ABOUT TORCH

The 2007 MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs) Award winner for Best Major Artist- Lina Koutrakos "unplugs" and sings the historic and ultimate female expression of the blues through this line up of torch songs. An intimate evening, with Rick Jensen at the baby grand.

Lina Koutrakos has been singing in New York City for over 20 years to a celebrated career in both cabaret and rock and roll. (MAC Awards/NYC, Backstage Bistro/NYC, Petite Piaf/Paris/Village Voice Award, Daily News Acknowledgment) all for Best Female Vocalist. The Village Voice says she 'makes the transition from cabaret to rock with the expertise of a skilled aerialist'.

She has been repeatedly raved-reviewed and/or featured both in for arenas as well. (Daily News, Billboard, NY Post, New York Times, Village Voice, Backstage, Variety and so on).

Long time friend, award winning New York City arranger, musical director and songwriter Rick Jensen, has also straddled both musical worlds over the years. Having literally “come of age” in the cities nightclubs and now with years of music- and life- under their belts, they have teamed up to bring a unique view to this line up of torch songs. “Torch” features the classic songs its title conjures up and the not so expected ones as well.

The nightclubs are where both Koutrakos and Jensen learned, loved and were afforded the opportunity to dissect these songs over and over again and decided last year it was time to interpret them with not only their individual histories, but their collective ones as well…both personally and musically.

After an award winning 8-month run at the Metropolitan Room in New York City, they have discovered that this perspective (both honorable and inventive) have opened “Torch” up to include a contemporary audience.

“Torch” has been successfully performed this past year in Santa Fe, Chicago, Boston, Palm Springs and St. Louis among other places and can be booked through this website. It can be performed piano/vocal or with a trio.

Carla Gordon
Cabaret Scenes
March 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org

With her wide range interpretations, delivered from her whisper to her full rich voice, Koutrakos keeps her audience transfixed.

Torch-"a succession of love songs, generally one in which the singer laments an unrequited love"-were made to order for such passion.

She and music director Rick Jensen have delved deep into the lyrics of such masters as Ira Gershwin, Gus Kahn and Johnny Mercer, and created fresh arrangements that are moving and intelligent.....classics from the 1920's seem as immediate as the 6 o'clock news.

Lina Koutrakos: Torch
By: Philis Raskind

Sultry Lina Koutrakos burns hot in this wonderful show “Torch”. With only piano accompaniment, the focus is totally on Lina’s vocal nuances and story telling ability.

Lina is that rare performer who gives her audience a peek inside her very soul. Her strength lies in her ability to reveal herself.

Sage sensibility and superb nuance was the measure with which Lina delivered, One could not help but conjure up the old days of smoke filled boites and singers wailing through the evening.

Rick Jensen is a true master at the keyboard and Lina Koutrakos delivers a gamut of emotional insights. A powerful performance.

Torch: Lina Koutrakos with Rick Jensen

by David Finkle

May 8, 2007

Climbing atop the piano during Torch - a first-Saturday-of-the-month Metropolitan Room stint continuing until July - Lina Koutrakos instantly conjures Helen Morgan. Not a new idea. Singers have followed Morgan's example ever since she set the style during the Jazz Age. In Koutrakos' case, however, director Mark Waldrop has had the right idea. Reminding patrons of her predecessor is tantamount to declaring she is to torch singing in 2007 what Morgan was in the 1920s and '30s. From anyone else, such a tacit declaration might seem presumptuous. From Koutrakos, it's a statement of fact.

Koutrakos sings these songs - many of them the heart-wrenchers you'd expect - as they should be sung. She understands something about the selections, something true of all sorts of tunes: They are one-sided conversations. Yes, she sings them, but as she sits on the piano or leans against it or moves away from it, she also tells them. When she opens with Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life," her throbbing quickly sets the threnody's jaded scene. When she sings "My Foolish Heart" (Ned Washington-Victor Young), she probes the psychology of someone realizing her current romance isn't another passing fancy but the real, astonishing thing.

Early in the set - with simpatico Rick Jensen doing his own brand of torching at the keyboard - Koutrakos offers an explanation of her affinity for the material. She says that when she was a youngster mesmerized by old movies on television, she was always drawn to "the bad girl with a heart of gold." Whatever it was that impressed her, the from-the-core-of-her-being versions of "Stormy Weather" (Ted Koehler-Harold Arlen), "It Had to Be You" (Gus Kahn-Isham Jones), "You Fascinate Me So" (Carolyn Leigh-Cy Coleman), "The Man That Got Away" (Ira Gershwin and Arlen), and "One for My Baby" (Johnny Mercer and Arlen) represent everything torch singing can be today.

Presented by and at the Metropolitan Room, 34 W. 22nd St., NYC. Oct. 7-July 7. (212) 206-0440.

Lina Koutrakos performs Torch
Cabaret St. Louis at the Kranzberg Arts Center
April 22 - 25, 2009 
Reviewed by Chris Gibson

My wife and I celebrated our anniversary this past Saturday night with a marvelous dinner, and then capped off the evening by taking in a splendid performance by singer Lina Koutrakos and pianist/arranger Rick Jensen at the Kranzberg Arts Center. This is actually the third time we've seen them perform in St. Louis, so we pretty much knew what to expect. But, even though the material may have been familiar, there was something special about this show that far exceeded expectations.

If you've never caught one of Lina's cabaret concerts, you've really missed the opportunity to hear a vocal talent that pours her heart and soul into every musical phrase and turn of a lyric. It's like watching and hearing the characters from these songs come to life in front of your eyes. And, when you combine this husky voiced chanteuse with Rick Jensen's expert accompaniment, these songs really sparkle.

Opening with Arlen and Mercer's "Come Rain or Come Shine", Lina set the tone for the night by investing herself fully, disappearing completely into the guise of a femme fatale, if only for the length of a song. A steady parade of classics followed, including: "When the Real Thing Comes Along" (Holiner-Nichols-Cahn-Chapling-Freeman), "Stormy Weather" (Arlen-Koehler), "You Fascinate Me So" (Coleman-Leigh), "My Foolish Heart" (Washington-Young), "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" (Legrand-Bergman-Bergman), and others. Jensen and Koutrakos approach each of these songs with reverence, but also manage to infuse them with a bluesy sensibility that broadens and deepens their meaning.

For me, the real gems are "Night Moves" (Bob Seger), "Walking in Memphis" (Marc Cohn), and "Thin Line Between Love and Hate" (Poindexter-Poindexter-Members). These re-workings are particularly well executed, giving them depth far beyond their obvious pop appeal.

This show is called "Torch", and the selections presented definitely cover the gamut of pain and heartbreak that comes with the territory. But, in the skillful hands of these two professionals, these downbeat, and mostly downtempo tunes, become a celebration of determination and willpower.

Special mention should also be made concerning the dramatic lighting design of John Taylor. Taylor's contributions gave each number a mood and, most importantly, a nice sense of closure.

For more information on upcoming Cabaret St. Louis presentations, go online to www.cabaretstl.org.