GIG ALERT - Quick Update From Vivian

Hey guys,

If you missed The Family Room last week, we're so sorry for the inconvenience, we postponed last weeks live show as it was Mothers Day.
But we're back!

This week we've got a very special show planned with singer/songwriter Karen Bernod on vocals (Chaka Khan, Erykah Badu), James "Biscuit" Rouse on drums & vocals (Lauryn Hill), Raymond Angry on keys (the Roots), Sherrod Barnes on guitar (Roberta Flack, Whitney Houston) and of course Chris on bass and me on vocals.

This is our first show back since February so we went all out with this awesome
lineup! :-) From here on in, you can catch us every other month on Stageit.com

Be sure to tune in to this weeks show by clicking on, or copying and pasting the link below in your browser window.

This Sunday, May 19th, 7pm
From our family room via Stageit to your house!


http://www.stageit.com/vivian_sessoms_chris_parks_special_guests_karen_bernod_james_biscuit_rouse_and/the_family_room_presents/23918

Then on Sunday, May 26th I will be at Smoke with Emmet Cohen on Piano, Gaku Takanashi on Upright Bass and Jerome Jennings on drums.
This wil be a stellar evening of music, please join us if you can.

SMOKE
Sunday, May 26th 2013
Sets at 7, 9 & 10:30 PM
NO MUSIC CHARGE
2751 Broadway (corner of 106th st)
NY, NY 10025


Thanks for reading, please tell a friend and remember, music can change the world.
Vivian <3 br="">

WHAT'S NEW!

Photo courtesy of Michael Katlow Cox

Hey everybody,
Did ya' miss me?
'Cause I sure missed you ;-)
I was away in April for a few shows so I didn't get to connect with you last month,
but I'm back with lots of news.

First a little about the trip. I did a show in Monte Carlo (home of Princess Grace
Kelly) and since we haven't had a vacation in a while, Chris came with and we had a
ball!
Spent a lot of time being tourists, taking in the beauty of southern France, and its
breath taking views.

We stayed in a bed and breakfast with very lovely hosts so
thank you to Tony and Amandine who looked out for us doing our trip! <3 br="">
We were in Nice part of the time and took a day trip to Cannes, home to the film
festival, which is this month I think, so the town was all abuzz with excitement!
Man I could totally live there.. (Sigh..) Luckily, I get to go back there in July,
tell you more about it soon ;-)

Then straight home to rehearse the very next day with Christina Aguilera for Times
100 Most Influential People.. And let me tell you, that is SOME list. Check it out
here http://time100.time.com/


http://www.albrightmusic.com/images/BEFlyer_resized.JPG

For this event I got to work with the amazing Rob Lewis, (MD for Christina, New Kids
On The Block), the magnificent Cheryl "Pepsii" Riley, who is not only the most
amazing singer I know, but one of the loveliest people you will ever meet, and
another absolute doll Cossandra Kellam who sang her you know what off! As you can
see by the pictures below, there was lots of clowning, posing and general mayhem!

Anyways, back to what's next..
Sooooooo...
The unveiling of our new rock band! OPHELIA ONE
Starring the stellar Jane Getter and myself, and featuring Chris Parks on bass, John
Caban on guitar, and Kevin Bregande on drums!
It's been a good minute since we rocked out so this will be a big release of pent up
energy 'cause sometimes you really do just need to rock out and let yo' freak flag
fly!

http://www.albrightmusic.com/images/BEFlyer_resized.JPG" alt="BEFlyer.JPG_resized

Thursday, May 2nd 2013
9PM - $12.00
The Bitter End
147 Bleecker Street
New York, NY 10012

If you're not hip to Jane Getter, go check her out pronto http://www.janegetter.com, she's
been written up in Billboard, Jazz Times, in fact all over the place including last
months Guitar Player Magazine.

Excited about this new incarnation. Got some new material we'll throw in too. But
the real countdown starts now for the release of my new record in July.
Yep, you heard me, yep I said it, lol.
And I'm gonna leave that right there.. For now ;-)

Also on the agenda this month, is the next installment of The Family Room, a live
broadcast from our family room featuring the wonderfully talented songstress Karen
Bernod, and James "Biscuit" Rouse singing and playing drums, Chris on bass, and me
chiming in on a song or 2.





Check out Karen here http://www.karenbernod.com



Check out James here http://www.jamesrousemusic.com/index

The Family Room will air on Sunday, May 12th at 7PM.
To view the live broadcast click the link below..


http://www.stageit.com/vivian_sessoms_chris_parks_special_guests_karen_bernod_and_james_biscuit_rouse/the_family_room_presents/23220

Well, I think that about does it for now, but stay tuned, more shows and more music
coming very SOON!

And remember, music can change the world..

Hugs
Vivian

Hey guys,
Vivian here with lots of news.

First, NEW MUSIC! Yep, it's almost here. No for real, it really is ;-)
We've been busy busy busy in the studio, mixing, overdubbing, tweaking. It's coming out great and I'm so excited, I can hardly contain myself. We're thinking about a May/June release, but we'll be giving a single away before then and of course I'll keep you posted on all of that.

Because I'm releasing 2 records this year (the 2nd CD to be released at the end of the year), there has been an enormous amount of work to take on, but I have to say it's been fun being on the creative end of things again. It's been such a long time since my last record came out that I forget how much we enjoy writing and producing. It's a challenge and it's positively thrilling to have a seed of an idea, then to keep building and building on that idea until you have a whole song and then an albums worth of material. I think you guys are really going to like what we have in store for you. It's a whole new side of me musically.

Now for other news. First I want to thank everyone for coming out to our many events last month! We had a full house at the SOPAC Blues In The Loft Series in South Orange, NJ and a full house at the Lafayette Presbyterian Jazz Vespers in Brooklyn (we sold out of merchandise on that one!). The coordinator for Emmnanuel Baptist Church Jazz Vespers was in the audience for the show and loved it, so we'll be seeing you at Emmanual Baptist later in the year and Saint Peter's next year. God is good!

Due to the amount of work going on with the record, we're not doing our Live From The Family Room series this month. Just too much going on to manage it all, but don't worry, we'll be back in April with very special guest Karen Bernod.

In the meantime, if you wanna see me this month, below is a list of where you can find me for the rest of March!

MONDAY, MARCH 18th, 2013 - MACANUDO
Steve Weiles Band featuring Vivian Sessoms - 8pm
26 East 63rd Street
New York New York 10065
USA (212) 752-8200
Price: Free

Steve Weiles - Drums, 
Ron Afiff - Guitar, 
Gaku Takanashi - Bass
, Vivian Sessoms - Vocals

THURSDAY, MARCH 21st, 2013 - SMOKE JAZZ & SUPPER CLUB
The Vivian Sessoms Quintet - 7pm, 9pm, 10:30pm
2751 Broadway
New York New York 10025
USA 212.864.6662
Price: Dinner & Drinks/ NO COVER




Featuring Jim Pryor on Piano, Hilliard Greene on Bass, Clarence Penn on Drums and Keith Loftis on Sax. Fabulous dinner menu by executive Chef Patricia Williams.

SATURDAY, MARCH 23rd, 2013 - HAT CITY KITCHEN
South Orange International Blues Festival Winter Edition - 10pm
459 Valley Street
Orange New Jersey 07050
USA 862.252.9147
Price: Call Venue




Curator Mike Griot was so happy with our performance last month at his SOPAC's Blues In The Loft series, he's decided to have us back this month! We're excited to be part of the winter edition of Mr. Griot's renowned South Orange International Blues Festival in Orange NJ, opening with the Michael Hill Blues Mob and following up with 

Mike Griot
, Dave Stryker,
 Al Gold
 and special guest Vivian Sessoms doing a special blues set.

Stay tuned, lots more exciting stuff next month! 'Til then, hope to see you and remember, music can change the world.

Vivian

VIVIANS JANUARY NEWS..

(Chris & I performing at the 2012 Teaneck International Film Festival)

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

I weigh about 5 pounds more than I should but I'm happy. I enjoy cooking for the holidays. Being with family and friends has so much more meaning for me now than ever before. We exchanged maybe 3 gifts this year which is completely out of character for us, usually it's a gift giving frenzy, but it seemed like the whole family was feeling more like just being together than run around or spend hours on the internet shopping. So be it, less stress.

We are off to the races this year, starting with Chris and I taking our brand new band to the APAP Conference at the Hilton Hotel. If you haven't heard of the APAP Conference, it's where talent buyers from all over the country converge to view established and up and coming talent to fill their venues concert calenders. We'll be performing over 2 days and we've added strings and horns to the band, they sound incredible!
Our performance schedule is below (scroll down):


Saturday, January 12th - 9:45 pm
Sunday, January 13th - 4:45 pm

If you're free stop on by, but beware, these are very short performances ;-)

APAP CONFERENCE at the Hilton Hotel - Sutton Center, 2nd fl.
1335 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10019 USA
212.586.7000
Price: Free

By the way, if you're in the area I will also be at Macanudos Cigar Bar every Monday this month EXCEPT January 14th, and it's FREE :-)

MACANUDOS
26 East 63rd Street
NEW York, NY USA
212.752.8200
Price: Free
Steve Weiles Band featuring Vivian Sessoms - 8pm

Steve Weiles - Drums
Mark Eckroth - Keys
Ron Afiff - Bass
Vivian Sessoms - Vocals

Last month, for my birthday, we aired our first ever live broadcast The Family Room Presents via Stageit.com and it was awesome! Really awesome! We had the fabulous Kelli Sae on vocals, the super talented Julian Velard on piano and vocals, and the stellar Stephen Bard on guitar and vocals along with Chris on bass and my favorite Eric Brown on drums and percussion. It was a blowout! Behind the scenes, we had my fabulous assistant Shirlise Castille fielding comments and questions from viewers, my cousin and assistant director Maurice Sessoms filming & directing, and my son and editor Will Saunders, assistant directing and teching. What an amazing crew..

The next live broadcast is scheduled Saturday, February 2nd, with a surprise special guest. ;-)
This time we'll do 2 broadcasts the same day, with an early show starting at 4pm (for our overseas people), which is Eastern Standard time (9pm London time, 10pm German time, 12pm Australia) and a late show at 7pm.

4PM SHOW:
Vivians 4PM Stageit Show

7PM SHOW:
Vivians 7PM Stageit Show

So many big things planned for this year with a new record release and so much more. Stay tuned lovelies, and check in often 'cause you don't wanna' miss any of it!

May all your dreams come true this year! <3 br="br">
and remember..
music can change the world

Vivian