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Lea Delaria: Be A Santa
by Bruce Lindsay
Christmas can do strange things to musicians: there are plenty of artistic car crashes littering the road to Santa's Grotto. But sometimes an artist gets it right, by luck or by design, and a Yuletide project endures for many years. Vocalist, comedian and Broadway performer Lea DeLaria is, happily, in the latter camp with Be A Santa, an album full of festive standards that swings like a sleigh bell on a Christmas tree and entertains in stylish fashion.
read moreLea Delaria: Double Standards
by Marcia Hillman
Double Standards is Lea DeLaria's jazz approach to a selection of rock classics. She has chosen eleven diverse songs vocally to slip and slide around. The first track, Patti Smith's Dancing Barefoot, features some lively moments during which she trades scatting solos with tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake. Blondie's Call Me is translated with a blues feel and allows DeLaria to show off another facet of her vocal ability. Also notable is her plaintive rendition of Neil Young's Philadelphia and a ...
read moreLea DeLaria: Play It Cool
by Mathew Bahl
Jazz fans can be forgiven for approaching Play It Cool with some degree of skepticism. After all, Lea DeLaria is known for her work as a comic and for her appearances on the Broadway stage neither of which is a breeding ground for jazz musicians. However, this turns out to be one of those cases where you find yourself recalling the old adage about books and covers. Despite its obvious flaws and limitations, Play It Cool turns out to be ...
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