When she sings in the New Year next Wednesday night at Mohegan Manor, Julie Falatico will channel the talents of Hoagy Carmichael, Cole Porter and George Gershwin, just to name a few.
The classy jazz vocalist from Utica recently released her debut disc, “Taking a Chance on Love,” on which she tenderly interprets the work of those great American songwriters.
The 10-track CD, produced by Baldwinsville bassist Matt Vacanti, includes tunes such as Carmichael’s “The Nearness of You,” Porter’s “Night and Day” and Gershwin’s “Someone to Watch over Me.” Pressed on Vacanti’s Spider Records label, the CD also features veteran Rome guitarist Joe Ferlo.
Falatico is one of three featured acts on New Year’s Eve, at the historic Mohegan Manor, 58 Oswego St., in Baldwinsville. Scat singer Nancy Kelly will entertain along with pianist Dino Losito, guitarist Tom Bronzetti and drummer Jimmy Johns in the manor’s Green Room, while Falatico’s trio holds forth in the Gold & Copper Room, and organist Butch Strong plays in the lounge.
Tables of four to eight are available in the Green Room, while the Gold & Copper Room will accommodate tables of two to four. Multi-course dinners cost $125 per person; while couples can pay $130 to enjoy appetizers in the lounge; 857-0079.
For the past eight years, Falatico has been entertaining listeners in Central New York with selections from the Great American Songbook. While performing at upscale spots such as Grimaldi’s Restaurant and Gabriel’s Trattoria, Falatico’s warm, sultry voice blends with Ferlo’s super-smooth guitar and Vacanti’s rhythmic upright bass.
Falatico began her singing career in Cleveland, Ohio, in the early-1990s. After moving back to Central New York, she performed with the Sal Alberico Big Band before forming a duo with Ferlo and a trio with Vacanti.
In addition to her musical career, Falatico operates The Movie of Your Life Productions, which conducts empowerment workshops for local organizations. Her motivational presentations are designed to help individuals overcome personal challenges by tapping into their talents and abilities. Sounds like a good way to achieve New Year’s resolutions . . . after you’ve danced the night away on Dec. 31.
For information, visit juliefalatico.com. To check out her disc, visit spiderrecords.org.
Kelly Green
Syracuse Area Music Awards Hall-of-Fame vocalist Nancy Kelly is the featured performer Dec. 31, in the Green Room at Mohegan Manor. She’ll also leave her quartet behind to sing a few tunes with keyboardist Butch Lyman in the lounge.
Last year, Kelly righteously rocked an audience of more than 6,000 at the 25th annual Syracuse Jazz Fest at Onondaga Community College. Backed there by her quartet, Kelly drew wild applause from the teeming crowd with tunes such as “I’ll Be Seeing You” and “I’ve Got the World on a String,” one of the cuts from her most recent disc “Born to Swing,” on Amherst Records.
“Born to Swing” kicks off with a boppish version of Koehler & Arlen’s “I’ve Got the World on a String,” settles in with Van Heusen & Burke’s “Like Someone in Love,” then reinvents Cole Porter’s “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To.”
Jazz Times magazine critic Bill Milkowski describes Kelly’s approach to scatting and swinging as “take no prisoners.” While Kelly hails from the Lake Ontario village of Fair Haven, Milkowski called her “a world-class jazz singer in the feisty, swinging tradition of Anita O’Day . . . she demonstrates superb phrasing, excellent time, great intonation and tons of chops.”
