Many of my students have now started on their journey to a life of song. My first one is Alex Lowery, who was with me three years. She is now an extra in the TV show Glee, she is also working with her partner Deanne, in the studio constantly.

My lovely student Marene Thuet , aka (LOU WHITE – pictured) from Paris, France, has headed back to Paris today, to prepare for her May 26th concert. The concert will be not a CD release party, yet, but “Introducing Lou White” In Francis,she is being compared to Joss Stone. She is soulful, funky, deep, wrote all her own songs, and I could not be more proud than the work we have done together. I cannot wait for her to break through here in America.  Wait til you hear this girl!

My student Dayna, is a writer and singer, making her way to L A to work with the best and biggest in the business. Dayna has an interesting background. She sang in choir, in Michigan, and when she found me, I told her she has an unusual sound, like no one else, and she should go for it.  She is doing great, and has knocked out songs with Brody Brown, of Bruno Mars fame. Brody and Bruno are a songwriters team, and dream, they wrote all 7 songs for Alex, and Dayna co-wrote all hers with them.

Katie Pilkey, is going to Nashville in July to record great songs with Producer Eric Bikales, a 5 EP digital download.  Katie has a big future in Nashville, and beyond.

My Student Amber, has formed a group called ” A Rejected Romance”, it is wonderful, they should be out there working soon. My Rocker student

Genevieve Gomez, has just been signed by DJ Green Hornet, sometimes known as Green Hornet. She leaves Tuesday for Los Angeles and it is a done deal. The lawyers have looked at the contract and it  is a go!   DJ Green Hornet is a big name in Rap and R&B music. Good Luck Gen!

Nicole Hamilton just texted me. She has been hired to be in the show “Vegas”, and will resume lessons when she has her rehearsal plans. Good Luck Nicole!

My younger students, they are rockin it as well, Marissa McCoy is singing the lead in “Hairspray”, Saturday night, I will be there. Joey Miceli has the lead in the “Rainbow Company”, and I will be there to see that. It  is called “How I Became a Pirate”

http://www.rainbowcompany.org June  3rd,  4th,  9th, and 10th  at 7pm;  June 5th ,11th, & 12th at  2pm Charleston Heights Arts Center

Tiffannee LeMay, just recorded her first video, and sang for Mayor Goodman. Jessica Mussio sings everywhere, and always gets good reviews. She also made it through the first round of X Factor.

I have some younger ones who have great voices, I have a great original song from Hawaii, and plan to do a group-video with that song, and post it on my YouTube channel.

To me, Success is not being simply on the charts It is singing, or performing and getting paid. I have worked my entire life, but I have no Grammy, or Oscar.  I have done what I wanted to do, No one told me who I could or couldn’t have in my band, or show. I did it, sorry Paul Anka, gotta borrow it, “My Way”.

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training

My father, the late Irv Kluger, will receive a Mentor Award for teaching and inspiring a lot of drummers in this town.  The doors open at 10 and the first band on will   be:

Starting 11am:

• Leo Apollon & the Crossfires then recording engineers Inductions
• Pork & Beans with our friend Dennis Durante, now does all the music for Lifetime Television in Los Angeles.
• More inductions, venues, and graphics, then Present Tense and the Sluff Brothers.
• 12:15 to 1:30 will be Bill Rosevear Band, the godfather of all Vegas bands! Bill led Scatter Blues, the First band in the 60′s that paved our way.
• 1:30-2:45: Belladonna, Road house and concert promoters inductions.
• 2:45-4:15 The Teenbeats, Jerry Lopez & Santa Fe and Sidro’s Armada with Beverlee Brown.
• 4:15-5:30, Joe Guercio Induction, Census, Stan Irwin Induction, and us, Free Circus.
• 5:30-6:45;  Joni James, John Kaye, Shadowfax/Tunesmith and Sail On with Michelle Rohl.
• 6:45 til 8pm we have Who’s the Father, with Morley Bartnof, My guys, Roby Bennet, James Bennet, Adam Schendel, and Joni and I on back up for a few tunes.

THIS DAY HONORS NOT ALL, BUT SOME OF THE PIONEERS OF LAS VEGAS MUSIC.  THIS WILL BE A GLORIOUS SUNDAY TO COME OUT AND SUPPORT LIVE MUSIC AND THE PEOPLE THAT WERE HERE AT A VERY EXCITING TIME.

I hope you will join us, and the benefits are to a charter school for music scholarships and SafeNest.  A DVD will be made and sold soon , if you yell the loudest, you can be part of this history making event, the brainstorm of Michael Selinsky, Thank you Michael, what a great idea, good luck with this whole project.

Tickets at  http://www.HendersonLive.com/tickets

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training

Free Circus, with Jessica Marciel

On May 1st, all day Sunday afternoon at the Henderson Pavilion, Michael P. Selinsky will present, and honor, the Las Vegas inductees for the Las Vegas Rock Reunion Hall Of Fame. The Rock’n'Roll pioneers of the 60′s and 70′s. The bands that started it all. Little venues, it was a small town, big promoters. I wish ALL the bands could make it, but a great deal of time  and some just can’t make the trip.

When I moved to Las Vegas in the mid 1960′s, unless you were 21, you couldn’t go anywhere. Having come from Los Angeles and having already recorded six records with Capitol Records label, World Pacific Jazz,  my records got some airplay. Thank you Dennis Hunt of KENO radio. Dennis is a host and inductee on May 1st, too.

There was a life for teens here that never existed in Los Angeles. There was the Teenbeat Club and coffee houses and battle of the bands, and concerts at the Ice Palace, Las Vegas Convention Center, and National Guard Armory.

The first band I joined was The Little People: Mike Lyman, Mike Friedman, Mark Leonard, Steve Harvey, Bob Lily, (not all at the same time). We morphed into the London Fog, and Georgeanne Rock took my place when I ran off to join the circus, The Free Circus band that is. Roby Bennett, Dan Barnett, Bob Bjornsen and Larry Gann. They were college guys and I was a high school kid, still.

Free Circus had originals, good ones. And we did cover tunes, but we were good enough to open for great acts coming through town. The band opened for Cream, Steppenwolf,  Grateful Dead, Santana, Three Dog Night, Blue Cheer, Electric Prunes, Iron Butterfly, It’s A Beautiful Day, and more.  Free Circus was just one of many great bands: Bill Rosevear and the Scatter Blues Band, were the first. The Teenbeats recorded at the Teen Beat Club.  Who’s The Father?, Batdorf and Rodney, Present Tense, Wolf Ticket… so many great bands.

Also being honored are the Promoters of these clubs and concerts. The staff, and producers. Stan Irwin brought The Beatles to Las Vegas. Stan will be there to get his Oscar of Rock and Roll. His son Lanny is one of the day’s hosts. I can’t wait to see Stan. I wish my dad were here.

When the late 60′s came along, I left Free Circus because Dan was drafted into the army, and we couldn’t/wouldn’t replace him. So, I flew out to Los Angeles and was cast in the musical, HAIR. While in LA, I later heard that while driving to see Dan graduate from boot camp, a drunk driver hit his family and his beautiful mother was instantly killed. I saw Dan In Los Angeles a few times while in HAIR , because his dad had a boat in Morrow Bay. He got a bereavement discharge and wound up in Las Vegas in Who’s The Father!.

I also saw Bob in the 70′s when we were neighbors. His then-wife Nancy Cannon, and their children had horses, and my roomie, Barbara, did also. We ran over in the early morning, one day, to see a little colt being born.

I came back to just be hired by Sonny Charles of the Checkmates, and toured for a year.  I toured the Playboy Club circuit, and was gone a lot. Then I won the lead in the Dunes, Casino de Paris Show, I was  touring before that , so I missed all these great bands that continued the tradition of clubs and concerts. I ran into Bob in the late eighties when he was single, a real estate agent and very unhappy. Than I saw Dan at Bob’s funeral when he lost his battle with cancer. My friend Conrad Scogi will be pitch hitting for Bob. I can’t wait to hear the ones I missed!

I will get to hear some of them May 1st, Belladonna, Sailon, Pork & Beans, and then I will also get to hear some of my favorites from the 70′s, Jerry Lopez & Santa Fe, Sidro’s Armada with Beverlee, whom I’ve admired, from afar, for years.

This isn’t just a concert, this is the induction into the Las Vegas Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, conceived by Michael Selinsky. What a great tribute and such an honor, Thank You Michael.

Irv Kluger

My late father, Irv Kluger, will be honored as a mentor because he taught drums to half the drummers in las  Vegas. This is a chance to see old Vegas, raw talent, originals that I think held up. People like myself who have at it for 45 years. I started my career in 1963, and I am still going. How many people can say that. Well, A lot will be there that day doing it longer than me. So , get out your tie dye, and fringe vests, and come to a be-in.

May 1st, Henderson Pavilion, 11am-8pm: I will be on between 4;15 and 5;30pm. This is it folks, you’ll never see the likes of this kind of talent again. I know it will be a beautiful day, and I will celebrate Free Circus, also, Little People and London Fog. I had a great time with all these bands, and love them all.

Now, get into your rock gear, whatever that is for you and let’s celebrate music, live music!

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training

Fifth Avenue member, Jerry Jones, is a friend, and I went to support him, support live music, and simply enjoy the show.. The band was great, Bill Fayne, on keys and Musical Director,  John Wedemeyer on guitar, Mike Meecham, on drums, Jamie Hosmer on second string keys, and last but not least the infamous Lenny Lopez on vocals and percussion.

The audience was filled with celebrities and retired gray-haired seniors who live nearby, play the slots and see whatever show is there. The people next to us had no idea who they were seeing. The showroom was filled to capacity.

The show opened with big screen comedic bit on cavemen about how harmony started, featuring Sid Caesar. The cavemen dropped heavy boulders on the feet of people and their screams became a vocal choir. Very funny concept.

Fifth Avenue then sang us through vocalese history and did bits of songs from different decades, another clip from the Music Man with Robert Preston setting up the barbershop music segment.

A significant chunk of the show took me down memory lane. My dad was the drummer for the Hi-Lo’s (which is mis-spelled on Fifth Avenues website). I grew up on the music of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, when Annie Ross left, it became  Lambert, Hendricks, and Bavan. I was singing “Twisted” and “Cloudburst” as a child. So, it was great to hear this music again. Are they as clean and precise as the Hi-Lo’s? No, not all the time, but the performances were superb.

The arranger Rob Hyatt is extremely talented as a vocal arranger, I just felt that some arrangements were unnecessarily complex. At times, less can be more.

I was in a vocal group, Commonwealth, and I know the hours and hours of rehearsal it takes to pull this off. We used to sing the horn parts and use fewer musicians, and had to be perfect every show. It is very demanding and I hope the audience realized just how hard these guys worked to make it happen.

The singers, Jerry Jones, Bryce Robinson, Jeff Celentano and Rob Hyatt, all have great stage presence and are funny, too.  Rob has an amazing range, went from top to bass, and Jeff has a great lead singer voice. Bryce has a great voice for theater and recording. Jerry has the mid-range, root note range with warmth in it.

Together, they do have what it takes to be a great group. Guest and new singer for the band, Tyriq Johnson joined them for Maroon Five’s “Sunday Morning”, the song they did for the TV show “The Sing Off”, they are waiting to see if they come back to do the show this coming season.

They opened with “Come Rain Or Come Shine” one of my favorite songs, and when they got to the 70′s era, Jamie and Lenny sang The Beatles’ “Come Together”.

One of the high points of the nights for me was the Fifth Dimension’s “Up, Up and Away”. Beautiful job on a splendid arrangement.

They spoofed The Jordanaires singing with no lead singer, and brought someone up from the audience to play Elvis, He didn’t know the song and it was pretty  funny when “Teddy Bear” was just back up. They killed it when they did the Four Seasons because Rob had that high Frankie Valli range.

If you get the chance to see Fifth Avenue, You will have a good time.  If you are a music lover, you will love every genre they cover, and that is many.

It all ended on a positive note for me, go on guys, Sing Sing Sing.

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training

Coincidentally, I married his sax player Rick Frazier, and grew close to Wayne and his then wife Elaine. Really nice people. Wayne was best man at Rick and my wedding. Elaine was always wonderful to me, and invited me to their home. His voice was a little strange, nasal and kind of high, but it was in tune and he could hit the notes.

He helped me with my Band “Fantasy“, getting an open ended contract with Summa Corporation. That means until they give you two weeks  notice!! It lasted two years, so I’m not complaining.

This blog came after hearing Whitney Houston‘s voice from a concert in Europe and was mortified. “I Will Always love You” was two keys down from the original and she STILL couldn’t hit the notes. It reminded me of Wayne, and the question I have had , WHY? Why/How did these two talented performers lose their voices. I am getting on in years and my voice is stronger and better than ever. What have they done to damage their voice?

In Whitney‘s case, it appears to be drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. I didn’t know that such use or misuse could damage your voice… this badly. I am beginning to wonder why Wayne lost his voice. Does he have an alcohol problem? Did he? Or is it some medication that inflamed his vocal chords?

I am not a drinker, and if I ever dabbled with drugs, it was not out of bounds. I don’t have a problem with my voice unless I get too little sleep. Note: I am writing this at midnight!.

Don't gargle with broken glass

I am a night owl, and it is hard for me to get tired after 10pm. That is when i come alive. Too bad I can’t start a graveyard teaching class. They would kick me out of the neighborhood.

A recent review of Wayne said that (paraphrasing) “his voice sounded like he had been gargling with broken glass.” Ouch, that would hurt my ego. I would hope that someone who cared for me would tell me when it is time to go. I believe that time has come for Whitney and Wayne. It is a sad thing to think about. they gave us so much joy. So much entertainment, and the saddest part is, there is no one to replace them.

Gordie Brown

Gordie Brown should be the new Mr. Las Vegas. For some reason, he doesn’t have the right people getting the word out there. This an has it all, voice, comic timing, impressions, and improvisational skills  you wouldn’t believe. If you ever get the chance, see him. Trust me.

Whitney: Your new CD went platinum, good for you, but we all know what they do in the studio. my worst day in the studio can be tweaked by any engineer. So, darlin’, please, stop being the joke of the late night gossip shows and YouTube, and quietly slip away while your CD is on top.

Wayne: I wish you a joyful life, I’m thrilled your daughter pulled through her tragic medical emergency, and i wish you a second life perhaps in Branson, Missouri, where you could do a show with the band drowning you out a bit, or a good sound man who could put special effects on your voice.

Singers: Take care of your bodies, don’t drink to excess and don’t do drugs. It’s not worth it. Get your rest. Yeah, easy for me to say! OK except for the rest part, I do all of that.

Drink, lemon water, honey, warm tea, work your voice out, and then cool down like an athlete does. We can’t fake it, it is our bodies that are our instruments. We need to cover our throats in the cold wind with a scarf.

We need to baby ourselves. That is probably how we got the nickname, Divas.

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training

Michael Lynche

American Idol elimination night blew me away. Mike was in the bottom three and then he was the bottom! Tim was safe, Aaron, Lee,were safe and Mike not!!!   did not see that coming. the judges felt the same way because they used their only save of the season to save Mike. he will be back next week.

I have to say, I am a little suspicious now of the validity of the vote. was this for drama? I don’t understand how this giant of a man with a smooth as silk voice could not get votes..  Now, I  will always have my doubts about the show. It made me really want to tune in next week, and that is why I wonder if this was just a tease.” Dancing with the Stars” beat them badly in the ratings last week.

We will see… Marciel, Over and Out

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training

I’ll be accompanied on piano by Mike Shane, and am looking forward to performances. Both of which start about 6pm.

Received a bit of plug from the gossip column, Ciaire Voyant, in Las Vegas Online.

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training

I mentioned how upset I was that I had no idea Bob had been in town with Andy Williams at the Las Vegas Hilton. His name was not mentioned, anywhere! Also, he had been at the Rampart Casino and it was poorly advertised.

She said “Start reading my online gossip column.” Well, there you have it.  I had lost touch with her, and now I know.

I have had a link on my site as long as it has been up for my  friend Jerry Fink who was a big fan of my father, Irv Kluger. He had written numerous stories on him, as well as myself, so I want to remind you to go to his entertainment blog: THEJerryFink.com

Jerry has a great knowledge of where to find the  music. He loves live music and he won’t let you down.

I’m taking my own advice and not going to miss another Bob Anderson moment if I can help it!

Are you aware that there is a great Italian restaurant in Pahrump!! Live music every night. Tom Saitta, yes of the car dealerships, is trumpet player/singer and has opened a place “Tommasino’s” with alternating Mike Shane, and Tommy Deering at the piano.

Tom sits in and others come in from Las Vegas and sit in. I plan on doing this as soon as I have an early day ending from teaching. They start at 5pm and go to 9pm but keep going as long as they have an audience. Check this out. It’s not a bad drive for great food and great music.

Thank you Esther, Jerry and Mike Weatherford. And all of you who help us find the music!!!!

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training