy-nominated vocal band has released 14 albums and 3 DVDs and earned a healthy cult following with their rule-breaking musical malfeasance. No genre is safe from their satire, and their recent release, GET YOUR MONKEY OFF MY DOG was named to the Top 25 Independent CDs of 2008. "You'll figuratively lie on your back just like a trusting puppy and let the four of them musically scratch your belly with dizzy ditty after dizzy ditty. You'll probably also go all gaga between songs, when they can barely stop swapping patter lines that may be on-the-spot ad-libs or possibly one-time ad-libs that by now are scripted to seem tossed off in the giddy moment... their harmonies are subtle, practiced, and impossible to take issue with... just as strong and pure soloing as they are in tandem."- BACKSTAGE, New York "The songs themselves are well-arranged, joyful, and in most cases, hysterical. ... rewarding ear-candy of the best kind... It's hard to be funny without being corny, and hard to be intelligent without being overly clever and trite. The Bobs succeed on these fronts, and Get Your Monkey Off My Dog is a welcome listen in any genre."-indiemusic.com $25

11:45 Q Talk

 

4/25 5PM Rob Langeder "Any Place I Hang My Hat" $20

7:30PM Baby Jane Dexter "If" $25

9:45PM Anna Bergman "My Heart Stood Still: The Love Songs of Richard Rodgers" $20

11PM-2AM Piano Lounge

 

4/26 4PM Loli Marquez-Sterling "Shaken Not Stirred" $20

7PM The Bobs "Get Your Monkey Off My Dog" $25

 

4/27 7PM Bipolar $20

 

4/28 7PM Aaron Lee Battle

9:30PM Annie Ross $25

 

4/29 7:30 Anna Bergman "My Heart Stood Still: The Love Songs of Richard Rodgers" $20

9:45PM Yana Chupenko Downtown Diva Yana Chupenko in her solo rockin' cabaret act - expect the unexpected as Yana showcases a voice that tears into everything from Streisand to Judas Priest. A Soviet refugee and punk metal goddess, Yana fronted one of the first NYC all-girl hardcore punk bands, PMS (Pre-Metal Syndrome), the seminal thrash-metal band Wench and her most recent hard rock outfit, Shiny Mama, all of which released full-length albums, and toured Europe. Previously she has appeared at The Zipper Theatre in Lady, Lady, Lady. Yana also made her debut in her first ever solo show, 'Torch It', at that recently gone venue. Yana also made a guest appearance in 'Gospel of Dolly' performance - at Our Lady J's two sold out shows in Dec ‘08. She is also a regular participant in Cathy Cervenka's annual Madonnathon and Love Bites, as well as Adam Dugas' Chaos & Candy and Vernal Hoodoo, and is an alumnus of Don Hill's Bitch. $15

4/30 7:30PM Baby Jane Dexter "If" $25

9:45PM Cracked Ice "Lost Souls" Cracked Ice, the NYC-based, 7-piece classic/nouveau soul ensemble, will begin its "Lost Soul" series on April 30 at The Metropolitan Room. The show will feature originals from the band's 2008 debut "Soul Noir" (with singers Susan D. and Brent Carter), choice and rare covers (including the band's recent ‘beach music'/Northern Soul hit "Sweet Feeling", written by Candi Staton), and special guest star Barbara Harris, lead singer of the Toys/"Lover's Concerto". Come on and let the good times roll. . . . $10

 

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