We’re so fortunate that Bob Alger married Whitney James and brought her to our town. We got not only a very funny gal, but an incredible jazz singer with a following on the West Coast and New York City. She and Bob are living both here and NYC these days.
Whitney’s incredible jazz interpretations have earned her lots of fans around Tampa Bay. Her Side Door shows are sell-outs and her Valentine’s show is now a regular part of our jazz season.
She’s back in the Side Door on Nov. 7 celebrating the music of two of her idols – Barbara Streisand and Bette Midler. She’s coming with fresh arrangements and a great band.
Tickets are going fast, so get yours by following this link.
We chatted last week about the show and she talks about the genesis of this show and more:
PalladiumPaul: I love these two artists but what prompted you to put them together in one show?
Whitney: My parents had a huge record collection, growing up I spent many hours listening to those records on my dad’s turntable with huge 1970’s headphones. I loved sitting for hours and memorizing every note and nuance. Barbra Streisand and Bette Midler are two my earliest influences and two of my mom’s favorites. To me, even though they may have different voices and styles, they are both strong, powerhouse singers, entertainers and actors. So, to me it seemed like a natural fit. My favorite singers are those that really sing and move people with their music, and Babs and Bette do that for me.
What are some of the songs you’ll be doing that night?
It was very difficult to select, there are so many great and memorable songs from each artist! I wanted to select songs that people love and can connect to. A few of the songs were doing for Babs – Something’s Coming, Evergreen, The Way He Makes Me Feel and a few others. For Bette – The Rose, Under the Boardwalk, Wind Beneath My Wings, Glory of Love. I love the music and it brings back so many memories.
Tell me about the arrangements you’ll be using and the band you’ve put together?
I worked with wonderful pianist/arranger Rick Steuart for the arrangements. He helped me narrow the song list a bit, because I want to do ALL the tunes! We are really being true to the original songs and arrangements. Of course the originals have huge band/orchestration, for our show we have piano, bass, drums, trumpet/flugelhorn and a backup singer. So, we stayed true to the originals while reimagining them for our band size and what we do as jazz musicians. Mark Feinman (our drummer) turned me on to the Barbra Streisand album she recorded with pianist Tamir Hendleman’s trio at the Village Vanguard a few years ago and so we settled somewhere between those two points.
Is there a song you’ve never sung before in this show? Who’s in the band?
YES! There are lots of songs I’ve never sung before in the show! I’ve only performed three of the songs before many years ago, so it’s mostly all new music. I really love the melodies, and arrangements and lyrics so it will be a pleasure to perform all of them. Babs and Bette have amazing, iconic voices and the songs are hard to sing – but the greatest challenge is being true to the music so the audience can walk away and say it was a tribute in a very true sense. The band features John O’Leary on piano, Alejandro Arenas on bass, Mark Feinman on drums, James Suggs on trumpet/flugelhorn and Vicki Scuteri on background vocals. It’s going to be a great show, and the band sounds beautiful, so I am very excited!
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