Blossom Dearie Ladies who lunch

[@danruthofficial]

Today marks 11 years since Blossom's memorial service at St. Peter's in Manhattan. Blossom Dearie, what a joy. A quick anecdote, every night before Blossom would go on, she would sit at my bar and wait for the people to be seated (which at Danny's always seemed to be a task). She would sit down and in that lovely baby doll voice say, "can I have some orange juice and some peanuts?" What singer, I ask, would want to eat peanuts before going on to perform? All of those tiny peanuts bits getting caught in your throat, and whatnot? Blossom, that's who. Blossom Dearie was pure aural magic. She was Manhattan and New York City to me and she ramains an absolute, unadulterated joy.

[@PhotographerNYC]

Dan Ruth that’s lovely! Thank you so much.

[@swimmerindc]

What a great spirit!

[@foli8730]

Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I'm a huge Blossom Dearie fan 💕💕💕

[@susanaventura4764]

🥰

[@thomascastillo9343]

Man that’s a great story! Thank you!

[@MrEffdot]

I was wandering around Manhattan in the fall of 2005, and got lucky and walked into Danny's Skylight Room and got to see Blossom Dearie. I was so sad, and half broke, but her show was like getting a jolt right to my heart and soul. She was so magical, it helped me believe in the magic of New York. It's 16 years later and I'm still grateful for her show that night. Thanks for posting this video, it conjures good memories and feelings. She was a piano genius who was also a glorious chanteuse.

[@PhotographerNYC]

Thank you so much for you comment Fred. There is this thing called serendipity, which worked well for you that night 16 years ago. Blossom would love to have heard from you. Besides her musicianship, she inhabited that realm of art & emotions which can connect us all.

[@likeitornotmike]

I love and miss this genius. Her entire career was consistently beautiful, funny, sarcastic and legendary.

[@PhotographerNYC]

Thanks Michael, Blossom was decades ahead of her time.

[@likeitornotmike]

@@PhotographerNYC Yes indeed, Marcelo. Decades ahead!

[@Shamonwhitehurst252]

Michael lane in the house!!

[@zzzut]

Singing such a difficult song while accompanying oneself is quite something. 😮

[@1122redbird]

She's like a time capsule. What a gem. Jazz fans have a better world because of her.

[@friendlier]

I sat on a number of occasions where the shadowy head on the left is sitting. Blossom Dearie's shows at Danny's were legendary. My god, how sublime her piano playing was. Deceptively simple.

[@dudekabob69]

Empathy is everything. Blossom is the only one able to find the pathos within the bitterness then spread it out before us brilliantly like a string of perfectly matching pearls!

[@Krieky]

Oh what I wouldn’t have done to attend an intimate music setting like this! She was simply fabulous.

[@GeneBurnett]

For those of us who like effortlessly beautiful singing and playing...this is the sort of thing we like.

[@swicheroo1]

I love that combination of insouciance and sincerity...

[@fabianaamorim]

Having these beautiful videos makes me happy... I love Blossom's voice! She lives eternally in these videos...

[@collinsy]

Wow -- the perfect marriage of interpreter and material. Blossom singing Sondheim provides hope for a world utterly bereft of hope. Yesterday, I got a canned hate email from some intellectually lazy, spiritually impoverished buffoon who "works" in the Multnomah County District Attorney's office. Listening to Blossom reminds me that such a thing as humanity once existed.

[@davidanthonystone5165]

I first saw Ms Blossom in Paris in the early 70's in a Petite Boite" small club near the Palais Royal --She was just wonderful

[@christophersynnott4579]

I miss you so much, dear Blossom!!!

[@saaasa7354]

when she gets old, her voice gets even more attractive!

[@brandulfrhauberk4624]

This lady made me fall in love with Jazz and her voice.

[@tonydialsr7190]

I love this lady and her style . She was he best . I sit at home in the evening or on a Saturday afternoon on the patio playing her music.

[@walkabou5]

Sublime. What a talent she was and what a legacy she left for us to enjoy, always.

[@joanapradomedeiros6806]

The best! Magistral, ouço sem ousar suspirar, um show..

[@PhotographerNYC]

Calma, respire fundo e continue ouvindo.

[@NFSDC2024]

One of the only famous talented soprano jazz singers of all time. Pure inspiration.

[@peterj403]

Truly Magical. As ever. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing this. Sadly missed. No one like Blossom.

[@benjclarke3010]

She is just adorable.

[@phyllispetras3369]

HOW wonderful!!!!! DEAR Blossom we love you in heaven

[@stephaniedegange2737]

Simply a genius performance with wise, thought provoking lyrics...the words are all too unfortunately true

[@waltergiles86]

Just Wonderful ❤❤😂😂😂

[@kellyf.3892]

Wonderful. Simply wonderful.

[@davidanthonystone5165]

I loved her in all the small cabaret of NY. Miss her at loved that period of time.

[@Batiste369]

Wonderful! She sounds just like she did way back when

[@NightmareCrone]

There's this lush, loungy quality in Blossom Dearie's song renditions and performance. I don't know why I have just discovered this wonder with the adorable name. Thank you for uploading this!

[@deborahkent3852]

I totally love this woman 💖

[@alexfoo1839]

Very interesting rendition! Taking out all of the stridency you get in Lupone and Walsh's versions and in a higher key. Quite lovely!

[@ptopart]

a wonderful recording, been there several times, really recreates the lovely atmosphere in her later years where she was at her best !

[@asukam3970]

Good feeling!

[@joelhenderson4450]

Oh to be Blossom Dearie’s grandchild.

[@lynnmckenna9934]

Oh my... sublime... this is my favorite version of this song!

[@PhotographerNYC]

Lynn McKenna, Blossom has my favorite version of many songs. She was extremely dedicated to her art, things didn’t happen just by chance. Like Mark Murphy, Blossom deconstructs and recomposes songs to fit her taste and style like a glove. I was fortunate enough to be a friend to both, which I miss equally.

[@yomega69]

UGH the turnaround starting at 3:06 so beautiful and well-executed!

[@cogitotal5121]

I joyously saw her once in Wellington (New Zealand), with the fabulous Malcom McNeill. Many years ago - as part of a jazz festival.

[@junetynf]

RIP Blossom,Thanx for "Figure 8","Wheelers&Dealers" and 54yrs of great music :-)

[@phyllispetras3821]

OH MY....LOVE HER!!!!!! Missed hearing her all these years...thank you for posting!!!! this made me cry..........

[@robertobordino7141]

Great song... Great performer

[@xmykeyx]

A genius at work

[@joseantoniopereztrejo1037]

Toda una musa, de las grandes divas supremas del jazz, Dios la tenga en su más grande gloria, y que el cielo suene al ritmo de Fitzgerald, Dearie, Vaughan, O'day, Holiday, Wilson, Lee, Washington.💖

[@PhotographerNYC]

Gracias Jose! Si puedes adiciona Mark Murphy. Los dos fueran amigos por más de 40 años. Mark fue nominado al Grammy como 6 veces.

[@joseantoniopereztrejo1037]

@@PhotographerNYC Perfecto.🎶😀

[@marinaldoantonio6076]

Very good❤

[@davidanthonystone5165]

When Ms Dearie passed on N Y City just isn’t New York N Y.

[@luball416]

what treasure!!!

[@jsphotos]

Wow! What a great song stylist! GREAT piano chops, too!

[@michaelmiller1215]

Just wonderful!

[@mgrdibbs]

An absolutely stunning performance as always

[@ericholck3914]

I never would have imagined Blossom Dearie tackling this piece - what a nice surprise. Sondheim was known to have taken a dim view of people taking creative liberties with his songs and their arrangements, but I suspect he would approved of this performance.

[@MarlaLukofsky7]

Love

[@noochinator]

Aged very well (both the singer and the song)

[@davidatobin]

LOVE!

[@everett7903]

There's only one Blossom Dearie.

[@philgwellington6036]

More!

[@PhotographerNYC]

There are a few more videos on my list, click on my name and check them out

[@loriromano6399]

Found out about Blossom after reading Dusty Springfield thought she was terrific. I see why.

[@bassavino]

Enormous regret I never saw her in all my trips to NYC.

[@benforsthoffer3978]

Post more of her at Danny’s!

[@AndreasDelleske]

Just beautiful. Everything. This comes from a gentleman who lunches :) however, no Kaftan.

[@bluesky-biochar]

I loved her version of "Peel Me A Grape" by Dave Frishburg

[@PhotographerNYC]

One of the songs she "owns".

[@octoysruskid]

Where was this recorded? I saw her and had the privilege to meet her in a small venue in West Hollywood. She was precious, remarkably approachable and amazing. 🇺🇸

[@PhotographerNYC]

It was recorded live on January 28, 1999, Scroll down the page, below the video for credits and details.

[@octoysruskid]

@@PhotographerNYC thank you! Just noticed it was in the title of the video as well

[@bethocdunwitty6641]

Watch the version with Elaine Stritch made up in makeup. It was written for her and BOY it's an experience!

[@PhotographerNYC]

Meth Billy a couple of times, but still prefer Blossom's interpretation, as a pianist and a singer, her timing is impeccable and for her wit also of course. Blossom was in a class of her own.

[@WalterEdom]

very similar style to Michael Franks - She was an amazing lady

[@cemegonuts]

I have always thought Blossom Dearie, Bob Dorough, and Michael Franks all fell in the same category. Simple voice, complex music. Just amazing... All of them.

[@poisonandantidote]

Here's to the ladies who lunch-- Everybody laugh. Lounging in their caftans And planning a brunch On their own behalf. Off to the gym, Then to a fitting, Claiming they're fat. And looking grim, 'Cause they've been sitting Choosing a hat. Does anyone still wear a hat? I'll drink to that. And here's to the girls who play smart-- Aren't they a gas? Rushing to their classes In optical art, Wishing it would pass. Another long exhausting day, Another thousand dollars, A matinee, a Pinter play, Perhaps a piece of Mahler's. I'll drink to that. And one for Mahler! And here's to the girls who play wife-- Aren't they too much? Keeping house but clutching A copy of LIFE, Just to keep in touch. The ones who follow the rules, And meet themselves at the schools, Too busy to know that they're fools. Aren't they a gem? I'll drink to them! Let's all drink to them! And here's to the girls who just watch-- Aren't they the best? When they get depressed, It's a bottle of Scotch, Plus a little jest. Another chance to disapprove, Another brilliant zinger, Another reason not to move, Another vodka stinger. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh! I'll drink to that. So here's to the girls on the go-- Everybody tries. Look into their eyes, And you'll see what they know: Everybody dies. A toast to that invincible bunch, The dinosaurs surviving the crunch. Let's hear it for the ladies who lunch-- Everybody rise!

[@robertbluman3800]

My favorite! Thank you for printing those remarkable words.

[@mikedavino2400]

How does she remember all the lyrics to all the songs

[@benjclarke3010]

@@mikedavino2400 it's a story

[@philgwellington6036]

Thank you. I like reading the lyrics separately.

[@hop7882]

Anyone know any songs where she scats??

[@haysfordays]

Bring back the triangle!!

[@Dunn_Shio_Yu]

Her interpretation is very different from the rest.