MAC Award Nominee

MAC Nominee for Female Jazz Vocal Award

The Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs (MAC) announced its slate of award nominees and Laura Hull is among them. Laura was nominated in the Female Jazz Vocal category. The awards ceremony will take place at BB King’s Blues Club & Grille in NYC on May 18, 2009.

Laura will return to New York City’s famed Metropolitan Room at Gotham on Friday, May 8, 2009 to celebrate the CD release of “Take Me Home,” as well as the just-released news of her Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs (MAC) award nomination in the Female Jazz Vocal category. Joining Ms. Hull and her trio will be musical director and co-producer, pianist Pat Firth. Showtime is at 9:45PM. There will be a $20 cover plus a 2-drink minimum. Members of MAC and Cabaret Hotline Online will receive a discount on the cover charge.

Ms. Hull’s music is drawn from an extensive repertoire of American popular songs, jazz standards, obscure gems, and her original music. Noted critic John Hoglund of Cabaret Scenes wrote, “Laura Hull’s “Take Me Home” is a solid mix of flawlessly arranged tunes sung with a contagious flair by a savvy jazz stylist who, like Daryl Sherman and her ilk, are passing the torch of the great American songbook.”

“I’m looking forward to releasing Take Me Home at the Metropolitan Room, where the ambiance complements my music perfectly,” says Ms. Hull. Located at 34 West 22 Street in New York City, the Metropolitan Room is known for presenting a diverse slate of entertainers, from cabaret to jazz.

A native of New York City, Ms. Hull spent her formative years singing at the resorts of upstate New York’s fabled Catskill Mountains, where she practiced her craft performing with numerous bands and learned to sing in a variety of genres and styles. She worked as a session singer for a major studio, a jingle singer for many agencies and showcased her singing at clubs in and around New York City.

Ms. Hull is also a member of the Fun Bunch Big Band and serves as featured guest with various other jazz groups. Her recent appearances include New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Pennsylvania’s Historic Gettysburg Festival, and Trumpets Jazz. Ms. Hull is a member of the Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs, Recording Academy, and the New Jersey Jazz Society where she serves as Vice President.

For more information about Ms. Hull, please visit www.LauraHull.com. For reservations and additional information about the Metropolitan Room, please call 212-206-0440 or visit www.MetropolitanRoom.com.

Yours for a Song: Open Mic

Ever wonder why many singers attend open mics? What’s the attraction? They place their name on a  list, pay the same cover charge the audience member pays, and wait to be called to the bandstand. At most venues, the singer gets to sing two songs – often with experienced musicians capable of transposing the music they brought along into their key. There are two such open mics that I frequent; Trumpets Jazz Vocal Jam in Montclair and the Crossroads Jazz Jam in Garfield. The Trumpets Vocal Jam, hosted by Betty Liste and her trio, is offered the last Thursday of each month (check their calendar for dates). For a small cover charge you can be entertained for the evening by vocalists of all experience levels. The Crossroads Jazz Jam is offered every Tuesday and hosted by my NJJS colleague, WGBO’s Stan Meyers. Both these open mics attract a diverse audience, and they appreciate talent when they hear it. Like any audience, they seek that little spark, that little something to thrill them, to bring them joy. That’s what good music does.

I’ve participated in many open mics over the years and even hosted a singer’s showcase at the now-closed Eighty Eights in Rahway. I’ve heard singers with no talent, and others who have knocked my socks off. That’s the chance you take when attending an open mic. I appreciate them all, largely because I know what it feels like to want to sing. The most common statement I hear from people is “I always wanted to sing,” or “I wish I was able to sing.” I get it – it is thrilling and audience members enjoy the variety and skill level of the singers at an open mic. It’s like a talent show. Audiences are smart and they know talent when they see it.

There are different kinds of singers who attend open mics and I’ll do my best to describe them here. The un-singer [this is my term] is one that has little ability, no pitch or sense of rhythm and should just stay away from singing altogether. I don’t fault the un-singer from wanting so badly to sing. I admit, it’s a driving force to want to be a storyteller, to be heard, to emote, to say it all with a song – but the un-singer should stick to the shower. Sure, over time, some improve. But let’s be frank – if you don’t have the goods, no one buys.

Then there’s the amateur singer. This is one who has an innate ability and a deep rooted desire to be a singer. Some can deliver a song with no particular emphasis on the lyric, timing, and phrasing, and with training and coaching, could do well to develop a repertoire, find an audience and sing! I find these singers a real treat, as they have so much potential. And once in a while, you’ll be surprised by a singer who has it all but is infrequently singing for one reason or another. Some amateur singers work hard at finding open mics and singing, but many don’t believe they need training, coaching, or rehearsing. I’ve got news for them. The most experienced singers still require tune ups and maintenance and repairs, just like a car. Consistent polishing of the craft is required! Like most things, if you fail to use it, you can lose it. And, there’s always more to learn.

Finally, there are the professional singers – who drop in at an open mic to work a new tune, market a new show, and meet other musicians, songwriters and singers with whom to network, or maybe they want to play with a particular musician who’s in the house. The professional singer will always show respect and support of his/her fellow singers, because we have an appreciation for what it takes to be a singer.

There are few places today where a singer can work out, and open mics offer a real value. For the un-singer, perhaps it’s a place to contrast and compare, providing a musical place in which to belong. For the amateur singer, it clearly is a place to work on polishing their craft. And for the professional singer, it serves as a place to work out. Regardless of a singer’s experience level, the open-mic serves as a place where a singer can spend a few minutes embraced by the spotlight, for however long the song lasts, followed by the applause they can feel right down to their toes.

So the next time you hear a vocalist, don’t forget to applaud!

Laura Hull is a vocalist and music consultant serving the tri-state area. Visit her on the web: www.LauraHull.com

Yours for a Song: A Matter of Respect

Some of you may know that I have a background in business as well as music. Indeed, I offer seminars on The Business of Singing and I coach singers on marketing and promoting themselves. I’ve written before on how singers often have to chase venue operators to nail down a date for a gig, and it takes a lot of fortitude. It continues to surprise me however, how many restaurants, clubs and other venues fail to recognize good business practices when it comes to bookings. I am often astounded in the way that singers and musicians are treated, and it hasn’t changed much over the years. A singer who comes to an agreement with a venue to perform on a specific date begins the process by building a relationship with that venue. For the small venue, engagement contracts are generally not used; larger venues call for a contract. From the very beginning however, an element of trust is established, and usually just by a handshake. The venue hires you, and you are expected to show up, often with an expectation that you’ll provide an audience. At the end of the performance you are paid the agreed amount. I always tell a new venue that in the event of a cancellation without a two-week notice, a cancellation fee will be incurred. After all, advertising and promotion is in motion by then. Of course, this doesn’t mean it’ll happen.

Most singers have found themselves in the awkward position of losing a gig. A venue will call a few days – sometimes only hours-before a scheduled gig and cancel it for one reason or another. The singer is expected to just take it on the chin and show up the next time they call for a gig. In a long-term relationship this might be an acceptable practice. After all, if you are working at a venue for years and they find themselves having to cancel, well, you have the many gigs to follow, so you let it slide. In most venue relationships though, it is not so easy to take it on the chin. It’s a bad business practice to cancel a gig at the last minute. Singers and musicians, if having to cancel a gig, will always find a substitute for the venue. But what does a singer do to replace that gig and the income that goes with it? More often than not, nothing – unless a last minute opening comes up somewhere. I had a recent experience where I was notified six hours before a gig not to come in, and I had people coming from as far away as upstate New York to hear me. It was embarrassing to have to tell them to change their plans. More than that, I had already advertised the gig, made a poster, had leave-behind postcards prepared, and had placed the information on various website calendars. So when the venue says, “I’m sorry but it can’t be helped, it’s no reflection on your work,” I say, “Well, if you’re so sorry then send me a check! “ Put your money where your mouth is! On balance, getting cancelled doesn’t happen too often, but when it happens like this, it’s deplorable.

The worst part of being cancelled is having to cancel the other players on the gig. A singer contracts his/her musicians, so now they too are out of work because the venue cancelled. Here again, trust becomes an issue. Musicians expect a singer who books them to be the leader and the leader pays them. So if the singer who contracts them gets cancelled, they often can’t replace the gig either. I have found, however, that it’s easier for a musician to get a last minute booking over a singer. Everyone loses when a venue cancels without sufficient notice. Some singers often feel compelled to offer a cancellation fee to the booked musicians. Some see it as a good business practice. Your musicians trust you with the night’s work, to collect the pay, and to be treated with respect.

Trust and the business of music don’t always go hand in hand. It must be earned, just like trust in any other business relationship. You instill trust with your audience, as they’ve come to expect you to out- perform yourself over the last time they came out to see you. A singer works hard to build an audience, musically and socially. A singer leading a band is responsible for hosting the program, storytelling, and setting the stage, literally.

So just how does a singer command respect? Let’s face it. What we do as professionals is little more than a hobby in the eyes of the general public. Is it any wonder that venues and even we are affected by this thinking? To most people, all we do is play music…how hard can that be? Do we command respect? As a group, we rarely act as a group for our own best interests. As individual artists we are relatively easy to manipulate and exploit when you think about it. We work at our passion, making us vulnerable in ways unlike those of the bank teller or business executive. What other group accepts as standard, long hours and little pay with unfavorable business practices? What other business group routinely allows their clients to dictate terms as we do? What other group accepts being treated with little or no respect?

I advocate commanding respect. It’s easy. One of the toughest lessons in business I’ve learned is that sometimes you have to fire a client or a venue, or just say no. Learn what your true value is. If your audience pays to see you, you have earned their respect. They understand that you are working at making a living, regardless of the fact that this is your true calling – your passion. Booking agents, venues, and other providers should always treat music professionals with respect. We are providing a service just as they are, and it should be just as important to them as it is to us.

Remember, being passive will allow others to manipulate you. Being assertive will empower you to do the right thing, and sometimes the right thing is to say no. It’s a delicate balance between pushy and assertive. The person with good assertiveness skills usually sends the right signals and gets the right responses. They are vital for getting things done, getting what you want and commanding respect.

So the next time you go out to hear a vocalist, don’t forget to applaud!

Respectfully yours,

Laura

Yours for a Song: A Day in the Life…

Laura Hull, Yours for a Song

I’m pleased to be offering this column dedicated to singers –those who reside and appear in and around the garden state. I’ve come to be a part of a large network of singers here in NJ and the tri-state area. Many of us play at the same venues; work with the same musicians; recommend one another to teachers, coaches, booking agents; share ideas on acting classes and stylists; and support each other’s work. I am one such singer. I really enjoy going out to hear other singers when I’m not working, and generally I will go out of my way to hear someone I know. There is nothing more flattering for a singer than to have another singer or musician stop in to listen and say hello.

Many singers I know are also educators: Nancy Marano, Pam Purvis, Lauren Hooker, and Roseanna Vitro, to name a few. Each of them offers something unique to enrich the jazz community–some write and produce– but they all delight in giving back by teaching. I have had the pleasure of studying with Nancy, who has a robust practice coaching and educating singers. As director of vocal jazz studies at NJ City University, I marvel at Roseanna’s work in directing her young singers and the work she does in her vocal clinics. Lauren delivers her arts in education programs in different settings to children K-6; and Pam directs the NJ Jazz Society’s Generation of Jazz program offered in a variety of settings around New Jersey. I, too, offer coaching and seminars on the business of singing, because it is, after all, a business!

Singers are working at their craft all the time, and in a way, the singing is the easy part. Certainly, it is the most joyful. But, there are so many factors involved: Researching composers and selecting songs; finding the sheet music, whether at the library, in a songbook, online, direct from the composer, even visiting the Library of Congress. I once called a composer to ask for the sheet music to a song and he told me it would soon be published in a songbook, and that I’d have to wait! Wait? Hey buddy, I wanted to sing YOUR song NOW– but he wouldn’t budge, so I won’t ever sing his song, and I won’t be recording it either. No royalties for him, thank you very much!

Then there’s seeking places to sing, the part that requires lots of energy. I’ve dealt with venues that I literally have to chase, placing call after call, message after message, sending CD after CD, dropping in to say hello, all to schedule a date. Then we market ourselves to our audience with emails, flyers, advertisements, websites and MySpaces, and links to YouTube. Of course we need musicians to play the music we sing, so we contract them for a gig. We hire arrangers to write charts, others to rehearse new songs. Oh wait! We need a CD, requiring more musicians and arrangements. Then the rehearsals, studio time, CD design, distribution and sales, marketing, posters, website, ads, postcards – it’s endless! I had a friend who once told me that singing will take as much time and money as you’re willing to give. You can do a little or a lot, but there’s always more to do.

Singers, me included, live with melodies rolling around between their ears all day long and into the night, memorizing tunes while trying to fall asleep. Then the brain chatter kicks in. How can I make the song different, slow it down, do it up, perhaps as a bossa, how about in 5/4 time, maybe more instrumentation, how about guitar, how about that fabulous bassist I love to work with, oh wait, I wanted to work with tenor and alto sax next gig. I must remember to call that new venue that opened! Then, the emotional chatter begins. Am I good enough? Did I sound good on that tune? Was I too dramatic? I have to do a better job on memorizing the lyric. Those lights really highlight my wrinkles. I’ve got to get some new wardrobe. Was that agent in the room? Do I feel pretty?

I make us sound like a pretty neurotic group, don’t I? Nah, we just want to sing! We want to feel the music, be the character and tell the story, feel the rhythm and bask in its glow. Most important of all, we want to please the audience.

So the next time you go out to hear a vocalist, don’t forget to applaud!

Yours for a song,

Laura

Laura Hull is a vocalist and independent music consultant serving the tri-state area. Visit her on the web: www.LauraHull.com

TAKE ME HOME review by Scott Yanow

by Scott Yanow
Jazz Critic and Author

An attractive vocalist with a very appealing voice, Laura Hull spent time as a versatile session and jingles singer while also developing her own fresh musical personality. In her successful one-woman show “No Regrets” and her many performances since, she has shown that she is a melodic jazz singer who has a real feel for the Great American Songbook. Laura had a strong success with her previous CD Hullabaloo and now continues on the same high level with Take Me Home.

Accompanied by a fine rhythm section (pianist Pat Firth, bassist Jon Burr and drummer Tony Jefferson), Ms. Hull pays tribute to ten standards by adding subtle creativity, a real feel for the lyrics, and swing. Among the highpoints are a 5/4 version of “Day By Day,” her tender vocal on “But Beautiful” (a duet with pianist Firth), a swinging rendition of “Lullaby of The Leaves” and her revival of one of the better pop songs of the 1960s, “Call Me.” She puts plenty of feeling into “I’ve Never Been in Love Before,” features Jon Burr’s bass on “Foolin’ Myself,” and is warm and expressive on the heartbreaking “I Keep Goin’ Back to Joe’s.” In addition, there are two very different songs with the same title (“How Little We Know”) and a closing version of Tom Waits’ “Take Me Home” that effectively adds the violin of Gary Oleyar.

Throughout this very pleasing set, Laura Hull both inhabits the songs and serves them well. All of the individual composers would be pleased with her tasteful treatments, as will listeners who enjoy superior material and classy singing.

TAKE ME HOME review by WRHU Radio, New York

by John Bohannon
Jazz Cafe, WRHU Radio, New York

Laura Hull has a new CD out, “Take Me Home,” and it’s a delight. Her thoughtful interpretations of songs from the Great American Songbook are most welcome. You can hear the melody, understand the words, and feel the emotions of love and romance. We’re lucky to have a performer such as Laura Hull who has the style and grace to keep this great American music alive. So, add “Take Me Home” to your collection and enjoy. I did!

TAKE ME HOME review by WDCB Radio, Chicago

by John Russell Ghrist, Midwest Ballroom
WDCB Radio, Chicago, IL

Laura Hull’s new CD “Take Me Home,” is an exquisite collection of old favorites made new again. She chose exciting elections and performs them in a tasteful style that enhances the work of each songwriter. Music buyers will not only want to take one home, but buy two to share this great album with a friend.

TAKE ME HOME review by Cabaret Scenes

by John Hogland
Cabaret Scenes

Laura Hull’s dynamic new album is a solid mix of flawlessly arranged tunes sung with a contagious flair by a savvy jazz stylist who, like Daryl Sherman and her ilk, are passing the torch of the great American songbook.

TAKE ME HOME review by NJJS

by Joe Lang
Jersey Jazz Compact Views
New Jersey Jazz Society

LAURA HULL has chosen to name her new CD after a song from the unique Mr. Tom Waits, Take Me Home (Hullarious), and once you have heard it, take it home is exactly what you will want to do. Hull has also opted to avoid over done material, but stays close to the path of songs that will be immediately recognizable. She wisely bookends her program with two very different songs with the same title, “How Little We Know,” opening with the Carolyn Leigh/Philip Springer ditty and turning to the more familiar piece by Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer just prior to closing the album with the title song. In between, she explores “I’ve Never Been in Love Before,” “Day By Day,” “But Beautiful,” “Lullaby of the Leaves,” “Call Me,” “Foolin’ Myself” and “I Keep Goin’ Back to Joe’s.” Laura has an immediately engaging voice, and a nice jazz feeling, with a steady sense of swing always present. She is aided by strong backing from pianist Pat Firth, violinist Gary Oleyar, bassist Jon Burr and drummer Tony Jefferson. This is Laura Hull’s first full album of standards, and it should be the first of many.

TAKE ME HOME reviewed by eJazzNews.com

Laura Hull - Take Me Home

by Edward Blanco
eJazzNews.com

Jazz vocalist Laura Hull follows up her impressive 2006 debut of “Hullabaloo” paying tribute to ten standards from the Great American Songbook with “Take Me Home” accompanied by a cast of New York-based first-call musicians including co-producer/arranger and pianist Pat Firth, bassist Jon Burr and drummer Tony Jefferson with Gary Oleyar’s violin on the finale number, Tom Waits’ “Take Me Home”. Laura Hull began her musical career as a club singer in and around the New York area, and then took a 24-year hiatus to pursue business interest when she returned in 2004 and later releasing her debut album.

A graceful singer, Hull draws upon rich vocals to express the warmness of soft ballad-like songs such as in the Van Heusen/Burke “But Beautiful,” or Marvin Fisher’s “I Keep Goin’ Back to Joe’s” and the classic Hoagy Carmichael/Johnny Mercer “How Little We Know,” which by the way has an exceptional piano solo from Firth. Of course Hull does have another swinging side where she demonstrates her assertive and expressive vocals belting out the lyrics in tasteful fashion. Just listen to the lady’s interpretation of Frank Loesser’s burner “I’ve Never Been In Love Before” to sample the singer’s reach. There are wonderful renditions of such immortal songs like “Day By Day,” the Sinatra staple “Call Me,” and the lively “Foolin’ Myself.”

If you favor music from the Great American Songbook, then you will be more than pleased with Take Me Home. Laura Hull is a melodic singer who puts her heart in this album and it shows when you hear her sing. Trust me, take this one home with you and let Laura Hull’s elegant style mesmerize you as she did me.