Kenny Werner © Andrea Canter

Over the years, Kenny Werner has performed and/or recorded with such luminaries as Bob Brookmeyer, Ron Carter, Joe Williams, Chico Freeman, Sonny Fortune, Peter Erskine, John Abercrombie, Bobby McFerrin, Lee Konitz, Billy Hart, Marian McPartland, Joe Henderson, Tom Harrell, Gunther Schuller, Ed Blackwell, Paul Motian, John Scofield, Jack DeJohnette, Eddie Gomez, Dave Holland, Charlie Haden, Chris Potter, and Joe Lovano. With his trio and larger ensembles, Werner has released a series of acclaimed recordings on Doubletime and now Palmetto.

Betty Buckley

Singer/actress Betty Buckley was a prodigy herself, first singing in public at age 2 in her native Fort Worth. Her first real inspiration came at age 11 when she saw Bob Fosse's original "Steam Heat" choreography in a summer stock production of The Pajama Game. Listening to the recordings of Judy Garland and Della Reese, she developed her own sound, and made her stage debut at 15 in a production of Gypsy. More stage productions followed before she enrolled at Texas Christian University as a journalism major; she became head cheerleader, won the title of Miss Fort Worth (1966) and was runner up in the Miss Texas competition. Invited to Atlantic City to perform at the Miss America Pageant, she was “discovered” by a talent scout, leading to New York auditions.

As they say, the rest is history—her Broadway debut creating the role of Martha Jefferson in the musical 1776; a Tony Award for her performance as Grizabella, the Glamour Cat, in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats; a second Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a musical in the 1997-98 Broadway season for her performance as Hesione in Triumph of Love; an Olivier Award nomination for her interpretation of Norma Desmond in the London production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, which she repeated to more rave reviews in New York. Her other Broadway credits include Gypsy, Lloyd Webber's Song and Dance and the role of Margaret White in the cult musical Carrie, for which she was nominated as Best Actress in a Musical by the Outer Critic's Circle. And in London she starred as Fran Kubelik in Promises, Promises, garnering a nomination from The Evening Standard for Best Actress in a Musical. On film, Buckley has appeared in Brian de Palma's screen version of Stephen King's Carrie, Bruce Beresford's Tender Mercies, Roman Polanski's Frantic, Wood Allen's Another Woman, and Lawrence Kasden's Wyatt Earp. Of her many television credits, she may be best remembered as mopm Abby Bradford in Eight Is Enough.

Buckley has released a handful of recordings, gaining a Grammy nomination for her 2002 release, Stars and the Moon, Betty Buckley Live at the Donmar (Concord).For over 30 years, she has has taught scene study and song interpretation, giving workshops in Manhattan and various universities and arts centers as well as serving as a faculty member in the theatre and music departments of the University of Texas at Arlington, at The Terry Schreiber School in New York City, and the Casa Manana Theatre in Fort Worth.

The Werner/Buckley partnership has been one of the most compatible and acclaimed in jazz and cabaret. Werner has served as her music director as well as pianist. In 2004, they won the Legend of Cabaret Award at the Nightlife Awards in New York City; they are frequently booked into such intimate rooms as Café Carlyle and Feinstein’s in Manhattan, celebrating 17 years of partnership with a 2006 run at the Blue Note.

The July gig at the Blue Note, dubbed Songs for a Summer Night, will feature selections from Buckley’s forthcoming recording, Quintessence, as well as her usual eclectic playlist from pop, rock, country and musical theatre. Werner has also written a few new arrangements for the Blue Note show. On July 17 Buckley will be backed by her trio (Werner on piano, Tony Marino on bass and Anthony Pinciotti on drums), with Billy Drewes on reeds for the rest of the week, and drummer Dan Rieser subbing for Pinciotti on July 21 and 22.

The Blue Note is located in Manhattan at 131 West Third Street. For reservations call (212) 475-8592 or visit www.bluenote.net. More on Betty Buckley at www.bettybuckley.com ; more on Kenny Werner at www.kennywerner.com