She may be singing the Blues on Broadway right now, but Christiane Noll has a few other musical tricks up her sleeve and in her vocal cords. Take her newest release, the disc "Live at the West Bank Cafe: Christiane Noll, An Evening of Jazz With David Budway," in stores Dec. 1.
On the CD, the second of Noll's solo efforts, she gives 16 jazzy renditions of both classics and three new songs written by Budway, "All Is Right With The World," "I Can Tell You Are Always There" and "Escape To Love." Among the well-known tunes are "Old Devil Moon," "Minnie The Moocher," On The Town's "I Can Cook Too," Jekyll & Hyde's "Once Upon a Dream" and the hymn "Amazing Grace."
Noll, best known for her role as Jekyll's fiancee, Emma Carew, has appeared across the country as Ellen in Miss Saigon and Mallory/Avril in City of Angels. In New York, she currently stars in It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues and recently performed in the York Theatre's production of Little By Little. In March 1999, her singing voice was lent to Anna Leonowens in the animated feature, "The King And I."
Budway made his professional piano debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and has since played with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Dizzy Gillespie and George Benson. Classically trained, he has been composing jazz since his teens.
In a first time effort, Noll co-produced the album. In an October interview with PBOL, she seemed excited about that element of the disc. "I'm enjoying putting it together and it's so nice to have my fingers involved in lots of different elements of production, not just in singing. The more you know about other elements of this business, the better it is for you. When I go back into the studio and I'm not producing, and I have basically what I do behind the microphone and that's all the control I have, I will know what [the producers] have ahead of them. I will be able to give them more of what they need so they won't need to do as much later," she said. "Live at the West Bank Cafe" will retail for $16.95 and is available at Footlight Records in Greenwich Village, Midtown Manhattan's Virgin Megastore, Tower Records on the Upper West Side and online at http://www.car-jam.com.
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