Streisand returns to Village Vanguard after 48 years
Photo credit: AP Photo | Barbra Streisand performs her opening number at a concert that begins a 20-city national tour Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2006, in Philadelphia (
Forty-eight years ago, Barbra Streisand stood on the stage of Manhattan's Village Vanguard jazz club and sang for a small but lucky crowd. Saturday, for the first time since 1961, she'll do it again.
Back then, Streisand, 67, was the opening act for trumpeter Miles Davis; this time, the singer will be the only act. The crowd will again be small: Just 80 tickets were given free to the winners of several contests earlier this month.
The intimate but well-publicized performance is part of Streisand's promotional campaign for her first new studio album since 2005, "Love is the Answer" (Columbia), due for release Tuesday. It's intended as a throwback to the singer's early cabaret style, with Diana Krall on piano, Krall's backing trio (guitar, bass, drums) and orchestrations by the veteran arranger Johnny Mandel, who has worked with both musicians in the past.
Throwback or no, the ticket contests were decidedly modern, with hopeful fans entering their names at Streisand's Web site, submitting homemade performance videos through a special YouTube channel and even posting photos of their pets on the singer's Facebook page. Winners received two tickets each, and three grand prize winners also received air fare and hotel rooms.
What Streisand will sing at the show, which will be streamed online beginning Monday at barbrastreisand.com, remains a mystery; a publicist for her record label said only the singer knows. But fans should probably expect several cuts from the new album, which includes such standards as "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and "Make Someone Happy," which Streisand sang on ABC's "The Oprah Winfrey Show," broadcast Thursday.
"I think we're never finished as a work in progress," she said on the show, "but I think I'm on a good path. I'm more relaxed, I'm more comfortable."
