| Crooning with Terese Genecco |
| Written by Peggy Hogan | |||
| Tuesday, 22 May 2012 06:33 | |||
 Terese Genecco is a rare breed of entertainer who unabashedly breaks down barriers and remains true to her own vision all the while keeping her audiences happy, whether they are in her hometown of San Francisco, or New York City the place she now calls home. TimesSquare had the chance to chat with Terese Genecco about her monthly show at the Iridium and her connection with the Rat Pack days of the 1950s and 60s. Times Square (TS): Your show is known as the longest running nightclub act on Broadway. What are some of the things that you feel have contributed to your longevity? Terese Genecco (TG): Well first of all, having a producer. I'm produced by Scobar Entertainment, also known in the entertainment world as Scott Barbarino. Scott is a well known performer and also the general manager at the Iridium Jazz Club and at Ellen's Stardust Diner above it, and he's been booking what he approached me with three and a half years ago, which was Big Band Tuesday at the Iridium. Originally he just asked me to come in with my Little Big Band and do one Tuesday a month in the spring, basically March April and May in 2009, and basically, he said if it went well we would add a couple more in the summer and that's sort of how it happened. It's been, "That went well, let's try it again!" So that's the first thing – having a producer, someone who has the venue secured and is behind me 100%, letting me try new things and bringing in guest stars and giving me free rein to run with it, but always being there in artistic and financial support of the project. The second thing would be that it's really fun, and people like it! It does seem to be a party atmosphere and I get a lot of repeat customers and folks who come for the first time and then want to bring friends to check it out because there isn't really anything quite like it going on pretty much anywhere TS: So that's your golden formula. TG: Yeah, well, who knew what it was. I think we stumbled upon it, more than anything. TS: On the topic of your repertoire, and how it situates itself in this more male-dominated era of vocal jazz – I'm just wondering what draws you to the aesthetic of that pre-sixties cool jazz era. TG: What I gravitate toward is what happened post-Elvis, which was 1956 and I really sort of focus on the vibe that these entertainers, now in their adulthood, now in their early and late-40s were really in their prime. They had all of this experience behind them, they were great musicians as vocalists, they knew how to pick material, they were pulling songs from the Great American Songbook which was being written at the time mostly by Broadway composers and lyricist and folks and they were soon to become great, great material. Really, focusing on the quality of the Great American Songbook, but giving it a fun playful vibe that sort of popped in the 50s when everyone was happy. It was really pre-Vietnam too, so the vibe in the country was that of let's have a party - everybody's doing great, the economy is good, we've won the World War, let's get back to business as usual, but we're into convenience and excess. It was a really great vibe going on in the country and it was a time for celebration and be going out and being together. My personality kind of naturally gravitates to the party aspect of it. When you're on stage it should be lots of fun for the audience and I guess that those aspects of my personality that want to have a good time myself when I go see a show make it imperative for me to put on that kind of a show. TS: With all your experience as a performer, especially having had such a long run at the Iridium, what are some of the things you most look forward to when you get on stage? TG: I most look forward to being with The Little Big Band. The thrill is to be on stage with those musicians and the chance to see what they come up with every month. They're different every time and yet they're perfect every time. Being with the band is amazing. I look forward to trying new material every month too. I don't like to trot out the same old things that I sang five years ago. Its' a new show every time and it's a new set each time, you know, 8 and 10 o'clock we do different sets. Any given night I might be singing over thirty different songs. Obviously I have to repeat quite a bit, but as the years have gone on I've added at least one new song every month. I've expanded immensely over the past three years, so that's really exciting. Every month I get to pick my new song and I think about what it's going to be – what don't I have, what's going to be a good fit – what will go with what I do have or will be so completely other that it will take us on a left turn and what will the band do with that. That's kind of exciting every month, to look forward to bringing something brand new to the mix. I also look forward to my guest stars every month, because I never know what they're going to do every month either, and they're excited about the prospect of singing in front of this configuration and sometimes we get to do duets and we do things off the cuff that – you know, making music with other vocalists, and watching them find that feeling of floating on that cloud of music and that big wall of sound with the horns, I love to see that look on their faces. And I look forward to seeing happy faces every month. But that outside it wasn't quite as scary as it is these days. Terese Geneco and her Little Big Band play the Iridium Jazz Club every third or fourth Tuesday of every month. For more Times Square articles like Crooning with Terese Genecco, please visit the Music Interviews Section of TimesSquare.com
|
