Description
Suzanne Vega recorded this set in March 2019, when New York was its usual known quantity, and planned to release it in May this year, when the city was a very different place. The recording took place at a concert at the Café Carlyle jazz club on the Upper East Side — “East 76th Street”, as she would insist; throughout the album she is painstakingly precise about locations, pointing out with true Manhattaniter fervour, that contrary to myth, “Tom’s Diner” is not set in Brooklyn.
In her band are her ever-reliable guitarist Gerry Leonard, Jeff Allen on bass and Jamie Edwards on keyboards. The album was recorded live at the Café Carlyle in New York City. “It is always a pleasure to play at the Café Carlyle in New York City,” Vega said in a press release. “It is a small exclusive club that has hosted legends from Eartha Kitt to Judy Collins, and is also known to be the place where Jackie Kennedy met Audrey Hepburn. I love it for its bohemian old-world glamour! I decided it would be fun to perform a New York-themed show there with songs inspired by New York City or for which New York provided the backdrop, including ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ by my late, great friend, Lou Reed—a song I rarely heard him sing himself.”
