Piano Cabaret
tagStarted 1930Peak 1950–1995Last big hit still active
Located in 1 route
Piano cabaret strips performance down to singer and keyboard or a pianist-singer hybrid, making timing, lyric emphasis, and harmonic touch absolutely central. The sound is close, flexible, and vulnerable, able to turn from comic aside to emotional collapse in a single modulation.
History
From salon and revue roots through New York cabaret institutions, piano cabaret became one of the form’s defining substyles because it required minimal forces but maximum interpretive skill; Bobby Short, Steve Ross, Barbara Carroll, Blossom Dearie, Billy Stritch, and Michael Feinstein all exemplify how much theatre can fit inside eighty-eight keys and a roomful of listeners.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Cabaret"
- 54 Below, "About the Club"
- Library of Congress, "Musicals of Stage and Screen." citeturn6search0turn6search6turn6search5