CHERCHEZ LA FEMME!                                                                   Richard Sand

Peggy Judy on the cover of a new book on entertainment and showbiz. She is making waves!! Photo credit: Peter Zakhary.

PARIS- "The cover is SEXY! We look like Maxi’s Angels. Great placement. " said Soul Diva, Antoinette Montague, commenting on the layout of the cover of the recently published enormous book SHOWBIZ, PIONEERS, BEST SINGERS, MUSICIANS AND ENTERTAINERS FROM 1606 TO THE PRESENT; Volume IV of the very impressive series World Who's Who in Jazz, Cabaret, Music and Entertainment, published by Times Square Press and the Federation of American Musicians, singers and performing artists (FAMSPA). But who is Maxi? Not a hard task to find out. Maxi is the legendary Maximillien de Lafayette, the walking encyclopedia, prolific author of more than 100 books, dictionaries, encyclopedias and a dozen of plays and musicals. So Maxi is doing fine. Almost every book he writes become a bestseller. But Maxi is in a different ball game now. He writes big books and asks his associates and publicists (tons of them) to find the best looking and most talented artists and femmes fatales in showbiz to grace the covers of his books. And here is exactly where Antoinette Montague's comment falls in the right place. Montague was referring to seven jazz singers who appear on the cover of his latest book, the Showbiz, Pioneers, etc.... (Lord! is this a title or a doctoral dissertation?) That's right! Seven gorgeous and talented singers from Iceland, Australia, the United States and South Africa. Montague called them "angels". She is sweet. So Maxi needs an angel? I do. But why seven angels? Boy, I love to have angels like these divas, I don't need to go to heaven. They bring heaven to me. Maxi's heavenly angels are not Gabriel et al. They are DIVAS! They don't come from heaven...they come from a more complex heaven: SHOWBIZ! And there is no business like show business and no heaven like a heaven made out of divas.

ANGELS OR DIVAS?

From left to right: Back cover of the book: The earthy heaven of  fabulous divas. The flamboyant Peggy Judy, one of a kind!

Here they are in no particular order: Nichaud Fitzgibbon, a stunning singer from Australia, the very elegant and striking Stephanie Jordan, Zola an American songwriter and singer who immigrated from South Africa and established herself as one of the premier singers in the United States, Katie Bull a New Yorker who released a bunch of albums of a rare beauty, Irene Soderberg, a fabulous singer comedienne made in heaven, Maria Gentile, an acclaimed songwriter and singer who amassed awards and accolades,  and our Antoinette Montague who is making big buzz in the steamy world of American Jazz and Blues.

Soul diva Antoinette Montague in concert.

Did I forget something or somebody? Sure I did!! Peggy Judy, the flamboyant storyteller, the extravagant comic nymph, the published author and showbiz star. She is on the front cover and she sparkles like the Eiffel Tour! She reflects all the glitters of Paris Cabarets mixed with a panache, American style, that is. Many Jazz and cabaret singers in the United States are furious. In particular male singers. What are they complaining about? George Evans, a Canadian jazz singer explained the dilemma when he asked Carol Lexter "My goodness, are there no male vocalists in the cabaret and jazz industries worthy of a cover?" You got it!

THE 8 MAJESTIC DIVAS

From left to right. 1-Australia's Jazz mega star Nichaud Fitzgibbon: “I don’t remember much about meeting Louis, I do remember I got pretty scared because he had a big horn on his lip, I was very little." Nichaud says. "Dad went out to the airport with a few other musicians and the planes would arrive and all the passengers would walk across the tarmac. Dad had a jazz band there playing for Louis Armstrong as he arrived.” With four generations of jazz mastery in the family, Nichaud was always surrounded by music and the industry throughout her childhood. But in terms of her adopting the Fitzgibbon trade, Nichaud took a little longer to come to the table. Source: ABC Victoria. 2-Stephanie Jordan, one of the most authentic Jazz singers in the business. Stephanie made her debut at Takoma Station Jazz Club.  She joined the Doug Carne Band in an unrehearsed rendition of “I Remember April.”  Within a few months she developed a loyal following and became much sought after.  She has performed at many of the Washington, D.C. jazz haunts such as The Twins Jazz Lounge, Blues Alley, and Carter Baron Amphitheater.  Stephanie has also appeared at the opening of the Schomburg Center of the New York Public Library, Langston Hughes Auditorium in New York City,  the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the Marciac Jazz Festival in France, and Jazz Aspen. (Photo courtesy of the United States Embassy in Ukraine.) 3-Irene Soderberg, the fabulous Irene! The Boston Mirror wrote: "Take a large pan of Ethel Merman, add a generous cup of Mae West, stir in a spoonful of Sophie Tucker and sprinkle a pinch of Betty Hutton; heat it up for about an hour and a half. The results are an outrageous, roly-poly bundle of dynamite named Irene. She shimmies, she shakes, she wiggles like a snake, as she purrs and croons and belts out a great variety of saloon songs and Broadway classics."4-Zola, a Billboard award winning songwriter whose songs are recognized in many categories including, jazz, blues, pop, country, contemporary-folk and cabaret.   This versatile singer-pianist has recorded six solo albums of original material, varying in style and genre, that also include baby lullabies and children’s music. 5-Maria Gentile (AEA SAG ASCAP AFTRA) is a singer, songwriter, actress, and comedienne who spent 6 years in the hit Off-Broadway show Tony & Tina's Wedding as Bridesmaid Marina Gallino. In January of 2000, she released her debut CD, So Many Pieces of Me, which features twelve original compositions. Three of the songs from that CD can be heard in the independent feature film In Passing, written and directed by Kate Fitzgerald. From 1992 through 1997, Maria also worked for the Center for Family Life in Brooklyn, where she taught improvisational acting, vocals, and creative writing for in-school and after-school programs. She also wrote over 30 songs for their original productions. Maria has completed her second CD of original songs, entitled That... Which is Real. One of the tracks off the album, "I'd Rather Never Know" was nominated for 2005 MAC Song of the Year, and anoher, "Kindness Makes Me Cry", was named 2004 MAC song of the year! Another composition, "If I Was a Boy" (co-written with Caren Cole), was nominated for 2003 MAC song of the year.6-Katie Bull is a jazz vocalist and multi-media writer/performer living in New York City since birth. LOVE SPOOK is Bull’s second CD to date. Her premiere CD Conversations with the Jokers (with Michael Jefry Stevens, Lou Grassi, Joe Fonda) was released in March 2003 and received excellent critical notices. Conversations was on 12 Top Ten CMJ Radio charts culminating in an invitation to sing at Jazzweek’s kick-off to the Rochester International Jazz Festival, at the Montage. According to De Lafayette, Katie Bull is one of the most intelligent and prolific stars in the business.7-Antoinette Montague, the fabulous Blues singer was in the Great Women in Music Festival at Birdland with the Duke Ellington Band (filmed by BET on Jazz), Mike Longo's NY State of the Art Band for the 88th Birthday Celebration of Dizzy Gillespie, and selected by a special panel of Judy Pitts, Sheila Jordan and Martin Mueller to perform at the 40th Anniversary of St. Peter's Church and the 10th Anniversary of International Women in Jazz.

Photo: THE GENESIS OF THE PEGGY JUDY SHOW:
Miss Peggy with her original band, Randy Ruff and The Impossibles (later named "The Balls"). Clockwise, from upper left, Keyboard dude/Surfer God/former star of "Hawaii-50" (no kidding!) Randy Ruff, Bass piano Goddess Jackie Curry, Bass guitar/tech genius/nicest guy on the planet Nick Massie, Percussion/suspected Indian royal prince Mohi Chand. Four great friends who gave their incredible talents to give Miss Peggy her start back at the Company of Angels Theater. Those were the days!.

8-Peggy Judy (On the front cover). The original creation of writer/singer/actress Molly Brandenburg, Peggy Judy first appeared as a monologue in a late night Hollywood comedy hit called Midnite Madness. The character later reappeared in an acclaimed stage musical, The Peggy Judy Comeback Tour, co-created with screenwriter (Liar, Liar) Steve Mazur, which was followed by The Peggy Judy Christmas Special, and The Peggy Judy Summer Replacement Show. From there, Peggy evolved into a solo performance piece--one woman and a piano--with Peggy’s sly wit and powerful vocals bringing her bookings at top Los Angeles venues, including The Comedy Store, the Improv, The Cinegrill, Café Largo, The Gardenia, Masquer's Cabaret, The Hudson Backstage and more.

I did not read the book yet. But I am going to. How can I miss a free passage to divas' heaven?