Feinstein's show at Feinstein's/54 Below celebrates the music of New York and the great nightclub entertainers who made the city unique.
In 1980, before his Grammy and Emmy award nominations, Michael Feinstein was a fresh-faced kid living in Los Angeles. The composer and lyricist, Harry Warren, introduced him to one of the great vocalists of the post-war era, Margaret Whiting. Warren, a legend in his own right, who wrote “Forty Second Street,” “Lullaby Of Broadway” and countless songs for musicals said, “this is a talented kid.” Whiting replied to Feinstein, “Well, if you ever come to New York, call me.
At the time Feinstein was working for Ira Gershwin and had just begun his performing career. When he got to New York he took Whiting up on her offer. “She said, ‘Come on kid.’ And she took me around,” says Feinstein. Whiting who had more than dozen gold records , was the cabaret queen. She also took Feinstein under her wing. “She did that for a lot of people,” he says.
The experience with Whiting turned out to be life changing. “She took me around to all the night clubs and places that were happening,” shares Feinstein. She introduced him to everyone from Mabel Mercer to Bobby Short. “It was a community that was so special. All of these performers were embracing songs and music that were specific to New York. Not necessarily in theme, but in style, content and aesthetic,” explains Feinstein.
“Bobby Short infused so many different styles into what he did. He was an amazing jazz pianist. All the different things that he put into his music made him unique.” As Feinstein observes, Short would take all the newest Broadway songs, like “Losing My Mind” from, and combine them with an obscure Cole Porter Song. “What Bobby did is a lost art today. Everybody went to see him so they could steal the songs that he was singing.
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