Rosalyn McClore

After spotting exciting newcomer Rosalyn McClore at this years’ Cabaret Convention, I felt compelled to see more. So I raced down to the Hideaway Room@ Helen’s in time to catch her cabaret debut. From her two numbers on stage at Lincoln Center, it was obvious she knew her way around a hot keyboard and a song. Her show, featuring the songs of Stephen Sondheim and Nina Simone and backed by a three-piece band, proved a serious step towards gaining recognition. She is sassy, dramatic, sensual, and fully committed to her material. And not only can she sing well, she can interpret with style and bring new meaning to familiar tunes.

This happened right at the top with a sizzling reading of Sondheim’s “Back in Business,” from the film Dick Tracy. Switching gears, she gave his “Anyone Can Whistle” a full-tilt blues treatment fusing jazz with R&B. Her interpretation sounded more like something one might expect from Aretha Franklin. After she finished, she admitted, I have never seen a Sondheim show,” and noted, “He writes lots and lots of lyrics.” Then she made the bizarre comparison of Sondheim’s lyrics to those of Nina Simone, noting “Sondheim is very dark and Nina Simone is very dark,”

This led to her taking expansive musical liberties on the way to reinventing “Marry Me a Little.(Sondheim), combining it with a cynical take on Simone’s already cynical
“Marriage is For Old Folks.” To her credit, it worked in spades. She brought a combination of warmth and inner peace to “Not While I’m Around” (Sondheim). Taking even more liberties, she turned “Losing My Mind” (Sondheim) into a guttural, lusty blues aria, demonstrating how soul techniques can be used selectively to illuminate a line.
I don’t recommend tackling a fusion of Sondheim and Simone in anybody’s show-ever. Yet McClore’s musicianship, interpretive intelligence, and smoky alto mark her as a unique talent, an emotionally chafed hybrid of the late jazz empress Carmen McRae and the stylishly silky Nancy Wilson.


…………John Hoglund, Backstage Magazine Nov 2005
- Backstage Magazine

Rosalyn McClore

The Hideaway Room @ Helen's
Rosalyn McClore made quite an impression when she debuted just nine months ago at Helen’s, with Feeling Good -- A Tribute to Nina Simone, in which she both sang and accompanied herself on the piano. As a cabaret neophyte, she displayed an energy and enthusiasm that was captivating, and a way with jazz that instantly established her as a performer to keep an eye on.
Sure enough, writing about the recent week-long New York Cabaret Convention, Jazz Critic Will Friedland at the New York Sun exclaimed, “For me, this year's find is Rosalyn McClore, an exceptional singer-pianist from Memphis.” So, it was with much anticipation that we went to catch McClore’s new show at Helen’s Hideaway Room. There she was, as elegant as ever, and now with a three-piece jazz group to support her. The musicians—Tony Reedus on drums, Greg Ryan on bass, and Aaron Swinnerton on the piano—were excellent, and yet, when McClore performed as a singer, leaving her piano to someone else, something failed to jell. Perhaps the arrangements for the foursome weren’t tailored to McClore’s special sound. Or possibly the group had insufficient time to come together as one. Whatever, the reason, only when McClore took over the piano and, once again, accompanied herself as she sang, did the flower blossom and the kudos she earned become perfectly justified
McClore is an engaging singer, a driving jazz pianist, and an affable performer. Perhaps she knows best how to accompany Rosalyn McClore. When she does, she scintillates.
Peter Leavy
Cabaret Scenes
October 2005
- Cabaret Scenes Magazine