Pat Cisarano
New York City, New York, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2023 | SELF
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Pat Cisarano
Reviewing a CD usually follows a formula. Discuss the musicianship, the songwriting, the production values and then get into specific songs that move you one way or the other, recommend it or not and sign your name.
And then you get into one of those collections that comes along once or twice in a good year. This is one of those treasures. Cisarano has earned high marks in all the normal categories. The musicianship is high, the vocals are beautiful, and the production highlights the magnificent lyrics. What can't be graded, but only related is the special spiritual quality this CD has. Here's what I mean. I came home about three hours late from work one day. The flu had knocked out several of the staff, several pieces of equipment had failed and I didn't need anything else but my sinuses to tell me the weather was changing. This CD had come in the mail, so the next day after a horrid commute, I tossed it in the player and squared off against what was promising to be as bad a day as yesterday. Immediately things got better.
This amazing compilation of blues, ska, funk, jazz, gospel, Latin and soul energized me, calmed me and turned my outlook completely around. This hour of music hasn't got one bad minute. Incredibly insightful songs, top shelf players and taste abound in this sonic smorgasbord. Needless to say, this is highly recommended.
- New York's entertainment paper
These days, he (TONY BENNETT) is nutty about a singer named Pat Cisarano, a kid from Sheepshead Bay,"Pat’s is the real deal!", says Bennet, who shows up most Sundays for her gig in the village-MIKE SHANE
NY POST
NEW YORK DISH
“To cap off the evening, pop star Taylor Dayne jumped up and joined singer Pat Cisarano in belting out a solid half hour of blues and rock tunes.” BETH LANDMAN
NY POST
Cisarano is exciting in uptempo blues and jazz. This gracious lady had a bright future ahead of her.
- The Real Deal
A BATH OF NOCTURNAL BLUES
Pat Cisarano is back with her musicians, her powerful and persuading voice, her stage presence and her wild mane of hair!-and with her blues, above all those which were composed by the great black composers, the imperishable classics, which she interprets for the pleasure of the public. Pat brought New York with her, where she has her roots. She also brought with her the emotion of a strong voice that sings gospel, blues and rhythm & blues.
Patricia holds the scene commandingly but with abandon, kicking the stage with her black leather boots..the blues escape her body and embrace all those around her.
The singer offers a large repertoire, rapid rhythms,, classic R&B, a warm and sensual voice for the blues, with accents a thousand times understood…a recipe which bears fruit for a public of all ages, again and forever
- (SWITZERLAND-translated from French)
STYLES-Attitude checked
Downstairs at the Metropolis there is only one strict entrance policy:leave your attitude at the door. While such a code may disquiet some New York revelers, but has worked wonders for Rub-A-Dub Jazz, the new club night thas revitalized what was a dark disagreeable cellar on Union Square West at 16th Street.
It’s not reggae, it’s not soul” said Kochie Banton. It’s good mood music, and it’s here to put a smile on everybody’s face.”
Last Monday, Con-tri-but-ion opened up around midnight. By 1:30 AM there were 12 musicians jamming the tiny stage, including Clark Gayton, a trombonist for the Ellington Big Band and Sting, George Laks, the keyboard player for Lenny Kravitz, and Pat Cisarano, whose raw, bluesy voice has been heard at the Blue Note with Tony Bennet. When you look around at the crowd, you see all kinds of faces,” nice happy faces, black faces, white faces ane even the occasional yuppie face!”
In between sets, Chillfreeze, one of the deejays, was, as they say in disco parlance, licking serious vinyl. He describes the crowd this way. “It’s a mix of industry people, open-minded Manhattanites and people who appreciate live music.
Among the Addidas brigade, baby-look ravers, Deadheads and dreads was Akim Ndlou, a 24 year old rapper who appeared to lead much of the dancing. At one point he called to his disciples. “If you are a human being, put your hands in the air.”
Nearly everyone, it transpired, was a human being
MARK JOLLY
- STyles
Pat sings her blend of blues-jazz-soul, with subtlety that is so smooth, that when she finally unleashes her powerful voice it's like riding a high-speed roller-coaster of aural adrenalin, that is comparable to the great soul diva's; Aretha Franklin, Etta James.
Ah is introduced with 'Prelude' that is gospel in flavour. 'All In This Together' features a very low key jazz ambience, that is an anthem about music generating positivity. This typifies the overall feel of Ah. 'So Dedicated' is pure sensual-soul. 'Ways Of Life' and 'So Glad You're Gone' feature some delightful reggae grooves. 'Carried Away' is about a chance meeting with an old flame, and the effect it has on her. 'True Love' is again an anthem, and this one is about racial harmony and getting together. I love Pat's 'Somebody Talk To My Baby', that is a song about broken-hearted memories, and a plea for someone to tell her lover how she feels. 'Thank God For The Blues' features a more sultry Cisarano, and feels like back-alley jazz. Attitude and swing. Pat really knows how to deliver great soul grooves, and she wrote 'Love Saves The Day' and 'Sugar Melts In The Rain'. I can imagine Aretha Franklin wailing through these beautiful ballads. 'Hold My Hand Forever' is a love-soul dedication to the late Frank Tomaino; and this also features DJ Kotchie B. Ah finishes with a reprise of 'Prelude', but this time the complete version: 'I Promise You Peace'.
I first heard Ah on mp3.com years ago, and I was so taken by the song selection that I had to have it. Everybody sometimes needs a little intimate soul massage, and this one speaks straight to the heart. Pat couldn't have done this album without the help of her special band of musicians i.e. Stephan Crump (bass), Dan Rieser (drums), Dan Petty (guitar), Peter Adams (keys), and many of the other fine musicians who contributed; plus the awesome production by Paul Frazier.
Gazz
- Gazz
MP3 All-Stars By Miriam Rosenblum
Pat Cisarano has beautiful contralto voice with the richness of Nina Simone and the the velvety lushness of Sarah Vaughn. Her song writing is reminiscent of Robert Johnson.
She takes the sting out of being white.
- Notes from the NY bar scene
Excerpt from Bob Porter's National Radio
program PORTRAITS IN BLUE.
“THE BEST VOICE ON THE NY BLUES SCENE…THE LADY IS A GREAT SONG WRITER.” BOB PORTER, WBGO
- WBGO
Pat has been described as a “Janis Joplin Style Chanteuse” (NY Post”), with “the bluesy style that put Aretha on the map way back when” (NY Native). Wif Stenger of the New York Press compared her favorably to Ernestine Anderson.
- NYPRESS
Discography
Third Rain Screamin'
The R&B of New York City
Rave-On Records
Ticia Rave-on Records
Ah hapimusic
Ah
hapimusic
Photos
Bio
Look for Pat on on the Sundance Channel in the miniseries
FLYING: CONFESSIONS OF A FREE WOMAN.
At a Grammy awards show, Tony Bennett told a crowd of over 2000 industry professionals, "Pat Cisarano is the greatest white blues singer 'on the planet.'"
Coming from the king, that's quite a complement.
.
NYC LOVES THIS WOMAN.
So decree her NYC fans and the serious catz who honed their blues-thang with Pat as she reined as Blues-Queen of the NYC Bleecker Street scene-in its everybody-say-HEY-day!
Gigging with Pat gave, and gives an indelible seal of approval; her alumni play with many an A-list superstar.
Her bands have always reflected a dedication to ethnic balance, as her music springs
from a marriage of blues, jazz, soul, and reggae. At her shows, expect to hear "shed-a-tear blues, grab-yo-honey soul, with a pinch of sweet reggae.
Members of the School of Pat, to name a few include;
George Laks (Lenny Kravitz.) when in town, plays keys for Pat. Pat & George have been working together for over 15 years. Paul Frazier, who plays bass for David Byrne (among others) produced Pat's CD "ah", and holds down the bass chair for Pats "Combo-Nation" when not touring with Byrne. Andy Hess, Bass (John Schofeild, Black Crowz, Government Mule), Obie award winning guitar player/ crooner Bill Sims Jr., drummer Rod Gross (Shenikqua Copeland), bassman Barry Campbell (Al Green),
The list goes on....
Brooklyn-Born, Pat has given her life to song, and to sharing that passion. Her Dad owned a well-loved neighborhood Bar & Grill near Sheepshead Bay. It's phenomenal jukebox, and the music of the era, was to indelibly shape her life.
To quote the liner notes from one of her CD liner notes latest release, If the Biz were more about artistic sense than dollars-n-cents, Pat Cisarano would long ago have been added to the list of regal first-namers:
Ella, Etta, Billie, Aretha, Bessie, Janis...PAT.
When covering classics, she rips into each song's core so even the most familiar seem her own, and her originals sing out like standards. .
Her very first recording project was Third Rail Screamin' for Rave On Music, where she recorded two of her own songs, live. Her other CD's include early bluesy TRUE LOVE, blues compilation called CARRIED AWAY, and *AH* -a retro soul/world/blues ensemble produced by Paul Frazier.
Pat took a break from gigging to study acting at John Strasberg's Real Stage. She landed a small comedic part in the Spanish film La Linea Del Cielo (Skyline), which was a hit in Spain, and won a number of awards. In New York, critic Judith Crist said 'IT’S PERFECTO.' Pat did more work for the same director, Fernando Colomo, when he returned to New York to film his TV series Las Chicas.
She went on to work Mirror Repertory Company as house manager and understudy. Geraldine Page was artist-in-residence at the Mirror. Pat says observing Miss Page work night after night was the best education she could have had.
And it shows onstage. She's not only a fine vocalist, she's a performer.
When she left the Mirror, she formed a band and began performing in venues around the city. She set her sights on Bleecker Street-work, work, work. From there, she performed in Europe, South and Central America.
One reviewer artfully said: At her gigs expect to hear anything from melt-the-ice- in- your-jack-and-coke funk to shed-a-tear-with-me blues, to grab-yo-honey-and-squeeze soul, to smooth and sweet reggae. “When Pat covers the classics she insinuates herself into each songs emotional core so even the most familiar song seems her own, and her originals, i.e., the exquisite ballad Sugar Melts in the Rain or the uplifting True Love are so instantaneously memorable they seem to be standards.”
In earlier days, Tony Bennett would take time out from his busy schedule to pop into a downtown spot to check Pat out. He was so taken by her talent that he called her up stage with him at the Blue Note to perform �Let the Good Times Roll with his band, the Ralph Sharon Trio. Twice. He later told Mike Shane of Newsday, "Pat is the real deal". Yup!
At the 25th year commemoration of the Woodstock Festival, Pat performed with Muddy Water Blues� with Paul Rogers (Free, Bad Company) and Slash (Guns N Roses).
She received the Shure Microphone Best Female Vocalist award. Pat has been prominently featured on Bob Porter's National Public Radio show Portraits in Blue. He called her "the best voice on the NY blues scene', and said, "This lady is a great songwriter."
After 911, Pat was asked by friend Nile Rodgers to join the nation’s top recording stars in the studio (Diana Ross, Sister Sledge) for the re-recording of the legendary song, We Are Family, to benefit the victims of the disaster. Spike Lee filmed the recording session and created a documentary about the event.
Pat contributed music to the acclaimed PBS documentary American Love Story. The series follows bluesman Bill Sims
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