July Preview Catch-Up on Cabaret

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                                                                                                             I’m smiling and tapping my foot while typing up this column because I am listening to Jennifer Grimm’s CD from back in 2008.  The singer-songwriter has a cozy, cool, smooth, retro sound and I am looking forward to seeing her again when she returns to Metropolitan Room on July 25. The recording has its own built-in two-drink minimum with two of its laidback numbers – there’s the infectious “Sasparilla” and then “We’ll sip a glass of lemonade,” goes the lyric to “Second Honeymoon”

(rhyming with something that gives the album its title: After Noon... and the music goes down as easy as that refreshing beverage so suitable for July, which begins this Friday.  Yes, July is upon us.  The first July thing on my schedule involves that same club at 344 West 22 Street, with a meeting with my fellow permanent judges and others involved in their weekly summer singing contest, MetroStar Talent Challenge.  Hey, singers and newbies with raw talent and raw nerve, you still have time to submit an application to participate in the contest to be seen and compete for a major engagement at the venue.  Last year’s winner, T. Oliver Reed, got major coverage in The New York Times, was invited to perform in The Cabaret Convention in Jazz at Lincoln Center and just did a return engagement at the club.  If you have friends with singing talent who might be out of the cabaret loop, tell them to get the scoop at www.metropolitanroom.com --- Age is not an issue and it’s great exposure with weekly audiences.  And the audience gets to vote, too, on the Monday summer evenings which begin on July 11.       

After our meeting to discuss the structure of the competition, the club will be hosting another weekly event, the MetroJam open mic.  Yes, I said “weekly.”  It used to be a monthly thing, but, as of this week, it becomes an every-Friday event with sparkly singing hostess Jenna Esposito providing featured guests, home-made cookies, and opportunities for attendees to take the stage.  Those attendees have often been talented established and new-to-the-scene musicians, a few hobbyist types, and you can often get a preview of upcoming cabaret shows.  I’ve attended many of them and always catch someone interesting and someone new to me and an old pro.  Speaking of open mics, one of my favorite topics, there’s more.  Back from a hiatus, the usually-weekly (except when it’s not) MAC and Bistro Award-winning open mic, The Salon, returns as a Sunday fixture at Etcetera, Etcetera on West 44 Street near Ninth Avenue.  And at another restaurant, another open mic can keep you singing or listening --- pianist-songwriter-singer-host-bon vivant Bill Zeffiro, with songbird Marissa Mulder, has just resumed his weekly duties at La Mediterrenee, where there are other pianists at the keys on other nights.  Bill is the go-to guy to go to see on Tuesdays, starting at 8pm.  The location is Second Avenue near East 50 Street. If you want to do a double header on Tuesdays, it’s just a hop, skip and a jump into a cab or crosstown bus ---or a healthy summer stroll --- to West 50 Street for the Iridium’s weekly later Tuesdays for The Follow Spot, where show tunes are on the menu, along with some tasty food and drink.  Follow Spot follows the club’s weekly big band shows, with July stars including the Johnny Rodgers Band on July 12 and Karen Mason the next week.  The Duplex on Christopher Street and Seventh Avenue, has its own weekly late night open mics and variety packs for night owls on Fridays and Saturdays. 

There are two chances in July to see Liza Minnelli and her Mama at Don’t Tell Mama, by which I mean Rick Skye and Tommy Femia going over the rainbow and over the top in full belting, mascara-ed, sequined glory as the legends.  The dates are July 9 and 23.  There is something unique and very sweet and happening this time around when they’re at the West 46 Street longtime cabaret haunt where every night is open mic night, but I have temporarily been sworn to secrecy. Stay tuned.  My lips are sealed. 

You have only one chance during the month to catch red-hot redheaded heady sing-with-zing vocalist Shaynee Rainbolt at The Sugar Bar on West 72 Street, so mark your calendar for July 8, a Friday.  It is a monthly thing usually, except if she’s the featured singer at major concert events with a major jazz legend, as she recently was in New Zealand and Australia.  Now she’s performing quite a bit closer to home, with two sets and just one $10 cover at this cool venue owned by Ashford & Simpson.  She sometimes works with pianist Janice Friedman, who is also in the spotlight with her trio at The Kitano, the jazz mecca on Park Avenue and East 38 Street.  The date is July 20.  Janice also sent me an e-mail with a heads up that she’s releasing an album that is partly instrumental and partly vocal, titled, appropriately Half and Half.  But there’s no half and half way in how I feel about her talent: she’s super all the way.   

Catch-Up on Cabaret is made possible by the generosity of Jamie deRoy and friends – the next edition of this variety show is July 27 at  Metropolitan Room.  Jamie’s guests include two of this year’s MAC Award winners: songwriter/performer Mary Liz McNamara and guitarist-songwriter-sometime vocalist Sean Harkness.  Also on the bill” Kevin Meany, Helen Anker and Andrew Halliday.  As usual, this spells “variety,” as Jamie’s shows are known to feature performers from the intersecting worlds of musical theatre, cabaret, comedy, jazz, and rhythm and schmooze.