STARS ARE OUT!
Divine ‘Davina’ plays outdoor jazz fest
More than blues: Davina and the Vagabonds will perform under the stars on July 20 for
this year’s exciting “Hot Summer Nights” jazz festival at Kingsborough’s Lighthouse
Bandshell. Garrett Born
COURIER L 48 IFE, JULY 5-11, 2019 24-7
Comedy kids: Gowanus resident Rachael Burke (back row, second
from left) hopes to lead her comedy troupe Kids These Days to the
comedy crown on the upcoming NBC show, “Bring the Funny.”
Danny Ventrella / NBC
Just Kidding
Bklyn comedian brings
her group to television
TBy Rose Adams hese Kids are alright!
A Gowanus comedian
will bring her
sketch comedy group to
the big stage — the small
screen! Rachael Burke and
her team Kids These Days
will compete on the NBC
show “Bring the Funny,”
debuting on July 9, performing
against stand-up comedians,
variety acts, and puppeteers
in front of a studio
audience. Over the course
of 10 episodes, the funny
folk will get whittled down
to the wittiest one by series
judges, comedian Kenan
Thomspon, model Chrissy
Teigen, and redneck Jeff
Foxworthy — all in hopes of
winning $250,000.
Burke is not concerned
about the competition. She
has won two Emmys for her
work as a writer on “The
Tonight Show,” and Kids
These Days contains a killer’s
row of comic talent, including
writers for “The Daily
Show,” and “Full Frontal
with Samantha Bee.” Each
of its 10 comedians brings
a unique talent or sensibility
to the mix, including slapstick,
absurdist humor, and
songwriting, said Burke.
“We’re a human version
of the Muppets,” she said.
“You wouldn’t put everyone
together, but it works.”
Burke, who said she made
her performing debut in the
fourth grade, has spent years
honing her craft by writing
sketches, composing funny
songs, and practicing celebrity
impressions. But working
with a regular troupe is
a first for her — one that she
has dreamt of since college.
“I wanted to create a
sketch group that pushed me
creatively, but also gave back
to others by improving people’s
quality of life through
comedy,” said Burke.
She formed Kids These
Days in January of 2018 from
a mishmash of acquaintances,
including her best friend
from college, a peer from a
sketch class, and a stranger
she met while standing
in line for a comedy show.
Together, the Kids developed
an accessible brand of millennial
humor, writing skits
that invoke iPhone apps and
poke fun at hyper-masculine
men, without excluding people
or being mean-spirited,
said Burke.
“They’re the kindest but
funniest kids I knew,” she
said. “We can understand
other perspectives better by
making it into comedy —
funniness helps people sympathize
and understand.”
Since its first performance
in February of 2018,
Kids These Days has taken
its sharp, contemporary
humor to festivals all over
the United States, and beat
out thousands of other acts
to snag a spot on “Bring
the Funny,” where the millennial
jokesters will be the
show’s only sketch group.
Tune into “Bring the
Funny” on NBC on July 9 at
10 p.m., and every following
Tuesday. Free.
YBy Tammy Scileppi ou’re guaranteed a swingin’
good time at this jazz fest!
Lindy-hop down to
Manhattan Beach this Saturday for
the start of “Hot Summer Nights,” a
free month-long concert series under
the stars. The annual series will
return to Kingsborough’s Lighthouse
Bandshell on July 6, and then every
Saturday this month, setting the
irresistible strains of cool jazz, hot
swing, and classic big band sounds
soaring along with the waterfront
breezes.
Among the outstanding hep musicians
performing each Saturday,
be sure to catch Davina and the
Vagabonds, a rollicking quintet that
is excited to play the summer series
for the second time on July 20.
“I love the Brooklyn community
and I’m excited to see familiar faces.
It was welcoming the first time,
and everyone was happy, and so
kind,” said sultry songstress Davina
Lozier.
The band will wow listeners with
its rockin’ New Orleans-style charm,
driven home by dueling horn players
and a bayou-thick standup bass.
“It’s all heart and honesty, level
A musicians, high energy, and
smiles,” said the band’s singer and
piano player.
While her fingers tickle the
ivories, Lozier belts out original,
heart-thumping tunes that have a
1930s vibes. She paints her own
musical picture, at times channeling
old school jazz divas like Etta James
and Billie Holiday, with her sassy,
throaty singing style, then changing
it up with a Betty Boop-goes-boom
voice.
Lozier and her mother, a folk
singer, would sing together to their
favorite records while she was growing
up in Pennsylvania. Those early
sessions had a powerful effect on her
sound, she said.
“I have a huge pond of influences.
First being my main hero,
my mom. She threw me to the
wolves when it comes to performing,”
said the singer, who now lives
in Minneapolis. “I’ve been a little
musical sponge since I was a child.
My influences range from Fats
Waller to Fats Domino, from Judy
Collins to Ella Fitzgerald, Louis
Armstrong to Led Zeppelin.”
She has taken those influences and
blended them into a unique gumbo.
“We also have around 100 years
of Americana music and originals
that lend to the music as well,” she
said. “I like to say it’s a ‘new spin to
an old sound.’ ”
Playing outside, as she will on
July 20, takes some getting used to,
said Lozier, but it is always worth it.
“The sound is a little different
and it can take a song or two for
me to settle in, and sometimes my
pin curls won’t stay curled, or I may
need to wear a hat,” she said. “But
it’s always fun.”
Davina and The Vagabonds
at Kingsborough’s Lighthouse
Bandshell 2001 Oriental Blvd. at
Oxford street in Manhattan Beach,
(718) 368–5596, www.onstageatkingsborough.
org. July 20 at 8 p.m.
Free.
By Tammy Scileppi Can’t get enough of those cool
jazz beats? You can enjoy
swingin’ Saturday night concerts
all month long! In addition to
Davina and the Vagabonds, here are
the other three shows playing the On
Stage at Kingsborough series.
All concerts at Kingsborough’s
Lighthouse Bandshell 2001 Oriental
Blvd. at Oxford Street in Manhattan
Beach, (718) 368–5596, www.
onstageatkingsborough.org. Shows
start at 8 pm. Free.
Swing shift
Keep the Independence Day celebration
going into Saturday night! The
George Gee Swing Orchestra will play
patriotic tunes, along with its usual hep
big band sound. Tonight’s show will
also feature special guest vocalist John
Dokes and a lindy-hopping dance duo.
On July 6.
Joint is jumpin’!
Cool cats will dig the eclectic
fusion of French Gypsy jazz, hot
swing, and global tunes produced
by Fantine and the French Horn
Collective. Fantine’s debut album,
“I Am Fantine,” was produced by
Gloria Estefan (who also co-wrote
two of the songs).
On July 13.
Wind down
In the mood for some unforgettable
Hot out here: Fantine and the French Horn
Collective will play the Hot Summer Nights
concert in Manhattan Beach on July 13.
jazz arrangements? This
jammin’ nine-piece mini-big
band has got your number! The
Dan Pugach Nonet features a husband
and-wife pair of Grammynominated
Brooklynites — drummer
Dan Pugach and vocalist Nicole
Zuraitis.
On July 27.
All that jazz
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