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| April 21, 2015 | The Salt Lake Tribune | "Barry Manilow leaves fans happy for 'One Last Time'" by Tom Wharton |
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| There is an unmistakable uniqueness to Barry Manilow. The 71-year-old Brooklyn native remains relevant, but often seems like a throwback to a different era, a time of schmaltzy nightclub singers backed by big bands. If the veteran crooner's concert Monday night before a nearly full Maverik Center is indeed his final appearance in Utah -- as is likely for a tour titled "One Last Time!" -- then he left his legions of fans happy. Manilow might not move quite as easily across a stage as he once did. But he remains an accomplished musician, a personable if not lovable stage presence and a man whose voice has not dimmed with age. Backed by a crack 10-piece band and three backup singers, he took full advantage of a simple but effective stage. Manilow ran through 90 minutes of hit songs spanning a 50-year career. With the stage set on the far north side of the arena, it looked during the excellent warm-up performance of sax player Dave Koz that 60 or 70 percent of the seats in the arena would be too far from the stage to see more than a tiny figure dressed in a red velvet jacket. But the video screen behind the stage and two others on either side served Manilow well. This was especially true when he sang a duet with Judy Garland from an album of duet's with deceased singers Manilow joked could have been called 'dead duets." As a black-and-white video showed Garland singing "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart," Manilow sang along live, creating a nice effect. He did the same thing with a heartfelt rendering of "Mandy," only this time the duet was with a 31-year-old Manilow, at times with a split screen of the older version. What made all this work was a crisp sound system that made recognizing Manilow's songs and hearing every word easy, even from seats near the back of the arena. Every audience member was given a green glow stick as they came in and encouraged to wave it during the show, an effective device that showed just how well Manilow was connecting with his fans. Add to that the fact that the performer pulled an audience member on to the stage to dance, used a giant disco ball and some funky animation for "Copacabana" and ended the show by blasting streamers in all parts of the arena and it proved for an entertaining evening. Manilow opened with "It's a Miracle," and ran through full versions of 16 more songs, showing off his range and piano chops with ballads such as "I Am Your Child," "All the Time" and "Even Now." Before finishing with "Copacabana," he sang a medley of 15 of his biggest hits. Utah's One Voice Choir joined him at the end of the show, adding another dimension. As has been his custom in every city he has performed in, Manilow donated a piano to a local school and urged fans to bring used instruments to venues to be refurbished for school students. "Music will change a young person's life," he said, telling his own story of attending one of the roughest schools in Brooklyn and finding himself in an orchestra class. No doubt thousands if not millions of fans have thanked that teacher for introducing Barry Manilow to music. Monday night, for one last time, he returned the favor. |
| April 19, 2015 | San Francisco Examiner | "Barry Manilow makes miracles, magic on 'One Last Time' tour" by Leslie Katz |
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| During a particularly neat moment of his concert Saturday night at SAP Center in San Jose on Saturday, Barry Manilow called Judy Garland the greatest entertainer of all time and went on to duet with her, via the magic of video, on "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart." It’s probably not too big a statement to say that his comment about the late Garland echoed what his adoring crowd (filled with Fanilows, his admirers for four decades) was thinking about him. Surprisingly, this "One Last Time" show wasn’t sad. Although Manilow, 71, has said this 2015 tour will be his last, he didn’t overplay a big farewell. He did what he always does: delivered a top-notch, thoroughly satisfying barrel of tunes, from the disco-tinged opening ("It’s a Miracle," "Could It Be Magic") to chart-topping, modulation-building hits starting with him seated at the piano and ending with him standing ("Even Now," "Weekend in New England") to sentimental album cuts ("I Am Your Child," "All The Time"). Ever affable and self-deprecating (calling himself a sex god), his banter perfectly accompanied the music. He introduced a jazzy version of "Brooklyn Blues," which had a great sax solo by show opener Dave Koz, describing the iffy neighborhood where he grew up. He reveled in music of his childhood with a similarly lush rendition of Glenn Miller’s "Moonlight Serenade" and invited an ecstatic fan onstage for a brief dance. He even made a medley OK, sounding fabulous a cappella on "One Voice" and ending with an almost complete version of "I Write The Songs." Snippets of the dozen or so cleverly arranged tunes (including "Ships," "Ready to Take a Chance Again," "Some Kind of Friend," "Somewhere Down the Road," "Tryin’ to Get the Feeling Again") worked well, though this quibbling Fanilow would have preferred full versions of "Looks Like We Made It" and "This One’s For You." In a fun 1975 video clip of TV’s "The Midnight Special," record mogul Clive Davis (responsible, in a way, for many of Manilow’s biggest hits) introduced "the newest star for America" singing "Mandy." Davis wasn’t wrong. Forty years later, Manilow -- who said, "What a ride it’s been" -- is still going strong. He sang the rousing "Copacabana," streamers fell, and a big red curtain closed. Stepping back into a single spotlight, he ended with the touching "Forever and a Day," another nod to enduring fans. And a thanks and coda from this faithful follower, who once didn’t sleep for three days, trying to win tickets to see you tape a TV special in 1978 in Los Angeles when a radio station offered hourly giveaways. Though I never got the tickets, years later, I’m feeling like a winner: I still get to enjoy your singularly beautiful music. |
| April 19, 2015 | Contra Costa Times | "Barry Manilow thrills on One Last Time! Tour" by Jim Harrington |
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| Barry Manilow took a moment during his show on Saturday to reflect back on his amazing career. "What a ride it's been," the 71-year-old pop star said to the 8,000-plus fans at the SAP Center in San Jose. "Thanks to you all." Manilow showed his gratitude in the usual fashion -- by putting on a thoroughly enjoyable show, filled with dozens of good songs and plenty of personality. He's one of the most dependable entertainers in the game, who has probably never met a crowd he couldn't charm with his potent combination of lyrics and laughter. The show was quite similar to other Manilow outings we've seen in the past. Yet, it felt different in one way -- given that fans were watching what could very well turn out to be the star's final Bay Area performance. Or not. It's so very hard to tell. The phenomenally successful singer-songwriter-pianist, who has sold over 80 million albums across the globe, has embarked on his One Last Time! Tour. Now, what exactly that means appears to be up for a bit of interpretation. It's certainly a farewell trek of some type. Manilow was quoted in Billboard as saying it is his "last big tour," but that he's also not retiring or giving up performing live. If that's not confusing enough, please factor in that words like "farewell," "final" and "last time" seem to mean different things in the pop music realm than they do in the rest of the world -- just ask Cher, KISS, Judas Priest and so many others that have trouble meaning goodbye when they say it. Manilow made no mention of the farewell aspect during the approximately two-hour concert. That's really strange, since stars usually play up that angle as a way to send fans racing off to the merchandise booths in a panic. After all, it could be their last chance to buy that officially licensed (insert name of act already planning comeback tour) headband for $35. Instead, Manilow just stuck to the regular script, opening the show with a rambunctious run through the fan favorite "It's a Miracle" from 1974's "Barry Manilow II." Working in front of a large band and three backing vocalists, Manilow soon launched into the crowd singalong "Can't Smile Without You," complete with a bouncing ball leading the way through the lyrics shown on the big overhead video screens. He nicely balanced the up-tempo and softer music, coaxing the entire audience to "Jump Shout Boogie" and then bringing a single fan onstage to slow dance during Glen Miller's "Moonlight Serenade." Smooth-jazz saxophonist Dave Koz, the tour's opening act, joined the headliner for a slick version of the "Brooklyn Blues." Manilow, one of pop's great storytellers, made a point of underscoring what it was like for him growing up in Brooklyn. "I went to a high school that was voted the most dangerous high school in America," he said. Manilow shows are often filled with fantastic one-liners. The best one in San Jose came when the star talked about the song "I Am Your Child." "We wrote that one for my first album, which we released in 1821," the singer said of his eponymous debut, which actually came out in 1973. Most of the evening was dedicated to the hits. Yet, the multiplatinum star would take a few moments to plug his latest album, "My Dream Duets," which features Manilow performing virtual duets with many of his musical heroes, including Louis Armstrong, Whitney Houston and John Denver. He'd "duet" with Judy Garland -- really a video recording of Garland -- on "Zing! Went The Strings of My Heart" in San Jose. Somehow -- pretty much against all odds, really -- the collaboration worked quite well. Manilow has so many hits that he has a hard time fitting them all into one set of music. Thus, he does the medley to end all medleys on this tour. It's a 16-song medley, which zooms through such notable tunes as "I Write the Songs," "Looks Like We Made It" and "Bandstand Boogie" in satisfying fashion. He closed the main set with a rocking version of "Copacabana (at the Copa)," then returned for a memorable encore of "Forever and a Day." He'd then call it a night, but not before giving fans a bit of hope that this wasn't his last time in San Jose. "Thanks again," he said. "I hope I get to see you again someday. Right back at you, Barry. |
| April 18, 2015 | Sac Cultural Hub | "A FaniBro Is Born! Concert Review: Barry Manilow at Sleep Train Arena" by Michael P. Coleman |
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| We all know it’s hard out there for a pimp. Trust me, it’s been even harder for a pimp who loves Barry Manilow. As this is a concert review and not a therapy session, I won’t go on about how tough it was growing up in Detroit and singing "Mandy" as I walked to school. Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. Even here in California, I have turned the radio off at a traffic light so the trucker next to me wouldn’t see me bopping around my convertible to "Copacabana." But after last night at Sleep Train Arena, my love for all things Manilow is out of the closet. I even have a name for my new identity. As a black, dreadlocked man, I’m now and forever a FaniBro! From the start of the concert, I realized that Manilow and I have more in common than I’d thought. One of them is his good friend Dave Koz, who opened the show with a spirited set that included Stevie Wonder’s "Sir Duke," Kool & the Gang’s "Hollywood Swinging," and Earth, Wind & Fire’s "Got To Get You Into My Life" and "Getaway". Koz looked and sounded great, thanks in part (by his own admission) to "hair dye and Botox." Those two elements may have been on display as Manilow took the stage, as he could have well stepped out of Marty McFly’s DeLorean straight from 1985. He looked phenomenal for a singer who released his debut album in 1821, as he joked. But to talk too much about how Manilow looked -- which was great -- wouldn’t allow me to tell you how the man sounded -- which was incredible. Some things about the show could have been expected, from its energetic opener, "It’s A Miracle," to a sing-[along] "Can’t Smile Without You," which included the song’s lyrics projected karaoke-style on the screen behind him (as if we needed them!). Manilow also nailed one of my personal favorites, "Weekend In New England," admitting to the crowd that the song was so romantic that it even got to him. "I was turning myself on back there!" he quipped. Manilow earned one of many roaring ovations on "I Made It Through The Rain," saying "Here’s one about my favorite four letter word: hope" and "I can’t tell you how many letters I get about this song," before launching into a breathtaking a cappella intro. Manilow’s lesser-known ode to "misfits" everywhere, "All The Time," was also exceptional, with the legend admitting to having been a misfit himself as a kid, joking that he knew that was a surprise to those of us who know him now as a "super mega star sex god." Other highlights included virtual duets with Judy Garland on "Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart" from his new My Dream Duets album and with a 1975 version of himself on one of his signature hits, "Mandy." I don’t know many singers who could perform with a video of themselves in their prime and nail every note. Manilow’s one of them. He’s lost none of his range, power, or vigor over the last 40 years. Manilow shocked audience member Maggie from Stockton when he plucked her out of the audience to dance with him to Glenn Miller’s "Moonlight Serenade," much to the disappointment of all of the other female fans who lined the stage. Later on, one of that throng found herself briskly escorted offstage after jumping on it in her attempt to get to Manilow -- that’s how crazed his core fans were last night. If I have a complaint about the show, it was with the medley of many of the artist’s "radio hits" performed toward the end of the concert. Many of the classics included, like "Somewhere Down The Road" and "I Write The Songs" deserved the artist’s full treatment. However, with a catalog as vast as Manilow’s, he’d have been at Sleep Train Arena all night if he’d sung [them] all. Just when we thought he was done after the medley, Manilow exclaimed "Oh! We forgot one!" before launching into "Copacabana," complete with confetti and streamers from the ceiling and a local gospel choir, Fair Oaks’ Sacramento Choral Society. Like several times during the concert, Manilow seemed genuinely moved by the raucous ovation from the audience. With a final wave and a smile, he left us as he came to us -- on our feet and screaming his name. And Manilow left THIS FaniBro ready to crank "Copacabana" with the top down for my drive home. Barry Manilow’s "One Last Time" tour continues through June 17th. Information is available at barrymanilow.com. |
| April 17, 2015 | The Salt Lake Tribune | "Dave Koz, opener for Barry Manilow, talks music" by David Burger |
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| When it came time for Barry Manilow to plan his final large-scale tour, he had his choice of opening acts. In the end, he hand-picked a longtime collaborator and friend, the multiple Grammy-nominated jazz saxophonist Dave Koz. "I can't say enough about Dave," said Manilow in a phone interview with The Salt Lake Tribune. "I hear him, and [he] plays as if he's singing.... You get a sense of who he is when he plays." Koz, 52, is a Southern California native who began his career as a session musician but launched his solo career in 1990. Since then, the UCLA graduate has racked up nine Grammy nominations and played with such artists as Burt Bacharach, Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Celine Dion, Shelby Lynne, Kenny Loggins, U2, Michael McDonald, Luther Vandross and Rod Stewart. He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In an email interview, Koz spoke about his collaborations with Manilow, how Los Angeles has shaped him and what he has in store for audiences at the Maverik Center in West Valley City on Monday. Salt Lake Tribune (SLT): How long have you known Barry Manilow? Describe your creative relationship with him.
Dave Koz (DK): I first met Barry when he was making his "Mayflower" album and asked me to come in and play a sax solo. Little did I know he'd end up using my actual name in the lyric of that song! I knew then that this was going to be a special friendship. He's been completely invaluable to me over the years, serving as a great musical mentor and dear friend. People often don't realize what an amazing musician this man is. Of course we know him as the consummate entertainer, the vocalist and songwriter, but behind it all, he is a master musician who knows what every note and every nuance will do to the listener. Basically when I am around him, I am a sponge, trying to soak it all up, and he's been beyond kind and generous to me, having me join him for so many different musical experiences. We've been having such a blast on this tour, spending lots of time together. SLT: Why does your music provide a perfect complement to a Barry Manilow show?
DK: Well, I think it all starts with me being a fan! I love Barry's music and have been listening to it for decades.... Also, I believe my approach to performing is very much in line with where he comes from, where the audience is everything. He doesn't just want to stand there and sing his songs, he wants to entertain his audience and truly give of himself to them. And so do I. For me, it's wonderfully refreshing, at this point in my career, 25 years and counting, to come to this gig with one purpose: Get those fans ready for their favorite artist. SLT: How did growing up in Southern California shape you as a musician?
DK: My parents were born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada, so I often wonder, what would've happened with my music if my folks didn't hate the cold so much that they moved to California? I do think growing up in L.A. provided a certain advantage. I picked up the sax at age 13, and I was already doing gigs and recordings when I was 15 or 16. At that time there was so much music happening in and around L.A. There was a certain span of time when I decided to just go and play for free. I'd do any gig. It was crazy, but it paid off, as I got a chance to meet so many musicians who were doing very cool and exciting things. Many of those people are still very much in my daily musical life. SLT: On this tour, what music do you plan on playing?
DK: I have 30 minutes onstage to do my thing and get the audience revved up for Barry. Turns out, you can pack a lot into a tight 30-minute show! We do a few of my biggest hits, plus a brand new song for me: an instrumental version of "Let It Go" from the movie "Frozen." My four nieces urged me to have a stab at their favorite song, so I tried it, and I ended up falling in love with this melody. This audience in particular is really loving this moment in the show. I also do a medley that closes, made up of some of my favorite songs I used to listen to in my bedroom on 45s growing up, songs that take the audience back to that golden era of music -- and hopefully get them in the mood for Manilow! SLT: How do you convert people who say they don't like or listen to jazz?
DK: I invite them to a show. Just come. Try it out. You might just like it! |
| April 16, 2015 | Living Out Loud - LA | "Barry Manilow Brings the Hits to STAPLES Center" by Humberto Capiro |
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| I am very proud to say that I have been a "Fanilow" since 1975, while in high school. What is that you might say? Well, is a fusion of the word "Fan" and "Manilow" as in Barry Manilow the iconic singer/songwriter and all around entertainer who put quite a memorable farewell "One Last Time" show on Tuesday for a sold-out crowd at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles. The evening got started with a high-energy set thanks to Encino born, saxophonist Dave Koz who has had a 25-year career in the music industry. He and his kick-ass band delighted the audience with a fusion of funk, jazz and rock which had many people dancing. A touching moment came towards the end of his set as he dedicated a song from the film Frozen to his nephews/nieces. After selling more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the world’s best selling recording artist of all times you would think that Manilow would fall back on his laurels after all these years. Fortunately for those lucky enough to be in the audience on Tuesday this was not the case. Dressed in an elegant, deep blue blazer, white shirt and looking as svelte as his early days, Manilow and his large pool of talented musicians which included three outstanding African-American backup singers began the set with "It’s a Miracle" (1975) followed by "Could it be Magic" (1971), which is based on Frédéric Chopin’s Prelude in C Minor. This was followed by "Somewhere in the Night" and "Can’t Smile Without You" which had its lyrics projected in the back screen as a smiling ball bounced on each word as a giant karaoke machine for all the audience to sing along. In "Moonlight Serenade" written by Glenn Miller, Manilow managed to walk into his ecstatic crowd in order to choose a lucky lady to share a dance with him. One of the things that I’ve always loved about Manilow’s songs it’s their honesty, sincerity and how they touch the human heart because of their universal themes of love lost/gain and the feeling of not belonging. One of the most moving moments in the concert for me was when Manilow briefly went solo with a keyboard and offered beautiful renditions of "I Am your Child," "All the Time" and the ever popular "Even Now" – which had just about all in the venue singing along in a very intimate moment. Manilow showcased one of the songs in "Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart" from his last recordings, My Dream Duets (a series of songs done digitally with singers which are no longer alive came). The number is with the late Judy Garland, as she was projected on video in a rear screen. This was followed by a wonderful version of "Weekend in New England" and a rousing version of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons’ song "Let’s Hang On." The song "I Made it Through the Rain" seemed to perfectly represent Manilow’s feeling about his career to date while "Mandy" (1974), his first big hit and "Could it be Magic" (1975) were presented as a duet of past and present as an old video from the iconic late night show "Midnight Special" was projected as the new and old versions of Manilow sang along together. With so many hits in his discography a medley was used that tied together some of the missing hits "One Voice," "Old Songs," "I Don’t Want to Walk Without You," "New York City Rhythm," and "This One’s for You" amongst several other favorites. To close a spectacular, memorable evening, Manilow offered two of his most popular songs: "I Write the Songs" – accompanied by a full gospel choir in the background and "Copacabana (At the Copa)" – a campy and popular track. |
| April 16, 2015 | The Salt Lake Tribune | "Barry Manilow in Utah for 'One Last Time'" by David Burger |
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| Barry Manilow is in the midst of his "One Last Time!" tour across North America, but he still gets questions about the name of the tour. "Nobody believes me," said the 71-year-old entertainer in a phone interview with The Salt Lake Tribune. Manilow insists while he does not intend to retire completely, this "is the last of the big tours." He will record and do occasional one-night-only shows, but he has reached the point where he relishes his bed in his home in Palm Springs rather than different hotel rooms for months on end, he said. "It just got to me," he said. Although he sees an endpoint, the Brooklyn native is not holding anything back on this tour. With his band of 13 instrumentalists and singers, the concert in West Valley City on Monday will be part of what he called a "real greatest-hits" tour, with expected favorites such as "Mandy," "Can't Smile Without You" and "Copacabana (At the Copa)" sharing the stage with many other hits. The hits have kept coming for Manilow. He just celebrated his 14th Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for his 2014 release, "Night Songs." The nomination marked a personal milestone for the pop showman: He has been nominated for a Grammy in each of the past five decades. And late last year, his most recent album, "My Dream Duets," debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. It's his 15th top-10 album in a career that began as Bette Midler's sideman and music director in the early 1970s. Since then, he has sold more than 80 million records. Besides recording and touring, one of Manilow's passions is leading the way in instrument donations to schools across the nation that have faced cuts in arts funding. He is donating a new piano to the Salt Lake City School District and encouraging fans to call local schools and districts to ask them what they need. Anyone who comes to the Maverik Center box office and donates a new or gently used musical instrument will receive two tickets to Manilow's West Valley City show. And what a show it will be, Manilow said, realizing that for many, this will be the last time to see him live in concert. The need to put on a soul-nourishing show comes from his New York background. "New Yorkers won't stand for bullshit," he said. "[That approach] has served me very well in this world of ... glitter. I can't be phony onstage ... I have to be truthful with them." So Manilow means it. The truth is, this is the last time. Really. Barry Manilow. Jazz saxophonist Dave Koz opens. When: Monday, April 20, 7:30 p.m. Where: Maverik Center, 3200 S. Decker Lake Drive (2200 West), West Valley City. Tickets: $126.75, $96.75, $76.75, $63.75, $16.75 at Ticketmaster. |
| April 15, 2015 | Hollywood Reporter | "At Staples Center, Barry Manilow Brings On the Hits 'One Last Time'" by Melinda Newman |
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| Barry Manilow is on what he’s dubbed his One Last Time trek and, at 71, he’s certainly earned the right to hang up his touring shoes, but if the show Monday night at Staples Center was any indication, he still has plenty of gas left in the tank. The concert got off to an energetic start with "It’s a Miracle," and its fitting opening line, "You wouldn’t believe where I’ve been/the cities and towns I’ve been in," as Manilow made quick use of a lighted-up ramp that extended into the audience. The front of the ramp later descended to the floor allowing Manilow to slow dance with an adoring fan during his cover of Glenn Miller’s "Moonlight Serenade." It took a few songs to get the house mix right so that the band didn’t overwhelm Manilow’s vocals on the opener and the disco version (popularized by Donna Summer) of "Could It Be Magic," but by the time Manilow performed a flawless rendition of bittersweet "Even Now," sustaining the last two notes with strength and duration, it was clear that if this is indeed the last tour, it is certainly by choice, not because of any vocal diminishment. Manilow joked about his career longevity — it’s been 40 years since "Mandy" topped the charts - introducing rarity, the lovely "All The Time," by quipping "This is a nice one from my first album, which came out in 1821." The singer offered a carefully choreographed, slick 90-minute show that with little room for spontaneity, but was fully designed to please his longtime fans, who enthusiastically waved glow sticks, handed out by the ushers upon entry, as if they were at a Fanilow baby boomer rave. He made good use of a back-of-the-stage screen, especially during a duet with Judy Garland on "Zing! Went The Strings of My Heart," during which he displayed an underutilized ability to harmonize beautifully. The screen also displayed the words for a group sing-a-long to "Can’t Smile Without You," and served as a time machine, projecting Manilow’s first appearance on The Midnight Special, circa 1974. Some of the best moments came when Manilow dismissed the band and the theatrics and settled at the keyboards for affecting, spare renditions of "I Am Your Child" and the aforementioned "All The Time," an emotional song with an "It Gets Better" theme, written long before that project’s campaign launched a few years ago. With so many hits in his canon, a medley was inevitable, but it was still impressive that Manilow could jam 15 songs into one and still leave hits undone. "For those of you dragged here tonight, this medley is going to be agony," he joked. But it was far from it. It was a stirring reminder of an artist who so dominated the airwaves in the ‘70s that he’s able to still fill arenas five decades later with fans ready to take a chance again on their favorite superstar. Opener Dave Koz proved the perfect hype man, priming the crowd for Manilow with his tightly paced energetic opening set that included such hits as "You Make Me Smile," his remake of "Got to Get You Into My Life," and a lovely "Let it Go," a song he said he recorded at the behest of his four nieces.
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| April 15, 2015 | Orange County Register | "Barry Manilow makes magic at Staples Center" by Ben Wener |
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| If you're a Fanilow but failed or simply forgot to go to his Staples Center blast Tuesday night, you really ought to be kicking yourself. Barry Manilow, the beloved entertainer who last October celebrated the 40th anniversary of his breakthrough chart-topper "Mandy," has declared his latest tour also will be his last, so he's pulled out all the stops, scaling back gimmicks and excising anything that wasn’t a hit from a smash-packed set. The result, delivered to an often ecstatic audience at the nearly full L.A. arena, is something lifelong admirers may never see again: the Ultimate Manilow Show. "We have so much music, we may be here all night," the 71-year-old teased. More like 90 minutes on the mark, but the amount of classics crammed into that span speaks volumes about both his longevity as a performer and the increasing timelessness of his catalog. Like Neil Diamond’s or the Beatles’ songbooks, his records have been handed down from generation to generation. It was a common sight Tuesday night to see not just devotees his age alongside couples still swooning to his most romantic ballads, but also scores of people who weren’t even born when "Mandy" turned 20, all singing along. And wow do the ladies go mad for [him], female fans still screamed like 15-year-olds spotting One Direction at Starbucks whenever Manilow indulged pelvic thrusts or flashed a particularly cute smile. At one point, during a tenderly rendered "Moonlight Serenade" – Glenn Miller’s theme, a nod to Manilow’s upbringing matched later by the hometown ode "Brooklyn Blues" – he stepped over the red rope at the edge of his stage’s catwalk and the crowd erupted in excitement. Squeals ensued when he selected a soccer mom to hop up and slow dance with him, but that was nothing compared to the deafening response late in the evening when he launched into the disco story-song "Copacabana (At the Copa)." Granted, by then fans were on their feet for the heartiest standing ovation of many, roaring for a mega-medley that stuffed together 15 Top 40 hits from the ’70s and ’80s. The breadth was impressive, from the a cappella "One Voice" and the swingin’ fun of "Bandstand Boogie" to the irrepressible "Daybreak" and the indestructible timepiece "I Write the Songs," the latter abetted by a red-robed gospel choir. That love-it-or-hate-it anthem he played in full, and he nearly did the same with one of his finest gems, "Tryin’ to Get the Feeling Again." Other favorites [were] "Somewhere Down the Road," "This One's for You," the poignant father-son portrait "Ships," "Some Kind of Friend," and "Read 'Em and Weep"... Mashing and trimming so much material surely has something to do with Manilow’s tour fatigue, evident in admitted hoarseness. Even so, elsewhere in the program the vocal challenges of his compositions seemed to stoke ever-stronger performances out of him. I’ve regularly seen him live since a Vegas show in 1977 yet I’ve never encountered more perfect, emotionally wrenching versions of "Even Now" and "Weekend in New England," dramatic dynamos recommended to current pop and R&B divas in the market for a surefire heartbreaker. Add to that rundown two effective virtual duets, first with archival footage of Judy Garland ("the greatest entertainer of all-time," in Manilow's estimation) singing "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart." It's a then-meets-now collaboration from his latest disc, "My Dream Duets," all with posthumous performers. The second pairing was with his younger, sparkling self, singing "Mandy" and "Could It Be Magic" via "The Midnight Special." As with few other of his earliest creations – the delicate, tearjerking "I Am Your Child" above all – that moment underscored just how far he's come and how much memorable music he has crafted. With no artifice beyond a pair of shiny tuxedo jackets and stage-framing curtains, he winningly stuck to basics and came off as class as Tony Bennett, a humble but supremely talented showman proving he’s still a master in uncommonly strong form. At points the cumulative effect seemed to overwhelm the audience, who cheered like they will never see him again – when in actuality Manilow still intends to book occasional one-off gigs. Whether anything will ever measure up to this deeply satisfying performance, though, seems a long shot. |
| April 14, 2015 | EDGE Media Network | "Dave Koz's Passion Burns Brightly (This Time with Barry Manilow)" by Bill Biss |
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| Currently opening for Barry Manilow on his "One Last Time" tour, Dave Koz is thoroughly enjoying the privilege of entertaining alongside a music powerhouse and singer/songwriter extraordinaire. In talking with EDGE, Koz shares the joy and experiences of working with his friend and colleague for what Manilow has coined, "one last time." Koz is also reaching a career milestone this summer as he celebrates the 25th anniversary of his very first album. Here, he offers just what he has in store to mark this special occasion. If all this wasn't enough, this 'empire' man of the saxophone, has just recently opened a joint venture of entertainment and fine dining called Spaghettini Beverly Hills and the Dave Koz Lounge. His passion for music and those who make it is burning brighter than ever. EDGE: What an honor to be a part of the 'One Last Time' tour with Barry Manilow. How did this come together for you to open his concerts?
Dave Koz: We've been friends for quite some time, maybe about fifteen years or so. He's been very kind to me. He sang on my albums and when I got my star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, he was the one who inducted me. I've played at his concerts and played on his albums. This time last year, he called and said, 'I'm doing this series of shows in the U.K.... arena shows and why don't you come on over and open them up for me?' I was like, 'Wow!' I didn't see that one coming. We had the greatest time. We traveled together as he was kind enough to invite me to be a part of his traveling group. It was super, super fun. When they put together this tour for the United States, his manager called to say, 'Why don't we continue the fun and keep it going in the U.S.?' I jumped at the opportunity... getting calls like that from people you not only love but respect and admire and have learned so much from, those are the calls that really make your day. EDGE: Definitely. I still enjoy his beautiful version of 'Moon River' off your 'At the Movies' CD.
Dave Koz: Yeah, it was really great to be in the studio with him. People don't realize how great a musician the guy is and he's an unbelievable musician. He has a tremendous commitment to not only his music but to his fans and his band to making the experience on stage super interesting and satisfying, every time he does it. This is not his first tour! He's playing the songs... all these huge hits people have heard before. How do you keep it interesting? How do you keep it growing? That's where his unbelievable ears come into play. EDGE: How has the experience been so far for you?
Dave Koz: This is a funny thing for me. I haven't been an opening act since the beginning of my career. It really is wearing a different hat. When I go out on stage, we have thirty minutes to warm that audience up for him. It's nice, because for me, I just have to worry about one thing. What can I do to get these people excited for him? That singular focus is something that is rare in my world (laughter) because I'm usually thinking about a ton of different things. This is a nice experience for me. I play thirty minutes and Barry was kind enough to ask me to be a part of his show, too. So, I play a couple of songs in his show and we end the show together. EDGE: Oh, that's great. I didn't know that.
Dave Koz: It's a very integrated show. He's bent over backwards to make me feel comfortable. Not just him but his crew and his band. The audiences have been great, too. You can imagine, the lights go down at 7:30 p.m. and there's a huge roar of excitement. Over the loud speaker, you hear 'Welcome Barry's special guest Dave Koz' and people are expecting to see him, so I walk out there and I gotta be honest... they're not that happy to see me (laughter) because they thought, it was going to be him! These people may know my name but the vast majority have never seen me do a show. It's my job to figure out a way to not only entertain them but put them in a great mood for him. The Manilow audiences have been so receptive to me and my band. They're really warm and by the end of that thirty minutes, I think we got them. EDGE: What's your favorite Barry Manilow song?
Dave Koz: That's a very unfair question. I go out every single night into the audience and sit for some portion of his show, just to watch. I would say... 'Weekend in New England' is my favorite. EDGE: Neat. Mine is 'Could It Be Magic.' I honestly think of you as the 'empire' man. You have the Koz Wines, Dave Koz and Friends Cruises, your radio show, your web show, 'Dave' and now, Spaghettini Beverly Hills and the Dave Koz Lounge. Can you say, time management? You've got to be a pro at it. How do you keep so many things going, all at once? It amazes me.
Dave Koz: Good people around me to help me. I suffer a bit from ADD and if I'm doing one thing... I kind of get bored, so I like to always keep it interesting and mix it up a little bit. Truthfully, I feel very blessed because a lot of these wacky things you look at and the ones you just mentioned, these were things that I didn't say 'Oh, it's my dream to do this,' these are just opportunities that somehow came my way and I was like, 'Yeah, let's try it!' Some of those things have worked and some of them haven't. As an artist and human being, the goal for me is to always be open to trying new things. To be able to make left turns and right turns and not keep going on straight in my own lane. I like the idea of mixing it up and I've learned a lot, too. EDGE: Will you share a bit more about Spaghettini Beverly Hills and the Dave Koz Lounge?
Dave Koz: The restaurant just opened up and we just had our three month anniversary. This has been a tremendous learning opportunity. I can't tell you how much I've learned in three months about hospitality, the inner-workings of restaurants... as a guest in a restaurant, you never think about the things that I've seen. Now, I've seen it from the inside and it's a whole new respect. The same, could be said about operating a music venue, too. That's what the uniqueness of this place is, a fine dining restaurant and a world-class music venue. EDGE: It's a nice line-up of performers scheduled to entertain at The Dave Koz Lounge over the coming months.
Dave Koz: Yeah, we've had not just the people who have been on the list as our performers but people who just drop in and jump up on stage. My favorite being that Sir Tom Jones came in for dinner and surprisingly decided to sing a number. That's what we're open to and looking for. We're hoping that artists of all different genres will feel at home in this place. Come and have dinner and have a nice cocktail and if the mood strikes and you want to do something... this is the place to do it. EDGE: You still enjoy a level of anonymity when you're out and about. That must be a blessing for you to be able to enjoy and do what you love and not be instantly recognizable. I know that you are recognizable to the thousands of people who enjoy your music, yet, at the same time, for you to be able to have that freedom is kind of neat.
Dave Koz: That's a very nice thing to say. I agree. I'm very lucky that way. I can have a completely private life and when I need to be on stage, I can have a very public life. At least for me it works... it's a nice balance. I'm always open to whatever life has in store ahead and if that should change, I'll go with it. For the vast part of my career, it's been really nice. Music is different than being a TV star or movie star or even the big pop stars. I play saxophone, so I'm a 'niche,' I'm a walking niche (laughter). I like that. I like not having to be always 'on.' EDGE: Your 'Dave' webcasts are adorable and you present an opportunity to get to know the musical artists you have worked with and enjoy, a bit more in the presentation.
Dave Koz: That's it. I'm such a fan. Bill, I love being an advocate for the artists and love being a champion for the music that they make. So, in the ways that I have at my disposal, whether it's the Sirius XM show I do once a week or these little episodes, that I think nobody's watching or people might actually be watching...or at least, I know one is (laughs)... uh, you! These are ways of just letting people know about these great artists. We're not in People magazine, we're not in the newspaper. It's hard to know about this kind of stuff. It gives people an opportunity to know about these great artists. EDGE: You have the 25th anniversary of your career coming up.
Dave Koz: Yes. That's coming up in the summertime. This summer of 2015 is the 25th anniversary of my first record coming out. We decided to do a little retrospective and that is to focus on the collaborations that have been a constant in my career, from the very first album to now. That's been one of the big constants. That's what this album is going to celebrate and some of the songs that haven't really been heard in a very long time, like the collaboration I did with Stevie Nicks, which was a dream come true. I love her. Plus, Luther Vandross, Rod Stewart, Barry Manilow and Stevie Wonder and Herb Alpert. It's almost like a 'greatest hits' but it comes from a different perspective. There will also be three new songs. EDGE: So, are you in the process of letting your hair grow long to mark the occasion?
Dave Koz: No (laughter). EDGE: I know...just kidding, as I remember your mane on the cover of your first record. Enjoy your summer and all the music.
Dave Koz: Thank you! It's always a pleasure talking with you. Thank you so much for the great interview. Barry Manilow's 'One Last Time' tour with special guest, Dave Koz, continues with dates now in all major cities through June 17. For a complete list of tour dates, go to Manilow's website or Dave Koz's. |
| April 12, 2015 | U~T San Diego | "Barry Manilow bids a fond farewell: In his "One Last Time! Tour," which made a San Diego stop Saturday, pop singer takes audience on a trip down memory lane" by Michael James Rocha |
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| Perhaps, at 71, Barry Manilow has found a deeper personal resonance in the lyrics he first sang many decades ago. Saturday night, in front of an almost-capacity crowd at Valley View Casino Center, he brought his "One Last Time! Tour" to San Diego, and throughout the evening, the legendary entertainer seemed to be singing about surviving the tumult and reaching the end of the road, on his own terms, integrity intact and perhaps even victorious. "I Made It Through the Rain," from the 1980 album "Barry," sounded more like a triumphant anthem, sung with much verve and exclamation. He sings the lyrics he’s probably performed a million times -- "I made it through the rain / I kept my world protected" -- and in an almost congratulatory gesture, waves his hands toward the audience as if saying, "You, too, made it through the rain." This "One Last Time! Tour" did very much feel like it’s Manilow’s last. The 27-city North American tour began in Omaha on Feb. 11 and ends in his native Brooklyn on June 17, his 72nd birthday. No more touring, he says, so he can focus on other musical ventures. Saturday's stop in San Diego, to be followed by a Los Angeles concert at Staples Center [on Tuesday], was a trip down memory lane, filled with Manilow’s greatest hits and reminiscences of a career that, for better or for worse, has survived the test of time. His songs have garnered admiration from his die-hard fans and been dismissed by critics as sappy and saccharine. Manilow even joked about it Saturday. Before singing a medley that began with 1979’s "One Voice" and ended with 1975’s "I Write the Songs," he said: "This is going to be wonderful trip down memory lane for many of you, and for those of you who got dragged here tonight, you’re going to hate every minute of it." Laced with a mix of self-deprecating humor and nostalgia, Saturday’s one-hour-and-45-minute concert was a strong and fun, even campy at times, testament to Manilow’s longevity. His concerts have a quality that is more Las Vegas residency than arena extravaganza. There's an air of intimacy that is palpable even in a big concert hall. And more than four decades after his first hit — 1974’s "Mandy" — sent his star skyrocketing into the pop-music heavens, his songs still have that feel of familiarity. Indeed, for the thousands in attendance Saturday, his songs, however extremely sentimental may they be, have certain traits that make them innately likable and accessible — so accessible that many in the audience sang along with the crooner. In one instance, he encouraged them to join him, putting the words to "Can’t Smile Without You" on the screen, karaoke-style. Back to "Mandy" for a minute: That song -- released Oct. 7, 1974 -- changed Manilow’s life, but back then, and perhaps even now, the song’s success proved to be a head-scratcher. "I had no idea it would be such a hit," he said, after belting out a powerful duet with himself, circa 1974. The song became his first No. 1 hit and his first gold single. "It was up against ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ and ‘Boogie, Oogie, Oogie.’ Go figure." Saturday’s concert opened and ended with "It’s a Miracle," an up-tempo song that wasn’t as much about his voice as it was about the music. There were songs where his baritone voice, which in a couple of instances wobbled in the low register, remained in the background, letting the arrangement take the spotlight instead, such as in the crowd-pleaser "Copacabana," complete with a giant disco ball. There were times, though, where his voice was the star, as in the nostalgic "Weekend in New England." He delivered the words "I feel brave and daring" with such vigor you couldn’t help but wonder if the words had more personal meaning now, four days after reports that he married his longtime manager Garry Kief in a secret ceremony last year. Many of the evening’s songs had that typical Manilow touch: the orchestration that builds to a strong and dramatic finish. "Even Now," the 1978 single from his fifth studio album, was one of the evening's most memorable, reaching a crescendo that showed why he's been around for so long. He knows how to end a song, and it’s not with a period — more like an exclamation point. And perhaps that, too, is this tour’s raison d'être: to end a long, platinum-plated career on the road with an exclamation point. Saturday, he threw in a couple extra exclamation points for good measure. |
| April 10, 2015 | Orange County Register | "Do you like Barry Manilow's hits? This one's for you" by Peter Larsen |
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| Barry Manilow named his current tour One Last Time! and the singer says that is – but also sort of isn’t – exactly what it sounds like. "It’s been a long time since I’ve been doing these big tours," says Manilow, 71, from his home in Palm Springs. "I’ve been roaming the earth for 40-some-odd years, and it’s time to stop the big ones that keep me away for so many weeks and months. But I have no intention of retiring," he says. "I plan to continue making albums and probably do one-nighters." The tour that kicked off in Omaha, Neb., in February reaches Staples Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday, and while Los Angeles will certainly see him perform in the future, the odds of places like Omaha or Kansas City and Milwaukee hosting a Manilow show again are much slimmer. Because of that, One Last Time! took shape as a radio-hits-heavy tour, giving fans a chance to hear him sing the songs the whole world knows, Manilow says. "Usually when I go on the road, most of the time I have an album to promote," he says. "The show is usually based on that album. When we did that string of ‘Decades’ albums it was great to put together a string of concerts to celebrate those songs. Or when I did the big band album. I just thought that ... I’d celebrate all of the songs that are in the catalog that were on the radio," Manilow says. "I’ve never done all of them. Usually I do a handful of the big ones: ‘Copacabana’ and ‘I Write The Songs,’ ‘Mandy,’ ‘Weekend in New England.’ But this time I made a list of all of them and some of them that I rarely do: ‘Read ‘Em and Weep,’ ‘This One’s For You,’ ‘Ships’ ... made the list. And so the band and I are doing as many of them as we can." Some of those older songs are clustered in a pair of big medleys he’s doing most nights, but most of the biggest hits get a full treatment, and Manilow says he’s having a blast no matter how many times he’s done them before. "What’s most moving for me is the ones that started me off," he says. "Like ‘Mandy.’ I know you must think I get sick of these songs but I don’t. Certainly not now. I am a very grateful man. I never really thought I’d end up with a catalog of songs like this. It’s a very moving experience for me to be able to do these songs, and these audiences, they love them. I know why they’re there. They want to hear ‘Ready to Take a Chance Again.’ They stop me, they tell me. The impact this music has had is very, very positive." For the past decade or so, Manilow has also used his tours to try to make a positive impact on school music programs in the cities where he’s toured. At each stop he’s donated a piano and offered tickets in exchange for donations of new or slightly used instruments. Through his website he’s collected donations of money toward the same goal. "When I found out years ago that they’re running out of instruments all over the country or they’re broken ... I formed the Manilow Music Project," he says. "We’ve been trying to help schools by getting them instruments. It’s great, because if you bring down a used instrument that you’re not using, that’s collecting dust, if you bring it down to the arena that we’re playing, you get two free tickets," Manilow says. Playing a show at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on his birthday looms as a special night for Manilow, he says. "As it gets closer I’ll try to figure out something to do," Manilow says. "It’s going to be quite a way to end a part of my life, a part of my career, (though) like I say I’m not dying, I’m not retiring or anything." Looking back over four decades to 1974 and the release of "Mandy," his first No. 1 single, and the first of 16 Top 20 hits he’d earn by 1981, Manilow says he feels incredibly fortunate to have had the career he’s enjoyed. "It’s been so long, so many years of this, it still feels unbelievable that there is an audience out there that is interested in hearing the songs and visiting with me," he says. "I thought this would go away after about five years. Because you know, when I started they told me that a good pop career, if you’re lucky, lasts about five years." Barry Manilow. Where: Staples Center, 1111 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles. When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. How much: $19.75-$129.75. Online: axs.com, Barrymanilow.com. |
| April 5, 2015 | The Arizona Republic | "Interview: Barry Manilow on One Last Time! tour, 4/8" by Ed Masley |
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| Barry Manilow made his first appearance at the top of Billboard's Hot 100 in 1975 with a bittersweet ballad called "Mandy," launching a career that has kept the former jingle writer on the road for 40 years. And that's a long time to be on the road. At 71, the singer says he'd like to spend more time at home. He's not retiring altogether, but he's calling this the One Last Time! Tour for a reason. "I've been roaming the Earth for over 40 years," he says. "And, you know, every time I commit to a tour because of an album or a TV show or something or other, I take a deep breath, get out the Tumi luggage and off I go for weeks at a time, sometimes months at a time. And as the tours kept going on, I kept saying, 'This one's the last one. I can't do this anymore.'" And then he'd go back out again. This time, Manilow is sticking to his guns. Before he booked the tour that brings the Grammy-winning superstar to Glendale on Wednesday, April 8, he made it clear that this would be the last extensive tour. "Not the last tour," he's careful to add. "And not the last performance." The thought of never performing "shakes me to my core," he says. "But this is the last one that keeps me away for weeks and months at a time. It's the last big tour. I'll still make albums and I'll still do one-nighters here and there, but it's the end of touring." Bette Midler was shocked to hear that Manilow, who produced her first two albums and served as musical director on her first big tour, was ready to retire from the road. "I am surprised," she says. "They always say to me, 'Oh come on, tell them it's your last show and then you'll sell seats,' but I'm not lying. If they come, they come. I'm not gonna say that because then when you decide to come back, they say, 'But you lied.' You know, it's his business. But he's good. And he still has his fans and they still love to see him." Entertaining millions was the last thing Manilow envisioned for himself. He always figured his career trajectory would take him closer to the work he'd done with Midler, away from the glare of the spotlight. "In the beginning, I was terrified, only because I never planned on being a performer," Manilow recalls. "I planned on being a musician. If I were lucky, I thought I would have a career as a musician in all the other ways you can do that - as a producer or as a songwriter, as an arranger or as a conductor. That's where I was going. When I got the record deal and suddenly found myself singing on a stage, it was terrifying. I had never planned on it. So for those first five years, I was very confused. And yet, the audience never had trouble with me as a performer. I did. The critics did. But the audiences, in their own way, they were saying, 'Keep going. We like what we see. We like the music.'" And he did keep going. "I kept making records," he says. "I kept performing. And I think I got better at it. I got more comfortable. I couldn't resist it anymore because I thought in the beginning, well, this will be over in a year. And it wasn't. My performing career and the records wouldn't stop exploding so I had to make friends with this performing job that had been thrown in my lap. And over the years, I did. I made friends with it. And I began to enjoy it. And I watched the audiences enjoy it. Which made me feel great." The turning point in Manilow's career, of course, was "Mandy," a song he had no interest in recording. Not because he didn't like it but because he'd only cut the track at the insistence of Arista Records head Clive Davis. "In the beginning, I only wanted to write my own songs," Manilow says. "And then Clive Davis came into the picture and kept handing me these outside songs, which I continually rejected. I said, 'I am a songwriter.' But you know, this man is the greatest record man in history. And eventually I realized that I just could not ignore this. This man was offering me something that I could never have dreamed of, starting with 'Mandy.'" He and Davis struck a deal, he says, whereby the singer would record two outside songs per album, chosen by Davis but arranged and produced as Manilow saw fit. That arrangement spawned a string of huge hits in the '70s - the gold singles "I Write the Songs," "Looks Like We Made It" and "Can't Smile Without You" chief among them. "That's what we did for many years," Manilow says. "So the rest of the albums were mine, except for those two songs. And of course, those two were always the big songs. I wonder why that was?" Manilow laughs, then adds, "Except for 'Copa,' referring to "Copacabana (At the Copa)," which Manilow co-wrote with Jack Feldman and Bruce Sussman. "That was a big surprise," he says. "Clive didn't like the record. He didn't like the song. He never promoted it. But the audiences loved it. It came crashing out of the dance clubs and it wound up being the biggest record of my career. And it's mine. But the others, I can tell you, I tried to make these songs into my own. I crawled so deeply into them, I rearranged them, I made them so, so, so deeply into my songs that sometimes I forget that I didn't write them. If you had heard the original demo for 'Mandy,' it doesn't sound anything like the record we made. That's the difference between me and other singers. There are so many much better singers than me. I don't even consider myself a singer. But what I love doing is crawling inside these songs and redoing them into a different arrangement. It's very rewarding, you know." A less rewarding part of being Barry Manilow is reading the reviews. "It was frustrating," Manilow says of the critical drubbing he's taken through the years. "It was infuriating because I knew how hard I was working. And I knew that we were making good music. But before I was able to do anything, the audiences would rise up and write to the newspapers. They would stand up for me. Certainly, on the mornings when the reviews were so awful, I would pull the covers up over my head and go into my self-pity. But you know, you can't keep me down because I know that what I do is good. If you don't like 'Weekend in New England' or 'Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again,' then, you know, that's fine. I do. I stand behind it. And so do the audiences. They were the ones. And I had a great team around me. I had great musicians. My band. My singers. And I had a great record company headed by Clive Davis. They got me through those rough days." Manilow's latest commercial successes have been with collections of cover songs. Twenty-three years down the road from his last Top 40 hit, he topped the Billboard album chart in 2006 with "The Greatest Songs of the Fifties," a platinum smash in which he took on "Unchained Melody" and "Rags to Riches." "My Dream Duets," released last year, debuted at No. 4, his seventh Top 10 album since 2006. It's an interesting concept for a duets album, in that all his duet partners are deceased. "Well, everybody is making duet albums," Manilow says. "And Verve asked me if I want to do a duet album, but I couldn't think of a way of making mine any different than everybody else's. And then this hit me. Could I take old records that I've loved and make these old records into duets? We removed the orchestra tracks on every single record, giving me the ability to redo the arrangement and the orchestration for each record. And then we took the vocals that were left and made them into duets. And the quality of each song sounds like it was done yesterday. And a lot of it was. But the vocals were done 50, 60 years ago. I was able to sing a duet with Andy Williams, Dusty Springfield, Judy Garland, Louis Armstrong. And they sounded like they were standing right next to me." He says he may perform the Whitney Houston duet from that album on this tour. But the rest of the set will be his big radio hits. "I once went to a Sinatra concert," he says. "And I wanted to hear those songs my folks had played when I was growing up. I would have been very disappointed if he hadn't done those songs. And that's where I think I am -- at a point where the audiences want to hear these songs that they have known for a lot of their lives. So that is what I'm doing on this tour. I'm doing as many of the radio records as I can. And some of them I haven't done in years." Is there a hit he most looks forward to performing? "I always say 'Could It Be Magic,' " he says. "And I really do mean it. And sometimes I really love 'One Voice' because I wrote it in a dream. I didn't even write it at the piano. It woke me up in the middle of the night. But this year, I have to go back to 'Mandy.' It's much, much more emotional this year than ever before because it was the beginning of everything for me. My life changed. My life exploded into a million pieces when that record happened and I was so young and so innocent, I had no idea what was about to happen to my life." Barry Manilow. When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 8. Where: Gila River Arena, Glendale Avenue and Loop 101, Glendale. Admission: $19.75-$129.75. Details: 623-772-3800, gilariverarena.com. |
| April 4, 2015 | U~T San Diego | "Barry Manilow still has the magic touch: Music legend plans to stop touring, but only to focus on other ventures" by Marcia Manna |
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| Brooklyn-born Barry Alan Pincus began his musical training on an accordion, the only instrument his family could afford. He played a neighbor’s piano during his high school years until one day his mom and stepfather purchased a black Spinet piano with a sound that opened the door to his destiny. "As soon as I hit the keys I knew what I was meant to be," said the musician who grew up to become the man who can’t smile without you ... the one who writes the songs that make the whole world sing ... the performer who made it through the rain and is ... ready to take a chance again. If you haven’t yet guessed, that musician is Barry Manilow, a performer, composer of songs and television jingles, arranger, producer and one of the top-charting adult contemporary artists of all time. On Saturday, he’ll bring his One Last Time! Tour to the Valley View Casino Center. But Fan-ilows needn’t worry. Manilow isn’t retiring. He’d prefer to stop touring and devote more time to other musical ventures. Last year, for instance, Manilow released the Grammy Award-nominated "Night Songs," an elegant take on jazz and Broadway standards, and the album "My Dream Duets," a selection of 11 vintage songs that combine his voice with the voices of late singers such as Dusty Springfield, John Denver and Judy Garland. "I wanted to pick the songs the legends made famous," Manilow said. "We were able to take off the orchestration from these scratchy, old records, rearrange them, use new orchestras and then make the duets." "My Dream Duets" is a testament to Manilow’s reverence for the great singers of the past, his ability to arrange music, and the advances in technology that make the mix of old and new music possible. But other advancements in the music industry have made life challenging for many who hope to experience the longevity that Manilow has accomplished. He shared his insights about Taylor Swift’s decision last year to remove her songs from the digital streaming service Spotify. While a radio format pays the writer of the song on a per-play basis, streaming services pay the label, or the owners of the recording, most of the royalty money. The songwriter gets a small fraction of that amount. "The only problem we composers have is that we are not making any money for the work that we do," Manilow explained. "Everybody just gives away music, and a lot of young people believe music should be for free. I’ve been in the industry a long time and I’m not complaining. But for younger people, how can they make a living?" Humble beginnings: Manilow grew up in a three-room apartment with his mother and grandparents, who taught him to be "polite, caring and sensitive - a gentleman." His father left when he was a toddler and remained absent for most of his life. A few weeks before his bar mitzvah ceremony, his last name was legally changed to Manilow, his mother’s maiden name. After high school, Manilow paid college expenses by taking a job at CBS, working first in the mail room and then as a musical director for the WCBS-TV series "Callback," a showcase for new talent. Music education was an important component to Manilow’s success, and he intends to leave a legacy to others. After high school, Manilow took courses at the New York College of Music and The Juilliard School, and he even continued classes in orchestration at Chicago’s DePaul University while working at Henrici’s, a restaurant/piano bar. He also supplemented his career by accompanying vocalists, arranging music and writing catchy commercial jingles, such as Band-Aid’s "Stuck on Me" and State Farm’s "Like a Good Neighbor." In the 1970s, Manilow met Bette Midler, who he described in his autobiography, "Sweet Life, Adventures on the Way to Paradise" (1987, McGraw-Hill), as "a Jewish boy’s nightmare come to life." But his showy arrangements and attention to detail gave Midler’s passionate delivery credibility, and she inspired him to express himself more fully. He teamed with Midler from 1971 to 1975, performing for appreciative audiences at venues that ranged from New York City’s notorious Continental Baths to Carnegie Hall. Manilow opened shows by singing his own material and attracted a record deal with the fledgling Bell Label, which later became Arista Records, headed by Clive Davis. 'Mandy': Davis wanted Manilow to record a pop/rock song titled "Brandy," a hit in the U.K., but Manilow didn’t like the number. He slowed the tempo to a ballad, and because the band Looking Glass had the song "Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)" on the charts, Manilow sang to a girl named Mandy. "Mandy" became Manilow’s first gold single and the launchpad to super stardom. No one was more surprised than Manilow, who saw himself as a collaborator rather than a solo artist. Manilow went on to receive numerous accolades, including three American Music Awards (Best Pop/Rock Male Artist, 1978, 1979 and 1980), a Tony Award ("Barry Manilow on Broadway," 1977), a Grammy Award (Best Pop Male Vocal for "Copacabana," 1978), and an Emmy (Outstanding Individual Performance, "Barry Manilow: Music and Passion," 2006). A recent review of Manilow’s One Last Time! concert declared the show memorable and "over the top" until the very end. Saxophonist Dave Koz will be a featured performer at Saturday’s show. "I spend months working on a set list for each concert," said Manilow, who now resides in Palm Springs. "I’m an arranger as well as a musician. It has to build, go back down, build again and finish with a powerhouse ending." Giving back: Barry Manilow has helped more than 50 schools through the Manilow Music Project, a nonprofit that provides instruments to middle and high school students. When Manilow visits San Diego, he’ll donate a Yamaha piano as part of a local instrument drive for the San Diego Unified School District. Those who donate a new or gently used musical instrument to the Valley View Casino Center box office will receive a voucher for two free tickets for Manilow’s Saturday concert. Barry Manilow: "One Last Time! Tour". When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 11. Where: Valley View Casino Center, 3500 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway District. Tickets: $19.75- $129.75. Phone: (888) 929-7849. Online: manilow.com or axs.com |
| April 5, 2015 | Inquirer.net | Barry Manilow donates piano to school district |
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| Barry Manilow is donating a piano to the Uniondale school district on Long island, and is urging others to donate musical instruments for schoolchildren to play. Newsday reported that Manilow, 71, said music is "a vital part of a child’s education." Uniondale Supt. William Lloyd hopes the gift will encourage more donations. The donation is part of the singer’s Manilow Music Project. |
| April 1, 2015 | Alice at 97.3 | Barry Manilow Called To Talk About His Show In San Jose (And We’re Giving Away Front Row Seats) |
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| [I’ve] been a fan of Barry Manilow since I was 7 (I joined his fan club when I was 7, like actually mailed a Fan Club Application in an envelope) and that year I skipped Trick-or-Treating to go see him live – since Halloween was the only night he was playing near where we lived. A 7-year-old skipping Trick-or-Treating is dedication! Skip ahead to 1995, my love for Barry continued and I got the chance to actually meet him. I was working at the alternative station in Phoenix at the time, and my hair was black with a blue wash over it so it looked pretty bright blue in person. Barry was wearing a bright blue blazer, and he put his arm around me for the picture and said, "Your hair is the same color as my blazer!" Skip ahead to 2015. Love going strong. I posted that Phoenix picture for #TBT, and a friend of mine – who is friends with Barry’s people – saw it, and reached out to see if we wanted to give away front row seats to his show in San Jose on April 18th! Um YES WE DO (4:05pm on Thursday April 9th, to be specific). Plus he called in to talk about the show, his One Last Time tour, and his amazing music program (you could get free tickets to his show by donating an instrument!) plus your chance to get tickets for $19.75 (the year "Mandy" debuted!). [CLICK HERE for] our talk from today – remember we’re giving away FRONT ROW SEATS at 4:05pm on Thursday April 9th! - Jayn |
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