Kathy Kosins

Kathy Kosins

Performs selections from Rhapsody In Boop:

Click song title to listen to a MP3 in a popup window.

HOW AM I DOING, HEY HEY

PENTHOUSE SERENADE

OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN

YOU HIT THE SPOT

WHEN I'M WITH YOU

“…her performance maintains a balance of swing and sensuality… great vintage songs…
I wasn’t expecting to fall in love…”

– Will Friedwald,
New York Sun

“...a voice that can conjure both the girl next door and her older wiser sister…”
– Neil Tesser,
Chicago Reader

“Kosins has that rare quality…Phrasing that’s impeccable, indicative of a jazz great.”
– Dick Crokett,
The Voice – 88.7 FM

 

Booking materials
for this show:
Flyer
Info Sheet

Betty Boop

Betty Boop

 

 


Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong

Duke EllingtonDuke Ellington

Cab CallowayCab Calloway

Kathy Kosins presents Rhapsody In Boop

An evening of song celebrating the music of the legendary  Broadway and Hollywood Star - Betty Boop.

New York based Betty Boop's movies feature songs written by America’s most famous composers performed by many of America’s greatest musicians.
On screen performances by musical legends
Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Don Redman,
as well as performances by many of Betty’s Broadway and Hollywood friends are featured in the films.

Celebrated vocalist and ASCAP award-winning composer Kathy Kosins presents a vocal and instrumental evening of newly commissioned arrangements of classic American songs from the motion pictures of Betty Boop.

The arrangements written by Paul Keller bring a fresh, contemporary sensibility to the songs, while retaining the rich heritage of the compositions.

Rhapsody In Boop is a live concert featuring some of the best musical moments from the films of Betty Boop.

This unique event appeals to audiences of all ages.

The history of Betty Boop:

An urban, Americana-informed sensibility marked many of the Betty Boop films, as they were often set in gritty cityscapes populated by poor immigrants. The films were groundbreaking through their inclusion of black performers.

Many of America’s most famous songwriters (Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hart, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, etc.) wrote songs which appeared in the Betty Boop films. A partial list of those songs can be found here.

In addition to being the toast of Broadway, Betty Boop stared in over 100 motion pictures for Paramount Pictures. Betty used her films as an opportunity to perform with many of her friends from the world of American music.

Betty provided work and recognition for many of the leading instrumental artists of the 1930s, including Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, The Mills Brothers, Don Redman and his Orchestra and Luis Russell and his Orchestra.

Many well-known musicians played in the recording sessions for Betty's movies including Benny Goodman, and Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey.

In essence, Betty Boop introduced this brand of music to the movies and to a wider American audience in the early 1930s.

Today, the Betty Boop movies would be regarded as akin to music videos, as their purpose was to promote the music of the artists.

These movies were the first opportunity many viewers had of seeing Louis Armstrong and Cab Calloway. For some in the audience, it was the first time they heard this type of music.

Betty Boop’s movies - urban, ethnic, surrealistic and offbeat were created in New York City at the Fleischer Film Studios located at 1600 Broadway overlooking Times Square.