Karen Oberlin and Sean Harkness are thrilled to be reuniting at Café Noctambulo at Pangea in It Takes Two, Saturday June 17th at 7 & 9 pm to perform their recorded favorites and new material, from Rodgers & Hart to Rosnes & Hajdu.
Ms. Oberlin was the recipient of the Mabel Mercer Foundation’s Donald F. Smith Award for Excellence in Cabaret. She has also received an honorary doctorate in music and the Nightlife Award for Jazz Vocalist of the Year along with a Bistro Award, a BroadwayWorld Award and multiple MAC Awards. The New York Times called her most recent show ” excellently researched and beautifully executed” and she has headlined such New York boites as Feinstein’s/54 Below, the Cafe Carlyle, Kitano, Birdland and the Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel, along with major nightclubs and concert halls in New York, throughout the U.S. and Europe (including annual engagements at London’s Crazy Coqs). She has four albums on the Miranda Music label with another on the way. www.karenoberlin.com
Guitar artist Sean Harkness composes music for solo guitar and small ensembles, and supports an exhaustive list of singers, musicians, and theatrical productions. “Harkness gives full expression to the mood of the moment,” states Stephen Holden of The New York Times. “Sean is a technical virtuoso whose Joe Pass / Tommy Emmanuel fingerstyle approach is always in service to telling a story or creating a feeling within the song; he transcends many genres and can touch listeners of many backgrounds,” observes Jazz Inside New York. Awards include: Outstanding Instrumentalist 2011 Bistro Award, 2011 MAC Award for his solo show, 2012 MAC Award for Best Recording, and 2013 MAC Award for Ensemble Instrumentalist, 2014 BroadwayWorld.com Award for Best CD Release. Harkness has six commercial artist releases, many on Windham Hill Records [BMG/RCA/Sony]. Walden Guitars featured Sean on the cover of their 2011 and 2012 product catalogs, released a Signature 12-string guitar in Europe, Asia, and North America, and his B-1 Baritone Acoustic guitar. Harkness endorses DR Handmade Strings, George L.’s Cables, and D-Tar Pickup Systems. Private House Concerts, Guitar Master Classes, and music clinics are available; one taking place on the remote Caribbean island of Bequia.
“Oberlin and Harkness approach our hearts slowly, like that oncoming train that seems far away, and then, suddenly and without warning, they take over our senses and our hearts are carried along for an exciting ride,” is the description given by Jonathan Widran, at JazzMonthly.com
“Karen Oberlin blends the supper-club sass of Ann Hampton Callaway with the pop purity of Doris Day. Never has Oberlin sounded as nakedly beautiful as in this spare, mellow pairing with guitarist Sean Harkness… all winningly cashmere-wrapped.” That was an observation from Christopher Loudon of JazzTimes Magazine.
Joseph Lang in Jersey Jazz sums up their work thusly: “Oberlin interprets lyrics with a depth of understanding that makes each word sound like it was created for just that moment. Harkness sounds at times like a one-man orchestra. Oberlin and Harkness were on stage for a bit over an hour, about a fast an hour as one can imagine. They left the audience realizing the validity of the old saw about time passing too fast when you are having fun.”
In his Sound Advice column for the website TalkinBroadway.com, Rob Lester (who also writes for us every week here at NiteLifeExchange.com said of the pair’s album, “So simpatico are vocalist Karen Oberlin and her sole and soulful musician, guitarist Sean Harkness, that their new CD together, A Wish, is awash in rich but gentle intercommunicative musical storytelling. We feel them in the moment, listening to each other, supporting and encouraging each other, reacting to each other. These award-winning stars of the cabaret/jazz intersection are both at the top of their game in this consistently rewarding album of eclectic material.”
Their date at Pangea on Saturday, June 17th will have two sets: at 7 pm & 9pm. For more information and tickets please click here
Café Noctambulo at Pangea is located at 178 Second Ave, NYC (Between 11th & 12th Sts) Phone: 212-995-0900
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