Jaunty vintage troupe Janet Klein and her Parlor Boys perform at Boulevard Music 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, and more.
When did you start playing and performing, and when did the Parlor Boys form?
I began collecting vintage recordings and sheet music in the 1980s and started to sing and accompany myself solo on the ukulele and to share tunes in public in the mid 1990s. From there I felt like Dorothy on the yellow brick road, suddenly meeting musicians and interesting characters who have helped me grow my very niche passion into a beautiful musical configuration . We started to play and record as a band around 1998.
Describe your sound/style?
We perform music that is sometimes called Jazz Age /Depression Era early Jazz. I love unearthing obscure tunes, it puts me over the moon to dig up incredible material that seems to have fallen off the map. Music written during the Depression was literally made to pick folks up during hard times, and it still truly works. Rythmic, infectious, sweet , hot and surprising, all at the same time.
Having the advantages of 21st century perspective, we time travel via music of the early 20th century which nudges our sound into diverse textural zones. Some of our chosen material leads us to play a raggy, vertical, bouncy banjo forward sound and others especially songs from the mid to late 30s lean towards early swing.
We are playing a style of music where you really want to lean in and listen to every word… sublimely clever lyrics abound. I relish getting to share every word. It all continues to be a passion project and the joy comes through.
Do you have any new recorded music available?
We have released two new CDs. We made these new recordings available digitally on Bandcamp in April this year, but we’ve just completed the manufacturing of physical CDs and this Boulevard Music show will be one of our first public opportunities to have the CDs available to attendees! There’s the four-song EP Humming to Myself, and the 12 song CD Mutiny in the Parlor. Here are the bandmates I’ll be bringing: John Reynolds, guitar; Corey Gemme, cornet, clarinet, trombone; Marquis Howell, bass; Benny Brydern, violin.
What can the audience expect from the set this time?
We are glad to be back at Boulevard Music, our favorite West LA venue! Always a blast. We will surely be highlighting some of the tunes from our latest CD, including the title song “Mutiny in the Parlor,” a couple of Irving Berlin rarities: “Monkey Doodle Doo,” which was written in 1925 for the Marx Brothers show Cocoanuts, and “When the Folks High Up do the Mean Lowdown,” written for early sound film Reaching for the Moon. As usual, we are ready to dish out the music of the Depression era, which is custom made to lift spirits, no matter what.
What else do you have coming up?
We will be playing as part of a show with Dick van Dyke! This will be a fundraiser for the creation of the Dick van Dyke Museum. I have an upcoming show at Old Town Music Hall, El Segundo July 13, with a debut format Vintage Tunes and Toons, eith animation historian Jerry Beck, and I’ll be accompanied by pianist and theater organist Randy Woltz screening Depression era cartoons and featuring music used in them. Upcoming show at Catalina Jazz Club on August 24. We’ll be doing a series of shows up in the Bay Area in mid August
and we are set to appear at the Autry Museum in September.
Janet Klein & Her Parlor Boys perform at 8 p.m. on Saturday, July 19 at Boulevard Music. Go to boulevardmusic.com for more information about the show.
Elsewhere this week
The Culver Hotel will be hosting the likes of Sylvia & the Rhythm Boys, and Scotty Bramer. Go to culverhotel.com for more info.
There’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. Other artists performing this week include Jim Doyle, Hollywood Rivieras, Talkin’ Treason, Sons of the Engineers, Dan Janisch, Prince Peter Elbing, and Cats on the Bandstand. Go to thecinemabar.com for more info.