Robbie Rozelle

Barbara Carroll: Thank you!

RR: I’m so glad you’ve joined us. Tell me about growing up in Massachusetts.

BC: Well, I was always interested in music, and I studied classical piano. I was always interested in playing jazz, so even though I studied classical piano, I was always fooling around with jazz.

RR: What made you say this is what I want to do with my life?

BC: There’s no answer… I can’t tell you. I just knew that that was what I wanted.

RR: You are a composer, pianist and singer. Which role do you prefer?

BC: Well, I suppose playing the piano is my favorite.

RR: Is there a particular composer that you are drawn to?

BC: Oh, I love playing Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, George Gershwin… all the great composers.

RR: On “All In Fun,” the music is all by Jerome Kern. What made you chose him?

BC: All Jerome. Well, he’s written so many wonderful songs, and we wanted to do a concept album, you know, a record with one composer, and he seemed a logical place to start.

RR: You’ve seen cabaret change a lot over the years. What are the major differences from when you were starting out?

BC: Uh… well, essentially, there are many more places now, I suppose… more cabaret rooms. Essentially, I was a jazz musician, playing… you know, improvising all the time, in small groups and so forth. That still goes on, of course. A lot of people are very interested. There are a lot of jazz clubs in New York; I suppose more in New York than anywhere else in the country. But, it’s very gratifying to see how young people respond to this music, in addition to people who have listened to it all their lives.

RR: Right… It seemed for awhile that cabaret was dying out…

BC: Well, they always say that.

RR: …but it has made a major resurgence in the past ten years…

BC: Oh, I don’t think it’s ever going to die out.

RR: Are there any new cabaret artists you particularly enjoy?

BC: Eric Comstock, I like people like Ann Hampton Callaway…

RR: Let’s talk about 1953. You made a side trip to Broadway, in the cast of Rodgers & Hammerstien’s “Me & Juliet.” I was told you never wanted do Broadway, that it just kind of happened.

BC: Well, I had never really thought about it. It never seemed to be anything I wanted to do, you know. I was interested in playing with other musicians, and playing in jazz clubs and so forth. But I’m very glad I did, because it turned out to be a very gratifying experience.

RR: How did it come about?

BC: It came about because there was an agent from William Morris’ office who suggested that I audition for Rodgers & Hammerstien. I was not very anxious to do so, so I kept putting them off, and he was very persistent. He said, “No, no, you should really do it, because the show is about backstage life in the theatre, and the part they are looking to fill, they are looking for someone to play the piano, and say a few lines.” It was the part of the rehearsal piano player. So, early one morning, we went and auditioned for Rodgers & Hammerstein, and George Abbott, and voila! I got the part! I was in the show with my trio.

RR: Mr. George Abbott was the director… What was working with the great “Mr. Abbott” like?

BC: Well, he was strict, and of course very, very knowledgeable. Everyone showed him great respect; he was always “Mr. Abbott.”

RR: How come you never returned to Broadway?

BC: I’ve never had the opportunity.

RR: You are also featured in just one film, this year’s “Hollywood Ending” by Woody Allen. Tell me about working on that.

BC: That was great fun. I’m a great admirer of Woody Allen. He is, I think, so extremely talented. I’ve known Woody for years, but I’ve never worked with him before. But, since they filmed one scene of that movie in Bemelman’s Bar at the Carlyle, where I was performing, I was included in the cast. I was only involved in it for one day’s shooting, but it was great, great fun.

RR: You also play three songs on the film’s soundtrack…

BC: Yes… I played “Sweet and Lovely,” “No Moon At All,” and "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise".

RR: But, back in April, you had a major falling out with the Café Carlyle. What happened?

BC: Well, I wouldn’t call it a falling out. They decided to make a change there. They wanted to change my hours to different hours, which I didn’t want to do. So we decided to terminate my relationship there. I had been performing at the Carlyle on and off for twenty-four years, and had a wonderful relationship there. As all things come to an end, you know, this came to an end too. New management likes to make changes sometimes.

RR: Have you found a new place to call home yet?

BC: Not of that type, but I’ve been doing a lot of different things now. I’ve been performing at Birdland’s…

RR: Yes, I heard you performed there a few weeks ago.

BC: Yes, and I’m doing it again. So that’s great fun. I’ll be at the Cabaret Convention in October. I’ll be in Florida a couple months from now. So I’m doing things of that type. It’s really wonderful, because I’m getting out, doing things in different venues, instead of one place…

RR: Let’s talk about your new CD, “One Day In May”…

Let's talk about it! It’s a group of different songs… On this CD, I used a lot of great musicians… Jay Leonhart on bass, Joe Cocuzzo on drums, both of whom play with me at my dates at Birdland's. There are featured musicians: Ken Peplowski on clarinet and tenor saxophone, Randy Sandke on trumpet. So it’s a grouping of all different kinds of songs, a couple of vocals. I sing “Isn’t It A Pity,” by George and Ira Gershwin, a song by Cy Coleman and Peggy Lee called “I’m In Love Again…” I play some Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn…

RR: Do you have a favorite track on the album?

BC: No.

RR: They’re all great! You also do two of your own pieces, “The Far Brook Boys…”

BC: Oh, “The Far Brook Boys” which was kind of a fun thing I wrote and dedicated to my grandson. And the “Bemelman's Blues,” which I call the Bemelman’s Blues for obvious reason. And the cover and the back of the CD show the Bemelman’s murals, which are featured in Bemelman’s Bar…

RR: The famous Bemelman’s murals…

BC: Right.

RR: Aside from a little bit of Stephen Sondheim and your own compositions, you don’t tend to stray too far away from the Great American Songbook. Are there any new songwriters whose work you enjoy?

BC: I’ve been sticking, more or less, to the Great American songbook, as far as the songs I’ve been playing.

RR: Do you have a favorite song of your own?

BC: (laughs) No… the one that I’m going to write. I have to say, I’m thrilled to be a part of Fynsworth Alley.

RR: It’s a great label!

BC: It is a great label, and I think that the people that are represented… such a nice select group. I’m delighted to be a part of it.

RR: The cream, baby. The cream.

BC: (Laughs) I’m glad you think that!

RR: What do we have to look forward to from you in the future?

BC: Well, I hope to be recording again. Possibly a Harold Arlen… I’ll be at Birdland a lot... and I have a website, www.barbaracarroll.com, and it lists dates.

RR: Ms. Carroll, thank you so much for taking time to speak to me.

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