The Gardenia

Singers' OPEN MIKE with KERI KELSEY, Host
2023-08-01 19:00 - 23:30 UTC | The Gardenia, 7066 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90046, United States
Tuesdays, Aug. 1, 8, 15, 22, & 29. The Gardenia’s OPEN MIKE, with Keri Kelsey, host. Starting at 8:30 p.m., Keri Kelsey hosts a Singers’ Open Mike Night—the best in town, beginning its twenty-fourth year. Sign-up, libations, and noshing begin at 7 p.m.

SANDRA PILLER
2023-07-29 19:00 - 22:30 UTC | The Gardenia, 7066 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90046, United States
Sat., July 29. SANDRA PILLER. Although born and raised in Southern California, Ms. Piller has “always been a country girl at heart,” and a number of years ago was named “Best New Country Artist” by New Music Weekly. However, her previous outings at The Gardenia have often featured the songs of her late mother-in-law, Ruth Roberts, who wrote for such stars as Doris Day, Buddy Holly, Debbie Reynolds, The Lennon Sisters, Dean Martin, Theresa Brewer, The McGuire Sisters, Patti Page, Jimmy Dean, Eydie Gorme, the Lawrence Welk Orchestra, Freda Payne, Petula Clark, Louie Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and many others. We always look forward to Ms. Piller’s shows, peppered as they always are with new revelations and insights.

LAURAL MEADE in "Ms. Tucker Will See You Now."
2023-07-28 19:00 - 22:30 UTC | The Gardenia, 7066 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90046, United States
Fri., July 28. LAURAL MEADE, in “Ms. Tucker Will See You Now.” A longtime member of the theater faculty at Occidental College, playwright and musical performer Ms. Meade has sung in Southern California venues “both sacred and profane,” and directs a choir for The Secret City. Her vocal musicianship has turned heads at The Gardenia Open Mike, where we were delighted to learn that she has penned this performance piece in which she exposits Sophie Tucker, “the Last of the Red Hot Mamas,” arguably the most popular entertainer of Tucker’s day, in a bawdy cabaret exploration of Tucker’s extraordinary personal life, career, and risqué song catalog. Ms. Meade continues to perfect this brilliantly written and performed show, which, because its subject “worked Blue,” is constructed not for the faint of heart nor for the pearl-clutching pretenders of easy offence. For those who were awed by, and for those unlucky enough to have missed, Ms. Meade’s previous shows, this booking offers the opportunity to catch this evolving reprise. In fact, we’ve been noticing repeat audience members who are now bringing friends…

Singers' OPEN MIKE with KERI KELSEY, Host
2023-07-25 19:00 - 23:30 UTC | The Gardenia, 7066 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90046, United States
Tuesdays, July 11, 18, & 25. The Gardenia’s OPEN MIKE, with Keri Kelsey, host. Starting at 8:30 p.m., Keri Kelsey hosts a Singers’ Open Mike Night—the best in town, soon to celebrate its twenty-third anniversary. Sign-up, libations, and noshing begin at 7 p.m.

JOHN CICCOLINI Birthday Show
2023-07-23 18:00 - 21:00 UTC | The Gardenia, 7066 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90046, United States
Sun., July 23, at 7:30 p.m. JOHN CICCOLINI parties down for his birthday. Nominated for an LA Weekly Award for Outstanding Solo Performance for his cabaret show, “Frank Sinatra F#@ked Up My Life,” Mr. Ciccolini, the consummate entertainer, has also guest-starred on Raising Hope, Castle, No Ordinary Family, Dexter, Justified, ER, The Sitter, Dirty Sexy Money, Las Vegas, Everybody Hates Chris, Veronica Mars, Joey, Becker, Boston Public, Live From Baghdad, The Division, N.Y.P.D. Blue, and Push, Nevada.

JEUDI
2023-07-22 19:00 - 22:30 UTC | CA
Sat., July 22. JEUDI. This “vintage-style chanteuse,” Jeudi Cornejo Brealey, comes by her passions naturally, as the daughter of a suave, storytelling Costa Rican tuna pole-fisherman father and a stylish Mexican American mother who competed in USO swing dance contests while working in an airplane factory by day. Encouraged by her family to explore the arts, she took advanced studies at The Sorbonne and at the NYU-Tisch School of the Arts, and earned an MFA at CalArts, where she was mentored by the late Alexander MacKendrick. Her CD, Winter was Warm, boasts intriguing but mostly lesser-known, mostly early mid-20th-century, seasonal fare, produced and musically accompanied by John Boswell and David Boswell. Most recently she has been perfecting her musical, Love Outshines the Moon, with a residency of monthly performances at The Jeweled Universe in Pasadena, excerpts of which have been re-imagined for presentation “cabaret-style.” She celebrates her birthday with co-star Michael Marlen-Starr and special musical guests in “Moonlit Music for jazz age lunatics.”

PAMELA CLAY
2023-07-21 19:00 - 22:30 UTC | The Gardenia, 7066 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90046, United States
Fri., July 21. PAMELA CLAY. The late, great, esteemed critic Richard Blackwell once wrote: “Pamela Clay is the rebirth of Edith Piaf…she is fabulous with a voice that will have you mesmerized…She is Piaf you close your eyes…She has that fabulous, gutsy street sound with the emotions that made Piaf an icon not to be rivaled. Pamela has everything that makes you want to stand and cheer…the voice of a lion and the emotions of a wounded sparrow…Believe me, she will bring a smile to your face and tears to your eyes!” Ms. Clay has appeared at the John F. Kennedy Center, the John Anson Ford Theatre, the Wilshire-Ebell Theatre, Feinstein’s 54 Below in Manhattan, and on-screen opposite Tommy Lee Jones. Fluent in French, she lived in Paris and Bordeaux for many years, and performed her self-penned one-woman show, Toujours l’Amour!, directed by Chase Matthews, to sold-out crowds in several Southland venues. More can be learned at www.PamelaClay.com.

Singers' OPEN MIKE with KERI KELSEY, Host
2023-07-18 19:00 - 23:30 UTC | CA

PIERRE CHAMBERS
2023-07-14 19:00 - 22:30 UTC | The Gardenia, 7066 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90046, United States
Fri., July 14. PIERRE CHAMBERS releases his CD, Shining Moments. Best known to Gardenia audiences as the tenor/baritone harmonic anchor of the celebrated vocalese trio, Chambers, Herbert, and Ellis (who re-introduced local audiences to the works of Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross at The Gardenia,) Mr. Chambers is the son of Paul Chambers, noted bassist who worked with Miles Davis and John Coltrane in the ‘50’s. Prior to his association with “C,H, & E,” Pierre, having been born in Brooklyn, sang with the Lance Hayward Singers, an East Coast jazz vocal group. He was a featured singer for the Big Band Jazz Group, and sang with the Family Tree Singers, Bill Lee’s group. (Bill Lee is Spike Lee’s father, and composer for many of his son’s films.) We were given an advance copy of Shining Moments. His juxtaposition of “Work Song,” a chain gang lament, with “My Favorite Things” is particularly effective and affecting, but if you happen to be driving while listening to each of his poetic odes to his mother and to his father, you’d better have ample Kleenex within reach.

Singers' OPEN MIKE with KERI KELSEY, Host
2023-07-11 19:00 - 23:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | The Gardenia, 7066 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90046, United States
Keri Kelsey hosts a Singers’ Open Mike Night—the best in town, wrapping up its 23rd year. Sign-up begins at 7p.m.
There is an $8 Cover Charge and a $10 Drink Minimum.

KAREN MORROW'S SINGERS' WORKSHOP SHOWCASE
2023-07-09 18:00 - 21:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | The Gardenia, 7066 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90046, United States
An “eclectic, loving group with many a twinkle in its collective eye” share their talents, personalities, and stories.

JUDY BARRAT
2023-07-08 19:00 - 23:00 UTC | The Gardenia, 7066 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90046, United States
Sat., July 8. JUDY BARRAT. Nearly forty years ago, Andrea Marcovicci surprised and delighted Gardenia audiences by introducing readings from poets Edna St. Vincent Millay and Dorothy Parker into a musical cabaret act—forcing Tom Rolla to eat virtual crow (and maybe even humble pie,) after predicting emphatically that “that’ll never work!”
Judy Barrat is a poet and writer of creative fiction (and non-fiction,) who has performed and been featured at many spoken word venues around Los Angeles, including The Cobalt Café, Beyond Baroque, Story, Salon, Expressions, and others. Her stories and poems have been published in magazines, anthologies, and in on-line journals, but she likes nothing more than alloying her creations with instrumental and vocal accompaniment, and she never fails to impress Gardenia regulars with her talents. Her new work, The Oak Tree Diaries and Other Stories, has just been published and is available at Amazon.com.

Singers' Open Mike with Keri Kelsey, Host
2023-06-27 20:30 - 23:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | The Gardenia, 7066 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90046, United States
Keri Kelsey hosts a Singers’ Open Mike Night—the best in town, concluding its 23rd year. Sign-up begins at 7p.m.
There is an $8 Cover Charge and a $10 Drink Minimum.

ANDREA MARCOVICCI and MAUDE MAGGART, in “Brave and Foolish Things.”
2023-06-25 21:00 - 22:30, 2023-06-24 21:00 - 22:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
Sat. & Sun. June 24 & 25 at 8 p.m. ANDREA MARCOVICCI and MAUDE MAGGART, in “Brave and Foolish Things.” Frequently introduced as “the Queen of Cabaret,” Ms. Marcovicci transformed the genre, has created over 35 nightclub acts at The Gardenia, and holds the record—an unprecedented 25 seasons—at the legendary Oak Room of The Algonquin Hotel—as well as the distinction of being the Oak Room’s final performer before its closing. She celebrates this 38th Anniversary of her first cabaret performances, (at The Gardenia of course,) with Maude Maggart, considered by many to be Marcovicci’s heir apparent, who claims her own cabaret beginnings at The Gardenia a half generation later. Our favorite endorsement of Ms. Maggart comes from Jim Bruce: “If you have not yet heard Maude Maggart sing, I envy you the moment of discovery because there is nothing quite like the very first time you realize what a talent she is. Then again there is also nothing quite like every single time after.” And perhaps the cake’s icing, recalling Andrea’s classic show, “New Words,” Maude’s husband David Lucky, himself a Gardenia performance veteran and songsmith, introduces a brand new song, as does Musical Director Gerald Sternbach. More can be learned at andreamarcovicci.com

Gary Brumburgh in BEATLEJAZZ: The Later Years
2023-06-23 21:00 - 22:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
Fri., June 23. GARY BRUMBURGH. At one time an elementary and special education teacher, Mr. Brumburgh moved from Upstate New York to Los Angeles to pursue what became a two-decade career in TV, film, and the stage, landing musical leads in stock and repertory productions of South Pacific (starring John Raitt,) City of Angels, Company, The Fantasticks, Cabaret, Kiss Me Kate, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Of Thee I Sing, and many more. In addition, he provided backup vocals for several artists, including a Las Vegas stint with Steve Lawrence and the late Eydie Gormé, and he debuted his first CD, Up Jumped Spring, in 2007. Subsequently and successfully beating two major bouts of neck/throat cancer into remission, he returned to the studio in full voice in 2017 to record his highly praised CD, Moonlight, on Mark Winkler’s Café Pacific jazz label, and co-produced Los Angeles JAZZ vs. Cancer fundraisers featuring such artists as Tierney Sutton and Cheryl Bentyne. Mr. Brumburgh transplanted to Nashville, where he resurrected his Beatlejazz show with vocalist Andrea Nichole, and where he hears three tracks from Moonlight being played in rotation on Nashville’s Jazzy 88 WFSK-FM 88. We are once again so pleased to be able to welcome this longstanding Gardenia buddy back to his “old stomping grounds” during this visit to Los Angeles, where he presents his updated version of Beatlejazz.
Guest Vocalists: Andrea Nichole, Dolores Scozzesi, Cathy Segal-Garcia
Doors open at 7PM for dinner. 9PM Showtime.

Singers Open Mic with Keri Kelsey
2023-06-20 20:30 - 23:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
Keri Kelsey hosts a Singers’ Open Mike Night—the best in town, now in its 23rd year. Sign-up begins at 7p.m.
There is an $8 Cover Charge and a $10 Drink Minimum.

Laurel Meade in "Ms. Tucker Will See You Now"
2023-06-16 21:00 - 22:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
A longtime member of the theater faculty at Occidental College, playwright and musical performer Ms. Meade has sung in Southern California venues “both sacred and profane,” and directs a choir for The Secret City. Her vocal musicianship has turned heads at The Gardenia Open Mike, where we were delighted to learn that she has penned this performance piece in which she channels Sophie Tucker, “the Last of the Red Hot Mamas,” arguably the most popular entertainer of Tucker’s day, in a bawdy cabaret exploration of Tucker’s extraordinary personal life, career, and risqué song catalog. For those who were awed by, and for those unlucky enough to have missed, Ms. Meade’s March show, this booking offers the opportunity to catch this reprise.

Tom Culver in "Just Warming Up"
2023-06-10 21:00 - 22:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
For those for whom lyrics, melody, tonality, and interesting harmonic progressions and rhythm are the most important elements of musical production, Tom Culver’s shows provide veritable Master Classes in how music geniuses of the last century brought these five elements together to create the yet-to-be-surpassed mid-20th-Century Great American Songbook.
Supporting are:
Karen Hernandez, Piano
Michael Saucier, Bass
Kendall Kay, Drums
