Member Profile #9: Terese Genecco

Sorry you haven’t heard from me lately! Beyond a bit of travel I did (which I’ll talk about in a separate post), we had some technical changes that prevented me from posting until now. Enjoy this week’s member profile!

Name: Terese Genecco
Website: www.teresegenecco.com
Hometown: Oakland, CA
Artistic Discipline: Music
Fractured Atlas Member Since: April 2006
Fractured Atlas Services Used: Calendar of Events, News Releases, Audience Development

Today, we’re featuring Terese Genecco, a vocalist, musician, band leader, and nightclub entertainer who fronts an eight-piece “little big band.” The band has been performing in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles for the past two and a half years in two, multi-award-winning shows called “Drunk With Love: A Tribute To Frances Faye!” and “Drunk With Love: The Sequel!” Genecco has become known as “Cabaret’s Class Four Hurricane” for her high-energy performances and the raucous, party atmosphere she creates during her shows. Terese found Fractured Atlas through its Open Arts Network partner, Theatre Bay Area, which she is also a member of.

Genecco says that she uses her Fractured Atlas membership “to read about what other artists and arts organizations are working on and presenting. It’s good to stay informed about issues having an impact on other art forms, not just the music business. I am interested in the healthcare issue and have read about the ongoing efforts to provide coverage to individual artists. Fractured Atlas is a great way to keep current with a global community of artists and projects. Reading about what other members are creating is stimulating and informative.” Thanks for the shout-out, Terese!

We asked Terese a few questions about her work….

What/who are your biggest influences?
“I am most heavily influenced by Frances Faye, a nightclub entertainer who was known as the ‘Queen of the Supper Clubs’ in New York during the 1930’s and 1940’s, and went on to have a very successful recording career,” says Genecco. “She was known as a ’singer’s singer’ and was the favorite of Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Mitzi Gaynor, Buddy Hackett, Sammy Davis Jr, and all the great entertainers of the mid-20th Century. Faye was funny and irreverent, smart and sassy, an amazing jazz musician, a master at handling a band and an audience, brave, courageous, and openly gay in the 1950’s!” Genecco’s other influences are many, including: Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Barbara Cook, Bette Midler, Billy Joel, Elton John, Melissa Etheridge, k.d. lang, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Louis Prima and Keely Smith, Wesla Whitfield, Russ Garcia, Jack Costanzo, Anita O’Day, and Chris Connor, among others.

What have been your greatest successes to date?
Genecco states that, “Artistically and musically, a pinnacle reached so far was a spontaneous standing ovation we received at a packed nightclub in New York (The Metropolitan Room) after one of our performances of the song ‘Frankie And Johnny.’ It was about 40 minutes into the show and we had whipped everyone up into a frenzy. It literally stopped the show. It’s a difficult arrangement for the band to perform live, without a conductor, and I’m pretty busy telling the story and singing, so it’s got to be a very concentrated effort by every one of us to pull it off. When we do, it’s quite a magical and transformative experience for everyone, musician and audience alike.” Genecco also says that she’s excited about winning a Backstage Bistro Award last year, being named to Time Out New York Magazine’s Top Ten Best list two years in a row, and being asked to sing twice at Rose Hall at Jazz At Lincoln Center in the Mabel Mercer Foundation’s annual Cabaret Convention. She definitely has a lot to be proud of!

Finish this sentence: The artist’s role in society is….
“…. to stimulate, educate, articulate, provoke thought and emotion, create beauty, reflect reality, challenge the status quo, and, in my particular case, ENTERTAIN!”

How can we see, experience, or learn more about your work?
Genecco and her “little big band” perform in an open-ended run most Saturday nights in San Francisco at The Rrazz Room, inside the Hotel Nikko. They will be in New York BB King’s Blues Club on May 6, where they will be performing at the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs (MAC) Awards show. And, of course, Genecco has a plethora of websites you can visit! First and foremost, there’s www.teresegenecco.com and www.myspace.com/teresegenecco. Her electronic press kit can be found at www.sonicbids.com/TereseGenecco and, most importantly, you can purchase her CD at www.cdbaby.com/cd/teresegenecco, on iTunes, and other online digital distributors.