Jazz vs Cabaret: Let the Battle Begin

This shared opine comes to us from Vicky. She is giving a presentation on the point and would be one of our members who is literally caught in the crossfire of the discussion. Several of our members come from the ranks of JAZZ and have made the dark leap into our clique. I'd be curious to know how much kickback they get from other colleagues.

The resource noted is from another blog writer - Sue Russell back in 2009 and originally posted on Jazz.com. It treads on many of our regular discussions. It speaks to the cry that cabaret singers sit a bit lower on the totem pole of singers and labels them "precious." It also alludes to jazz singers paying no attention to the pedigree of the classic American songbook and making the original writers cringe in their graves with the liberties taken. It talks about cabaret being perceived more as a venue than a style of performance. I think my favorite line - and none of our members would challenge it; "So we have a little identity crisis in cabaret. If nobody else knows precisely who we are, how do we define ourselves?" It talks about "the intimacy of the moment," "the connection between the singer, the song and the audience." And thus the crux! 

All familiar language. She fires off a few zingers and some great name dropping. I'll let you read the article to find out which side of the battle she sits on. The full article:

Jazz Singing vs Cabaret Singing