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Hear recordings by The Cangelosi Cards:
My Blue Heaven
Anniversary Song
The Cangelosi Cards are a working jazz band. Established and based in New York City, the group is comprised of a talented group of young musicians from varied backgrounds in jazz, bluegrass, and folk music.
In 2006 the Cards began playing regularly at small clubs and restaurants, building a vast repertoire of early American jazz and attracting an eclectic audience including many local swing dancers and fans of old-time jazz.In addition to their weekly engagements, the band plays at many larger events in and around the five boroughs as well as many concerts and dances on the road, throughout the Northeast, the Midwest, Canada, and most recently Europe, where the band toured for 5 weeks in the summer of 2009.
Notable performances in the past include opening the 2007 New Year’s Eve Show at the Grand Ballroom in Manhattan, Swing Out New Hampshire (’06, ’07,’08, ’09), the Washington D.C. Lindy Exchange (’08, 09’) , The Big, Big, Event in Washington D.C. (’07), Frankie Manning’s 95th Birthday Party also held at the Grand Ballroom in New York City (’09), and the Herräng Dance Camp in Herräng, Sweden (’09).
Relatively unrecorded throughout their first years, the band released their first recordings in July, 2009. The sessions have been released as the Clinton Street Recordings, I. CD’s are available online and at every show.
For complete information regarding the sessions, including musician and studio credits, click here.
MICHAEL STEINMAN'S REVIEW OF: The Cangelosi Cards; Clinton Street Recordings, i.
Thanks to Eve Polich, I learned that the Cangelosi Cards debut CD was not only finished but on sale. I’d been thinking about this disc since Tamar Korn had said that the Cards were making their first-ever formal recording. But at the same time, bringing this extraordinary group into a recording studio made me anxious. The Cards create an ecstatic spectacle whenever they perform. Even if there isn’t a whole line of dancers in front of the band, the music makes everyone bond joyously, and the band climbs higher and higher.
I’ve been at recording sessions, observing the most experienced professionals, and I know the effect that even the most congenial studio can have on creative improvisers. Everyone plays splendidly, but there is the chilling effect of being watched too closely, of having your every breath recorded — literally — for posterity.
It’s a rare band that’s totally relaxed in the studio, and most musicians seem exhausted at the end of the session, relieved that it’s over, vaguely dissatisfied with the results. I wondered if the artificial environment of the recording studio would cause the Cards to lose some of their exquisite energies? I need not have worried.
Yes, there’s no crowd audible on the CD, and the absence of enthusiastic noise took a few minutes to get used to. But the music comes through more clearly than it ever does in live performance. I hear nuances of timbre in solo and ensemble that I would only have sensed in a club. And the Cards seem not at all intimidated by the microphones, the weight of being captured for immortality. From the first notes of MY BLUE HEAVEN, the Cards rock — without strain or tension, but with a graceful intensity. The rhythm section is splendidly easy; the front-line players show off their distinctive voices and timbres. Subtle, convincing little arrangements, too.
As we’ve seen, the Cards are full of surprises: no performance is predictable, although there is none of that irritating seeking-after-novelty that distinguishes lesser groups. You’ll hear a persuasive, irresistible swing that gives way to tender ballad playing, in their characteristically varied repertoire — hinting at Billie Holiday and Jimmie Rodgers, to mention only two names. Tamar’s voice is, as always, a delight – and in this form, I can hear textures that a club audience might have over-ridden. She sings sweetly, growls the blues, becomes her own trumpet / hi-hat cymbal, and yodels — her focused but expansive vocal instrument responding to every nuance of the music. And I truly admire the witty trombone playing of Musselman, Lichtman’s fluent clarinet and eloquent mandolin work, Milius’s forceful harmonica solos, Meyer’s perfectly poised violin playing, Sanders’ solid rhythm playing and eloquent lines, Holden’s deep-down bass support, and Webster’s nimble, searching piano.
The Cards would have been welcome on Fifty-Second Street in its glory days: hear the rocking momentum they create on IDA, as well as the Victorian delicacy of TREASURES UNTOLD. And, although it seems paradoxical, the disc isn’t too long. Many CDs are filled to the brim with twenty similar performances, making listening to them somewhat exhausting. The eight selections here are a wonderfully satisfying banquet. Michael Steinman is an active jazz correspondent based in New York City.
For up to date reviews of live shows, recordings, and all things jazz in New York, visit his blog, Jazz lives at jazzlives.wordpress.com
TIME OUT NEW YORK
The Cangelosi Cards play every single Monday at tiny Banjo Jim’s. Because of their availability, it is easy to miss them—we were guilty of skipping this band’s show for ages. Yet ignoring them is a mistake: The group is accomplished beyond its modest (if enthusiastic) audience, performing highly professional, terrifically lively sets inspired by old New Orleans jazz music.
The band begins around 9:30pm and plays deep into the night. A word of warning: Those who dance tend to know their stuff; be prepared.
“The Cangelosi Cards are one of the best bands I’ve seen anywhere. They have a great live show, perfect for dancing! I envy any one who has not yet seen them because you now have the chance to see them for the first time! They keep it strictly real, playing traditional New Orleans style jazz, but continue to see at as a living tradition- and as such bring in influences from outside the cannon, such as country, blues, and early popular music. The level of musicianship is brilliant, bring your dancing shoes.”
-Eli Smith - Producer/Host Down Home Radio
THE CANGELOSI CARDS: Clinton Street Recordings, i.
1. My Blue Heaven
2. It’s Like Reaching For The Moon
3. Blue Yodel No. 2
4. Ida
5. September Song
6. Putting on the Ritz
7. Treasures Untold
8. Anniversary Song
MUSICIANS
Tamar Korn – voice
Gordon Webster – piano
Cassidy Holden – bass
Jake Sanders – guitar
Matt Musselman – trombone
Dennis Lichtman – clarinet, mandolin
Karl Meyer – Violin
Marcus Milius - Harmonica
Recorded: produced and mixed by Todd Perlmutter. engineered and mastered by Matt Werden. Nick Montalbano - assistant engineer. recorded, mixed and mastered at LoHo Studios in Manhattan.
For booking at LoHo Studios, contact: matt.werden@gmail.com