Lea DeLaria and her Band
Lea DeLaria (voc) Janette Mason (p) Simon Little (b) Paul Robinson (d)
Lea has thrilled audiences in a wide range of settings – in stand-up comedy, as an actress onA national celebrity and gay icon in the United States, Lea DeLaria has thrilled audiences in a wide range of settings, from her acerbic and award-winning stand-up comedy shows, as an actress on prime-time US television and Hollywood, as Broadway star, writer, and critically-acclaimed jazz vocalist.
Perhaps best known for her turns on hit American sitcoms ‘Will & Grace’ and ‘Friends,’ along with major motion pictures such as, ‘The First Wives Club,’ and indy hit ‘Edge Of Seventeen,’ Lea has picked up accolades in every form of entertainment she touches, and is currently appearing in US daytime soap opera smash ‘One Life To Live,’ which airs at 1pm every weekday on ABC.
The first openly gay comic to appear on US national televison (Arsenio Hall, 1993), the 90’s saw Lea release two live comedy albums which led to her developing TV specials for HBO, Showtime, Comedy Central, CBC and Channel 4 - work for which she received the 1994 regional Emmy Award (‘The World According To Us’ - Lifetime). In 1997 she took on Broadway playing the part of ‘Hildy’ in the Public Theater’s revival of ‘On The Town,’ for which she won Obie, Drama Desk, Theater World, and Fanny Awards, not to mention being the recipient of the most notorious Tony Awards snub of recent history – an event which pushed her firmly into the limelight of the New York theatre scene.
As a result of her musical comedy and Broadway success, Lea’s career as a singer blossomed. At the tail end of the millennium, she was featured at the celebrated Carnegie Hall concerts, ‘Judy Garland Tribute,’ ‘My Favourite Broadway – The Leading Ladies,’ ‘Billie Holliday Tribute,’ ‘Jazz Salute to Sondheim,’ as well as the ‘Billie Holliday Tribute’ at the Hollywood Bowl. It was at one of these events that she was spotted and signed by Warner Jazz. Her first album, ‘Play It Cool,’ was named by the London Times, in 2001, as ‘Album Of The Year,’ with the single of ‘The Ballad Of Sweeney Todd’ holding the number 1 spot on US jazz radio for eight weeks. Her second jazz album,’ Double Standards,’ rocketed up the Billboard Jazz Chart to number 6. The singles ‘Call Me’ and ‘Philadelphia’ from the album are regular spins on jazz radio throughout the US, Canada and Europe.
“Lea DeLaria TV, Broadway and film. As a critically-acclaimed jazz vocalist, she has appeared at major jazz festivals including the London Jazz Festival, New York City JVC festival, and Montreux, and was the featured vocalist at the 50th anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival Tour. Her trio features Janette Mason on piano.
Abbreviations: as alto sax; b acoustic bass ; bjo banjo; bsax bass sax; cl clarinet, ct cornet; d drums; eb electric bass; eg electric guitar; fl flute; flg flugel horn; g guitar; org organ; p piano : sousa sousaphone; t = trumpet; tr trombone; ts tenor sax; viol violin; voc voice.