By Paddy McCarthy
Here is someone you should definitely go and hear, his name is Randy Edelman, go and see this master musician and entertainer perform, right after the New York City Saint Patrick’s Day Parade at The Chelsea Table & Stage (152 West 26th Street inside the Hilton Hotel). You won’t be disappointed as you will see some magnificent talent that you won’t ever forget.
Now that we are coming up to the biggest day of the year this show will be perfect for you so make sure you book your tickets.
Randy Edelman is an American musician, producer, and composer for film and television. He began his career as a member of Broadway’s pit orchestras; he later produced solo albums for songs that were picked up by leading music performers including The Carpenters, Barry Manilow, and Dionne Warwick.
He is also known for his work in comedy films and has been awarded many prestigious awards including two nominations for a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, and twelve BMI Awards. Edelman was given an honorary doctorate in fine arts by the University of Cincinnati in 2004.
On March 16, 2024 in a sea of avocado green supported by whimsical leprechauns, colorful rainbows hiding their gold at the end, shamrocks sporting leaves of four, and the hearts of Celtic chieftains twirling with the Irish Spirit, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade marches along the streets of New York City in a tapestry of Emerald magic. As the era comes to a close, the heartfelt warmth and enchantment of the day shifts to other festivities.
One such celebration is the treasure chest of romance, stories and song presented by multi-award winning, world renowned composer Randy Edelman at Chelsea Table & Stage.
Not only will Randy be celebrating the day, but will also be commemorating the release of his new live album (launching March 15th via Tribeca Records) “Around the World in 80 Minutes” which showcases the songs and music that the maestro has been performing to sold out audiences in NY and London the last two years.
These include songs covered by Barry Manilow, Patti LaBelle, Nelly, Carpenters, Willie Nelson, Olivia Newton-John, Dionne Warwick, Blood The, Sweat & Tears, Bing Crosby and more.
He will also be performing excerpts from his over one hundred TV and film soundtracks including Last of the Mohicans, MacGyver, Ghostbusters 2, Gettysburg, Kindergarten Cop, Leap Year, and more…
His behind the scenes anecdotes provide the evening with the laughter and tears and the journey of his illustrious career thus far.
Mostly acclaimed for his romantic sensibility with songs including A Weekend in New England, Isn’t it a Shame, Uptown, Uptempo Woman, and others, Randy clenches the desire for an unambiguous resolution to a painful romantic relationship, and a valid human longing based on the need for understanding an emotional aspiration.
His music lends itself to the vision of recognizing when a relationship is over, we need to let it go. It means leaving what’s over without denying its validity or its past importance in our lives giving us a sense of the future, a belief that every exit line is an entry that we are moving on rather than out.
His performances leave you with an echo of a memory you will never catch again…at least until his next show. His stories intertwine with our own sorrows and joy and go hand in hand with our past, present and future.
As the vibrant greens of the day fade beneath the candles in the sky, the stars awaken a certain reverence because they are always present in the music of Randy Edelman.
Now that you have got the introduction on this amazing talented performer you have to check him out, I know I will, see you then on Saint Patrick’s Day and have a good one as that is what I plan to do.
Here is more other great news on one of Ireland’s favorite bands, yes that is The Saw Doctors from Galway.
Saw Doctors guitarist and singer, Leo Moran has written a charming essay on his love of New York, ahead of the Galway band’s Central Park Summer Stage on Wednesday July 17.
This news was sent to me by Ollie Jennings, manager of The Saw Doctors who has been a great friend for many years, since the time when I was a musician (I still am) and back in my promoting days.
So, relax and enjoy this fabulous essay from Les Moran: “New Yorrrrrrk, to that tall skyline I come Flying in from London (or Shannon, even) To your door.
“Art Garfunkel’s dulcet airs adding another beautifully seductive chapter of song to the already bursting canon that invites us from all around the globe to come and sample the enchanting atmosphere of New York, New York, so good they named it twice.
“New York seduced me a long time ago. I still love Sesame Street and if Sesame Street isn’t in New York, I don’t know where else it could be.
“All the television series and the movies of course and then, most importantly, the music. The Ramones, Reed, Television, Blondie, Patti Smith Lou to name a few, all giving us different versions of the city, all as exciting as each other.
“My uncle Martin lived in Staten Island since the mid 1950’s so as kids we had a direct line to New York.
“Letters and parcels came regularly, as did Martin himself with his friend Joe, an Italian Staten Islander. Uncle Matt and Uncle Joe.In my early teens we hooked up with a connection of Uncle Matt and Uncle Joe’s and we became kin with the Kestler family whose mother, Mary was a schoolfriend of Marion Besignano, a niece of Joe’s. I know it’s a bit of a convoluted link but do as we did and call it ‘cousins’ from now on. Mary and Bill’s children, Noreen, Dennis, Mary Grace and Martin have been our cousins since meeting in Teach Furbo, west of Galway city, in 1977.
“Our cousins lived in New Jersey, came back to Ireland to stay with us and brought us over there. They introduced us to Bruce Springsteen, a writer whose take on New York was partly from a resident’s point of view but more so from an-across-the-river Jersey shore boys.
“Anyway, ball all this up, add in hearing Simon and Garfunkel’s legendary night in Central Park, visits in to the Twin Towers, Little Italy, Chinatown, 42nd Street, gigs on the Westside Pier with The Ramones and Southside Johnny and the Asbury Dukes, just walking the endlessly interesting and exotic streets and avenues and the sense of ‘feeling at home’ on a hazy Summer’s afternoon, in the calm quiet far above the traffic and you can see how New York has always been such a draw for me.
“When The Saw Doctors started out, it would have been beyond our wildest ambitions to take our songs to the country whose songwriters had inspired us so much.
“That we managed to do shows in Tramp’s on West 21st in 1991 that was owned by a great Dublin man Terry Dunne was more than a dream come true – that we’ve been able to play so many magical shows in so many illustrious venues all over the city since is beyond the beyond of those dreams. And now, this year, it is another step beyond – Summer Stage at Central Park. Hard to believe.
“I’ve always loved the Summer in New Jersey and New York; so different to Ireland. The humidity, the smell of the gasoline, the glow of the fireflies, the enveloping heat of the evening, the cicadas and the frogs, mosquitoes instead of midges, t-shirts and shorts for weeks on end.
“To think The Saw Doctors will be following in the footsteps of so many legendary singers, musicians and songwriters and playing in Central Park of a Summer’s evening in 2024!
“This will be a highlight of the band’s thirty-seven-year career and I’m so looking forward to being in the park, in the vicinity of Strawberry Fields, firing up our songs into the warm humid air of New York’s most famous park joining with the humans and the cicadas, the frogs and the birds all contributing in our own little ways to the city’s magical summer feeling. Leo Moran.”
I just got some great news as well that Pearse Doherty has rejoined The Saw Doctors for all the 2024 shows including the New York gig at Central Park Summer Stage on Wednesday July 17, the two Boston shows on July 12 and 13 and the Chicago concert on July 20. (The Boston show on July 12 is sold out).
The Saw Doctors will also be releasing a new single ‘All We Love’ on Friday March 15 via Spotify and all the digital platforms. I just can’t wait to see them perform in Central Park on the Summer Stage on Wednesday July 17 as it is going to be a hum-dinger of a show. Let’s all be there to welcome them back; I know I will be there.