The Big Apple has always held a special place for Suzanne Vega. Despite being born in Santa Monica, CA, Vega landed in Spanish Harlem when she was two-and-a-half with her mom after the latter married Puerto Rican novelist Ed Vega. Fast forward to December 2023 and she’s prepping to play City Winery where she’ll use a string of shows to recreate the experience of her 2020 live album, An Evening of New York Songs And Stories. Recorded at Manhattan’s storied Café Carlyle, these 24 songs find the singer-songwriter and her combo performing before an intimate audience and regaling them with a mix of favorite tunes and banter. It’s an experience Vega cherished, but admits was a bit challenging to pull off.
(Photo by George Holz)
“I’m not really a jazz singer and I haven’t been trained in theatrical singing,” she explained. “I had to alter my approach. We decided to do a lot of songs that bordered on lounge music. There were a couple of albums like 99.9 that had a slightly jazzy phase. So I decided to do those songs. And we changed our usual line-up. I don’t think we had a drummer—we just had an upright bass, keyboards and Gerry Leonard on guitar. That was interesting to have to change my vocal approach. In spite of the fact that the Carlyle is this tiny venue that holds about 70 people, I had to really project a big personality because that’s what they’re used to. They’re used to icons. The Carlyle is a place where someone like Earth Kitt played.”
Despite having grown up roughly 30 blocks of the Café Carlyle, Vega always had an awareness of it being a special New York City venue. Having first attended a show at the invite of Judy Collins about 15 years ago, the folk-rock veteran knew her usual approach had to change beyond remembering to project more from the stage.
“I made sure for example that I had a look before time,” Vega recalled. “I decided what I wanted that look to be and kept it consistent throughout the whole run. It was like a theater piece. It was like, ‘Here’s my costume, here’s my hair, here’s my make-up and here’s my speech patter.’ I had all stories ready. I might vary it a little bit from night to night, but for the most part, it was, ‘Here’s the story that goes with this.’ Also, I had to work the room a little bit. I could see everybody. I would ask questions, listen to their answers and play with the audience. It’s not a room that you can be comfortable in. You have to play as hard as are if you’re playing to a room of 1,000.”
Having brought this set-up to City Winery the past couple of holiday seasons, Vega is excited to recreate that Café Carlisle magic further downtown while adding a few twists to the set.
“Holiday shows are always special,” she said. “This is our third year running. The first year everything sold out and the second year everything sold out, so it would be great if that happened again. I have a different line-up. I’m having Mike Visceglia on bass this year, Jason Hart is on keyboards—he’s worked with me on a lot of my theatrical stuff. My daughter is singing background and also getting her own song this year because everybody enjoys her and people are always asking why I don’t let her sing and I tell them I’m not stopping her from singing. She’s going to sing her own song this year. We’re doing a Christmas song that I’ve never heard before by Slade called ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’ and it’s got this slightly punk rock attitude. And I’m doing two new songs in the set. Again, another punk rock-influenced song called ‘Rats,’ which is about a post-COVID song about New York City and it’s got a lot of attitude. And then there’s another new song I’m doing called, ‘Flying with Angels,’ which is also COVID-related. These are very special shows.”
Given her roots coming up through the 1980s singer-songwriter scene where the late lamented Folk City was ground zero for her and a number of other talents including Shawn Colvin, Lucy Kaplansky and Lucinda Williams, Vega’s early album influences truly fall into line.
The Beatles – Abbey Road (1969)
“The Beatles Abbey Road was the first album I bought with my own money. I was a huge Beatles fan—absolutely went crazy for them. For years and years, they were the only music I listened to from the age of five until 11. I loved them, loved them. Their structures and melodies still stay with me.”
Bob Dylan – Greatest Hits (1967)
“That’s an album I fell in love with. I loved his songwriting and I loved everything about his voice and images.”
Leonard Cohen – Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967)
“It was so distinctive—the way he wrote, his voice, the sound of his nylon string guitar—there are women singing in the back. All of this created this intense and private atmosphere that made me feel like he was my dear friend. He seemed to know things about my 14-year-old life that I hadn’t told anyone. This became like a relationship (laughs).”
Suzanne Vega will be appearing from December 22 through December 27 at City Winery, 25 Eleventh Ave. (at 15th St.)., NYC. For more information, call 646-751-6033 or visit www.citywinery.com.
