Jaunty vintage troupe Janet Klein and her Parlor Boys perform at Boulevard Music again this Saturday. Their celebration of the early jazz age, equipped with “naughty ditties,” is a joy so don’t miss out. Klein chatted with the News about what we can expect this time…
What have you been up to since your last show at Boulevard Music?
We have played quite a few westside gigs over the past few months. May 31st, we played at the historic and atmospheric Del Monte Speakeasy at the Townhouse in Venice at a gala in honor of the Venice Heritage Museum, and at the Marion Davies Beach House in Santa Monica on the anniversary of her birthday earlier this year.. and just last week at the Palisades Park in Santa Monica on the bluffs..
I am still on the hunt for rare material from early sound films and animations and communing with collector friends, and getting around to favorite venues like the Bob Baker Marionette Theater and the Orpheum downtown.
Do you have any new recorded music available?
We do have a newly completed CD release- entitled Tu Whit Tu Woo!, available via digital download or physical CD at: janetklein.bandcamp.com and available at our show at Boulevard Music July 11th.
The compilation is a kaleidoscopic time capsule of previously unreleased recordings- never-heard before. We describe it as “archive treasures from 1999-2012,” so it’s a double dig of rare music from the early 20th century and then again a revisiting of our own recording / band history from the turn of the 21st century- how’s that for time travel!?
What are your memories of your last Boulevard Music show?
I recall that we announced our last two CD releases from 2025 at the show in July last year. It was our CD release blow out part of 2025 where we introduced “Mutiny in the Parlor” and “Humming To Myself”.. and this year will mark our new CD debut for 2026. We always have a blast at Boulevard, Gary & Kathy Mandell and all the staff are the best..our westside family.What can the audience expect from the set this time?We will be performing a few tunes that are included on the new CD for instance: a retro song when it was originally written in 1926. “Like He Loves Me” is the first song on the new record, written by Vincent Youmans and lyrics by Anne Caldwell, it was introduced by Beatrice Lillie in a Broadway show called “Oh, Please!”
Also I will preview a couple of recent finds: the song “Merrily We Roll Along” which instrumentally everyone will recognize as the Warner Brothers Merry Melodies animation theme – but what is extra fun to share are the original song lyrics written by Eddie Cantor and which only exist on a rare radio recording.. they were never commercially published or put onto a record.
I think I am going to reprise a Hebrew vaudeville number entitled “Cohen Owes Me $97.”this is not something you’ll hear anywhere else, so I hope curiosity seekers will come to our show on July 11th! I haven’t done it in a while, it was written by Irving Berlin early in his career- one he might have wanted to forget, but Groucho Marx loved it and I do too.
What else do you have coming up?
The following day on Sunday, July 12, I’ll be performing at Old Town Music Hall in El Segundo, doing a special show with my friend, animation historian Jerry Beck and prized pal and parlor boy Randy Woltz on the grand piano and mighty wurlitzer organ.. we’ll be showing rare early sound on film animations from the 1920s and ‘30s and Randy and I will be performing songs plucked from those cartoons.. The following Saturday July 18th, I’ll be on the westside again at Beyond Baroque in Venice joining Suzy Williams and Brad Kay for their extraordinary “Lit Show” where they feature songs written by historic literary figures, in many cases creating original song compositions based on poems, and great lyrical literary tidbits. Saturday, July 25th I’ll be sitting in with the Art Deco Jazz Orchestra at the Cicada Club downtown Los Angeles Cicada Club is in the historic french art deco Oviatt Building a couple doors away from the equally vintage and opulent Biltmore Hotel- Dining, dancing and the best excuse in town to dress up to the maximum and experience 1920s ambiance.
Janet Klein & Her Parlor Boys perform at 8 p.m. on Saturday, July 11 at Boulevard Music. Go to boulevardmusic.com for more information about the show.
Elsewhere this weekThere’s a full program of music at the Cinema Bar this week, as usual. The Hot Club of Los Angeles plays every Monday, and Wednesdays are singer/songwriter and open mic night.