The WFM Listening Room played to the largest crowd in its history last night as both Jimmy Roberts and Julia Wade spun their magic.  This continuous Inspirational music event is beginning to pay off great dividends to both audiences and producers – for audiences, a trusted destination in NYC where one can go see and hear great talent on a consistent basis and not have waiters in your face all night, not be forced to eat and drink and pay for watered down drinks and over-priced food that you don’t want — and all at a vastly less expensive price.

For the producers, Watchfire Music, the evening has already paid back its initial investment in superb sound system and other ancillaries and is moving rapidly towards a day when the shows will be webcast across the world.  A T1 line (the technology one needs for webcasting large content like music and video) has recently been installed in the venue and now we are just organizing the future towards the implementation of a permanent 3-camera shoot.

People have spoken to me about franchising the WFM Listening Room – the idea of having one in every large city in America, but my feeling is, “Why do this when through the webcast we can reach everyone in the world with a computer?”  I know, there’s nothing like live music and I’m a great appreciator of that fact, but the costs, at this point, of franchising are truly enormous.  Let’s let nature take its course and see how the webcasts, a much more economical approach, will work.

In the meantime, the webcasts are still a lot to get together and require still further investment into additional equipment and staffing.  We’re on our way, but not there yet.  The prognosis is good!

Jimmy Roberts, a fine composer with wit and great charm, is also an exceptional pianist and most clever with his offerings.  My favorite was his Pachebel Canon/Stephen Sondheim Send In The Clowns fusion concoction.  A brilliant blending of two well-known iconic musical offerings from different centuries, different composers and vastly different styles.  Jimmy is greatly loved by his audience and did a 10 song set of tuneful panache from his treasure trove of musical comedy.

We’ll have him back again and again.  He’s a joyful entertainer and an experienced pro – just the kind of entertainer we love to present.

Following Mr. Roberts was the perennial Julia Wade who started this great adventure with 4 concerts in the fall of 2010.  This was her second concert this spring in Series II and one wonders how she could get better, but she continues to do so.  Her renditions of Upon The Mountain, Woman On A Train and Julie Gold’s From A Distance are becoming definitive standards for her as she weaves her spell over the audience with her gift of voice and commitment to the material at hand.

If you have not yet caught her act, do yourself a favor – no matter what kind of music is your choice – catch this act.  Here’s a major force in the music world on the rise.  It’ll be fun to watch her blossom.

Next show and last of Series II is a repeat of the Jenny Burton/Chieli Minucci concert of several weeks ago.  But it won’t be a total repeat – much new material will be presented and Chieli is adding superb vocalist Philip Hamilton to his set for several songs.  Word has it also that Jenny is adding a new closer to the act that should rock the foundations of 583 Park.

So if ya’ saw it before, c’mon back – there’s more to hear.  If you’re new to either of these two performers, do yourself a favor – click here for reservations! Friday, May 27^th @ 8:00 PM.