She still remains a music icon, Miss Peggy Lee.  Singer, songwriter, actress, star of film and television and as co-creator and vocal star of “Lady and the Tramp” was the first person to win a lawsuit against Disney, Lee was a trailblazer!  Spider Saloff pays homage to the smoldering understated style of Peggy Lee, tracing her story from her humble beginnings through the glamour of the 1950’s and 60’s and her continued chart breaking recordings.

 

The concert includes her classic jazz hits as well her pop music classics.  Saloff presents all of this with her unique comic wit and a contemporary twist that will appeal to audiences of all ages!

 

The Cool Heat of Peggy Lee can be presented with piano, bass and voice, or with quartet or quintet.  

Featured songs:

 

Fever

Lover

Why Don’t You Do Right?

The Best is Yet to Come

Is That All There Is?

Black Coffee

He’s a Tramp

 

“Peggy Lee was the superb jazz-pop singer smoldered in concert and on record, consistently affirming the power of musical understate.  Chicago singer Spider Saloff, a seasoned and admired cabaret artist, will pay homage to Lee. Slyly sophisticated, easily accessible, Saloff stands as a kind of ideal.”

–Chicago Tribune

 

One of Spider’s most beloved and critically acclaimed works is her Gershwin concert.

She was chosen by the Gershwin family as one of the sanctioned acts of the Gershwin Centennial.  Saloff toured the concert nationally to established venues such as Feinstein’s in NYC (which Michael Feinstein attended).  Internationally, the show played in London and headlined the St. Petersburg Gershwin Festival in Russia and continues to garner raves from audiences and the press.

 

The concert features Gershwin classics alongside rare pieces provided by the Gershwin Trust specifically for Saloff.  The concert includes personal stories about the music and the fascinating life of the Gershwins.

 

The Memory of All That can be presented with piano and voice, with trio, quartet or quintet.  And can be presented in a full program for full symphony orchestra.

 

Featured songs:
They Can’t Take That Away From Me

S’wonderful

Embraceable You

Someone To Watch Over Me

I Got Rhythm

Love is Here to Stay

 

 

“How could anyone find anything new to say about such classics? Saloff effectively strips away the familiar turns of phrase to which this music has been subjected for more than half a century, which renders the Gershwin songs as crisp, lucid and plain to the ear as they must have sounded generations ago.”

– Chicago Trubune

 

 

 

Rising up from his life as a poor Russian immigrant to world fame, Berlin stands as the essence of The American Dream.  His body of work covers 6 decades.  With a personal endorsement from the Irving Berlin family, Saloff presents a touching and beautiful portrait of Berlin’s life and music, filled with funny and amazing antidotes of the songwriter’s life and career. Berlin truly lived the American Dream and was an amazing influence and motivator during the years of both World Wars.

Irving Berlin can be presented with piano and voice, with trio, quartet or quintet.   

Featured songs:

 

Blue Skies

Cheek To Cheek

Puttin On The Ritz

How Deep Is The Ocean

Let’s Face The Music

There’s No Business Like Show Business

 

“I and cannot tell you how moved I was by the way you turned an anthem into a love song in your rendition of “There’s No Business Like Show Business”.  It was very personal as if you knew that “Show Business” was after all my father’s serenade to the business he loved.”

_ Mary Ellin Barrett

                                        Irving Berlin’s daughter

 

 

 

The concert is a retrospective on the life of Stephen Sondheim and a collection of songs by America’s most celebrated, living composer for musical theater.  Saloff will take a fresh approach to Sondheim, capturing the art of popular songs which stand alone, apart from the musicals they were composed for.

 

Saloff will perform many of the beloved classics along with a few rare gems. She’ll interweave both jazz and theatrical treatments of the songs and storytelling presented with her own special unusual twist for an unforgettable evening.
Sondheim can be presented with piano and voice, with trio, or quartet.

 

Featured songs:

 

Comedy Tonight

Some People

Ladies Who Lunch

Losing My Mind

Broadway Baby

 

“I’ve heard most Sondheim numbers numerous times, but I found myself paying closer attention to the lyrics given Spider’s unique and powerful interpretation. Her inclusion of a couple of lesser known Sondheim numbers from films provided even Sondheim fans with a wider look at the breadth of work of this American legend. Saloff doesn’t just sing Sondheim, she lives and breathes him thru a full embodiment of rich interpretation!”

                        –Dr. Paul Lisnek,

                                                Broadway in Chicago

                                                Comcast Network

 

 

ELLA! ELLA! ELLA!
A Musical Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald

Featuring the 3 Ellas:
Frieda Lee
Spider Saloff
Dee Alexander

This magical music evening was created as a tribute to The First Lady of Song, Ella Fitzgerald. The “3 Ellas” were initially chosen by the famed Chicago Jazz Orchestra to perform a concert of Ella’s American Songbook arrangements.
The formal concert was such a great success and the 3 ladies had such a wonderful time working together, that they have created this special tribute that is a more intimate look at Ella Fitzgerald.

Lee, Saloff, and Alexander, all acclaimed vocalists, have distinctly different voices but all perform the Ella songbook with true reverence to the jazz legend.

Another unique feature of the concert is that the harmonious energy that these 3 divas have onstage together is unsurpassed.

They were received with standing ovations in such venues as:

Jazz Festival, Poznan, Poland

Millennium Park, Chicago Jazz Festival (over 26,000 in attendance)
Rockefeller Chapel: Hyde Park Jazz Fest (over 1500 in attendance)
Hoogland Center for the Arts, Springfield, IL
Chicago Humanities Festival
Thornton Auditorium
Room 43 concert space, Chicago
Wentz Auditorium, Naperville
The University Club of Chicago
Katerina’s Supper Club
Pritzker Auditorium
Pick-Staiger Hall
Prairie Arts Center
City Winery, Chicago

The show not only is an energetic and fun evening of music, but has a level of glamour and showmanship that thrills audiences of all ages.

This concert can be performed with just piano or with a jazz duo, trio or quartet.  For full symphony production you must contact http://www.chicagojazzorchestra.org/

 

“Each singer had something significant to say….Singer Lee hardly could have sounded more gauzily seductive in Embraceable You. …Saloff with her lightning quick riffs and ultra-high-register cries a fitting tribute to Fitzgerald….to hear Alexander was to recognize her prowess in extending Fitzgerald’s legacy. “Jazz singing is a profoundly sensual art, at least when Dee Alexander, Frieda Lee and Spider Saloff are standing before the microphones. These vocalists revel in the voluptuousness of their sound, its lush tones, its breathy phrases, and its palpable ardor. Yes, the words remain important to these artists, but it’s the lustrous beauty of their lines that ultimately sell the song.”
Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune.

Dee Alexander
Frieda Lee
Spider Saloff

” One of the finest jazz vocalists working today”

– Chicago Tribune

Spider Saloff has performed in jazz concert venues worldwide and offers her concerts of jazz classics with some of her original material.

These concerts can be presented with instrumentation from piano and voice up to 6 pieces.

Her performances at jazz festivals include:

Jazz Festival, Poznan, Poland

The Chicago Jazz Festival

Hyde Park Jazz Festival

Jazz on the Plazz, Los Gatos, CA

Full Moon Jazz Festival, St Thomas, Virgin Islands

Her tribute concerts have paid homage to such greats as Johhny Hartman, Bill Evans, and Duke Ellington.

A special narrated concert which is based on the book DEEP IN A DREAM: THE LONG NIGHT OF CHET BAKER, continues to tour nationally with the author JAMES GAVIN and an all star cast.  The show has been beloved by audiences in large and small venues.

 

 

 

 

She also can act as host and MC for special occasions and as a gifted song writer, can offer custom material for your event.

 

 

Some notable Spider Saloff appearances at Special Events

Private parties for the George and Ira Gershwin family, New York City, NY

Rotary International Centennial Celebration, Chicago, IL

Danielle Steel Christmas Party, San Francisco, CA

Studs Terkel’s 90^th Birthday Event, Chicago, IL

Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Gala, Oak Park, IL

Lambs Club Christmas Gala, Rockefeller Center, NY, NY

University Club New Years Eve Event, New York City, NY

Rolls Royce Annual Meeting, Indianapolis, IN

Dinner dance, French Embassy, New York City, NY

Special Evening at the American Embassy, St. Petersburg, Russia

The Helen Hayes Awards, New York City, NY

Marshall Fields Fash Bash, with co-star Bobby Short, Chicago, IL

Park District Salute to Mayor Daley, Chicago, IL

International Journalism Awards, Chicago, IL

Ecolab Convention, Chicago, IL

The English Speaking Union Black Tie Event, Chicago, IL

Festival For the Humanities Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL

Mount Michael Benedictine Abbey and School, Omaha, NE;

Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, Supreme Council 33, Chicago, IL

Fornightly Club Valentine’s Evening, Chicago, IL

Union League Club Annual Spider Saloff Evening, Chicago, IL

University Club Salon Series, Chicago, IL