Kelly Clinton...
All Around Entertainer
I stopped by The Stirling Club Saturday night to see The Kelly Clinton Show and Kelly was in rare form. Not only is Kelly a great singer but a comedienne, dancer, and all around entertainer. She had the crowd howling with her impression of Wayne Newton, her former boss as one of his backup singers. My friend, entertainer Loretta St. John was with me in the audience and Kelly had her singing back up with her. Loretta also was a Wayne Newton backup singer as well as another friend of Kelly’s in the audience. Kelly joked “is anyone not a former backup singer with Wayne Newton?”
Kelly shares the vocals with the incredible Paul Stubblefield. He is one of the best male vocal stylist in the business.
My friend, Ron Crews is on drums and sings backup as well as lead. He surprised me with one of his soulful fill ins on vocals and was laying down a solid bottom for the band along with bassist Eddie Di Marino. David Kowalski was on keyboards as well as Tommy Steele who plays sax, flute, harmonica, keyboards, and sings. Quite an ensemble.
Kelly’s friend, producer, singer, and Righteous Brothers impersonator, Gene Sironen stopped by and did a couple of Righteous Brothers songs. Gene is a real pro and not only sings well but exudes the confidence of a headliner in his body language on stage.
It’s always entertaining at The Stirling Club and you never know who’s going to stop in and perform as part of “The Kelly Clinton Show”.
Jerry Lopez and Friends at the E-String
Jerry Lopez leader of Santa Fe and The Fat City Horns assembled another ensemble of talented musicians to perform at The E-String in Henderson.
The E-String is a Sports Bar with a separate restaurant with a more than ample stage and a music store inside the facility. Jerry shared the stage with Tommy Alvarado on sax, vocals, and congas... Chris Gordon on bass... Bill Zappia on keyboards... and Joel Richman on drums.
Gabriel Falcon showed up and sat in with the group. It was their first night and I understand it will be a once a month gig on the first Tuesday of the month. Lots of familiar faces in the audience from the Monday Night at The Palms show. Soulful singer, Marc Love was there with Michelle Buchman.
The E-String is a Sports Bar with a separate restaurant with a more than ample stage and a music store inside the facility. Jerry shared the stage with Tommy Alvarado on sax, vocals, and congas... Chris Gordon on bass... Bill Zappia on keyboards... and Joel Richman on drums.
Gabriel Falcon showed up and sat in with the group. It was their first night and I understand it will be a once a month gig on the first Tuesday of the month. Lots of familiar faces in the audience from the Monday Night at The Palms show. Soulful singer, Marc Love was there with Michelle Buchman.
An Entertaining Saturday Evening at Harrah's
Saturday night took me to Harrah’s Range Steak House to see Shelly Taylor perform in the Lounge. What a nice relaxing room with Shelly accompanying herself on piano, Blaise Sison on upright acoustic bass, and Kenneth Clark
on sax. Shelly performs in the style of Diana Krall with great vocals
and equally great playing. Blaise was providing the bottom with his
tasteful touch on the acoustic upright bass and you didn’t even miss
the fact that there was no drummer. I had never heard Kenneth Clark play before. He added a nice touch
with his smooth sounds.
with his smooth sounds.
I had the pleasure of enjoying the fine dining of the Range Steak House about a year ago as the guest of former Harrah’s headliner, Clint Holmes. Clint was host to me and LA music television producer, Jim Kellahin. I was impressed with the atmosphere and the heavily aged steaks were excellent. I remember sitting across the table from Clint and looking out of the window from the second floor restaurant.
There, right on the Strip was a large billboard with Clint’s image on it right behind his head. I thought that was funny and joked with Clint about how much he resembled the guy on the sign. Ha!
Nicholas Cole at Caesars
Last night I decided to go see Nicholas Cole at The Galleria Bar inside Caesars Palace.
I haven’t seen Nicholas since last year and learned that he is the proud father of twin boys, now nine months old. I was there before his first show and had time to talk a bit and meet his new partner in the Nicholas Cole Duo, Darren De’ Costa.
Nicholas has often been compared to Harry Connick, Jr. and Michael Buble' with his smooth renditions of the standards. He not only has great original material but as the night progresses on they get more in to the R & B groove with covers of Al Green, Earth Wind and Fire, to Stevie Wonder. He has the crowd dancing in the aisles of the Casino. I even requested some Michael Franks and Nicholas was able to cover several of his tunes. Nicholas, who sits and sometimes stands behind the white baby grand piano and his electronic keyboard, is an accomplished musician with very tasteful chord structures and just the right touch, when he takes a run down the keys.
Nicholas, a Chicago Native, was recently a contestant in season four of American Idol and has acting credits in his resume as well.
If you want to experience the way it used to be in the Las Vegas Lounges with a Class Act reminiscent of the Rat Pack Days, you must see The Nicholas Cole Show.
The Nicholas Cole Duo has an indefinite engagement at The Galleria Bar inside Caesars Palace and performs Wednesday, Thursday, and Sundays 9 PM to 1 AM and Fridays and Saturdays 9 PM to 2 AM.
The Family Stone at Red Rock
The Original Family Stone Band was performing in concert at The Red Rock Casino on Saturday November 18th.
My friend, Blaise Sison, who is based in Las Vegas is the bass player and musical director for the group and
invited me out to the show.
I had a stressful week and was looking forward to some musical therapy. The Family Stone Experience was like reading a good book or seeing a great movie that totally consumes your attention and does not allow your mind to wander. For close to 90 minutes I was so totally entertained that I forgot about everything. Not only was the music flawless and a perfect mix from their sound engineer but what a visual treat as well.
The Family Stone are Entertainers that were having as much fun on stage as their audience. Sly Stone no longer tours with the group but lead singer, Fred Ross, filled that void with his soulful voice and incredible dance moves.
He and my friend, Blaise, were the most active on stage occasionally being joined by Sly’s Sister Rose who plays keyboard and Cynthia Robinson on trumpet and Jerry Martini on Saxophone.
Jerry Martini, Cynthia Robinson, and Rose Stone are the original founding members and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees. The long list of hits kept the crowd
“Dancing to the Music”.
Nate Wingfield on guitar was playing his second show with the group but you would have never known it. Tasche Cryer on keyboards laid down the sounds just like on the hit records. John Mader on drums was right in the pocket that Blaise was creating for him.
The crowd did not want them to stop. The Family Stone usually performs in much larger venues and we were fortunate to have this intimate of a setting to hear and see this phenomenal group. I personally am looking forward to their next show in Vegas at Red Rock on New Year's Eve.
After the show I was invited back stage to meet the band and their manager, Paul Curcio. Paul was telling me that the touring schedule will be extensive next year.
Every single member of the group was extremely cordial and we had some great conversations and found we had some mutual musician friends from the Oakland/San Francisco area.
From left to right, Steve Tuminello, Blaise Sison, Cynthia Robinson, Sister Rose Stone, Jerry Martini, and Nate Wingfield.
Saturday Night at The Stirling Club
After I left The Family Stone Show I stopped by The Stirling Club to see my friend Ron Crews who performs with Kelly Clinton’s Show. Taylor Michaels, events planner and female vocalist, met me at the club.
Kelly Clinton and Taylor Michaels...
We talked with Kelly and learned that Barry Manilow had stopped in to the club the night before after his show at The Las Vegas Hilton across the street. We arrived just as the band was finishing up for the night and Mark Giovi who stars in the production “Bite” at The Stratosphere
stopped in after I arrived and sat in with the band on a blues number.
Clint Holmes former headliner at Harrahs was in the club and we stopped by to see him and complimented him on the Christmas Show we had seen the night before at Lake Las Vegas.
