Color My World with JLY, Inspiration and the Arts. @jerseyshoredeb - Tumblr Blog

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michellemajors

My favorite Tony Award winner, John Lloyd Young.

Grateful as always to be able to hear him perform. And in my happy place when I can take photos of him singing :-)

More photos to come….

writerchickmarie

John Lloyd Young - The Language of Soul

People who don’t know about @johnlloydyoungfriends often ask me, “Why do you fly across the country or drive several hours to see someone perform? Is it really worth it? Is he really that good?”

So I explain that yes, he really is that good, and it is completely worth it - and why. After seeing him perform Tuesday night at Cafe Carlyle, I have even more reasons to give them as to why they should take any opportunity they can to experience a JLY show.

JLY proves that he can take any song and make it his own, no matter what language the song happens to be in. He takes the time to explain a little bit about each song, and it’s a pleasure to learn more about these songs and why they are so special. But even if he didn’t, we would still be moved - with JLY, music is truly the universal language as he not only performs each selection fluently, but with so much emotion that you can’t help but feel every word and note along with him. He sang “Ming Ri Tian Ya (If Tomorrow Comes)”, which I have heard several times but still moves me to tears. It was my first time to hear him sing “Usted”, which is a song I already loved…but hearing him perform it took my breath away. He debuted a new language this time at The Carlyle, performing “Parla Più Piano (the theme from The Godfather) with so much passion that you could feel it throughout the room. He was born to sing in Italian - and not just because he is Italian. It’s because he feels it in his soul, which he does with every song he chooses in any language. He told us how he learned this song because it was requested to be sung for the Vice President and his wife a couple of weeks ago, and how nervous he was to do it that first time. Needless to say, he has perfected it in a short amount of time. Bigger than Pacino and DeNiro - my hand to God. :o)

It was also my first time to hear JLY perform the Doors classic, “The Spy”, and I was definitely not disappointed. You get that feeling that he just might know the deepest secret fears of everyone in the room, just from the way he performs it. It’s better than the original, as are “Maybe I’m Amazed” and “To Make You Feel My Love” - he is so good at making all of these songs his own that it’s hard to listen to the original after you’ve heard JLY. I actually heard “Maybe I’m Amazed” come on the radio as I was driving home from NYC yesterday…and no offense to Sir Paul (who I am a fan of), but his version just didn’t do it for me - it paled in comparison to JLY’s. It really is a gift to be able to do that with songs like “Just One Smile”, “Since I Fell For You”, and so many others.

Of course he also treated us to “Sherry” with the moves, letting us sing along as well. Most special for me was “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” - which is a personal favorite of mine for many reasons ever since I was a little girl. He told us how he has not only sung this one (like “Sherry”) over three thousand times, but how many Presidents and dignitaries he has performed it for, including the recent performance for current Second Lady Karen Pence. After hearing all of that, it made it even more special to have him serenade us with this song…and yes, that also took my breath away.

One of the best things about seeing JLY perform is hearing all of these various anecdotes that he is gracious enough to share with us, that make us feel like we are all sitting in his living room listening to him share his stories. Stories about his trip to Cuba with the arts delegation are always touching, especially hearing how he performed for and with Smokey Robinson, and how all of the schoolchildren who met Smokey had no idea who he was, yet ran to him and clung to him like a grandfather because of his sweet spirit. And one of my favorite things is hearing the stories behind the songs that JLY wrote with Tommy Faragher, as well as songs that Tommy and other songwriters wrote that JLY has chosen to perform and/or record. It’s always fascinating to hear how a song came about or where the idea came from. And he really shines on the original material - I can’t wait to hear “Almost There”, “Alone Together”, and “Slow Dawn Calling” on a recording….and I truly do believe that these songs belong on the radio, especially “Slow Dawn Calling”. I have faith that we will all be hearing it there soon, and that many of the people who ask me if JLY is really that good will take notice and realize it for themselves. That day is definitely coming.

Other highlights of the night? Having JLY come and hang out with us at the bar while Tommy and the band performed an amazing instrumental number, watching many members of the Carlyle staff dancing to the music (I caught a reflection of one of them in the mirror by the bar - dancing in the kitchen), and seeing JLY gain new fans that were seated at the bar with us who had never seen him before and were completely blown away. These two ladies discovered what we all know, and what others will soon discover - that John Lloyd Young is an incredibly talented man with a beautiful soul who can work magic with anything he performs. He speaks - and sings - the language of soul. If you have the chance to see him perform, do it, whenever and wherever you can. He really is THAT good. :o)

nurse-x-ramblings

John Lloyd Young @CaféCarlyle, NYC

candleboxheart

It’s really all about the music. But then this happens 🖤👀 At #sterlingsupstairs #thefed #JohnLloydYoung #6/25/17 #nohomo #liveshow # killerseats (at Kritzerland at Sterling’s Upstairs at The Federal)

johnlloydyoungfriends-deactivat

I don’t know maybe I could’ve gone to Harvard my father was an Air Force colonel he didn’t have $2.5 million to donate

ahead of my application

I used to be proud

that I entered the Ivy League with no

advantage

but recently I’ve started to feel a little

sad

that there’s no way I could have ever been

respected enough

as a

human being

to marry

Ivanka Trump

and become

the

unelected President of the United States

– JLY

writerchickmarie

John Lloyd Young - A Gifted Soul Returns to 54 Below

So many of us have been awaiting @johnlloydyoungfriends return to 54 Below since the tickets went on sale in October, and have been looking forward to the shows ever since. We wondered what he would have in store for us - and can definitely say that he did not disappoint. In fact - JLY is better than ever.

I was fortunate to attend Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s shows…he was phenomenal both nights - even when dealing with an “echo” on Tuesday. This echo was not the technical variety that he mentioned that he learned to deal with while performing on Broadway, but an echo of the human kind. Can you imagine being on stage and having someone in the audience sing along with you so loudly that you can hear it on stage along with the rest of the audience? Many people would be thrown off, but not JLY. He handled it all with grace, class, and humor. And thankfully, the echo was not present on Wednesday night.

Echo aside, JLY blew all of us away with each song selection, showing how he can take absolutely any song that has already been recorded and make it completely his own. He opened with “The Spy”, which always gives the audience chills as he performs it. He then moved into another Doors song, the hauntingly beautiful “Crystal Ship”, and made it better than the original as well. In what is starting to become a trend for me, I heard “Crystal Ship” on the radio today driving home from NYC (which really surprised me since I have not heard that one on the radio in years) … and while Jim Morrison’s classic version is wonderful, JLY puts his own spin on it, bringing out the full emotion of the words and melody. I really hope he is going to record it as well.

You can’t help but feel the raw emotion in all of the songs JLY sings, including “Stardust”,”Hurt”, and “Say No More”. You experience the “fado” along with him - that feeling of the knife twisting in the chest that he conveys so well. And as he keeps proving whenever he performs, he can make you feel the emotion in any language: “Ming Ri Tian Ya” (Mandarin), “Parla Piu Piano” (Italian), and “Usted” (Spanish) move all of us every time. JLY has the ability to sing in each language fluently and make you feel these songs, whether you know or understand each of these languages or not. It takes a gifted vocalist and performer to be able to do that. When he serenades us with those songs - along with ones in English like “Ooh Baby Baby” and “Maybe I’m Amazed” - he gets right to each of our hearts. Nobody does that better than JLY.

His original material is also outstanding - “Almost There”, “Slow Dawn Calling”, and “Alone Together” are all potential hits. I love the story behind “Alone Together” …how JLY told Tommy Faragher that he wanted to create the feeling of someone like Edgar Allen Poe, sitting in a turret somewhere alone and thinking. Those stories behind the songs just add to the meaning for all of us, and to the power of the song. I look forward to hearing these on a recording-and hopefully on the radio where they belong.

Speaking of Tommy…we got to hear him perform solo and show off his amazing voice as well. He performed “A Song For You”, dedicating it to JLY and also honoring the original writer and performer, Leon Russell, who passed away a few months ago. It was a treat to hear Tommy sing this one, and I hope they keep doing this in future sets.

JLY did also sing “Sherry” for us, having us all get up out of our seats and sing with him, dancing along as he performed the moves on stage. I hope it was as much fun for him as it was for us. :o) For a song he’s sung over 3000 times, he still makes it sound brand new.

He closed out the evening with something special - performing “The Impossible Dream” like it’s never been done before. It took my breath away and made me cry, as I know it did for many others in the room as well. With the talent and voice that JLY has, that star is definitely within reach. His vocals are second to none, and he shares his soul with all of us every time he performs. Going to see JLY in concert is good for the soul, in more ways than one. We are so thankful each and every time - and grateful that he shares his gifts with us.