The patrons in Cafe Centro got a surprise and major dose of great music at Rob Russel’s Open Mic night last night. Award Winning Danny Bacher who was recently nominated as Best Jazz Vocalist in JAZZTIMES National Readers Poll (along with Harry Connick, John Pizzarelli and Tony Bennett ) was in between gigs in South Florida and joined the musical festivites.
Danny Bacher is having a moment right now, and it’s one that is certainly well-earned and well-deserved. The bell-voiced singer with a knack for swing spent the last year presenting his brand of virtual concert through Metropolitan Zoom and, from the onset, he fit into the medium with finesse and flair. With his gift for crooning and his master at the tenor sax, he has been able to continue entertaining the multitudes of fans he has picked up during his years in the clubs and concert halls, even reaching the fans who can’t catch live shows regularly, due to living out of town. On top of the success of his virtual shows, earlier this month Danny was named one of the Best Male Vocalists in the jazz industry in the JazzTimes 2020 Readers’ Poll. This should surprise no one. Mr. Bacher is an entertainer of unsurpassed charm and wide-ranging talents, whether he’s making music with his woodwind or his vocal cords, preserving the music of the past or writing music for the present, or even performing as an actor or comic. The man has flair and finesse, and when you add that to talent, you win fans and awards.
Voting conducted via an online survey posted on our website
Male Vocalist
Gregory Porter
Kurt Elling
Danny Bacher
Tony Bennett
Pianist
Chick Corea
Keith Jarrett*
Brad Mehldau*
Herbie Hancock
Fred Hersch
Keyboardist
Herbie Hancock
Chick Corea
Craig Taborn
Hiromi
Organist
Joey DeFrancesco
Dr. Lonnie Smith
Larry Goldings*
John Medeski*
Cory Henry
Guitarist
Bill Frisell
John Pizzarelli
Pat Metheny
Peter Bernstein
Acoustic Bassist
Christian McBride
Esperanza Spalding
Ron Carter
Dave Holland
Electric Bassist
Esperanza Spalding
Marcus Miller
Steve Swallow
Victor Wooten
Vibraphonist
Joel Ross
Stefon Harris
Warren Wolf
Sasha Berliner
Percussionist
Zakir Hussain
Marilyn Mazur
Airto Moreira
Poncho Sanchez
Drummer
Jack DeJohnette
Brian Blade
Antonio Sánchez
Terri Lyne Carrington
Female Vocalist
Angela Verbrugge
Cécile McLorin Salvant
Diana Krall
Veronica Swift
Composer
Daniel Hersog
Maria Schneider
Wayne Shorter
Carla Bley
Arranger
Maria Schneider
Daniel Hersog
Wynton Marsalis
Carla Bley
Misc. Instrumentalist
Béla Fleck (banjo)
Anja Lechner (cello)
Tomeka Reid (cello)
Ben Rosenblum (accordion)
Vocal Group
Manhattan Transfer
Take 6
The Royal Bopsters
New York Voices
In March, when the show business industry of Manhattan shut down, artists of the cabaret and concert industry discovered, relatively quickly, that there was an audience online. Through Facebook and Instagram live posts, artists could reach the public, have a chance to perform, and raise money through virtual tip jars. Then artists discovered Zoom and a world (literally) of performance possibilities opened up to them.
On Friday June 19, I got ready to go out for a night of cabaret. I got dressed, poured a drink, and headed to my living room. For the next hour and half, I was serenaded, entertained, and made to laugh by the talented Danny Bacher. The one-man show was streamed live on Metropolitan Zoom, a leader in virtual cabaret, jazz, and comedy club experiences.
With the presentation of his show through MetropolitanZoom, Danny Bacher has taken online performing to a place that is, at once, completely new and thoroughly comfortable for him. It necessitated a little grunt work around the house for the gifted jazz musician to make the leap to the internet airwaves, but it was well worth it for him and for his audience. When the audience for Danny Bacher IN THE HOUSE logged in to the Zoom Room provided by MetropolitanZoom they had no vision of Mr. Bacher sitting in his living room or his office, playing his saxophone in front of the fireplace of french doors – they got their favorite jazz crooner parked in front of a microphone with a shimmery curtain behind him, all lit up with brightly colored lamps, just like he was on the stage at The Beach Cafe. For 90 minutes the crowd of family and fans watched Mr. Bacher put on an extremely enjoyable act filled with stellar singing and stunning sax playing. So much does Bacher excel at the two skills that make up his occupation that it is difficult to say which is more entertaining – suffice it to say, when Danny Bacher puts on a show, the audience is twice blessed.
When Danny Bacher sings “I Love Being Here with You” (Peggy Lee/William Schluger/additional lyrics Danny Bacher) he really means it. Few artists exude such palpable pleasure in performing. High spirited ease makes him as welcome as an old family friend.
The Green Room 42
570 Tenth Ave
4th Floor inside YOTEL
Friday February 21
For information and reservations, please click here
Posted on November 2, 2019 by in Playing Around on https://www.womanaroundtown.com/sections/playing-around/frank-loesser-heart-and-soul/
Frank Henry Loesser (1910-1969) learned piano by ear. He held a wide variety of jobs in order to contribute to family income, including literally singing for his supper, then secured music contracts with several publishers in Tin Pan Alley. Loesser wrote for Hollywood – notably “See What the Boys in The Back Room Will Have” (music-Friedrich Hollaender) – the ridiculously ‘me-too’ contested “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” and the charming songs of Hans Christian Anderson.
By Myra Chanin – Originally published at https://www.theaterpizzazz.com/cabaret-convention-celebrates-frank-loesser-second-night/
Frank Loesser is considered one of the most versatile of all Broadway composers. He started out writing lyrics for Hollywood movies and ended up writing complete scores for Tony winning musicals. He was born in the summer of 1929 when men were lighting cigars with $10 bills and before he was six months old, the same guys were paupers, flinging themselves out of windows.
Singer, saxophonist, and entertainer Danny Bacher will be joined by the iconic Marilyn Maye and popular saxophonist Harry Allen with the swinging Pat Longo’s Hollywood East Coast Big Band at the Annunciation Center’s Dolan Hall on the campus of the College of Saint Elizabeth. New signage will make it easy to find this comfortable, accessible concert hall.
NJJS Members will enjoy a special low advanced sale ticket price of only $20.00 with the discount code: NJJSDANNY.
June 25, 2019
The Laurie Beechman Theatre, NYC
The Laurie Beechman Theatre was the site of the first annual ASA (American Songbook Association) Margaret Whiting Award. Sponsored by the ASA and underwritten by Debbi Bush Whiting and My Ideal Music, the 2019 award was presented to singer-tenor saxophonist-songwriter Danny Bacher. The evening featured performances by past winners of the Award (when it was sponsored by the Mabel Mercer Foundation) Celia Berk, Natalie Douglas, Eric Yves Garcia, and Josephine Sanges. Tex Arnold, who was Margaret’s music director, was the MD for the night, and Saadi Zain was on bass. As the audience arrived, they were treated to the vocals of Margaret Whiting over the sound system. As the musicians took the stage, Marilyn Lester, Executive Director of the ASA, greeted the crowd and introduced the first performer. The performers told a brief story about Margaret between their two songs. Frank Dain, treasurer of the ASA and editor of Cabaret Scenes magazine, invited Danny to the stage and read a letter from Todd Murray, another previous winner who could not be there. Frank introduced Debbi who presented the award to Danny. After his very funny thank yous, including a site gag that loses its impact in words, he performed two songs. He was then joined by Celia, Debbi, Natalie, and Josephine for a lovely version of “Time After Time.” Before they sang, Debbi explained that Margaret was thrilled to learn that her version of the song was used in the film Julie & Julia.
See the full article and more images at http://cabaretscenes.org/2019/06/27/2019-asa-margaret-whiting-award/
by Marilyn Lester
Last autumn, jazz singer and soprano sax player Danny Bacher released his second CD, Still Happy. That he is. Bacher is a purveyor of happiness, born under a lucky star. He’s a Renaissance man, a polymath of talent––a saxophonist, vocalist, composer, educator, actor, writer/playwright, and comedian––who’s a master of all trades and on a mission to spread joy. Now at that mid-life point where the road behind and the road ahead are more or less equal, he’s got a solid perspective of the elements of his life that have informed his “now” and the direction he’d like to travel in.
By Marilyn Lester
Each May the Mabel Mercer Foundation (MMF) salutes the work of a great American songbook composer at a fête in NYC’s Weill Recital Hall. It’s always a happy, festive affair, as a bevy of cabaret artists take the stage to interpret the work of the honoree. This year’s tribute to Jerome Kern was no less a celebratory success. An excellent cast highlighted the work of the man most noted for the classic musical, Showboat, but who also wrote many of the great standards we know and prize. As always, MMF Artistic Director and cabaret doyenne, KT Sullivan, hosted with gracious aplomb, herself offering the comically infused “Just Let Me Look at You” and “Bungalow in Quogue” as well as a heartfelt “The Last Time I Saw Paris.”
Just let me look at you/Don’t talk, don’t break the spell… teases Mabel Mercer Foundation’s Artistic Director/vocalist KT Sullivan, settling her gaze on familiar audience faces. Tonight’s honoree is one of her favorite composers. When not introducing or performing, Sullivan sits on the sidelines beaming like a mother hen. This beautifully produced salute features a variety of veteran and freshly honed talent, beloved and lesser known material. An unqualified hit.
Check back soon for the full article and images from the event!
How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Listen to your grandparent’s Big Band and Swing recordings and WNEW’s Make Believe Ballroom, learn how to play a musical instrument, and start singing, preferably not later than the freshman year of high school. Thank goodness our grandparents kept the old records and tapes, bless their hearts. They clearly had an uncanny instinct that their vinyl treasures would live again one day. And, who among us doesn’t want to assume the role of a jocular disc jockey for a precocious grandchild?
It was a happy time at Cafe Centro last night. Danny Bacher brought his Jazz, Vocals, and Comedy to the Cabaret and joined forces with the Michael Masci trio. Danny has all the talents to perfectly pay homage to the three musician entertainers he celebrated in his show….Louis Armstrong, Louis Prima, and Louis Jordan. Danny plays “happy music” and his enthusiasm and joy transferred to the Cafe Centro audience. As they say, “the joint was jumpin”, with Michael on piano, Paul Shewchuck on bass, and Cielo Blue, drums.
The song titles alone on soprano saxophonist and vocalist Danny Bacher’s sophomore release provide a pre-listening hint of what to expect: They contain words like joy, fun, lucky, hooray, laughing, and—three separate times—happy.
Article By Dan Kassell
Whaling City Sound picked singer-soprano sax player-composer, Danny Bacher to record, and Danny picked Allen Farnham (piano), Dean Johnson (bass), Samuel Martinelli (drums), Harry Allen (tenor sax) and Charles Caranicas (trumpet), for Feinstein’s/54Below as a pre-Christmas evening for NYC. As our government shut down, the evening’s theme, and title of Bacher’s new CD release, Still Happy, was a pleasant momentary diversion.(Bacher’s previous 2016 CD Swing That Music (Whaling City Sound) borrowed Louis Armstrong’s tune for it’s title; it was a tribute to a youth of listening to the origins of jazz with his brother, Josh, in Wayne, New Jersey, and playing tenor sax with recordings “to get a really good tone.”)
If the DNA of Sidney Bechet and Louis Prima could be combined, the result would be Danny Bacher. He considers himself an entertainer in the old school mode of Prima, but with a very modern sensibility. He’s been an actor, writer and comedian but, as Still Happy attests, is mainly an accomplished soprano saxophonist and jazz singer. Bacher has an upbeat personality and pours his optimism into a thematic dozen tracks that add up to life is good despite hard knocks. This philosophy is contained in his own blues-tinged composition “In Spite of This I’m Still Happy”.
Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Singer. Saxophonist. Consummate performer.Danny Bacher .. He spoke with us about his latest 2018 CD Still Happy .. He’s a fresh new face on the jazz landscape with a clean, crisp delivery is reminiscent of the true greats in entertainment. His multi-faceted approach includes work as an actor, writer and comedian (he is a proud member of the New York Friars Club). He has been a fixture on the New York stage and has toured internationally with his original works.