Piano Bar Live! (PBL!) streams this Tuesday, May 18 at 7:15 pm ET, celebrating Chicago piano bar and cabaret, co-hosted by Scott Barbarino and Russ Goeltenbodt, with guests Barb Bailey, Carla Gordon, Scott Gryder, Lynne Jordan, Michael McAssey, Sami Scot and Nick Sula.
PBL! is proud to continue the long-established tradition of the piano bar—that special place where we can gather, entertain, support and create, as we connect with live music.
Join us this TUESDAY, May 18th at 7:15 pm ET at www.facebook.com/PianoBarLive, on BroadwayOnDemand.com or on YouTube @PianoBarLive
Barb Bailey is a music agent, (jazz/cabaret) singer, writer and producer. She has performed at Davenport’s, Le Piano, Petterino’s, Drew’s on Halsted, Serbian Village and Eastgate in Chicago. “I thought I was at the Carlisle in New York” and “full range, rich-toned, sophisticated voice” are quotes that describe her theatrical and nightclub pedigrees. Barb offers eight shows comprised of songsand stories of her life and her career, including her autobiographical one-woman show, Tally Ho Baby, which she will be taking on tour in April/May 2022.
Russ Goeltenbodt has performed sold-out concerts at the Skokie Theatre and Davenport’s, and as regular guest singer at Petterino’s Monday Night Live. He also performs his musical cabaret at Drew’s On Halsted, where he has been Entertainment Director since November 2018. Goeltenbodt, with producer and “Chicago Queen of Cabaret,” Denise Tomasellos, has brought back the supper club experience in the Windy City, which had all but disappeared from the Chicago scene. This is Goeltenbodt’s second appearance on Piano Bar Live!, having previously been a guest a little more than a year ago at Brandy’s.
Carla Gordon is a recent winner of Chicago Cabaret Professional’s Gold Coast Award—-the highest honor for a Chicago cabaret artist. Her original songs are performed nationwide. The Chicago Tribune called Gordon, ”…a major player in Chicago Cabaret,” while Cabaret Scenes magazine identified her as a “honey-voiced wisecracker!” Gordon has appeared at The Palace in Ft. Lauderdale; The Acorn in Three Oaks, Michigan; and Pangea and the Metropolitan Room in NYC. She represented Chicago in the 25th anniversary gala of Cabaret Scenes magazine. Gordon’s original creation: Blacklisted earned critical acclaim. Carlacabaret@aol.com
Scott Gryder has been seen throughout Chicagoland, with most recent appearances in Eleanor’s Very Merry Christmas Wish (DMT Productions), the Jeff Award-winning Buyer & Cellar (Pride Films & Plays), Jesus Christ Superstar (Lyric Opera Chicago) and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Drury Lane Theatre at Water Tower Place). He has performed in a multitude of cabarets, including Simply Scotty (with Nick Sula), WOZ: A Rock Cabaret and Life Is A Cabaret—The Music & Words of Kander & Ebb, at such venues as Davenport’s, Skokie Theatre and Auditorium Theatre’s Katten/Landau Studio. Gryder has a BA in Theater from Texas Tech University. MeTV’s “Green Screen Adventures” earned him three National Daytime Emmy Awards.
In a city (Chicago) brimming with classic blues and jazz divas, Lynne Jordan stands apart with soaring vocals that dip effortlessly into blues, jazz, funk, rock and even country. Her bawdy personality is a crowd favorite. Jordan was cited by the late Chicago film critic Roger Ebert as his “favorite diva.”
The multi-talented Michael McAssey is an actor, singer, pianist, conductor, musical director, cabaret entertainer and more, who’s had a successful career on stage and in television. Lately, the Chicago native has been front and center behind the piano on his own Open Mac piano bar livestream. He was also recently a host of the MAC Award-winning Piano Bar Live! McAssey made his cabaret debut in 1982 at the Duplex and went on to play major clubs in the US and abroad. He made his Broadway debut in Late Nite Comic and has played regionally is many hit shows such as Hairspray, The Producers, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Gypsy and more, as well as conducting and music directing many other hit shows. He was famously the blind pianist-singer, George Baldwin, on TV’s “The Guiding Light” and a headliner with RSVP Cruises for a decade. His CDs include How Long Has It Been and Requests, to name a few.
Sami Scot has been a musician for virtually her whole life, performing in a family band at age 10 and starting a piano bar career at 18. Scot eventually moved to San Francisco with residencies at the famed Mark Hopkins Hotel, Harrah’s Reno and Tahoe, NV. She has toured the world on cruise ships with long stays in Europe, including a single release for Splendid Music in France called Choo Choo Train. She toured for six months for S.U.D. radio, which is based in Toulouse, France. Scot returned to Chicago where she now plays in various hotels/restaurants. Her pandemic performing has been on Zoom, including PopUPpianobar.
Nick Sula is a pianist and award-winning music director for theater and cabaret. He has performed with cabaret artists at Davenport’s, Petterino’s, Drew’s on Halsted, Le Piano, Skokie Theater, 3160 Piano Cabaret, Stage 773, Victory Gardens and Park West. He has also been a music director for theatrical productions with Porchlight Music Theatre, Bohemian Theatre Ensemble, Pride Films and Plays, and Black Button Eyes Productions. He is an instructor, music director and vocal coach at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.
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