Martin McQuade with special guest Pete Sokolow on piano at Greenhouse Cafe

Bing Crosby protégé, Martin McQuade will be performing a special Christmas concert at Greenhouse Café‚ in Brooklyn, New York on Sunday, December 22, 2011 joined by renowned stride pianist Pete Sokolow. McQuade tells, "This will be my eleventh annual Christmas show in Bay Ridge, and my fifth at this venue."

McQuade will be playing Holiday favorites with a smooth swing persuasion. He highlights, "The show will consist of traditional favorites such as `Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,' `I'll Be Home for Christmas,' `The Christmas Song,' `Silver Bells,' `It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,' `Santa Claus is Coming to Town,' and of course, `White Christmas' including the seldom heard verse. Standard carols will also be on the program such as `Silent Night' and `Oh Holy Night,' plus a newer carol, `Do You Hear What I Hear,' written in 1962 as a call for world peace in the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis."...

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Bing Crosby protégé, Martin McQuade will be performing a special Christmas concert at Greenhouse Café‚ in Brooklyn, New York on Sunday, December 22, 2011 joined by renowned stride pianist Pete Sokolow. McQuade tells, "This will be my eleventh annual Christmas show in Bay Ridge, and my fifth at this venue."

McQuade will be playing Holiday favorites with a smooth swing persuasion. He highlights, "The show will consist of traditional favorites such as `Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,' `I'll Be Home for Christmas,' `The Christmas Song,' `Silver Bells,' `It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,' `Santa Claus is Coming to Town,' and of course, `White Christmas' including the seldom heard verse. Standard carols will also be on the program such as `Silent Night' and `Oh Holy Night,' plus a newer carol, `Do You Hear What I Hear,' written in 1962 as a call for world peace in the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis."

He reveals, "There will be several selections which, although not specifically related to the yuletide season, seem to me to capture the essence of the season such as Johnny Mercer and Ziggy Elman's ‘And the Angels Sing,‘ Vincent Youmans's `Hallelujah,' and `When You Wish Upon a Star' from (the Disney animation) Pinocchio."

He adds, "Pete will play and sing `At the Christmas Ball,' a little known song written by Fred Longshaw introduced by blues legend Bessie Smith in 1925." Dubbed "The Empress of the Blues," vocalist Bessie Smith was the beloved predecessor to Lena Horne and Billie Holiday.

McQuade was weaned on swing since he was a child and has conducted tributes to such iconic singers and songwriters as Bing Crosby, Johnny Mercer and Cole Porter in the past. His concerts revere the nostalgic while revitalizing standards with a contemporary flare.

Martin McQuade
December 22, 2011 @ 6 - 9pm
No cover charge
Greenhouse Café‚
7717 Third Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11209
Tel: (718) 833-8200
www.greenhousecafe.com

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