Club helps club as the Iridium on Broadway rocks out with a one-night-only concert of smash hits, hosting a Sunday night as a benefit to help Johnno’s, a music venue in the Caribbean majorly damaged by Hurricane Irma. The performers are Iridium’s “upstairs neighbors” — the singing waiters of Ellen’s Stardust Diner, a true NYC institution. The October 22 program will include the classic numbers from the CD released the same week by these energetic entertainers: Ellen’s Stardust Diner: Classic Rock. Show time is 8 PM and admission is $10; food and beverage are served, and there’s a $15 minimum. The celebrated servers serve up Queen’s “Somebody to Love,” Prince’s “Kiss,” AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” Meatloaf’s “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” on the recording and live show, with more rock ‘n’ roll favorites added for the concert.
The live band that night will be the same one that accompanied the vocalists for their album, and the CD also includes instrumental-only karaoke tracks for those who want to follow up their listening by singing with professional back-up, too. Sunday the Rock Star Karaoke musicians will be there to play in person with their recent recording studiomates. Those on the recording, which will be available for sale at the event — David Socolar, Paul Williams, Jack King, Preston Hammond and Elizabeth Davies — will be joined by other Stardust talents: Jennifer Agatte, Vince Fazzolari, Justin Luciano, Monique Morgan and Ryan Smith.
Jazz meets musical theatre meets rock happens on a daily basis on the corner of West 51 Street and Broadway: not only is the Iridium, like Johnno’s in Anguilla, a jazz club popular with locals and tourists, but the NYC spot is next door to the Winter Garden Theatre where the show School of Rock has been a hit with theatre-goers for many months. Meanwhile, Ellen’s Stardusters routinely switch music genres to offer its customers rock, Broadway, pop, and even a bit of jazz and country.
“We had been in the midst of working on this project last month, an album featuring aspiring Broadway performers on our wait staff, when I saw a feature on CNN about the damage Hurricane Irma ensued in Anguilla at Johnno’s,” says Ellen’s Stardust Diner co-owner Ken Sturm. “As the popular jazz club The Iridium is downstairs from us, I thought this project could have the dual purpose of further spotlighting the vocal talents of some of our wait staff, while raising money to keep the music going at Johnno’s.”
“I’m always inspired by my fellow Stardusters,” says Elizabeth Davies. “They sound amazing on these tracks and we had a lot of fun rocking out in the studio together! All of them brought their unique talents to the table while still honoring the original performers of these iconic songs. I want to give a big thank you to the talented engineers, production team, the band and everyone behind the scenes who worked tirelessly to put this all together. I’m grateful that I was given this opportunity to push myself as a vocalist and collaborator.”
Adds Preston Hammond, “Recording with this group of people was an absolute joy and to have the recordings out there for the fans of Ellen’s Stardust Diner to enjoy is icing on the cake. The professionalism of our technical team was absolutely unbeatable.”
The album credits are as follows:
Kent Thompson – Guitar
Dean Marchi- Bass
Stefano Leone- Drums
Jan Kjaer- Keyboardist
Produced by Scott Barbarino, William Edwin Gastfield III & Lincoln Foley Schofield
Engineered by Billy Gastfield
Mixed and Mastered by Lance McVickar
Recorded at The Iridium and Sandblast Recording Studio
Album Photography: Jim Belmont
Album Artwork: Ty Alston
Special thanks to Kelly Cooper and Rock Star Karaoke NYC
CD vocals: David Socolar (“Somebody to Love”), Paul Williams (“Kiss”), Jack King (“Highway to Hell”), Preston Hammond (“Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad”) and Elizabeth Davies (“Don’t Stop Believin’”).
Tickets are on sale now via TicketWeb via www.theiridium.com and The Iridium box office located at 1650 Broadway. Phone: 212.582.2121.
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