TORONTO — Gabi Epstein is releasing her debut CD, Show Off, next month, and that’s exactly what she’s planning to do – show off her sultry voice to a wide audience.
Gabi Epstein
Show Off, a cabaret CD filled with standards from the musical theatre repertoire, and sprinkled with pop and jazzy tunes, will be launched on Nov. 7 at Revival, 783 College St., Toronto, at 8 p.m.
After graduating from Montreal’s McGill University with a bachelor of music degree, Epstein, an actor and singer, took to the musical stage, and to cabaret rooms, making a name for herself as one of Toronto’s leading young solo cabaret performers. Epstein has performed at popular Toronto venues, including the Pantages Hotel, Trane Studio, and the Toronto Centre for the Arts, as well as at the historic Algonquin Hotel in New York City.
Show Off is produced by Canadian jazz singer John Alcorn and features Mark Kieswetter on piano, Artie Roth on bass, and Davide Direnzo on drums and percussion. Epstein’s favourite track on the CD is You’re Gonna Hear From Me, by André Previn, from the 1965 Natalie Wood movie, Inside Daisy Clover. Epstein was unfamiliar with the song before recording Show Off.
In addition to standards, Epstein also sings contemporary tunes on the CD, including the track I Would Have Wanted, written by her friend and colleague Zachary Florence.
“It became very apparent to me at an early age that other people were better writers than I was, and I was a better song stylist and reinterpret other people’s material a lot better than writing my own,” Epstein says.
“I especially love taking someone’s brand-new material and making it my own. The song that Zachary wrote, I actually sang on a demo CD of his, of his brand-new material.
“The title Show Off is tongue-in-cheek, and is meant to let people know that I am a serious artist, but I don’t need to be taken all that seriously,” insists Epstein.
“It’s fun and it’s me. I never wanted to do the pop route. I love performing live in stage musicals, and this is an extra layer of that. In addition to performing as other people, when I’m acting in a musical, this is me performing as myself… sort of a heightened version of myself.”
Epstein hopes that the release of Show Off will result in bookings of her live solo cabaret show both in Canada and the United States.
“One of the big influences of mine when wanting to do this record was the early albums of Barbra Streisand,” says Epstein. “She just had that great Jewish cabaret flare that I love. So, what we actually wanted to do was to do a contemporary version of one of the very early Streisand records.”
Epstein has a strong Jewish identity. “I kept my last name Epstein, because that is who I am and that is who I wanted to be through this album,” she says.
“There are a couple songs that show my Jewish side, like I Would Rather Cha Cha Than Eat, and the last song on the CD, Laila Laila, is a Hebrew lullaby a song I used to sing at Camp Gesher, that I thought would be a nice way to end the album.”
Epstein, who lives in Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood, is also a children’s vocal coach. She’s the daughter of author Kathy Kacer and lawyer Ian Epstein, and the sister of the actor, singer and musician Jake Epstein.
Visit www.gabiepstein.com for more information about Epstein.
