Carol Fredette and Lillias White

are among the winners to be honored at the

30th ANNUAL BISTRO AWARDS GALA

Wednesday, March 4, 6:30 pm / Gotham Comedy Club

Jason Graae to Host

A special lineup of past Bistro Award-winning artists
will help celebrate three decades of cabaret’s oldest award

(New York City, January 29, 2015) - Jazz headliner Carol Fredette and Tony Award-winning actress and singer Lillias White will be among the eleven performers honored at the 30th Annual Bistro Awards gala, which recognizes outstanding achievement in New York cabaret, jazz, and comedy. The celebration will take place on Wednesday, March 4, at 6:30 pm at Gotham Comedy Club, 208 W. 23rd St. (between 7th & 8th avenues).

Carol Fredette started working in the New York jazz scene while still a teenager, and has since headlined every major jazz club in the city in addition to performing at prestigious venues around the country and internationally; she is receiving a Bistro for Ongoing Jazz Artistry. Lillias White, who has won Tony, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Obie, and AUDELCO awards for her theatre performances, and an Emmy for her work in television, is being recognized with an Outstanding Major Engagement Bistro Award for her exciting shows at 54 Below.

Hosting this year’s 30th anniversary show is Jason Graae, whose varied career spans Broadway, Off Broadway, opera, television, and film. He is a four-time Bistro Award recipient for his various one-man shows, which have toured all over the country, and for his original special musical material.

As is the Bistro Awards’ tradition, the evening will feature performances from the Bistro winners.

A number of outstanding vocalists are in the spotlight this year: Celia Berk, former MetroStar winner Marissa Mulder, jazz singer Gabrielle Stravelli, singer-pianist Eric Comstock, and newcomer Joshua Dixon. This year’s Ira Eaker Special Achievement Award—given to an outstanding performer on the rise, and named after Back Stage’s co-founder, co-publisher, and first cabaret critic—goes to the multi-talented Kristoffer Lowe.

Other honorees include Jon Weber, cited as Outstanding Musical Historian and Entertainer for his show “From Joplin to Jarrett: 115 years of Piano Jazz,” and Shana Farr for her Outstanding Concept Show “In the Still of the Night,” an artful presentation of the works of Noël Coward and Cole Porter. Stearns Matthews is being recognized for his Outstanding Recording “Spark.”

A special tribute to celebrate the Bistro Awards’ 30th anniversary will include a lineup of previous Bistro Award recipients as both presenters and performers. Actress-singer Sally Mayes is writing special  musical material for the event. For the third year in a row, Shellen Lubin will serve as the show’s director.

The gala event will be held on Wednesday, March 4 at Gotham Comedy Club, 208 W. 23rd Street. A Champagne reception for Bistro recipients and Premium Ticket holders begins at 5 pm, followed by the awards presentation and show starting at 6:30 pm. Producer Sherry Eaker will host the annual event, along with the other members of the Bistro Awards Committee: Kevin Scott Hall (Edge Media Network, BistroAwards.com), Roy Sander (BistroAwards.com, chairman of the Advisory Board of MAC), Robert Windeler (BistroAwards.com), and Mark Dundas Wood (BistroAwards.com, StageBuddy.com). Ms. Eaker, who heads the Bistro Committee, is the former longtime Editor-in-Chief of Back Stage and the producer of the event since its inception. Roy Sander and Wendy Lane Bailey are associate producers.

The Bistro Awards are sponsored by ASCAP, with in-kind support from Branson B. Champagne. Premium Tickets are $135, which includes the pre-show Champagne reception, priority seating, and the ticket-buyers’ names listed in the program; General Admission tickets are $80. Ticket-buyers in both categories are invited to the “After Bistros” supper party as guests of the Bistros. Show-only tickets are available at $70. A two-drink minimum applies to all ticket categories. For details about the various categories and early purchase prices, visit www.BistroAwards.com. For additional information, call 917-239-5467.

Following is a complete list of the winners being recognized for their outstanding work:
Carol Fredette / Ongoing Jazz Artistry
Lillias White / Major Engagement / 54 Below
Kristoffer Lowe / Ira Eaker Special Achievement Award
Celia Berk / Vocalist
Eric Comstock / Singer-Instrumentalist
Joshua Dixon / Debut
Shana Farr / Concept Show / “In the Still of the Night”
Stearns Matthews / Recording / “Spark”
Marissa Mulder / Vocalist
Gabrielle Stravelli / Jazz Vocalist
Jon Weber / Musical Historian and Entertainer / “From Joplin to Jarrett: 115 Years of Piano Jazz”

Carol Fredette

Carol Fredette

Carol Fredette....

“She’s as good as they come.”—Stan Getz


“Carol Fredette is everything you need in a jazz singer. She thinks, swings and phrases like a creative instrumentalist, yet her way with words captures the essence of a lyric,” says critic Dan Morgenstern, one of her many fans. Her deep expressive voice, strong sense of swing and charismatic presence have wowed audiences, critics and fellow musicians the world over. Fredette’s reputation has continued to grow as a fine educator, vocal coach and record producer. As a kid growing up in the Bronx, Carol was weaned on the music of Chet Baker, Stan Kenton and Frank Sinatra. Barely 18 and fresh out of Florida State University, where she sang regularly with the college jazz band, she hit New York and immediately landed a gig at Greenwich Village’s infamous Page Three. At “The Page,” Carol formed close relationships with Sheila Jordan and Dave Frishberg, which have lasted to this day. Around the same time, she worked opposite Bobby Short at The Arpeggio and when Carol auditioned for the Sal Salvador band at Basin St. East, she was hired on the spot. She then toured country-wide with his 17 piece band which included Eddie Gomez, Mike Abene, and Ronny Cuber. Stints with Larry Elgart and Neal Hefti followed and eventually Carol started touring with her own bands -- one of which included guitarist John Scofield. This led her to headline as a solo performer across three continents.

Off the road and back in New York, Carol settled quickly into the NewYork Jazz scene. She’s headlined every major jazz club including the Blue Note, Birdland, Michael’s Pub, Fat Tuesday’s, Café Carlyle and is a favorite at the Midday Jazz Series at Citicorps Center. She’s appeared twice in concert at Pace University, once opposite Buddy Rich and the other with an all Brazilian program. Carol’s also performed at the Vintage Jazz Series at the Vineyard Theatre and is about to make her 25th appearance at the long standing Monmouth County Library concert series. Around the country, she’s done stints at Scullers and Regatta Bar in Boston, Milestones in San Francisco, Vine Street in Los Angeles, and Stephen’s After All in Chapel Hill, NC. Highlights of her concert and festival appearances include The British Embassy in Washington, D.C., where she performed John Dankworth’s jazz interpretations of Shakespeare’s poems and sonnets, the Kansas City Women’s Jazz Festival, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. with Richard Rodney Bennett, the American Popular Song series with Loonis McGlohon in Charlotte, NC, and a much acclaimed program with Dave Frishberg at the University of North Carolina. She’s won fans around the world on the QE2, SS Rotterdam, Banlieues Bleues Jazz Festival in Paris, Veinte-Un in Rio, Cancun Jazz Festival, The Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal and Regine’s in Paris.

A stellar roster of musicians Fredette has performed and recorded with include Hank Jones, Ron Carter, Bucky Pizzarelli, Lee Konitz, George Mraz, Chris Potter, Steve Kuhn, Steve Swallow, Adam Nussbaum, David Finck, Rufus Reid, Ronnie Cuber, David Spinozza, Chuck Loeb, Charlie Persip, Michael Moore, Lew Soloff, Victor Lewis, Mel Lewis, Al Cohn, Claudio Roditi, Fred Hersch, Romero Lubambo and Helio Alves. Of Carol’s debut recording LOVE DANCE, Cadence Magazine proclaimed, “She delivers a performance as definitive and riveting as any I’ve ever heard.” Other CDs include IN THE SHADOWS, an intimate duo gem with long-time collaborator Steve Kuhn, AND THEN IT HAPPENED, a collection of original songs written and produced by David Matthews, EVERYTHING I NEED, the songs of Bob Dorough and Dave Frishberg. Fredette’s spot-on interpretations have made this album a favorite amongst critics and D.J.’s, winning the Blue Chip CD Award from Jazz Educator’s Journal. “One of the hippest vocal albums in many a year.”—Jersey Jazz Magazine. Her new release on Soundbrush Records, EVERYTHING IN TIME, produced and arranged by David Finck, is scheduled for release in February of ’09. With choice offerings from the American Popular Songbook, it also showcases her passion for Brazilian songs and rhythms. According to Finck, “this disc offers the listener…insight into Carol’s qualities of joy, sadness, sensuality, humor, hope, and most of all, love.”

In addition to performing and recording, Carol is inspiring interest and love of jazz in the next generation of singers. She has conducted master classes and vocal jazz workshops at City College, Duke University and Jazz Mobile in Harlem as well as teaching privately. About her career, Carol says, “…singing this music is ultimately about swinging – and bringing the words of a song to life from one’s own experience, so that the words written by someone else become YOUR words, YOUR story…and ultimately the story of your audience. I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to play with, and learn from, so many great musicians. Sharing the marriage of lyrics, music and the rhythms of jazz with other musicians, audiences and students—has been a blessing and a gift.”
“She’s in a class by herself.” -All About Jazz
“Carol Fredette brings a bracingly taut sense of line, perfect diction and fine-tuned dynamics to everything she touches.” –Stephen Holden, New York Times
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