Maryland's Deanna Bogart is an explosive live performer, mixing in several streams of American vernacular music into her sets, ranging from funky R&B romps to hushed, Norah Jones-like jazz-pop ballads, and she just happens to be a dynamite barrelhouse piano player who also plays a pretty mean tenor saxophone, as well. Her versatility is truly astounding, and while it might be safe to say that everything she does grows out of the blues, to label her a blues artist doesn't even begin to cover the half of it. On Real Time she offers up a typically varied program of New Orleans R&B, late-night blues, smoky jazz ballads, a touch of country, and some rousing boogie-woogie piano instrumentals, but what keeps it all stitched together is her strong, sultry singing.
On her fourth album, 1999's The Great Unknown, Deanna Bogart serves up some more of her heartfelt, bluesy piano and vocals. Bogart's wide-ranging sound embraces rock, soul, swing and R&B, but keeps its roots in the blues. The Great Unknown includes Bogart originals like "Adam Bomb Boogie," "Love Funk" and the title track.
Len Goodman is a man who has dedicated his life to dance, and in this film he is travelling across America to explore the extraordinary life, and the imaginative mind of his greatest hero, Fred Astaire. From his daughter to his dance partner, Len leaves no stone untouched as he discovers more about how and why this man became one of the greatest dancers of all time.
It’s hard not to like Pam Lawson. As the audience is greeted by the soft, languid rendition of “I Won’t Dance” as they file in, Lawson meets them like old friends with a big smile and easy manner, setting the tone for the next hour. This show lives up to it’s subtitle as A Celebration In Song, and is an opportunity for the singer to share her love of the music from the classic 1930s films of Fred and Ginger. Interspersed with a witty narrative of anecdotes gleaned from autobiographies by the iconic Hollywood pair, Pam Lawson takes us through the music from the nine RKO Radio Pictures movies featuring the dancing duo. On a blank stage and backed brilliantly on piano by Tom Finlay, and on double bass by Ed Kelly, Pam Lawson, in a flowery tea-dress, invites the audience to sing along or even dance if they dare. With the house…
A man with a fixation on Humphrey Bogart gets plastic surgery to make him look exactly like Bogart. Then he changes his name to Sam Marlowe (after Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe, two of Bogart's most famous characters), hires a ditzy blonde secretary, and opens up a detective agency. His first case is one that would do Bogie proud…