BARBARA FASANO SWEPT THE NEW YORK MAC AWARDS,
WINNING IN ALL THREE CATEGORIES FOR WHICH SHE WAS NOMINATED:
FEMALE VOCALIST
RECORD OF THE YEAR: WRITTEN IN THE STARS
VOCAL DUO (with ERIC COMSTOCK)
WRITTEN IN THE STARS
NEW YORK BACK STAGE BISTRO AWARD
"OUTSTANDING RECORDING"
"With this record, Barbara Fasano proves that she is not just a great Italian crooner, an heir to Sinatra for our time, but a jazz singer of the first rank."
-- David Hajdu, music critic, The New Republic
"Here's more proof that the fusion of jazz and cabaret is one of the healthiest trends in the music business ... taste, built-in dramatic chops, the ability to manipulate time, and above all respect for lyrics ... Ms. Fasano has plenty of the above."
-- Harvey Siders, JazzTimes
"The good news today is that we now have another Arlen collection that can be played alongside Harold's. Fasano brings us Arlen treasures both familiar and non ... praise the band, and the singer, and thank them for a bluesy, jazzy, swinging album of Arlen."
-- Steven Suskin, PLAYBILL
"Ms. Fasano is a charistmatic stylist who effectively channels the living spirits of the great uber-divas Lena Horne and Barbra Streisand."
-- Will Friedwald, The New York Sun
"An album that demands repeated listening and appreciation ... Barbara Fasano is the real deal! A natural romantic interpreter ... the beauty of the Arlen songs and the breathlessness of Fasano's beautiful singing comes fully through."
-- Michael P. Gladstone, AllAboutJazz
"A warm, beautifully paced, lush album ... one of the year's best"
-- David Finkle, Back Stage
BARBARA FASANO is an actress and pop-jazz vocalist, and “one of the coolest singers in town … a singer of restrained but deeply felt emotion” (Time Out New York). “Spellbinding ... A beauty to hear and behold” (Daily News), she is regarded as “one of our most astute interpreters of song ... a one-woman marquee in lights ...” (Cabaret Scenes). Appearing at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Allen Room, she was praised for her “smooth performances of 1940's ballads” (The New York Times). Her performances have taken her around the world, and she made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2005, as part of the Harold Arlen Centennial Concert.
Her critically acclaimed collaboration with jazz pianist John di Martino, "i had a love once: arlen songs" was a tribute to the great American composer, Harold Arlen, and garnered unanimous praise. The end result is her award-winning new release, WRITTEN IN THE STARS, a compelling, unique collection of Arlen's songs. Fasano is joined by an all-star jazz ensemble (John di Martino, Sean Smith, Tim Horner, Kahlil Kwame Bell, John Hart, Joel Frahm, Tim Ouimette) with a special guest appearance by celebrated jazz singer/pianist, Eric Comstock on the duet, "As Long As I Live."
Ms. Fasano grew up on Long Island, New York, in a volatile Italian Catholic household – excellent preparation for a life in show business! As an actress, she has been seen in film, theatre and television. A graduate of Hofstra University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater, she has worked as an actress and singer across the country, beginning her solo musical career in Los Angeles. From the very beginning, her far-ranging musical choices and personal connection to the lyric set her apart. Her sets typically range from Irving Berlin to Bruce Springsteen, reflecting Ms. Fasano's desire to expand the American Popular Songbook and include the music of her generation. Within her eclectic choices, what remains consistent is her ability to invest a lyric with deep emotional truth, creating virtual one-act plays out of each song.
New York concert appearances include Carnegie Hall (the Harold Arlen Centennial Concert), Weill Hall, the Oak Room at the Algonquin, Birdland, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall and Allen Room, Town Hall, and Symphony Space. Ms. Fasano appears regularly in cabaret at New York’s hottest new nightclub, the Metropolitan Room. Across the country, she has performed at Caramoor in Katonah, NY, Guild Hall in East Hampton, the Royal Room at the Colony Hotel in Palm Beach, Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis, Cinegrill in Los Angeles, Kanbar Performing Arts Center in San Francisco, Prince Music Theatre in Philadelphia, and Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor, MI.
An alumna of Hofstra University, she has been honored with their prestigious Estabrook Alumni Achievement Award, whose previous recipients include Francis Ford Coppola, Lainie Kazan and Madeline Kahn.
Ms. Fasano is 3-time 2007 MAC Award winner, taking home the trophy for Female Vocalist, Record of the Year (WRITTEN IN THE STARS), and Outstanding Vocal Duo (with Eric Comstock). As well, she is a three-time BACK STAGE Bistro Award winner, both for Outstanding Vocalist and for her newest release, WRITTEN IN THE STARS, and her previous, critically acclaimed CD, THE GIRLS OF SUMMER (Outstanding Recording). THE GIRLS OF SUMMER, co-produced with Rick Jensen and based on her popular solo show of the same name, was singled out in The Village Voice as an album worthy of Grammy consideration. Fasano's CDs have been played on radio stations around the world. Other recordings include her self-titled debut CD, and THE BROADWAY MUSICALS OF 1964.
“Fasano is something of a vocal premonition: if this is what the Great American Songbook is going to be like in the 21st Century, let the future begin now ” (NJ Essex Journal). “Soigné, sultry and sexy ... A class act who raises the glamour level of any room she enters“ (The Village Voice), Ms. Fasano sings with “the brilliance of a square-cut diamond ...” (Cabaret Scenes), and is “the real deal ... by turns hauntingly intense and effortlessly, gracefully real ...” (St. Louis Magazine).
Ms. Fasano lives in New York City, with her husband, musician Eric Comstock.
Artist Website: http://www.humanchild.com
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