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Amy Barlow
Things you should know about Amy Barlow
She’s performed everywhere - NYC, Puerto Rico, LA, Bermuda, Buffalo, and even that hotspot of hotspots, Binghamton, NY (OK, it’s her hometown). Caroline's Comedy Club (opening for Leno, Seinfeld, and Pee-wee Herman, her personal favorite), the Plaza Hotel, Carnegie Hall, The Angry Squire. Was Artist in Residence at the Princess Hotel in Bermuda for two years.
She’s worked as a singer and pianist with great musicians, like Rickie Lee Jones; Joe Turano; the cast and crew of Santa Monica's legendary Great American Food & Beverage Co., Buffalo theater troupe O’Connell & Co.; and the late, great cult icon Michael Greer.
She’s cool. She answers emails. She writes in many styles: some intensely romantic songs; some quirky; some, downright pee-your-pants funny. And she knows about 200 standard jazz tunes off the top of her head. She loves and honors the legends of jazz.
Amy's dedicated. Once she had a car accident on the way to a gig - her car was totaled, but she demanded police drop her off and proceeded to sing for four hours straight (technically, she in shock, but she made A LOT of tips). The person who hit her? An 80-year-old nun, whose ’69 Buick trumped her beloved ’62 Volvo. The Church payed for her ticket to L.A.
She’s gay-friendly. “Straight, But Not Narrow.” If you’re straight and that doesn’t mean anything to you, try walking a mile in a drag queen’s pumps and then losing about a million friends in the space of ten years. Just give a listen to her song, “The Day I Saw An Angel Fly,” based on the last days of a dear friend who was dying of HIV/AIDS.
She’s been called “White Chocolate,” and “a gay man trapped in a straight woman’s body.” That's a trip, huh?
She is every bit as good live as she is “on Memorex.” And you get to hear studio and live cuts on her CD.
She came up with old-school jazz musicians who treated her like a daughter - a throwback to the days of big bands.
She’s a third-generation professional - mom sang; grandpa played clarinet - and her daughter is a pro drummer (baby makes fourth). At 21, Amy was the only girl on the bandstand, the only white musician, and the only one under 60. (Her mother sang with a multiracial group in the 40s. When they got to the gig and told the black musicians to enter the venue through the kitchen, she followed them. Manager told her she could go in the front door with “the rest of your people.” She replied, “These ARE my people, and if the kitchen is good enough for them, it’s good enough for me.”)
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Take Five With Amy Barlow Liberatore
by AAJ Staff
Meet Amy Barlow Liberatore: Born in Binghamton, raised among jazz musicians who mentored her from her first club appearance at 17, Amy Barlow Liberatore began her vocal/piano career (New York, Los Angeles, Bermuda, Puerto Rico) playing jazz standards. A lucky break put her on the road with Rickie Lee Jones' first national tour. She later began writing soulful jazz/blues and gospel and recently self-produced her first CD, Jazz Baby Hits Her Stride. She is a resident of the road.
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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson