My vocal jazz group Turnstyle had our debut performance (since revamping the band) on Saturday night at Pearson Park Amphitheatre in Anaheim. The 2000-seat venue near Disneyland was full of jazz and music lovers who received us with a VERY warm and enthusiastic attitude! We did some old jazz favorites like Gershwin’s “Summertime” and “But Not For Me” and rounded out our set with two ecclectic a cappella arrangements of pop and R&B hits by Stevie Wonder and Billy Joel. Here’s a photo of the group performing on stage.
Ken Malouf, Martin Schloemer, Melissa Pontanilla, Kathi Funston (Photo by Patrick Ortman)
I’ve been writing new songs with my songwriting partner Patrick Ortman lately, and we’re getting ready to lay down some scratch tracks for a new album we’ll be recording after the holidays. So far, it’s got a bit of a soulful singer-songwriter vibe to it, a definite indie feel, influenced by storytellers who sing the blues, with a touch of country (can’t fight those Texas roots!). I can hear us on Grey’s Anatomy, whose music supervisor should win an award for discovering such great indie artists. Fingers crossed, and I’ll let you know when the album drops!
I sang with In Transit, my a cappella vocal jazz group, this weekend at Malibu Wines in the beautiful canyons of Malibu, California. It was a great day at an amazing venue, the perfect setting for an intimate afternoon of jazz. Even though it was misty outside, people came. We had two birthday parties, a bachelorette party, and plenty of wine lovers come through during the afternoon to enjoy the wine and music. All in all, I think about 400 people heard us play. Not bad for a cloudy California day!
In addition to our a cappella vocal jazz, we did a couple of acoustic sets with Patrick and Martin accompanying us on guitar. I loved seeing the audience sing along, and we even got some folks up and dancing to our Mamas and Papas covers and our closing number ”Cecilia” by Simon & Garfunkel. So much fun! The winery asked us back for another afternoon of jazz on Valentine’s Day weekend! More about that later.
Thanks to Malibu Wines for having us. We had a great time and can’t wait to come back!
I had a great time in the studio back in March with my a cappella vocal group, In Transit. It’s always a blast to do a vocal session, but directing a session in addition to singing is even better in some ways because it challenges my noggin and works my other skills as a musician and producer.
I’m really excited about how the demo turned out. The editing and mixing process was a lot of fun. We did some sweetening and recording of clap tracks (and a whole mess of fun stuff for the Stevie Wonder tune). Sweet goodness! Special thanks to Martin (our tenor) for his master editing chops in ProTools!
I returned to my old stomping grounds last weekend to sing with the University of North Texas Jazz Singers in a concert honoring our musical director (also an amazing arranger, all-around musician, and general cool cat), Paris Rutherford. Paris is retiring this spring, and of course, he wanted to go out with a bang. So, he invited all of the Jazz Singers alumni to sing in a couple of numbers, including his incredible a cappella arrangement of “My Funny Valentine.” All I can say is WOWEE! The whole weekend was a whirlwind of rehearsals and get-togethers with friends both new and old. The sheer chops these fellow musicians have, what an amazing thing to be around again! We had a great time, and took a lot of good photos and videos (more to come).
To top it all off, Paris invited me to sing on a small group number called “Splanky” and I don’t mind saying, we swung the hell out of that chart! Not only was the rhythm section smokin’, but the group was made up of some of the top singers from UNT, including my former bandmates Brandon Pedigo and Cathy Jensen-Hole. And as if that weren’t enough, Paris also gave me the honor of letting loose like a trumpet player who ate some bad meat. Here’s a picture of me getting down during the concert on May 2. What a night! It was so much fun and a slap-in-the-face reminder of why I love jazz music so much! I will never stop singing. Thank you for that, Paris.
Kathi Funston performs with the UNT Jazz Singers on May 2, 2009
Tonight my group performed at Java Joe’s in Yorba Linda as part of their a cappella night known as Javapella. We were invited as special guests to sing with two local Orange County groups. It was an hour-long trek to the OC from LA, but the good music and appreciative crowd made it worthwhile!
I just finished recording vocals for two songs by film composer Thomas Rydell. The jazzy Vegas-themed songs will be featured in an upcoming documentary starring Ugly Betty’s Rebecca Romijn.
And no, it’s not what you think. It’s a film about a Bellagio fountain project, people!
I just completed another vocal session with film composer Marc Ellis and a voiceover spot for Biotene. Working with Marc and Patrick is always a good time!
In Transit, my a cappella vocal jazz group, is appearing live at the Classic Choir Annual Christmas Concert at St. Augustine’s in Culver City on Saturday, December 1, 2007 @ 7:30 PM.
Here’s a pic of me with Melissa Pontanilla, our awesome alto, after the concert.
