Get two new takes on old classics!
A Bushwick crooner known for giving a new spin to songbook standards will launch the new Jazz at the Lighthouse series at Kingsborough, which will transform the college’s seaside navigation beacon into a nightclub lounge. The director of the series says that the “Slightly Standard” show from singer Devin Bing on Nov. 13 will be the perfect opener for the three-part series.
“In addition to being supremely talented as a vocalist and a pianist, he just has a very interesting style in the way that he reinvents the classic jazz tunes,” said Anna Becker. “It’s really uplifting music, and that’s the kind of feeling we want to have in that room where people just feel really revitalized after their week.”
Bing, who performs R&B-style renditions of old favorites like “Fly Me to the Moon” and “Feeling Good,” hopes his modern interpretations of old classics will bring jazz to a new audience.
“I’m trying to be the vehicle for the next generation, the Millennials, to appreciate this music,” says Bing. “When I play for them, they don’t even realize these are songs from the 1940s or 1950s. But I like that, because I feel in some way that I’m keeping America’s classical music, which is jazz, that I’m bringing it to the new generation.”
In addition to the classics, Bing will also perform some of his own original material.
“Standard stylizing has always been a foundation of who I am,” Bing said, “This show is developed around that, but I throw in my originals as well, because as a songwriter you hope people will connect to that.”
Becker hopes that the jazz series in the unusual space will offer Brooklynites a non-standard way to unwind after a stressful week.
“Kingsborough actually has a modern, working lighthouse right on the ocean. And inside is a room that’s in the round, with floor-to-ceiling views of the ocean,” said Becker “So we are setting it up like a nightclub with tables, serving wine and cheese, and we’re doing this series on Friday evenings as a way for people to end their week.”
Devin Bing in “Slightly Standard” at the Kingsborough Lighthouse [2001 Oriental Blvd. in Manhattan Beach (718) 368–5596, www.onsta
