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Unacknowledged New York Talent
I was born and raised in New York City. Specifically in The Bronx, also lived in Brooklyn and did everything else in Manhattan. I sang professionally as a child from the age of 7 onward in The Bronx, Manhattan Brooklyn and Queens (sorry Staten Island I was just a kid and didn't control where we went singin'). Because I chose a path of academics and work my spiritual journey, I didn't sing professionally again until sometime after I returned back from living in San Francisco, about 2005).
When I did return, I was graciously welcomed by a special group of talented musicians including, singer and event producer Sandy Jordan, musicians Grammy nominee Larry Luger, Bob Arkin, and Angelo Ferrara very early on. As the years have gone on I've gotten to know many others dear to me like Ted Muzio, Rick Bogart, and Steven Lowenthal. I have met amazing musicians and singers alike who I will be featuring on the ongoing basis, (see below). As an Intuitive Empath with a Psychology and Research background, I can speak from my observations, interviews, and an actual experiential point of view. Throughout these years I have made some observations that are simply, well bothering the heck outta me.
There is a vibrant but hidden New York City music and artistic population...Why aren't they more recognized by the powers that be? And by "powers that be" I mean venue owners, critics, reviewers, media, music managers, promoters, agents and peers that influence what is seen and heard in the New York industry.
Ponder this:
a) Where can we find places where vocalists, musicians, dancers, producers, directors, writers, actors, fine artists (painters, etc.) and other creative artists express their passion,
b) Get compensated appropriately and generously,
c) Get a fair chance of getting in without the current politics of who knows who?
And how can we:
- Avoid greedy venue owner/managers ridiculously overpriced covers, dinners and drink minimums,
- Avoid being forced to see the same mediocre talent in the "top" venues,
- Let these "powers that be", that we are taking back the power and the status quo, same ol' same ol' is just not good enough anymore?
Keep reading...
What is True talent and What is Mediocre?
Therein lies the big question. There is 1) Natural talent, those born with an innate ability to create a particular art and/or, 2) Those who are trained in their field of passion but with true potential to excel and therefore often do, 3) Then there is the mediocre circle, those who are determined and dogged about performing an art but fall substantially short in innate ability. They excel anyway due to misuse of their personal and financial resources, unethical practices, e.g., sleeping their way up, paying off the powers that be, etc.
True Talent:
For brevity's sake, I will include natural and trained talent here and mediocre separately. Some say talent is subjective. That it depends on the observer. However there are standards set for the arts to determine talent. For those standards and guidelines, you'll have to do your googling...but for the purposes of this piece I will give a brief example of a talented vocalist. Whether a born singer or trained one, a vocalist has to be able to love what they do, connect with their audience authentically, utilize their unique qualities (timbre, vibrato, volume), know basic technique (while working on making it better and better), sing on key, improvise if necessary, work well with accompaniment, have good phrasing and respect fellow musicians with a combination of confidence and humility. Ambition is great but not at the cost of running over others in the same field because, yes we are connected and there are consequences to that.
Mediocre:
On the other hand, a mediocre performer and singer is one that uses questionable tools (paying the gatekeepers off, mis-using their sexuality, phony personality, etc.) to find an audience other than using innate or trained ability. They may somewhat sound like they sing but even a child can tell that this is not a good singer. They may sings off key, or strange-unpleasant vibrato/timbre that doesn't work well with the music being expressed or, overly loud/low or what I personally call the roller coaster effect where there are so many ups and downs in the note you can't tell what it's suppose to be (and gives me motion sickness) and that doesn't work well with the music being expressed.
As mentioned above, many "successful" but mediocre musicians in the New York scene utilize some of the questionable tools and do get the better venues, critics/writers to give them great reviews, and opportunities for gigs and exposure. There is nothing wrong with that if only it weren't for the fact that it is unbalanced. If it were interspersed with the truly talented and it wasn't so darn obvious maybe it would be more palatable. People do notice. Audiences don't want to come out to the same old mediocre performers and those who come in droves are desperate for live entertainment and get the tainted promotion from agents and critics. What a conundrum indeed.
So Where are the Truly Talented?
So I ask again, why aren't there more truly talented singers out there in the known venues? Why do we see the same so-so performers spoken, promoted and written about over and over again by a handful of "elite" but somewhat powerful promoters and critics, discouraging audiences to come out to live events of many authentically talented performers? That's where the unseen, unacknowledged talent comes in. The talented are intermixed with the mediocre and emerging, yet to be discovered, talented. They are often in the small, unknown venues. This brings me to another point. Many venue owners want to keep their venues afloat financially and care very little about booking actual talent. They simply want people who will draw audiences, fill their rooms and buy their food and drinks. That's just the way it seems to be. If more venues opened with more emphasis on talent, and creative shows, I'm sure they would cross from the red to the black quickly and with quality. That is another reason why so many venues come and go and are marginally filled with customers.
What about the rest of the artists, writers, directors, producers, actors, other performers, and painters? I would say with some confidence that the information is transferable to other artistic industries. Why? Because as a trained observer I have spoken to, read, and seen the same characteristics in other music industries, writing, and entertainment in general. Unless something happens where the right connection, introduction, discovery is made, many talented souls in any of these above mentioned fields, through no fault of their own, will remain undiscovered and un-shared with the world. But not if I can help it...
What am I Doing About it?
I can't change the world...but I can do my bit to live my life purpose...Spread light, love and truth anyway I can. I took a page from my predecessors in the business and every chance I get I create a space and event to gather all this amazing talent in pure celebration. For Instance The Sunday Summer Soirée with Diana and Friends https://www.facebook.com/events/195156540643755/
I also use my presence, blog, radio broadcasts, social media and personal resources to support those who genuinely care about their craft, themselves and others.
I share the space and make introductions via my intuitive social connection abilities to appropriate associations.
Additionally, I would recommend to these artists:
- To keep working on your craft.
- Stretch yourself out of your comfort zone,
- Don't allow anyone or anything discourage you,
- Gage your talent accurately by having several objective ways of being judged on your particular artistic expression,
- Activate your freewill ability of empowerment. Meaning, stay true to you and remain strong at your core
- Restrain from over-sharing your work projects until the deals are sealed to prevent competition from unfairly taking your opportunities,
- Use social media, it's not that difficult to use and you don't have to use them all at first. Thanks to this, anyone can record themselves, and at least share your wares with the world.
- Cultivate your audience, following and SHARE, there is truly enough for us all.
I am grateful to have met some of New York's MOST talented performers...this is just a few of the dozens my absolute favorites who are not only talented but support their peers in multiple ways. For the purposes of this article will mention in no specific order David Giardina, ESTEREdiva, David Vernon, and Maria Giorgio. We are also speaking Sandy Jordan who knows the business for many years and will share her point of view.
Believe me I don't mean to leave out any of my dear ones, so forgive if you are not mentioned in his piece. I fully plan to do follow-ups and features so just email me...to be featured.
While some not quite so talented people will always slip and slide UP to society pages for various reasons but I will do my part in making sure those who are there truly talented, working, sharing and loving what they do, get the credit they deserve. The powers that be come back to us all.
With Light. Love and OM
This is Diana
Diana Navarro, M.S.
Psychic--Empath with a Psychology background, Radio and Video Broadcast Host, Speaker, Entertainer, Consultant and features topics on Lifestyle/Manners, Humor, Entertainment, Health, The Paranormal and Causes.
The "This Is Diana" Radio Show On Blog Talk Radio Listener dial-in number: (347) 857-3160
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