For years now, I’ve tried to get the wonderful singer Janet Rutland to devote one of her cabaret shows to the music from one of my all-time-favorite TV shows, PETER GUNN. You may recall that the setting of this trailblazing private-eye program was a jazz club called Mother’s, where Pete’s girlfriend, Edie Hart — played by the lovely Lola Albright — sang with the band. Often, an episode of the show would include a song, and Ms. Albright went on to record an album called DREAMSVILLE with Henry Mancini’s Orchestra. When PETER GUNN hit the airwaves in ’58, it became the first show to bring cool jazz to America’s living rooms. Some of us, myself included, have never gotten over that.
Along with Lola Albright, Mancini was the guy who did it. And now, in a new two-act cabaret show celebrating the 100th anniversary of Mancini’s birth, Janet will be doing some of those tunes, as well as a nice slate of his immortal favorites. She’ll be accompanied by the top-flight jazz pianist Scott McQuade and, for the PETER GUNN section, bassist Jake Erwin, famed for his work with Hot Club of Cowtown. I’m honored that she asked me to emcee the program.
You can find out more about it, including ticket info, by clicking on this video poster. Thanks, and hope to see you there.