BACKSTAGE That's what a successful cabaret performer does, and you
can be sure it was one of the main criteria that "Bistro Bits"
columnists David Finkle and John Hoglund used when choosing this year's
Bistro recipients. The two Back Stage critics covered a lot of cabaret
stomping ground this year, and their decisions are based on their own
club experiences and the Bistro Award guidelines, set up originally by
Bob Harrington, Back Stage's first cabaret columnist, when he first began
presenting the awards in 1985. As I do every year, here's a rundown of the Bistro guidelines: The Bistro Awards recognize achievement in a wide variety
of categories—from outstanding performances to outstanding accomplishments
and contributions by members of the cabaret community. They are by no
means limited in nature. New categories can easily be drawn up each year
as they best describe the recipients (new this year is Outstanding International
Artists), and categories can be dropped as well. The object is not to choose the "best" anything-of-the-year,
but to recognize and congratulate the accomplishments of those who have
done something special during the year—in this case, during 2002. The Back Stage Bistro may recognize performers who are
newly arrived on the scene (Outstanding Cabaret Debut); it may acknowledge
a performer who has shown growth in his or her art during the past few
years (this applies to a number of our awards this year, but especially
to our newly established award—read on). It also recognizes those
who have spent their entire careers dedicated to the art (our Bob Harrington
Lifetime Achievement Award). The Bistro is a one-time honor—in a single category.
If previous winners weren't excluded from consideration each year, the
awards would be glutted with their names—each winner would most likely
have to be reconsidered annually because of the high quality of work he
or she does. So, if you feel that a name has been omitted in a particular
category when you're looking over the list of winners that follows, it's
most likely because that person is a previous winner. On the other hand,
if you see a performer's name and recognize that name as a former Bistro
recipient, it's because that person previously received his or her award
in a different category. There are 810 winners listed in our "Bistro
Hall of Fame," not including this year's winners. (To see the Bistro
Hall of Fame list, click here.) So, without further ado, here are the winners of the 2003
Back Stage Bistro Awards for Outstanding Excellence in Cabaret: Major Engagement: Christine Ebersole at Café Carlyle;
Steven Lutvak at Joe's Pub. Winners of the 2003 Bistro Awards will be celebrated at
a private black-tie party hosted by Back Stage. Congratulations to you all! BARBARA
& SCOTT SIEGEL on THEATERMANIA.COM: TIME
OUT NY Critics'
Picks for the week of August 8-15, 2002 VILLAGE
VOICE says: BACKSTAGE MAGAZINE,
'Bistro Bits', September 06, 2002 SHOW BUSINESS WEEKLY - September 6,
2002 Alstrom, a veteran pianist/singer/songwriter,
has a distinctive voice that is equal parts Joe Jackson, Bistro Bits July 11, 2003 Directed by Erv Raible with musical direction and arrangements
by Tedd Firth, Tate made an impressive showing with her comedic and dramatic
skills. The night I caught her, Ed Alstrom was filling in at the
piano for Firth. He was magnificent. The pair had a great symmetry that
vaulted the show and Tate to another level. Everything she went for she
achieved, from a riotous "Bar Mitzvah Shiksa Mama" (Raible-Tate),
about the madness planning her son's upcoming event, to an evocative "All
the Way" (Cahn-Van Heusen) filled with heart. Reprising Brel's "Marieke,"
which is becoming a mainstay in her shows, was her most poignant moment.
This mournful ode to a lost one can be tricky in the wrong hands. I know
of some major vocalists who could take lessons from Tate on how to interpret
this powerful song. She created a fierce crescendo that cried out in defiance
and pain.
revised
5/22/06
ED ALSTROM
Press
Ed Alstrom
has gotten some nice press!
Center Stage, February 28, 2003
The 18th Annual Bistro Awards— And the Winner Is… By
Sherry Eaker
I can't think of a better way to kick off Cabaret Month than to announce
the 2003 Back Stage Bistro Awards. And, to do that in this week's issue,
where the cover story focuses on one of the key elements of cabaret singing:
learning how to interpret the lyric and music of a song in order to make
the song your own.
Major Jazz Engagement: Jane Monheit at the Oak Room at The Algonquin.
Vocalist: Marcus Simeone at the Duplex and Don't Tell Mama.
International Artist: Barb Jungr at The Flea Theater.
Debut: Justin Daniel at Don't Tell Mama; Chad Kimball at Ars Nova Theater;
Felicia Finley at Ars Nova Theater.
Return to Cabaret: Ellen Greene at The Bottom Line.
Outstanding Performer in a Revue: Eric Comstock, Bill Henderson, Dena
DeRose for "Made for the Movies: A Hollywood Songbook" at the
Oak Room at The Algonquin.
Musical Comedy Performer: John Flynn in "Dances with Pitchforks"
at Don't Tell Mama, Joe's Pub, and Rose's Turn; Elaine Brier in "Jirque
du Soleil" at Don't Tell Mama.
Musical Duo: Michael Holland and Karen Mack for "Ice Gasholes...
the next decade" at Don't Tell Mama.
Theme Show: "Songs in the Style of Weill" written and performed
by Lorinda Lisitza at Don't Tell Mama.
Singer/Songwriter/Instrumentalist: Ed Alstrom for "Acid
Cabaret" at Don't Tell Mama and Danny's Skylight Room.
Consistent Excellence in Songwriting:
John Bucchino.
Special Material: "The Song Is Mine" with
lyric by John DePalma and music by James Followell.
Musical Director: D. Jay Bradley.
Director: Lina Koutrakos.
Recording: Darius de Haas for "Day Dream";
Jerry Scott for "…with a little help from my friends."
Continued Piano Bar Excellence: Jerry Scott at Danny's
Skylight Room.
Piano Bar Entertainment: Leslie Anderson at Judy's
Chelsea and Rose's Turn.
Special Award: To Matt Dennis, posthumously, in
recognition of his contribution to the Great American Songbook; to Judy's
Chelsea, for continuous excellence and nurturing of cabaret; to Joy Behar,
in recognition of "Joy's Comedy Corner" on ABC's "The View"
and its contributions made to the comedy industry; to Mark Nadler, in
recognition of his continuing to raise the standards of cabaret performance.
A new award, the Ira Eaker Special Achievement Award,
is being named for my dad, who passed away this past June. Co-founder
and co-publisher of Back Stage, my dad had a passion for this art form
and was the first one to write cabaret reviews in Back Stage—under
the heading of "Bistro Bits"! For its debut year, the award
goes to an outstanding performer on the rise, Peter Cincotti.
And we are especially pleased to announce that this
year's Bob Harrington Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to
Barbara Carroll.
Acid Cabaret at Danny's showed off the bright and bluesy performance style
of Ed Alstrom, who commands the stage from the piano bench. He's funny,
charismatic, one of the flashiest pianists in town, and he possesses a
mesmerizing voice that's one part gravel and one part port wine. The show
was built around songs of Alstrom's own composition -- some of which are
dark and dangerously funny -- plus other politically incorrect numbers.
Alstrom is a scintillating entertainer.
"Too Darn
Hot? This singer-songwriter's got the coolest show in town, bringing jazz,
bebop, and standards together in a savvy mix. You'll kick yourself if
you miss this show."
"If this guy rises to the laid-back yet intense heights in person
that he rises to with his new
ACID CABARET CD, he will definintely be worth the time. With light
voice and jazz-tinged
playing, he delivers some of his own amusing compositions and does nifty
things to songs
like "This Nearly Was Mine" and "On The Street Where You
Live" (David Finkle)
Three Not Yet Ready, But One's a Go by David Finkle
When Trent Armand Kendall
moves to the beat, he looks like an undulating turtle. It's wonderful
to watch, especially considering the
resonant
tones he's emitting. Taking a night off from "Into the Woods" duties,
he was energy itself at the Duplex a month back throughout a rhythm-and-blues-oriented
act that, with support from four musicians and four back-up singers, sounded
at times as if it were about to burst the room's seams. Kendall is such
an ingratiating performer that it was a jolt when he announced during
his joyous proceedings, "This is not a cabaret. I'm not going to cure
the world's problems doing show tunes."
What has cabaret done to deserve such a putdown? Perhaps the environ seems
limited in scope at times, particularly to drop-bys who don't know the
scene well enough to question dated perceptions. But cabaret today does
more than routinely celebrate the Great American Songbook and shouldn't
be advertised in ossified terms, particularly to audiences whom someone
like Trent Armand (pronounced are-MAHND) Kendall attracts. These potential
regulars should be informed immediately that Kendall fits into the broadening
definition of "cabaret" as snugly as do Julie Wilson, Barbara Carroll,
or Ed Ahlstrom (sic) (see below).
Kendall wasn't wise to knock show tunes when what he substituted were
a handful of so-so R&B ditties he wrote with/without Michael Polese. Furthermore,
he did include a couple of Broadway numbers, both by Stephen Sondheim
and from the numbing "Passion." He's right; in this case, they'd cure
nothing. He also rendered Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years,"
a song that shares an understanding of character with the best musical
arias. Kendall, who's best on upbeat numbers, missed the implied emotion.
(On my way out the Duplex door, I heard downstairs piano bar fixture Kenny
Davidson chanting the same self-mocking Simon song, and he demonstrated
how it can be delivered.) Kendall is better than his prejudices and will
be even better when he gets over them and owns the arena in which he has
potential to give so much pleasure.
Karen Kohler calls her show "The Moons of Venus: Romancing Marlene Dietrich."
And, reading the press material before the Judy's
Chelsea lights went up on the long-faced blonde, my hopes rose. I figured
that "romancing" implied Kohler had found a way to pour new wine from
old bottles. I read too much into it. At no time did Kohler explain, as
she ought to have done, why she was "romancing"
Marlene Dietrich. Instead, she did what many previous Dietrich toast-raisers
do: talk about how staunch yet mysterious the Josef von
Sternberg protégé was, and run through a cursory stand-up biography, supplementing
the facts with signature songs like "La Vie En Rose," "Lili Marleen,"
and "The Boys in the Backroom." Dietrich herself couldn't boast much in
the way of pipes, but she had compensating charisma-a little sex, a little
sexual ambiguity, a lilting hauteur. These aren't Kohler's strong points,
and while she does have strength in her voice, she doesn't have much music
there. Besides which, she wasn't helped by accompanist Uli Geissendoerfer,
who too frequentlyinterjected semi-jokes. During her turn, Kohler committed
a gaffe reported here as something singers must avoid.Remarking to Geissendoerfer
that she was ready to sing Cole Porter, she swung into "I Can't Give You
Anything but Love," written by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh. Fields
is the mother of David Lahm, who co-owns Judy's Chelsea. Uh-oh.
Singer Lynn Kearney tested Don't Tell Mama waters a few weeks back with
mixed-to-poor results. Perhaps "uncertain" is the best description of
drawbacks she has to correct before she puts herself in front of customers
forking over hard-earned cash. As she ticked through "Another Hundred
People" (Stephen Sondheim), "Teach Me Tonight" (Sammy Cahn/Gene de Paul),
and "Something So Right" (Paul Simon), she hit notes uncertainly, and
uncertainly gestured. She was uncertain about the act's thematic thrust.
She seemed to believe she was honoring post-Sept. 11 New York City, but
either she didn't stick to the topic or said things like, "I think New
York City accepts it all, especially bad girls," and then sang "Whatever
Lola Wants" (Richard Adler/Jerry Ross). If she's intent on playing cabaret
rooms, she might benefit, as all neophytes as well as seasoned performers
can, by studying other performers who have mastered the fundamentals.
An opened-armed welcome to Ed Ahlstrom, who has a round face, is
attached to his flat black hat, and grinds out old and new songs with
dynamite in his fingers and pebbles in his voice. Calling himself-and
blank-expressioned co-conspirators Jeff Ganz on bass and Don Guinta on
drums-Acid Cabaret, he signals that he means to singe the air when performing.
As much a boite novice as Lynn Kearney, Ed Ahlstrom has backed enough
famous spotlight grabbers to knock your neon socks off; he's played in
bars, too. Luckily, he seems to have absorbed the basics, because fronting
a cabaret group for the first time, he's surprisingly free. If he's not
all the way there yet, the rest of the trip shouldn't be bumpy. Moreover,
he's naturally funny. For instance, he jokes about having figured that
in cabaret, "There aren't a lot of straight married men singing about
women," and then does a series of bad-luck-with-the-ladies ditties. Whether
his hunch is correct, he gets the laugh. But Ahlstrom's major selling
point is he's a music man, both as singer and songwriter. He draws from
everywhere, beginning with what would be unlikely in any contemporary
program, Sir Arthur Sullivan's and W.S. Gilbert's "If You Give Me Your
Attention." He got mine. I also liked how, although his isn't the purest
voice around, he got to the emotional depths of "This Nearly Was Mine"(Oscar
Hammerstein II/Richard Rodgers), then turned around and cut up on the
self-penned "Stupid Day." Add Ahlstrom to the list, headed by Mose Allison,
Dave Frishberg, and George Wurzbach, of guys who are absolute musts for
anyoneinterested in the idiosyncratic, the creative and the just plain
fun.
Genre-defying Acid Cabaret to celebrate first CD's debut
Friday, June 07, 2002
BY JAY LUSTIG, Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger Staff
There's acid rock and acid jazz. But neither of them have much to do with
Acid Cabaret, a trio whose repertoire includes everything from the "My
Fair Lady" tune "On the Street Where You Live" to Mountain's classic-rock
epic, "Theme From an Imaginary Western," and eccentric originals like
the sardonic "Trapped in a Good Marriage" and the invective-filled "Stupid
Day." The band's music is all over the place: New Orleans R&B, Chicago
blues, rockabilly and mellow lounge jazz, all played so well the musicians
could convince you that's all they do. The Acid Cabaret name isn't intended
to define the group, but to let listeners know they're in for something
that can't be easily summed up. "It's more interesting that way," says
singer-songwriter-keyboardist Ed Alstrom."When people see or hear Acid
Cabaret, they have some kind of instantaneous reaction. They develop their
own mental image of what Acid Cabaret is. And I don't need to ruin that
for them."
The group, also featuring bassist Sue Williams and drummer Don Guinta,
has released a self-titled debut album on its Pine Brook-based record
company, Haywire Productions (Alstrom's 1996 solo album, "The Record People
Are Coming," is also on the label). Sunday's show at Trumpets in Montclair
is a CD release party, as is the group's June 30 appearance at an actual
cabaret, Judy's Chelsea Cabaret in New York. "I'm certainly going to give
the cabaret circuit a whack," says Alstrom, adding that he'll offer a
"slightly toned-down version of what we do" at cabaret shows. "We could
go in and do a night of standards, and just keep the R&B and rock'n' roll
out of the mix. "I think the cabaret acts themselves are getting more
diverse. I hear those people covering a lot of '60s tunes, and sprinkling
tunes by (jazz-blues eccentric) Mose Allison in there. So I think they're
trying to broaden their scope as well, and maybe we can just plug right
into there." A native of Ridgewood, Alstrom has done it all, backing Bette
Midler, Herbie Hancock, Chuck Berry and Uncle Floyd; playing in wedding
bands and bar bands during the week and as a church organiston Sunday,
and performing in the Broadway revues, "Leader of the Pack" and "Smokey
Joe's Cafe." He is keyboardist and musicaldirector at shows by the veteran
R&B and rock'n' roll singer Darlene Love ("He's a Rebel"), and plays in
the Jersey-based blues-rock group the Hudson River Rats.
Although he wrote all the original tunes on "Acid Cabaret" and sings lead
throughout, he says it should not be considered a solo project. "I don't
think I would have gotten us anywhere near where it is if it wasn't for
the rhythm section," he says. "I'll come up with a tune I want to do,
and they'll snatch it away and cook up something completely different
from what I had in mind. And usually better than what I intended." He
sees Acid Cabaret as "a permanent name for a continually evolving show."
He cites the group's recent appearance at a festival in Montclair dedicated
to the late jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. "We decided to put together
a set of all types of Coltrane-related music, and stick to that. Not only
his tunes, but tunes written by his associates, standards he covered,
tributes to him by other guys. I'd like to have more opportunities to
do that kind of thing, because it broadens our scope even more."
The Ed Alstrom Trio - Acid Cabaret At Don't Tell Mama
Review by David Hurst
Ed Alstrom and his accomplished jazz trio - Jeff Ganz on bass and Don
Guinta on drums - brought their Acid Cabaret show to Don't Tell Mama a
few weeks ago for a short run to promote their new CD of the same name,
and it proved a highly enjoyable evening.
Joe Cocker and Randy Newman. Although the balance seemed problematic the
night I attended (I prefer more piano and less drums), and Alstrom had
to contend with a microphone stand that had a mind of its own, the Trio's
style came shining through with crisp playing and cohesive musicianship.
Their set covered a wide range of genres including composers as disparate
as Gilbert & Sullivan, Billy Joel, Rodgers & Hart and a healthy dose of
Alstrom's own material, which ran the gamut from pop to blues to ballads
and story-songs.
I liked Alstrom's charts and admired his clever use of word play in many
of his original tunes. Anyone who rhymes "decorum" and "forum" as he does
in "Stupid Day" gets my attention, and his arrangement of "This Nearly
Was Mine" was startling in its originality and execution. Additionally,
Alstrom's technical playing is superb. If you're looking for something
fresh and new, Acid Cabaret could easily be for you.
Sincerity Will Out By John Hoglund
Making up for lost time after a hiatus from cabaret, singer Pam Tate continues
to make strides in the Manhattan niteries. A self-assured, in-command
vocalist with a wide range of emotions as well as vocal range, Tate's
eclectic new show, "Something Wonderful," at Danny's Skylight
Room recently, mixed some of her old material with new.