The CMJ jazz chart, which tracks airplay on college, NPR, and community radio stations, has embraced the new album by my band Chaise Lounge, Dot Dot Dot. We debuted at number 23 last week, and this week we were up to number 12! I don’t think we will be challenging Miley Cyrus’s place in the pop pantheon, but it is nice to know that there are spots win the world where people are listening to music like this.
2013 – 5 Movements – Duration: 29 minutes
Description: Comedia dell’arte is an 18th-century form of theater that is rarely revived. A pity. It has been the inspiration for many visual artists, notably Picasso. The movements in this piece are named for five of the stock commedia dell’arte characters.
Instrumentation: picc, 2fl, 2ob, eh, 3cl, 2bs, 4hrn, 3trp, 3trb, tba, 4percus, timp, harp, strings
The Players – Movement 1 – Harlequin
The Players – Movement 2 – Columbine
The Players – Movement 3 – Beltramo
The Players – Movement 4 – Inamoratti
The Players – Movement 5 – Pierrot
Download scores: Harlequin (PDF) | Columbine (PDF) | Beltramo (PDF) | Inamoratti (PDF) | Pierrot (PDF)
Download audio: Harlequin (MP3) | Columbine (MP3) | Beltramo (MP3) | Inamoratti (MP3) | Pierrot (MP3)
Three weeks ago, I had no idea that a television show called Royal Pains existed. It is a dramedy on the USA Network, and it’s one of the highest-rated shows on cable! Shows how much I know. But I got a call from one of the producers, and for the past two weeks I have been engrossed in writing a song for a webisode starring and directed by actor Paulo Costanzo, who plays businessman Evan R. Lawson on the program.
This has been an extremely satisfying television experience. First of all, the producers are smart and effective—not something you can take for granted in any business. Secondly, the cast is amazingly down-to-earth. Many of them sang on this piece, even though none except Paulo and Reshma Shetty (who plays physician’s assistant Divya Katdare) are trained singers. Still, they gave some terrific performances. And it has been great fun collaborating with Paolo, who had a very strong vision for the webisode and the song. I’m used to being a lone wolf when I write, and it was refreshing to try to put myself inside someone else’s head and channel what they were hearing.
The recording sessions all took place at Soundtrack studios in NYC, where the engineers were super sharp and seemed truly hungry to work on music. It turns out that 99% of their work is “production work,” i.e., overdubbing (also called ADR), sound effects, etc. One of the engineers confided to me that the reason he got into audio engineering was to record music. Hmmm? I was under the impression that all audio engineers got into the business for that.
When giving me a tour of Soundtrack, the engineers were quick to point out the spaces that used to be big rooms for recording orchestras. Now they are cut up into small production rooms. Pity. Their “big” room is smaller than Studio A at Cue Recording in Falls Church, the studio where I spend so much time. Still, the recording experience was wonderful. I mixed down the song (with the help of one of my go-to guys at Cue), and they are going into production on their dream-sequence music video for the web. I can’t wait to see what it looks like when they are done!
Another benefit: Now I know about Royal Pains. It is an entertaining, mile-a-minute show. Beautifully shot. Strong acting. Intriguing story lines. I’m hooked.
I recently scored a feature-length documentary on post World War II printmaking in the American Midwest. Somehow, in my mind, Midwest printmaking meant clarinet. And that meant I got the pleasure of recording the principal clarinetist from the Kennedy Center’s opera orchestra, David Jones. What a delight it was working with such a talented multi-instrumentalist. We used clarinet, flute, tenor sax, and bass clarinet in the studio, and David managed to give me every tone color I needed. I could have dug through every synth patch I have to score this and never come up with what that David was able to give me in one beautiful recording session. The film, Midwest Matrix, directed by Susan Goldman, was screened last month in Milwaukee.
Thanks to Jennifer Perry of Broadway World for this stellar review of Einstein’s Girl:
This past weekend, triple threat theatrical talent Gia Mora returned to the DC metro area with her one woman cabaret act, interestingly titled Einstein’s Girl. Local theatregoers who have frequented the likes of Signature Theatre, Metro Stage, Ford’s Theatre, the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage and more likely know Ms. Mora for her strong, high soprano belt, and equally strong dancing and acting skills. It’s less likely they know that Gia is a bit of an amateur theoretical physics geek.
Physics and singing? Who would have thought? It’s certainly an unlikely mix of interests yet Ms. Mora beautifully brought these two passions – and more – together in her unique and highly original cabaret, which is making the rounds in venues in California, New York, and the DC area. With it, Ms. Mora delivered a mixture of contemporary patter songs and standards, along with original stories and commentary that explore the science of love in our increasingly interconnected yet lonesome world.
Clearly, the topic of love/romance has served as a foundation for many a cabaret. Though not a completely tired topic – after all it is universally relatable and multi-faceted – it can be met by many a groan for those looking for a cabaret that’s a bit different. Ms. Mora managed the unthinkable here – putting a fresh spin on the subject of love. Melding intellectual thoughts on topics as varied as black holes and supercomputing and devilishly funny commentary on the intersection between American obsession with technology and the search for love with sultry, jazz-infused vocals, she provided a convincing argument for why a cabaret about love/romance might not be so tired after all.
The success of Ms. Mora’s self-penned cabaret (with additional material from Brad Brown) is not only due to her strong thematic structure – though that’s certainly a key ingredient – but also her immediately relatable persona. From the time she appeared on stage to the encore number, she naturally commanded the stage and made one take notice not only when she was singing, but when she relayed her thoughts on the admittedly varied, yet connected subjects with spoken word. Having seen many a cabaret where the ‘in-between-songs’ banter was downright painful and awkward – and left me wondering when the performer would just sing – I am happy to report that there’s very little of that (if any) painfulness in this performance. She was simply charming.
Yet, sing she did. Backed by her equally talented music director on piano, Charlie Barnett, she more than proved her vocal versatility. From comedic, contemporary musical theatre-like numbers such as “Oh, Internet” (Hannah Hart), “I Google You” (Amanda Palmer/Neil Gaiman), and “The Facebook Song” (Kate Miller-Heidke), to more traditional standards like “What a Little Moonlight Can Do” (Harry Woods) and pop-rock numbers like “Fools in Love” (Joe Jackson), Ms. Mora comfortably delivered emotionally on-point vocals with technical precision.
While it would be difficult to point out some highlights, three particular numbers caught my interest for different reasons.
“Glorious Higgs,” (Michael Flanders/Donald Swann with lyrics by Danuta Orlowska), first performed by a bunch of physicists at CERN (a hotbed of physics research in Switzerland), comically considers issues of importance in – of all things – quantum physics. When’s the last time you heard a song about that? This song gave Ms. Mora an opportunity to ‘geek out’ so-to-speak on a subject of interest to her in an accessible way while entertaining the audience members with her playful vocals.
Though more than a few Broadway divas have included John Kander and Fred Ebb’s “The World Goes Round” (from New York, New York) in their respective cabaret acts, I appreciated that Ms. Mora put her own unique vocal spin on this fantastic number. As a result of her unique phrasing, textured vocals, and apparent connection with the lyrics, it was like hearing the song for the first time. She followed up this sensational vocal performance with an emotional take on “Second Star to the Right” (Sammy Fain/Sammy Cahn). This number displayed her quiet and contemplative side and was a perfect ending to her delightful act.
Running Time: About 90 minutes with no intermission. Einstein’s Girl was a one-night-only performance at the Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club – 7719 Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda, MD – on April 13, 2013. For a listing of Gia Mora’s upcoming performances, visit her website.