The post Carlos Santana at Prudential Center, Newark NJ June 21st see story page 12 first appeared on River View Observer.

Elena Zazanis, Alex Finger, Amanda Levie, and Amy Elise belt, croon and harmonize songs without any instruments, just a pitch pipe to locate important first notes. Theyâ€re known as Cabaret Sauvignon, “a female a cappella ensemble covering tantalizing tunes from torch to top 40.” The four songstresses layer their voices in harmonies that modernize classics like “Bie Mier Bis Du Shoen” by The Andrew Sisters and put a twist on Top 40 Pop hits like Beyoncéâ€s “Crazy in Love”.

Cabaret Sauvignon can be seen in their first cabaret performance A MYSTERIOUS A CAPPELLA MURDER CABARET at the 16^th annual Midtown International Theatre Festival in Manhattan for two shows, July 30 and August 2. The show is described as a “reality-theatre tale where four female vocalists meet in fierce competition, surmount their backstage backstabs, form the a cappella group Cabaret Sauvignon, and allegedly murder their manager.”

 Leading up to their first cabaret show, Cabaret Sauvignon has been performing since they met at Art House Productions in 2013.

“We did a workshop,” Amy says. “I heard and saw Elena sing. You know how you gravitate toward someone? I gravitated toward Elena and I wanted to be part of what she was doing.”

Amanda and Alex joined the group and they have become a welcome surprise when they give pop-up performances at restaurant and business opening receptions. They perform regularly at Two Boots on Newark Avenue in Jersey City, and recently gave a special performance of the classical piece Also Sprach Zarathustra by Johann Strauss that was used in the film “2001: A Space Odyssey” for the Jersey City Writerâ€s Group.

“The Jersey City Writerâ€s Group had a science-fiction night and we sang it for them,” Elena says.

“They loved it,” Amanda adds.

In September, theyâ€re booked to sing at a wedding.

Cabaret Sauvignon sings unique medleys, stringing songs plucked from the Great American Songbook, Top 40 hits and obscure tunes rarely heard. For instance, one of their medleys is a tribute to being crazy and features Patsy Klineâ€s “Crazy” with Ceeloâ€s “Crazy” and Beyoncéâ€s “Crazy in Love”. They sing covers of Top 40 hits like Miley Cyrusâ€s “We Canâ€t Stop”, obscure tunes like Fiona Appleâ€s “Hot Knife” and folk songs like “Bottom of the River” by the Delta Ray Band. And when each vocalist steps up for a solo, she makes it her own.

“Alex takes a folk song and takes it to a soulful level,” Elena says.

All four members of the group take turns singing lead, and each has her own style that gives the group an interesting blend of voices and styles, each one as individual as their diverse musical background. Elena studied music professionally; Amanda sang in choirs at Marymount Manhattan College and the University of Oregon; Amy grew up singing in childrenâ€s choirs; and Alex has a strong background in musical theater.

“Iâ€m baffled that it works,” Amy says. “Weâ€re all very opinionated, assertive Type ‘A†personalities.”

“We keep each other in check,” Alex adds.

They take turns rehearsing in each otherâ€s Jersey City apartment and they all agree that singing together has put their voices and their friendships in sync. They went from working together to becoming friends and now theyâ€re like family, Amy says. She remembers a song she sang in the choir when she was a girl, which seems to sum up Cabaret Sauvignonâ€s philosophy:

“People who make music together cannot be enemies,” Amy sings.

And the rest of the group smiles in agreement.

If you go:

Thurs, July 30, 8 pm; Sun, Aug. 2, 1 pm

A MYSTERIOUS A CAPPELLA MURDER CABARET

16^th annual International Theatre Festival

The Actors†Temple

354 W. 45th St., NYC

Tix, $20: www.ovationtix.com

For more info: Facebook, Cabaret Sauvignon

www.midtownfestival.org

The post SISTERS IN SONG Cabaret Sauvignon, All-Female Singing Group blends Voices & Friendships first appeared on River View Observer.

By Sally Deering

Jersey City festival-goers know Joe Palumboâ€s band “The Better Letters” because the group performs at the 4^th Street Art & Music Festival every year and has a huge local fan base.

The bandâ€s first album “Mixed Feelings” was released in June 2011 and now fans of the group can look forward to the August release of a 3-song EP “Play it Straight,” which will also be free for download on the bandâ€s website, www.thebetterletters.com and available on iTunes.

Hereâ€s how Palumbo describes the title track:

“â€Play It Straight†has a nervously paced verse which evokes a sense of paranoia in the listener as voices whisper from every dark corner. The protagonist is a victim of his own misconceptions of how others view him and interpret his actions. The tension in the high-pitched guitar breaks echoes this uneasiness. The solution offered is “…give the people what they want … Play it straight”  but they may as well be saying “be yourself”… Could this be another song about having developed ever-changing multi-stable perceptions from wading in the bottomless stimuli pool of the vast and lawless Internet?”

Palumbo, who was born and raised in Eastern Long Island and plays guitar also writes the bandâ€s original songs.The Better Letters is going on tour in Feb 2013 starting in Pennsylvania then heading west to Minneapolis and south to Georgia. Palumbo says:  “I love playing live, especially every day.”

The Better Letters started as a two-piece in late 2009 and three more band mates joined the following year. The band features Abraham Something on keyboards, Ben Brunnemer on guitar, Steve Goldberg on drums and Darryl Specht on bass guitar.

“It wasnâ€t cutting it for two people,” Palumbo says. “We had to expand quickly. I asked my friend Ben (to join the group). We had been on a job together painting somebodyâ€s wall and we started talking about the band and I brought him along.  Steve and I were working years ago in separate competing bakeries, which was kind of funny. Thatâ€s kind of our connection.”

But it takes more than paint and doughnuts to glue the band together. The musicians share one important thing essential to their success.

“We love to play,” Palumbo says. “I have all these songs and Iâ€m producing more and more. The sound is developing really quickly.”

Palumbo owns 4:3 records, the record label for “Better Letters,” and two other bands. For more info, visit www.4-3records.com.

The post MUSIC VIEWS- The Better Letters-Tri-State Area Band Releases Second Album first appeared on River View Observer.

 By Sally Deering

 

 Life on the road can be an exhausting and liberating experience for any performer but for a rock band on tour, the road becomes a testing ground for new material, a venue to get the word out about the music and – with any luck – a step closer to a record deal. New York-area rock band Your So-Called Friends has been touring the East Coast, southeast and Midwest since October 2010, playing its original tunes in local clubs and with each show, tightening grooves and polishing their performance. On March 5th, Your So-Called Friends takes a break from the road to make their New York City debut at Crash Mansion on the Lower East Side.

 “We’re a rock band with keyboards and harmonies with a ‘throwback to the ’70s’ kind of feel but still modern,” Tulin says. “And it’s all original.”
 
Drummer Mark Tulin, keyboards and lead vocals Jordan Diamond, guitar and vocals LeeRoyK and bass player Charlie Valentine just returned from three weeks in Florida, playing clubs in St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, Miami and Ft. Lauderdale.  Before that, they were in Washington D.C., Philadelphia and West Virginia and this week, they’re hitting the road for gigs in Bloomington, Indiana, St. Louis, Missouri and the windy city of Chicago.

“We also played a few times down the Jersey Shore,” Tulin says. “We played one show and people from other bars were at that show and offered us gigs based on that performance.”

When they’re not on the road, the band rehearses in a professional studio building in Union City, writing, arranging and rehearsing tunes.  Some songs date back to when Tulin and Diamond played in a jam band in Los Angeles back in 2007. They moved to the East Coast and the Metropolitan area to start a new band with more of a focus on songs. Today, the band writes and performs original songs and the experience has made the band a more cohesive group. 

“From my experience, the best bands are the people that like each other and hang out,” Tulin says. “I’ve been in bands where you show up, play and leave. They had no momentum to do anything else.  Jordan and I know each other four or five years already and this band spends a lot of time talking about music.  We’re all on the same page as far as where we want to go and why we’re here. It’s basically the love of music.”

 March 5th

Your So-Called Friends

Crash Mansion

199 Bowery

New York, NY

Show:  10 pm

Tickets:  $10

 

To learn more about Your So-Called Friends upcoming tour dates, visit their Facebook page at Facebook.com/yscfband; and to hear their tunes visit their MySpace page at myspace.com/yscf.

The post “Your So-Called Friends”-Local Rock Band Takes Touring Detour to Debut in New York first appeared on River View Observer.

Born and raised on Long Island, Richy Petrello has seen his career come full circle; complete with a meteoric upswing and a tumbling downfall, only to rise from the ashes like a Phoenix. If you knew Richy back in the day, he was a fierce Sax cat – the man was a Rock and roll terrorist, terrorizing his own body with alcohol and drugs, waking up in his own vomit.

Richy lived this cliché of sex, drugs and rock and roll for many years; getting caught up in the ebbs and flows and eventually succumbing to the temptations and the perks that came with living the rock star life. Then, as if by some divine intervention, like a flash of light coming down from heaven, he meets and falls in love with Cathe, like an angel she transformed him into a Rock And Roll Humanitarian.

For a short period of time afterwards, he turned away from his music; believing that the entertainment business and everything associated with it was to blame for his rapid descent into drugs and depression. But after some reflection on this, he realized his music was not the key to his downfall, but instead was the thing that would ultimately save him. Since that fateful moment of clarity, he has successfully used music to reach out to others, helping them to not fall into the same trap he fell into, and at the same time to bring joy to people across the globe.

Today this former rock star is on top of the world in many ways; first and foremost as a proud father who has instilled music and generosity into his three young daughters, who now make up the current buzz band,

Petrel.  Ages 17-23, the girls offer a pop sound that is refreshing and unique. These young Pop Humanitarians bring their uplifting brand of music to the far reaches of the world with the hope of touching those who have been under served and ignored; and they don’t need a song with pseudo-controversy like Katy Perryâ€s I kissed a girl; they have actually kissed AIDS babies!

With this ethos in mind, the family, Richy and Cathe Petrello with their daughters Jessica, Rebekah and Destiny (Petrel) has spent the past several years travelling to remote villages in Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba and Mexico, to the Mayan Jungle, to orphanages in India, China, Belize, Guatemala and to places such as the Metro Church Childrenâ€s Outreach’ in Bushwick, Brooklyn – reaching out to these diverse communities by preparing food, playing with the kids, and teaching them songs. He’s not like some Bono writing a check to save the rain forest. This guy brings his horn to the mud and blood of Haiti, into the Mayan Jungle and to other god forsaken places.

Learn more about Richy Petrello by going to http://www.myspace.com/richypetrello

Learn more about Petrel by going to http://www.myspace.com/petrelmusic

ABOUT RICHY PETRELLO
In his 35+ years in music, Richy has gained notoriety and respect in many facets of the business: playing sax and vocalizing with the likes of Brian Setzer and The Stray Cats, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Don Henley, Carly Simon, Reba Macintyre, Dion, Foreigner, The Cars & Steve Vai and producing, writing and/or directing events for The Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving Halftime Show, The Monday Night Football Halftime Show, ABC, ESPN and Back at the Ranch. He is also a past winner of the Hope for Children International Humanitarian Award.  Additionally, Mr Petrello holds an honorary doctorate in music management and is an active voting member of The Recording Academy (The Grammys).

The post The Partridge Family meets the Red Cross? Mother Teresa with a saxophone. first appeared on River View Observer.

Debut CD from The Sons of Saint Rocco
is a roots of Rhythm & Blues explosion

http://sonsofsaintrocco.com

The River View Observer sat down with Phil Granito and talked about his debut album, The Sons of Saint Rocco, which “drops” this week, to talk about the tracks, life, and whatever comes up.

RVO : I have to say the record sounds like fun from beginning to end.

Phil: I was doing it for fun. I brought in a lot of friends to work with me. Bobby Jay and Angel Risoffs both came in and helped me out with the vocals. Bobby sang bass on all the tracks and Angel performed the background vocals on BOOT ‘EM UP. Just terrific, and very humbling, the caliber of players who came together for me. These guys have played with Chuck Berry, Darlene Love and Bo Diddely, just to name a very few. It’s not about name-dropping, you know, it’s about heritage. They’ve been at the center of the scene for the last quarter century and they feel the same way about this music as I do.

RVO: Yes, it’s obvious from listening to the performances that there’s a deep knowledge here, but also a very authentic passion.

Phil: I hope that comes across. I’m glad it does. I’ve always felt that it’s just as important to play the roots of Rhythm & Blues as it is to play the roots of jazz or of folk. I’m not a jazz singer, but if I was I would love to hand down the roots of jazz. But these songs are important too; as important as Gershwin or Ellington, I think. It’s a great American art form, and even though it’s not played on the radio anymore, except on the “collector” shows, new generations should hear it, and not just as museum pieces but as an art form that’s alive and accessible. Hey, Rhythm & Blues had a baby and they called it Rock & Roll, ya know?

RVO: Is that what you grew up with? R&B?

Phil: I first heard Rhythm & Blues from my older brothers. The first two songs I was ever attracted to were: SHAKE A HAND by Faye Adams in the early 50’s, and MY DEAR, MY DARLING by The Counts. My ears perked up, that’s all I know – and they still do! At 58 years old, my ears still perk up when I hear these songs.

RVO: Do you think that you’ll record those songs someday?

Phil: Maybe, maybe, they’re songs that I love.

RVO: Tell us about Seth Glassman, who I see here produced the record.

Phil: Seth and I get on beautifully, in and out of the studio. This is a guy with an encyclopedic knowledge of music – groups no one’s ever heard of – which I remember from the Fillmore East in the 60’s; people like Sopwith Camel, or Baby Huey & the Babysitters, and he’s like, “oh yeah I remember them,” and then goes on to reference his favorite tracks and session players. So having that shared vocabulary and appreciation, it was a very natural process getting to the sound we wanted on this record. And when we were done we were both able to say, “we’ve got somethin’ here that sounds fresh, and yet very old at the same time.” Perfect.

RVO: Where does the name, The Sons of Saint Rocco, come from?

Phil: Saint Rocco’s was the Catholic School I attended in Newark as a kid. The very first musical training I had was in the choir there, taught by the nuns. I remember singing OH HOLY NIGHT, and when we all got to that part of the song where we sang “fall on your knees, oh hear the angels’ voices…,” hearing that harmony, even as a little child, it sounded so beautiful to me that my heart skipped a beat! So in a way, I’m paying homage to that musical instruction that I received from the nuns, letting them know that I appreciate what they did for my education.

RVO: So what all happened between the choir and the making of this record? How did you get here? Can you talk to us about that?

Phil: Sure. Back in the mid 60s, about 1965, there was an acappella vocal group explosion in the northeast, from Boston all the way down to Philly. A few friends and I – we were only 13 or 14 – got caught up in the excitement, and after going to shows at the Fox Theater in Hackensack, decided to start our own group. We called ourselves The 4 Winds. We’d sing at school dances, and we came in 2nd in a sort of “Battle of the Bands.” We’d hang out and sing with other groups – some friends from Jersey City had a group called Joann and the Heartaches, who ended up recording for Catamount. Well, one of those friends from The Heartaches was Joe Calamito. So, fast forward, to ten years later when I see him performing at a show being sponsored by UGHA* – this is the late 70’s – and Joe asks me if I’d like to start another vocal group with him, just for fun. We round up Tommy D’Alesandro, who sang with The Heartaches in the 60’s, and our friend, Raul Vicente, who was singing with this group called Image. We decided to keep the name The Heartaches. We were only together a couple months before Ronnie Italiano asked us to sing at a UGHA show, which got a wonderful response. So Ronnie, who was a great friend to us, tells us Richard Nader (the concert promoter) called, asking him to send one group to represent UGHA in an acappella contest he was hosting at Madison Square Garden, and he’d like to send us. To say the least, we were honored. We competed against 25 groups from all over the east coast, including some “ringers” from a Broadway show called A SOLDIER’S STORY, but we brought it home for UGHA and won 1st prize! From there we went on to sing in some TV spots and to perform with The Righteous Brothers, who offered to take us on the road with them. They said they missed our style of singing in California, and that it was refreshing to them. So that was the start. From there I went on to tour the U.S. and Canada for two years with Frankie Lymon’s Teenagers, who had always been musical heroes of mine. That brought the opportunity to sing with The Bon Aires, and then, of course, I’ve been singing with The Duprees for the past 23 years, which continues to be a great blessing and joy in my life. And of course, I have to mention The Cliftonaires, a group that Ronnie put together, not only for the love of music, but for love of friendship.

* UGHA (United in Group Harmony Association: an organization started in 1976 by Ronnie Italiano for the preservation of vocal group singing)

RVO: Wow! That’s a journey and a half.

Phil: Right? And all along that road I was delving into the history, living in record shops, and discovering songs that I knew I’d love to sing someday; songs that didn’t, for one reason or another, fit what I was doing at the time. So The Sons of Saint Rocco is THAT collection, or the first part of it, anyway. It just couldn’t live in my imagination any longer; it was time to make it a record.

RVO: Would you call this record a Rhythm & Blues record? Or soul? Or Rock ‘n Roll? Or what?

Phil: As terms that people can key into, sure, there’s a little bit of everything in this collection, but nowadays I find labels like that to be misused, which is why I hesitate to use them myself. Though at the time that “R&B” was coined, it was very useful and extremely welcomed. Jerry Wexler had been a writer at Billboard (before he went with Atlantic Records), and he grew increasingly offended, watching the charts list this music every week as “Race Music,” which even in 1948 seemed antiquated. So he came up with Rhythm & Blues, which is why it’s forever attached to black music. But nowadays kids use ‘Rhythm & Blues†and ‘Soul†to describe any number of things, so how do you talk to them, ya know?
 But whatever you want to call it, I just wanted to have some fun in the studio with some friends.

RVO: Talk to us about your choice of tracks, a little bit. How did you choose?

Phil: Well, I tend to approach music as much as a collector as I do a singer. Also, I hang with a crowd of die-hard aficionados and liner-note junkies. I wanted the album to appeal to them as well – to be new for them in some sense. Some of them, hopefully, will be hearing a couple of these tunes for the first time.

RVO: Which, if any, of these songs would you say is the best well-known?

Phil: Well known? Oh, I dunno, JUMP CHILDREN, maybe. I always loved that song and hoped someone would make a good cover of it someday.

RVO: I love that one too. A great way to finish the album, I thought.

Phil: Thanks. Yeah, I might have been channeling Cab Calloway that day, he’s the one who made “jump music” something you could jitterbug to.

RVO: Can you jitterbug to JUMP CHILDREN?

Phil: Absolutely, that’s a full-on jitterbug record! I hope the swing community latches onto that song. DO YOU WANNA ROCK, is another one for the jitterbuggers.

RVO: I know it makes me want to dance. Phil, thanks so much for talking with us today. Much continued success with The Sons of Saint Rocco.

Phil: It’s been my pleasure. Thank you.

The post DO YOU WANNA ROCK? The Sons of Saint Rocco-Music Interview -Phil Granito first appeared on River View Observer.