Lady Vocalists of Key West
Larry Smith The Lady Vocalists of Key West Concert
March 6th at the Key West Theater
About twenty-five years ago, Max Bozetti, manager of the Pier House Wine Galley, recruited Larry to bring his Jazz Jam to the Wine Galley which was a small intimate room. Larry’s grand piano was surrounded by music lovers, and an occasional amateur vocalist who would sing.
Melissa Goins, a wonderful soprano from Oklahoma, would sit around the piano, singing adaptations from The Phantom of the Opera, a popular musical at the time. Goins became hugely popular with a number of patrons people. Max considered giving her a gig. Larry said she didn’t have enough material rehearsed to do a two or three-hour show so Max asked if she could do an hour. Larry said they could rehearse and put together an hour of music.
At that point, Max suggested they put together two one-hour sets with amateur vocalists. Sunday was the slowest day so The Larry Smith Sunday Showcase was created. Larry went on to showcase amateur singers that were very good and many became professionals. He tried not to repeat a guest for a year, resulting in 52 different singers annually.
The Showcase became so popular that usually a number of musicians wanted to play with their friends who were guest vocalists being showcased. At times, there was a full band with the vocalist. The Showcase resulted in successfully mentoring numerous artists and developing their vocal skills. There were a number of vocalists who were able to overcome their fears of performing in front of an audience with Larry’s guidance and encouragement.
The Sunday Showcase developed a large following of music lovers who wanted to hear the new Key West talent that was not being presented anywhere else. The Larry Smith Sunday Showcase allowed the known and the unknown to share their wonderful gifts. That’s what made it so special.
On March 6th, at the Key West Theater and Larry Smith will host a reunion of past Sunday Showcase performers stars at the Lady Vocalists of Key west Concert. Tickets available HERE
VICKI ROUSH – Former Key West, former carrot-topped, still current chanteuse heading back home for a Larry Smith reunion! Oh, man, we had some times! Let’s have some more!
DESTINY MONTGOMERY – Destiny Montgomery has lived in Key West for 14 years, loves to sing, entertain and raise money for our community.
MAJ JOHNSON – Chanteuse Maj Johnson has been pleasing Key West audiences with her sweet and sultry contralto voice performing with all the Key West musical organizations since the late 90’s. She also wrote and performed “Tenderly” A Tribute to Rosemary Clooney, “Simply Sassy” A Tribute to Sarah Vaughan, and “At Last” A Musical Love Story as well as numerous showcases & gigs around town.
CAMILLE RUSSO TOLER – A Key West actor/singer, Camille has been enchanting this island for years. From a musical family, she passed that love of music on to both of her children who are also accomplished musicians. Camille has performed in Key West Theater productions and music Venues since the late seventies.
JAIMIE ROBERTS – A Native Floridian, Jaimie has performed extensively throughout the USA, Canada, Japan, and the Caribbean. She has been a featured performer at Birdland in New York City, Harrah’s Casino in New Orleans, Cannery Casino in Las Vegas, and The Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. Not to leave out The Little Room Jazz Club in Key West!
NANCY 3. HOFFMAN – Nancy 3. Hoffman has performed in a dozen countries as a singer, pianist, accordion player, actress and music director. She is known for her international repertoire, sense of humor, and her Umbrella Cover Museum, which is the holder of The Guinness World Record for the most umbrella sleeves.
CHANNING LYNN – Channing is a multi,-instrumentalist who has been playing music for 35 years, performing professionally since 2005. She is classically trained on clarinet and has holds a B.A. in Music Therapy from Florida State University (FSU). Her formal education, disciplined classical training, and decades of travel through folk music circles has created a passionate, interactive, and skillful approach to her musical performance. She resides in Key West, FL , where she specializes in vintage jazz on clarinet.
KATHLEEN PEACE – A lover of Song and Theater, Kathleen was groomed at an early age in a musical family and has become a seasoned entertainer, performing sold out shows through the years from Key West to The Berkshires. She now resides on the west coast of Florida performing solo as “Peace & Music”.
CLAIRE CAPLAN – Claire Caplan moved to Key West from St. Louis, Missouri in 2015, and has been harassing Larry Smith since early 2016. Despite numerous attempts to get her to leave him alone, she managed to wrangled him into her band with Skipper Krippitz. They call themselves the Hoagys. Not like the sandwich.
CARMEN RODRIGUEZ – Carmen J Rodriguez( a Kw Conch) Entertainer, Costumer and prop mistress, and Wedding Officiant. I love working for The Studios of Key West, the Red Barn Theatre, Fringe Theater. Tennessee Williams Theater and The ,Key West Theater. I sing at the Beachside Marriott( Tavern N Town) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I’m very out going and I love going out! Love singing with Larry Smith.
CHRISTINE CORDONE – Singer/songwriter/guitarist Christine Cordone performs in Key West, FL, where her versatility and vast repertoire has made her one of the most popular voices on the island. Her versatility finds her comfortably singing jazz standards and equally at ease with classic rock n roll. Christine owns the distinction of being the first female to be signed to Tappan Zee Columbia Records as both performer and songwriter. She lead bands for over 15 years in Woodstock/New York City before moving to Key West, Florida. Christine is also an accomplished Plein air artist represented by Art@830 Gallery of Key West.
JENNA STAUFFER – Jenna co-hosted with Larry Smith the “Larry and Jenna Show”, an internet variety show based on the TV variety shows like Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In, the Sony and Cher Show, etc. She is currently the Real Estate expert on Fox News Network. She’s happy to reunite with Larry to host this Lady Vocalists of Key West concert.
LARRY SMITH – Larry Smith has enjoyed a long and successful career in almost all aspects of performing in the music business. Larry currently resides and performs in Key West, Florida. Larry started playing piano in Pennsylvania at age four and played clarinet professionally in his dad’s band by age 12.
Larry wrote, performed, and recorded for Don Kirshner (Columbia) which brought him to national prominence. He later went on to write, perform, musically direct, and record with The Allen Harris Band of Woodstock, N.Y. The band inked a record deal with Columbia’s Tappan Zee label, where Larry co-wrote and arranged many of the songs on the album “Oceans Between Us,” which enjoyed wide critical acclaim. The record was produced by industry heavyweight Bob James (presently of Fourplay) and featured guest soloists Michael Brecker (tenor saxophone) and Hubert Laws (flute).
Larry went on to write music for CBS network television, inked a publishing, production, and recording deal with Marshall Chess, played Hammond B3 on Gospel Records, and started a jingle company. His production company created the Larry Smith Show, and the Central New York cable TV network that carried it where he provided a showcase for the talents of Woodstock/NYC musicians. Larry toured with the Don Moore Band and enjoyed a residency with him in the showrooms of the Catskill Mountain Hotels.
Larry has been living and performing in Key West for over 20 years where he continues his love of showcasing musicians by producing his weekly Larry Smith Sunday Showcase Series which has become a must-see Key West institution. The show features musicians from throughout the United States as well as international guests, most recently from Italy, Portugal, Canada, Iceland, Sweden, Holland, Turkey, England, and Japan.
Larry is married to singer/songwriter Christine Cordone. He also performs with his daughter, Journey Blue Heaven, a prolific singer/songwriter who currently resides in Woodstock NY. He continues to write, arrange, produce, perform, and record original music. GET TICKETS HERE
There are no comments yet, add one below.
Leave a Reply