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Vocal Gumbo Post Pandemic

Writer's picture: Lauren KinhanLauren Kinhan

When Janis Siegel and I took our landlubber Vocal Mania to the virtual playground when the pandemic hit, we didn't know what we were doing, we just knew we had to do something!!! After a year and half of producing this monthly concert series we are reimagining it as we adapt to live, in-person concerts. Some of the things we fell in love with is collaborating with people from all over the world. We made lots of dream come true moments....collaborations were made with Dianne Reeves, Tierney Sutton, Kenny Washington, Raul Midon, Ann Hampton Callaway, Sara Gazarek, Laila Biali, Betty Buckley, Catherine Russell, and the list goes on. I mean, when were we ever gonna do that? So the pandemic certainly provided some lemonade moments in the midst of all we had to endure as a world culture.


As we march along, Vocal Gumbo is rewriting the recipe. Janis and I are beginning to return to touring and so the time it took to produce monthly shows is no longer available to us, so we're moving to a quarterly virtually produced show and strategically placed in person concerts.


We have our first in-person show on October 29th at Birdland Theater which we are very excited about. We will be featuring Theo Bleckmann, Antoinette Montegue and young artist Anaiis Reno. We'll be playing music from some of our collaborations as well as calling tunes we love. Featuring our wonderful trio, John DiMartino, Yoshi Waki and Ross Pederson, it will be a beautiful night of music.




 
 
 

Comments


Avalon - "Poetric tracks that shape a pastiche that is hip, intelligent and vibrant
- Christopher Loudon, Jazz Times

Circle in a Square - A Triumph!  The next time someone tells you that modern music is soulless, does not "speak" to the human condition, refer them to "Circle In A Square."  Lauren Kinhan and her ensemble has created music that  artfully and splendidly avoids labels such as jazz, pop or funk; this is music that connects on multiple levels with grace, fire and a mature understanding of how one navigates through the shifty terrain of modern life.
- Step Tempest, Richard B. Kamins

A Sleepin Bee - 41/2 Stars, - Downbeat, Michael C. Bailey
It's a work rich with invention and focused intentions, neither fitting nor breaking a mold, but rather, reshaping one...Every single song in this collection hits a sweet spot of a different sort, but the most pleasing aspect of the recording is how it uncovers the stripped-down, soulful side of Kinhan's voice.
- All About Jazz, Dan Bilawsky

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