Gatsby Summer Afternoon

        

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Bio:

      I am first and mostly a songwriter. I write in many styles, including early jazz, folk, rock, country, blues. I have also written songs for a street theater/cabaret production based on scenes from Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, mostly for the women in the play. .

     I sing my own songs as well as jazz standards, and perform with the Apollo Jazz Group, a swing band; and the San Francisco Starlight Orchestra, a 20's and 30's big band. I have also performed as a dancer with many bands, including Mal Sharpe's Big Money in Jazz and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. I have studied Isadora Duncan dance for over 12 years and now study and perform with Mary Sano and her Duncan Dancers in San Francisco.

     In the early 80's, I was a member of the Coop, a musicians' cooperative in New York. Each month we put out a record, the Fast Folk Musical Magazine, and I recorded Daddy's Paddy Wagon (also on my album 10 Years Before). These recordings are now in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC, as a nationally recognized folk music archive. In 1988, I lived in Nashville and was in the chorus of a weekly TV show, Bobby Jones Gospel -- quite a departure for me, and I loved it. We also appeared at the Nashville Summer Lights Festival and in the Tennessee Repertory Theater production of Jesus Christ Superstar.

     Having grown up with classical, Broadway, and folk music, I consider a good melody most important in a song, as well as lyrics that make sense. I love the process of songwriting, though I agree with Randy Newman that it can be "agonizing." (But exhilarating too, Randy!) I love performing, and consider recording a necessary evil -- though it gets easier over the years, thanks to technology and a more positive attitude.

      These days I am busy working on a new CD which will be out later this year. In the meantime, my second CD, Lady in Waiting, is now available on CDBaby.com.  I'm really into variety! This new album includes many styles: Romantic Celtic-type ballads, swing, bluesy folk, and even a medical marijuana song -- listen for "Marijuana Madness" on "underground" radio!

     Also available fromCDBaby.com is my previous album, 10 Years Before. These are songs I performed with Bill Ring and Ironwood 10+ years ago, many with new vocals, mixes, &/or arrangements, others unchanged. "The Night You Told Me (My Body Was a Must)" was written by Rick Barse and Nevele Adams, both deceased and dearly loved. The last four songs are four of Bill's best and some of my favorites. Altogether over 70 minutes of music! The style ranges from folk to blues to rock to country. Click the titles to hear them.

     My earlier releases include: