TWO FOR THE ROAD A Recital - with Carol Sloane & Mike Renzi

An elegant evening of listening, with two jazz legends sharing the American Popular Song. A grand piano, a stool - and jazz classics that define an era.

“With all the talk about new jazz singers, none comes even close to Carol Sloane. This is what jazz is all about.” - Nat Hentoff

“Instead of pyrotechnics, she achieves an ideal mixture of clarity, emotional balance and buoyancy…As much as any singer of her generation, Ms. Sloane understands the value of restraint. Even in the most animated numbers, her voice never rises above a conversational level. Her ballads convey with a quiet authority the assimilated wisdom of a woman who has been there, done that and moved on. She luxuriates in her introspective material, savoring the lyrics and lingering over the ends of phrases in a sweet humming vibrato.” - Stephen Holden,

The story of CAROL SLOANE begins even before she was out of high school, 'sneaking in' to jazz clubs in Providence, R.I. Soon after, she was the young 'girl singer' touring with the Les & Larry Elgart Jazz Orchestra - stepping into the unknown that soon brought her onto a "New Faces" stage at the famed in 1961. "Little Girl Blue" was the song. She sang the verse a capella, since the pianist said he didn't know it. Nothing but the voice, the lyric and the melody...

Label executives and major national media reps were standing at the side of the stage with pens in hand as she made her exit. Carol Sloane took flight into a career that would eventually place her name and sound among those considered the world's most noted jazz vocalists of the era. Recordings and TV appearances brought global acclaim. She opened for Woody Allen, Richard Prior, Lenny Bruce. She was the regular 'gal singer' for the Arthur Godfrey Show, The Tonight Show with Jack Paar, and then for newcomer Johnny Carson in the by-then revered latenight slot. There were performances in major concert halls & clubs across the continent and beyond, traveling and appearing with the likes of Oscar Peterson, Dizzie Gillespie, and Carmen McRae. She was "the jazz singer's jazz singer." There was , Ella Fitzgerald, , Carmen McRae - "and then there is Carol Sloane." Now, at 82, she's still sharing the magic. Sold-out engagements and a September 2019 live recording at famed Birdland have brought a surge of attention and adoration. It's all about listening to what the song has to say.

Pianist MIKE RENZI, also from Rhode Island, found his calling as a teen as well. He got his musicians union card at 13. Leading bands in jazz clubs still as a teen, he earned his degrees from Boston Conservatory and Berklee. He's served as music director for Mel Torme, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, , Eartha Kitt - and most recently for the tour & "Cheek to Cheek" recording by Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga. He was longtime musical director, winning seven Emmy Awards for his work for Sesame Street.

"That gorgeous Sloane voice has never left, and perhaps has gotten better, if that’s even possible. Think Ella and Carmen and Sarah and Maxine. She stands among the greats, and you’d be a fool not to hear her. The pièce de résistance was the very beautiful Mancini and Bricusse tune “Two for the Road.” Hers was like nothing you have heard before, at least equal to the Carmen McRae/ version, perfectly performed." Jazz critic Gregg Culling 9/21/19

"A spell was cast from the moment she walked to the stage to the moment that she left it, after two standing ovations. Carol Sloane presides over everything with the focus of a guru. Imagine how many shows she has done, how many recitals of the superior music that she is naturally attracted to. What is so majestically on display at Birdland is the distillation and wisdom that comes from all those nights, all those songs, the sheer joy of being transported directly into a world of aesthetic nirvana, courtesy of Ms. Sloane. Her focus is extraordinary and seductive, and it also manifested itself by the musicians she chose to support her. With Mike Renzi at the piano, one encounters a non- pareil master of this art. It's not hyperbole to say he is one of the greatest currently playing anywhere . And it’s not just the choice of chords, or the space, or the way that every harmonic progression seems to be being invented as we listen – it is also the floating, ethereal sound he conjures from the piano at all times, which makes it all the more effective when he ships into a higher gear. Renzi’s art is inextricably bound to the era of Peggy Lee, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, Mel Torme, and their peers. I pray it never disappears." Jazz historian Loren Schoenberg 9/21/19

“If Carol Sloane isn’t America’s greatest living jazz singer, then no one deserves the title.” - Matt Schudel,

“Through sheer tenacity and the application of a vocal talent that has steadily ripened with the passing years, Carol Sloane has become one of the grandes dames of jazz singing. Her knowing interpretations of lyrics and sly phrasing should be closely studied by the new generation of chanteuses." - The New Yorker

Carol Sloane & Mike Renzi are now available on a limited basis for touring performances of TWO FOR THE ROAD • A JAZZ RECITAL

Production requirements: a quality grand or baby grand piano tuned day of performance; a high stool, preferably swivel, with back & arms; a vocal mic but no monitor for Carol; a piano mic and monitor for Mike. Hotel for up to two nights, plus travel from Boston and Providence. Attentive audience members rapt at hearing these numbers are the most important ingredient a presenter can provide.

The pair will be returning to Birdland for another engagement in March of 2020.

Carol Sloane is currently the subject of a feature length documentary film now in production, directed by Michael Lippert (REEVES: A PLACE FOR MUSIC) Tentative release is scheduled for late 2020. Carol Sloane was a resident of North Carolina during the 1970s, for numerous appearances with beloved Paul Montgomery at the famed Frog & Nightgown in Raleigh. In the early 80s, she returned to NC to work with Stephen Barefoot in booking the noted artists who appeared at Stephen's, After All in Chapel Hill. She now resides near Boston, MA.

For inquiries, contact Stephen Barefoot. 919.614.1235. www.goingbarefoot.com

Visit http://www.goingbarefoot.com/carol-sloane.php and www.carolsloane.com

Carol pictured above with Ray Brown, Mel Torme, ...