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Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand was born in Williamsburg, New York, to Emanuel Streisand and Diana Ida. Her father was a high school teacher, whose parents were Austrian. He died when Barbra was just 15 months old. Streisand has a half-sister, Roslyn Kind, who was also a singer. Barbra had a very turbulent relationship with her step-father, Louis Kind. Whilst attending Erasmus Hall High School, Barbra Streisand sang in the school choir with Neil Diamond. In her teens, Streisand won a singing competition and started to sing in nightclubs. She was keen to get into acting and appeared in a number of off-Broadway shows, including Driftwood, with Joan Rivers. Barbra Streisand made her debut TV appearance on The Tonight Show, hosted by Jack Paar, singing 'A Sleepin' Bee' by Harold Arlen. The following year, she made her Broadway debut, in I Can Get It For You Wholesale. Barbra Streisand's debut studio album, The Barbra Streisand Album, won two Grammy Awards and was released in 1963. She returned to The Tonight Show - now hosted by Johnny Carson - a number of times. In 1964, Barbra Streisand starred as Fanny Brice in a production of Funny Girl. She continued her career as a recording artist, releasing almost of all of her albums on Columbia Records. During the 1960s, she focused on theatre and cabaret standards, such as 'Happy Days Are Here Again', which she performed as a duet on The Judy Garland Show. They were also joined by Ethel Merman, who sang 'There's No Business Like Show Business' with them. At the end of the 1960s, Barbra Streisand began singing more contemporary tunes. Laura Nyro wrote the title track to her 1971 album Stoney End. Streisand remained a prominent feature in the US pop charts throughout the 1970s, with tracks such as 'No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)' with Donna Summer and 'You Don't Bring Me Flowers' with Neil Diamond. By the end of the decade. Only Elvis and The Beatles had sold more records than her, making her by far the most successful female singer in the US. In 1980, Barbra Streisand recorded the album Guilty, which was produced by Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees. The album became her best selling album to date. Five years later, she returned to musical theatre, with the release of The Broadway Album, featuring tracks by George Gershwin, Rodgers & Hammerstein and Stephen Sondheim. Her live album, One Voice, was released the following year.

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Album Review

Barbra Streisand: Love Is The Answer

Read "Love Is The Answer" reviewed by Jeff Winbush


On paper it must have seemed like a stroke of genius. Pair Barbra Streisand, the most successful vocalist in the world with Diana Krall, the critically acclaimed and commercially successful jazz stylist, turn them loose in the studio with selections from the Great American Songbook and wait for the magic.Unfortunately, there's no magic and little chemistry between Streisand and Krall on Love Is The Answer, as the results are more fizzle than sizzle.Streisand is a woman ...

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159

Recording

Barbra Streisand, Diana Krall Labor For 'Love'

Barbra Streisand, Diana Krall Labor For 'Love'

Source: All About Jazz

Ever since word got out that Diana Krall would produce Barbra Streisand's new album, music fans have wondered how two of the most admired artists of their respective generations would forge a creative camaraderie.

“We ate a lot," Streisand reports. “There's something about recording that makes me want to eat. We would bring in Italian food, or go out to dinner. Diana taught me how to roll a piece of chicken with cheese inside and put it in the microwave." ...

160

Performance / Tour

Streisand at the Vanguard: Five Numbers Released Online

Streisand at the Vanguard: Five Numbers Released Online

Source: Michael Ricci

Lucky Streisand Fans Were A-Listers for a Night. When Barbra Streisand sings, all fans are equal.

Or so it first seemed on Saturday night at the Village Vanguard, the tiny West Village jazz club where she was singing for the first time in 48 years. In attendance, as you might expect for such a special event, were Ms. Streisands celebrity BFFs like Donna Karan and Nicole Kidman. And, ensconced at a side table, sat Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton.

But ...

344

Performance / Tour

Barbra Streisand Plans Exclusive Concert at New York Jazz Club

Barbra Streisand Plans Exclusive Concert at New York Jazz Club

Source: Michael Ricci

The retired, unretired, retired again and unretired again Barbra Streisand is making a rare live performance at the Village Vanguard, the subterranean jazz club in Greenwich Village in New York, NY, on September 26. While an appropriate venue for the legendary singer to celebrate her upcoming album of jazz standards and classics, “Love Is the Answer," at 123 person capacity, the demand will greatly outdistance the supply of tickets. However, there will be no tickets for sale. One hundred ducats ...

160

Recording

Diana Collaborates with Barbra Streisand on Her New Album

Diana Collaborates with Barbra Streisand on Her New Album

Source: Billboard Magazine

Barbra Streisand has joined forces with Canadian jazz singer-pianist Diana Krall on her first studio album in four years, which is set for release on September 29, her record label said on Monday. Columbia Records said the album “Love Is The Answer" is Streisand's first full-length collection of new studio recordings since 2005's “Guilty Pleasures" and her first album since “Live In Concert 2006." Last year, Streisand was preoccupied with the U.S. election campaign but the singer-actress said this year ...

264

Recording

New Studio Album of Barbra Streisand

New Studio Album of Barbra Streisand

Source: All About Jazz

Columbia Records proudly announces the release of Love Is The Answer, the eagerly-awaited new studio album from Barbra Streisand, available everywhere on Tuesday, September 29. The first full-length collection of new studio recordings from eight-time Grammy award winner Barbra Streisand since 2005's Guilty Pleasures, and first new Barbra Streisand album since Live In Concert 2006, Love Is The Answer presents the artist as a cabaret and jazz singer of emotional clarity, depth and maturity, offering the listener a warm and ...

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