I'm thrilled to share this wonderful review from Tulis McCall.

Tulis McCall, a superb critic from thefrontrowcenter.com, came to my show on November 9 and wrote this wonderful review!  I'll paste it here:

Tina deVaron – Tuckerman’s Ravine – CD Re-release

Posted By Tulis McCall on Nov 17, 2015

by Tulis McCall

I don’t know under what rock I have been living to have not known about Tina deVaron.  Now, that I do know, and have watched her perform her new CD, Tuckerman’s Ravine, I am feeling every so much better.

deVaron has been around long enough to have grown children and a loving husband.  I only mention this because these relationships are the ones that serve as subjects for her songs.  You don’t, by the by, have to be a mother or a spouse to relate.  You just have to be a sentient being – because that is what it is all about.  DeVaron doesn’t complicate, she illuminates.

Empty nests have their good and sad points in Other People’s Ground and No One Cries.  

Sisters are lynch pins for other sisters (Sister Song) if they are allowed that intimacy.  Or they stay in the shadow, like Dorothy Wordsworth, and use their genius to study remedies for illnesses that could kill a person in 1823 – William Wordsworth’s Sister.

What Sylvia Plath may or may not have knows is fodder for deVaron’s homage to the writer that drops like a weight on the end of a line dipped into a cold still lake.  You want to turn away but you listen anyway.

Tuckerman’s Ravine ia another family song.  Her father skied in the old timer way: he climbed up the the mountain to earn the right to slide down on seal skin covered skies.  He was a man of many tales that he wove together without effort or fan fare.  A man of vitality who has left his print on his daughter.

Some Things Will Never Change is a song of a mother’s love and loss as her child takes flight to land as far away as he can get and still be on the same planet.  It is intimate and simple and singular.

Not all the kids are gone – part of the joy of watching deVaron is that her son, Nick Lerangis, appears with her on guitar and ukelele.  The way he looks at his mother makes you want to pop up on the stage and grab a tiny city of that loving electricity traveling between them for yourself.  They would not mind.  They have plenty to spare.  ALso on hand at Pandea were the extraordinary Jerome Harris on Acoustic Bass Guitar and Guitar and Nanny Assis on Percussion.  Suffice it to say deVaron’s partners are every bit her equal and compliment.

deVaron is making a joyful noise unto the Lord, which, in this case, is LIFE.  All the mundane bits turned into magic, and all the magic pulled apart and laid out to reveal its many intricate pieces like a glorious jigsaw puzzle.  She makes you revisit places you had forgotten as well as those you thought you knew so well.  This is the role of an artist – to reorganize our molecules and adjust our point of view.  To make us feel alive and new.  To make us say, “Me too.”

You can see the site at: http://thefrontrowcenter.com/2015/11/tina-devaron-tuckermans-ravine-cd-re-release/

 

Today: Madeline Tea at the Carlyle Hotel Bemelmans Bar -- 11th Season begins!

At Madeline Tea today, in the early show, five families attended.  There were four, but I ran into a mom and her daughter in the ladies room.  The little girl, who must have been about 5, was completely bald.  And she had the look of a child undergoing treatment for an illness of some sort. I asked if they were coming to hear the music.  They had not planned to, but a few minutes later, the little girl and her Mom and Dad and little sister and aunt (nanny?) joined us.  And when two other girls stood at the piano, singing “Let It Go” at their highest volume, arms out , gesturing with abandon, this little girl sang with them.  You could feel in the room, all the moms and dads taking in the love and grace that permeated the family of this little girl. There we were, surrounded by the Bemelmans Murals, singing song after song.  Words pale.  But I wanted to try and share it with you.

The other high point:  all the Dads dancing with their daughters to “Shut Up and Dance!”  Making memories that will outlast even them. 

This is a gig.  It’s a Union gig.  And it is also magical, almost every time.  A privilege.

Oh  —  One more moment:  in the middle of “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” one little girl looked at me, and asked: “Are you a Giants Fan?”

The Second Show:

One 11-year old girl, Angelina, was there for her sixth year in a row!  She started coming to Madeline Tea when she was five.

And a grandma who brought her granddaughter told me of her Madeline Tea “connect,” a friend and mother of three who had been to hear us often, who passed away last year, at age 46 from breast cancer.  The woman’s name was Noelle.  So we dedicated the afternoon show to Noelle.

November 7, 2015

Tuckerman's Ravine is available on iTunes today!

Tuckerman's Ravine Re-release is TODAY!  And we are posting everywhere.  I am so excited! To celebrate this re-release, I hired brilliant DJ/producer Annie Kissiah to make a deep house remix of “Sylvia Must Have Known.” It will blow your socks off! This is not available to the public, only to you sweet “Tuckerman’s Ravine” supporters.  If you bought the CD, or are coming to my show Monday, or contributed to the original funding campaign, or buy the album now on iTunes!

Just PM, DM, or e-mail me, and I'll send you a free download code of the exclusive remix!

VIDEO FOR "SOME THINGS" DROPS TOMORROW!

I am so excited to share this music video with you!  "Some Things Will Never Change,” was inspired by my youngest son Joe leaving home to live and work in China. But it really is about both my sons, Nick and Joe, growing up and leaving to forge their own lives. And how my love goes with them, and I hope they know that!

Stay tuned -- I will add the lyric here tomorrow!  And the video link, of course!

Singing this brand new song tonight

What a glorious full week!  My video and single drop on Friday, my BMI Workshop song assignment is a lulu and my classmates are all brilliant, and I am singing this song I wrote in church tonight.  If you want to come and learn the music to these lyrics, join us at 93rd and Bway at 7:30!

Song of Meditation
Your Mustard Seed (Tina deVaron)

You are here with me right on my shoulder
I am Your mustard seed, I am Your glimmer of light before dawn
You are here with me, right on my shoulder
This day a gift from You, can I go on
If I listen, I hear You whisper
‘You can do, you can do, you can do
Be my mustard seed, grow into branches
Go and do, go and do, go and do’
You are here with me on my left shoulder
Gently here whispering, ‘come on start your day’
I am Your mustard seed, I am Your glimmer of sunlight
I’m Your sun’s strongest ray
I am Your cornerstone, I am Your beating heart
I am Your call to action
All that I need to do is cock an ear to You
Then there can be no depression in my heart
‘Cause You are here with me, right on my shoulder
I am Your mustard seed, I am Your glimmer of light before dawn
If I listen I hear you whisper
‘You can do, you can do, you can do
Be my mustard seed, grow into branches
Go and do, go and do, go and do’
You are here with me on my left shoulder
Gently here whispering, ‘come on start your day’
I am Your mustard seed, I am your glimmer of sunlight
I’m your sun’s strongest ray

Playbill.com picked Nothing But the Love as one of its Ten Shows to See!

How cool to get picked for this list! 

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/10-shows-to-see-this-month-from-joes-pub-to-54-below-and-beyond-339055?r=n

I am so lucky to be working with all these artists.  But here's the thing: tickets are selling fast and there may only be a few left!  So you need to order now to guarantee a seat. Here is the ticket link!  http://metropolitanroom.com/event.cfm?id=175918&cart

Hope to see you there!  Hope I can sleep -- so excited! 

Opening Day at Madeline's Tea at the Carlyle -- notes

We celebrated many birthdays at Madeline's Tea's Opening Day at Bemelman's at the Carlyle. Kiley will be six on November 14 and she sang a rousing "Let It Go!" Tita, a fine sexy grandma had a Bday party with 4 of her 6 grown children and 8 of her many grandchildren: Tita celebrated her hmhmtth birthday singing "Getting to Know You" from the "King and I," arms around her daughters, swaying and raising the 14-karat-gold roof! It was all so memorable and moving, I wish I had video. But my hands were busy, playing the piano.

And as we were just beginning today's Opening Tea: a grandmother arrives with her daughter and granddaughter in tow. They are all delighted to be there. And the Grandmother tells me, proudly that she just had a full knee replacement ten days ago. Let me say that again: a full knee replacement ten days ago. She told me that when the doctors asked her what her goal was, she said: "To go to Madeline's Tea with my granddaughter on November 2nd." And she did it! We made up a special verse of "New York, New York" just for her!

Songs we sang today:

Let It Go; The Way You Look Tonight; You Are My Sunshine; Willabye Wallabye; Tomorrow; Royals; Spoonful of Sugar; Twinkle Twinkle; ABC; Row Row Row Your Boat -- long version with several bodies of water included; Getting to Know You; Supercali; Let's Go Fly a Kite; Going to Kentucky; What Are You Wearing?; Ghostbusters; Monster Mash; Under the Sea; Mister Sun; My Favorite Things...Let It Go Reprise; Happy Birthday; Merry Widow Waltz with Happy Birthday We Love You Lyrics...Did I leave anything out?

BROADWAY SUNDAYS AT THE LANGHAM, MADELINE TEA AT THE CARLYLE!

Could a singing piano player who loves jazz and Broadway and kids and NYC get any luckier?  This weekend marks the start of Broadway Sundays at the Langham Place Hotel, and also the beginning of our TENTH season at Madeline tea at the Carlyle!

Details right here:

There is no other event in the city—in the world!—where your kids can gather around the piano and sing songs with Broadway stars. I urge you to join us!

November 2:  Lisa Helmi Johanson is currently in Avenue Q.  Lisa will be bringing her very own puppet, the mischievous and hilarious Molly, and Rue from the NYMF hit "Rescue Rue!"

November 9:  Donna Vivino!  The one-and-only Donna originated the role of Young Cosette in Les Miz and has gone on to portray Elphaba in Wicked!  This Sunday is a must for any child who wants to star on Broadway: you get to ask Donna how she did it!

November 16: Jenn Colella raises the roof nightly with Adele Dazeem Idina Menzel in If/Then, and has also starred in Chaplin and The Times They Are a Changin'.

November 23:  Ashley Blanchet!  The amazingly talented Ashley sings "The Locomotion" eight shows a week in Beautiful, and before that, she starred in Annie.

This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for your kids: I am so thrilled to be curating this event.

    What:  New York City's only piano cabaret for kids: a musical interactive brunch for families, where children can sing and dance around the piano -- in November, four Broadway stars join us!
    When:  11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sundays (Note: Broadway Sundays are 11/2, 11/9, 11/16, and 11/23.)
    Where: “Measure Lounge,” Langham Place Fifth Avenue, 400 Fifth, between 36th and 37th Streets.
    New lower pricing!  Kids 12 and under are now only $20!  $40 for everyone over 12. Includes a custom tasting menu for kids and a two-course lunch for adults. Very yummy.
    Reserve now because we will sell out!  (212) 613-8667 or send a note to michael.smith@langhamhotels.com

Also, for all you Madeline's Tea fans!  We begin our TENTH SEASON this Saturday at 12:45!  For reservations, call 212-744-1600.  For more info, go to The Carlyle's Entertainment Calendar and scroll down to Madeline Tea.

Can't wait to make music with you and your children!

 

Kicking Into Gear at The Sidewalk!

Join me this Friday, October 10, at the Sidewalk Café on the Lower East Side.  On the northeast corner of Avenue A and Sixth Street, Sidewalk has a lovely, warm listening room in the back, which has been a singer-songwriter haven for many years.  I have been joining the folks and "anti-folks" on their open mics on Mondays, and have heard some beautiful and hilarious songs, monologues and poetry.  I'll sing songs from Tuckerman's Ravine, plus a brand new surprise song.  Rehearsals with Nick, Charles and Nanny have been rockin'.   (The schedule this Friday: singer-songwriter Lindsay Cohen starts the night at 7 p.m., I go on at 8, and PDA aka Public Displays of Awkwardness Comedy Block goes on at 9!)

On a culinary note:  Sidewalk has excellent burgers.  And drinks.  So come hungry, thirsty, and ready to laugh.

After Sidewalk, I'll be at Tunes with Tina every Sunday at the Langham, Place, where we have an amazing lineup of guest stars and events.  And I start Tea with Madeline at the Carlyle on November 2!  But for right now, and for the songs just for grownups, please come to Sidewalk this Friday!

Here are some fantastic videos of my Caffe Vivaldi gig. I just learned how to use iMovie, so stay tuned for more!

Here is a video clip of "Other People's Ground," from my CD release gig at Caffe Vivaldi.  "I've had enough of being the gun in other people's hands..." 

Crazy atmospheric jazz song about paying attention to yourself...instead of trying to be all things to all people. At Caffe Vivaldi in Greenwich Village. With Nick Lerangis on guitar. Buy this track at https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/tina-devaron/id152420762 or visit www.tinadevaron.com.

And here is the "Somebody" song, one of the songs from my very first CD, "If Mama Ain't Happy" that started this whole ball rolling...

"Somebody" a song from "If Mama Ain't Happy." Buy this song on iTunes at http://goo.gl/0xaVIH For bookings contact tina.devaron.music@gmail.com. Bluesy, jazzy indie folk about motherhood, and raising little ones when they still are little, performed with my son, Nick, who is no longer little! With Nick Lerangis on guitar, and Nanny Assis on percussion.

And here is one I wrote especially for the Caffe Vivaldi gig, finished the day of the show! 

Written the day of this performance, at my CD release concert at Caffe Vivaldi. Buy my latest release "Tuckerman's Ravine" on iTunes http://goo.gl/ILukgK For bookings contact: tina.devaron.music@gmail.com. Jazzy art song about parenting in this time and place... www,tinadevaron.com

This was inspired by a chat with a friend whose daughter is seeking to trans.  I am supportive of all people being whom they feel they are meant to be.  But I have fun with it in the song.