As part of its 10th Anniversary slate of events, The Center for the Arts at Monmouth University has announced that tickets are now on sale for November 13 appearance by jazz-infused singer, songwriter and guitarist Madeleine Peyroux.<\/p>\n
Going up at 8 p.m. inside the Pollak Theatre, the event represents the first exposure to a coastal New Jersey audience for an artist who\u2019s been variously branded as reclusive, mysterious, even enigmatic \u2014 a \u201cbest kept secret\u201d whose natural milieu has been more about the streets of Paris than the stages of the international concert circuit.<\/p>\n
Hailing from the boulevards, bars, and bistros of the City of Lights by way of Athens \u2014 Athens, Georgia that is; home to R.E.M., the B-52s, and Jason Isbell \u2014 the American-born daughter of \u201ceccentric educators\u201d received her primary musical training while busking around the streets of the Parisian Latin Quarter, in between higher-profile appearances at the Montreal Jazz Festival and in various editions of the Lillith Fair tour. Dropping well below pop-cultural radar for extended intervals (returning to the busker\u2019s existence even after the release of her well-received 1996 major-label debut album), the performer who \u201ceschews publicity and keeps a low profile\u201d crafted a reputation as a sort of international woman of mystery; keeping her fervent fans hungering for more between intermittent full-length releases and the odd soundtrack contribution.<\/p>\n
In the middle of her most extensive North American touring itinerary in years, Peyroux crisscrosses the continent (with pond-hops to the UK) in support of Keep Me In Your Heart For a While<\/em>, a career-spanning retrospective on Amazon Rounder Records that corrals cuts from the artist\u2019s albums on the Atlantic, Rounder, and Decca labels (including the most recent, 2013\u2019s The Blue Room<\/em>). The two-disc collection is a big tent, within which Peyroux originals mingle with her interpretations of signatures by inspirations that range from Edith Piaf (\u201cLa Vie en Rose\u201d) and Patsy Cline (\u201cWalking After Midnight\u201d), to Frank Sinatra (\u201cThe Summer Wind\u201d), The Everly Brothers (\u201cBye Bye Love\u201d), and the Warren Zevon cover that lends its title to the set.<\/p>\n Expect a spiritually similar and eclectic experience, when the singer (whose smoky vocal skills have often been likened to those of Billie Holiday) takes the Pollak stage for a rare event that promises to make itself at home, inside Monmouth County\u2019s premier venue for intimately scaled concerts. It\u2019s an entry in the milestone 20th season of performing arts offerings; an evening for music lovers that celebrates the eternal busker\u2019s wisdom, heart, and soul.<\/p>\n