Stars of Broadway and cabaret — including many of those who are heard on the album — will be on hand to perform composer Davis' songs. Expect Kate Baldwin, Heidi Blickenstaff, Danny Burstein, Philip Chaffin, Will Chase, Sarah Corey, Santino Fontana, Jessica Herschberg, Edward Hibbert, Lauren Kennedy, Andy Mientus, David Hyde Pierce, Michele Ragusa, Daniel Reichard, Matthew Scott, Christopher Sieber, Bobby Steggert, Will Swenson and Betsy Wolfe.
Davis himself will be featured on piano, along with Kevin Kuhn on guitar, David Kuhn on bass and Larry Lelli on drums.
Since its November 2010 release, "Love on a Summer Afternoon" received enthusiastic reviews, including an embrace from Steven Suskin in his On the Record column at Playbill.com.
The album marked PS Classics first songbook dedicated to the work of a new composer since 2007. The disc features an all-male roster; the concert features men and women.
Davis graduated in 1998 from the University of Michigan School of Music, where he studied composition with William Bolcom. He has written the music for The Scottish Musical (lyrics by Mark Waldrop), A Good Boy (libretto by Brian Spitulnik), Dysfunctional Fables (lyrics and book by Sean Hartley) and Mina and Colossus (lyrics and book by Ron Nyren). His credits as conductor and pianist include the original Broadway production of Curtains and the Broadway revivals of The Apple Tree, Cabaret, Follies, Flower Drum Song and Into the Woods. He is musical supervisor for the national tour of Dreamgirls, which he conducted at the Apollo Theater and also supervised in South Korea, Japan and South Africa. His symphonic orchestrations have been performed by the San Francisco Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the New York Pops, the National Symphony, and the Philadelphia Pops. For reservations to the Birdland show, call (212) 581-3080 or visit www.birdlandjazz.com.
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Founded in 2000 by Tommy Krasker & Philip Chaffin, and a six-time Grammy nominee (for its cast albums of Assassins, Nine: The Musical, Grey Gardens, Company, A Little Night Music and Sondheim on Sondheim), PS Classics celebrates the heritage of Broadway and American popular song through its award-winning cast recordings; solo albums by Maureen McGovern, Victoria Clark, Jessica Molaskey and Christine Andreas, and others; and recordings drawn from rare sound archives, including "Sondheim Sings." Its most recent releases include solo albums by Liz Callaway, Rebecca Luker and Kate Baldwin, and Broadway cast recordings of Finian's Rainbow and La Cage aux Folles. Visit the label's website at www.psclassics.com.
