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!
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="">
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/
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!
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.
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
Sunday, March 17, 2013
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.
(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.
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
Hang with Chris & Viv as they host the first show in a new monthly series called The Family Room. The series will feature musician friends of the two, interesting artists, music, poetry, and everything in between.
Joining Chris & Vivian this week are 3 brilliant recording artists, each with their own very unique styles, Julian Velard (www.julianvelard.com), Kelli Sae (www.kellisae.com), and Stephen Bard (www.stephenbard.com) with Eric Brown on drums and percussion.. We wanted to shake it up a bit with distinctly different talents for this first show!
Tuesday, December 18th, 2012 - Pay what you can
First Set - 8pm to 8:30pm, Second Set - 8:30pm to 9pm
What is Stageit?
Stageit is an online venue that allows musicians to stream exclusive LIVE concerts to fans over the internet. The vibe is incredibly intimate often featuring performers playing from their homes, directly from their laptop.
You will then have an opportunity to purchase credits (which Stageit calls "Notes" ; 10 Notes = $1.00). Notes allow you to pay for tickets to see shows and to tip performers during the show. This show is "Pay What You Can," which means you can pay whatever you can afford (minimum 1 Note). Once you have Notes, they can be used for any show!
THERE WILL BE GIVEAWAYS!
The top 5 tippers will get a signed CD from me, and the highest tipper will get a signed CD from Julian, Kelli & me along with a Sunny One Day tee shirt!
Then on December 28th Jenny and Vivian will be appearing with the fabulous Dana Fuchs (Across The Universe) at the Rubin Museum of Art, 150 W. 17 St., NYC 10011. Tickets are $25. 212.620.5000
And last, but by no means least, Vivian will be debuting at Smoke Jazz Nightclub this NEW YEARS EVE as a special guest of jazz legend Harold Mabern (pianist) and renowned saxophonist Erik Alexander, with John Webber on upright and Joe Farnsworth on drums. This will be Just One Of Those Nights you won't want to miss!
On a more serious note, let's remember to spread as much joy, love and warmth as we can this holiday season, and to lend our support whenever and where ever we can. We really never know what anyone is going through at any given moment, or what pain they might be living with. There has been such a tremendous amount of tragedy in these last months. We must remind ourselves to be grateful for every single blessing and for all the good things in our lives.
And remember, music can change the world..
Have yourself a merry little Christmas!
OH, YOU FANCY HUH?
Trying new things is a good thing..
I've been seeing some really great looking e-mails and e-flyers lately and I've wondered how people were making their emails look so fly.. Now I know ;-) I should have tried this a long time ago, but kept putting it off because I thought it would be difficult and I didn't have time for difficult. Well, it was easy, in fact so easy, I thought I'd send you guys an update to let you know what's going on over here in Viv-land.
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!
First off, got a show coming up, in fact a few shows coming up this year. The next one will be at Feinsteins. I did a show here last year, and it was amazing, so I'm going back for round two!
FEINSTEINS at LOEWS REGENCY
Sunday, April 22nd - 8:30pm
Park Avenue and 61st Street, NY. NY
THE INCREDIBLE BAND:
Chris Parks - upright, electric bass, acoustic guitar
Mike Mancini - piano, keys
Noam Dworman - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, vocals
Eric Brown - drums, percussion, vocals
Jeff Pierce - trumpet
NEW MUSIC!
Looking at summer release for the new record and man, I am SO excited!! It really has been a long time coming, much too long, so stay tuned.
NEW VIDEOS!
Just put a bunch of new videos on Youtbe. You can check them out here!
Vivians Youtube page
INDIE ARTISTS!
Check out my new Indie Artists page, where I feature the works of artists I love, from musicians to painters to designers & authors, etc.
New features for this month are Kelli Sae with her new album PURE, Martha Redbone with her new album GARDEN OF LOVE - Featuring the Songs of William Blake, Sy Smith with her new album FAST & FURIOUS and last, but most definitely not least Gary Foote with his new album HARLEM WORKS
STAY TUNED!
That's all for now, but there's lots of exciting news coming soon, so tune in and we hope to see you at Feinsteins!
Thank you for supporting independent music, and remember, music can change the world.
(all the house look just like this in Nantucket.. lovely..)
Hey there good people!
So there I was yesterday in another airport ;-) On my way to a gig in Nantucket, if you're overseas and unfamiliar, it's a little island in Massachusetts. This state is known for it's quant little islands, all very rustic and romantic. I'm doing a wedding for the family of Susan Tedeschi, an amazing blues singer, if you don't know her, look for her music on iTunes. Maybe she'll sit in on a tune, that would be awesome.. And it'll be nice to see the scenery for a day.
A sweetheart of a girlfriend of mine (Hey Jill), who works at Jet Blue hooked me up with a free ticket, so I'm all set. Just found out my flight is delayed, so I've got time to roam the new and improved JFK Airport, it's quite impressive. The design is very streamlined so you don't have to wait in lots of long lines and, some of it is set up so you go straight thru security directly to your gate, lots of cute shops and restaurants, etc. And of course Jet Blue has become so large that they have their own terminal.
I had a room at a bed and breakfast which I LOVED. Hubby and I have been talking about a vacay in the fall, now I'm thinking it would be quite lovely to do a bed and breakfast tour up the east coast for a week or two. Lots of them have fabulous restaurants, and if you go in the fall, the discounts would be great, but knowing my boy, he will want to go to the sunshine. He is a true boy of summer, you know, the ones who start wearing shorts in May? He would try for flip-flops if I didn't catch him at the door.
Although fall is my favorite season, and I really do love the fall with all of it's colours and smells and textures, the sweaters and tweed blazers coming out, it's so special.. but this year, I'm really sad to see summer go.. It's taken many years but in the last few years or so, I've really come to love the summer too, and have become more in tune with the whole timing and pacing of life and it's seasons.. Planting and growing and blooming and dying and rebirth. Maybe it's because last winter jut seemed to go on and on forever. It's just feels like life shouldn't be that hard, shoveling feet and feet of snow in the freezing cold. Maybe it's because this summer seemed really short with all the rain, I dont know. I just know I crave more sunshine... So maybe Chris has the right idea..
Anyways, lots of you have been asking about the live show today, and of course I should have written before now, BUT here's an update. The show is postponed until the first week of October, so sorry to disappoint you guys, I really am but it was just impossible to get all the people I wanted to be involved with everyone's schedule being so hectic, so I though moving the date back a few weeks might be a good idea, but don't fret, it is STILL going to happen the first week of October and of course I'll post it everywhere and keep you all in the loop. I just want it to be special, so hang tight.
I will however, be doing a live radio interview today and I'd love if you guys all tuned in and even called in with questions. The name of the show is "The Conversation"!!! LIVE!!!! Hosted by Klarque Garrison. It airs this Sunday at 4pm EST, and the call in number is (917) 932-1078 or listen online at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/survive365.
