Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. Slated to Perform at Icon Gala Honoring Tracy Morgan
Season 6 America’s Got Talent winner, Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. will be performing alongside an all-star lineup at the Friars Club Entertainment Icon Award Gala honoring Tracy Morgan Thursday, May 26th.
The Icon Award pays tribute to famous standup comedian, Saturday Night Live alum, and 30 Rock star Tracy Morgan at the exclusive Friar Club’s Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City. “The Friar’s Club is a legendary part of New York City and comedy… I’m following in the footsteps of greatness. I’m humbled and looking forward to a crazy night!” Tracy said about the century-old organization.
About Tracy Morgan:
Tracy Morgan has been a longtime household name, first gaining national prominence as a breakout cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1996 to 2003, followed by his Emmy nominated role in 30 Rock, celebrated film roles including Cop Out, and a long and storied career in stand-up comedy. Morgan also has a considerable reputation as a voice talent, having acted in several animated films including Boxtrolls, G-Force, Scoob!, Rio, and Rio 2. Visit Tracy online at www.tracymorgan.com.
About Landau Eugene Murphy Jr.
Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. took the country by storm 11 years ago when his perfect renditions of classics from the Great American Songbook earned him the top spot on Season Six of NBC’s America’s Got Talent. Landau has headlined from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to the California State Fair, the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach to Times Square in New York City, and all points in-between, and has released four albums including the Billboard chart-topping “That’s Life”. He recently returned from the UAE where he represented the United States at a weeklong series of shows during World Expo. See Landau’s tour dates and more info at www.landaumurphyjr.com.
Landau at the World Famous Royal Room
ONE NIGHT ONLY!!! This Saturday, November 4, Dave Damiani with Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. will entertain at the world famous Royal Room inside The Colony Hotel in Palm Beach. The charming, intimate setting of the Royal Room is a perfect back drop for an unforgettable night of Jazz!
Get your tickets before they’re gone! Email concierge@thecolonypalmbeach.com or call (561)659-8100 for reservations and more information.
Landau croons and swoons his way to the Pops
Read this article online: www.Metro.US
Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. croons and swoons his way to the Pops
The winner of “America’s Got Talent” has been keeping busy.
A.D. AMOROSI
When Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. won NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” five years ago, he had no idea that he’d continue on with his arsenal of good time swing and emotive, clarion vocal skills. He loved standard jazz classics by his heroes, Sinatra and Bing Crosby, and was simply happy to keep their legacy alive.

Album recording session
But then again, Murphy Jr. never though he’d make it out of a Michigan car wash where he sang Sinatra tunes to his co-workers. Fast forward to the present, and not only has he released a debut album, “That’s Life,” that hit No. 1 on the Billboard Jazz chart, a Christmas album —”Christmas Made for Two”— and an autobiography (“Landau: From Washing Cars to Hollywood Star”), he readying his third album for 2017 release with holiday shows on the horizon.
You won “America’s Got Talent,” but are you a competitive fellow with everything you do?
Music is too pure to be competitive about. I just want to entertain, and that show was a great vehicle for it. I have never been competitive in regard to singing at all. Throwing basketballs, running fast; those things I would compete in. Also, I think that everybody can sing, you just need the right opportunities.
Well, looking at basketball and running for a moment, that takes training. Did you train your voice to do what you wish, or was it – is it — natural?
Life trained my voice, whether it was me being funny with my friends or me chatting in-between dance steps. That said, you couldn’t go in unprepared. I’ve been booed during open mics. My family booed me – but that trains you too; that and singing in church, old age homes and such as I have since I was three-years-old.
Man, that’s a tough family. You’re not singing conventionally easy stuff to begin with – it’s mostly jazz, big band, and Tin Pan Alley standards, to go with your own soulful compositions at a time when so many people your age go for pop or hip-hop. What was that challenge like?
As a normal urban black kid, I grew up listening to rap and pop in West Virginia; from Sugarhill Gang to Cyndi Lauper to the Oak Ridge Boys. By the time we moved to the big city, more of what was popular hip-hop on the radio became my steady diet. But this genre – the standards – was something I liked from childhood. I sang Bing Crosby every day, just joking with my friends.
Yet, it’s not like I could be Bing Crosby. Or Frank Sinatra. Imagine sounding like Sinatra, looking the way I look? But it worked. I think this genre chose me. The music is pure and timeless so it became natural. I have to say too that my friends would crack up listening to me do this – they like me, never took it seriously.
So when did that change? When did it get serious?
I worked for this car wash dealership in Michigan, and my boss came into the washroom one day when I was singing. He told right then, ‘You should not be working here.’ He took me to a club in Oakland County Michigan to a room full of people for some open mic, and the room just got quiet when I sang. That was the turning point I guess. He made me know that I had something. It took me a minute to get it, because I was 30. I weighed my options— am I going to be a successful rapper at this age, or do I stand a chance crooning?
So when you’re writing you own stuff, what are you going for?
That same pocket, vibe and feeling that I get when I’m singing Cole Porter or Nat King Cole; that’s my thing. You don’t fix something that’s not broken. So my song like “Come Home to West Virginia” – I hope you get the same feelings that I have about that place, that easy country road feeling and the same feeling you would get from a Frank Sinatra song where he’s singing about New York or Chicago. Plus, there is always a great, stylish arrangement – the bigger the better.
Which reminds me: you’re fronting the Boston Pops coming up for New Year’s Eve, the biggest of all orchestras.
When I travel, we usually play with between 12 and 22 pieces. The Pops though? That’s big. They’re a down-to-earth crew and I think they appreciate what I do, that I love the old standards. I did a walk-on with the Pops when they did a Motown set last year, and they said ‘why don’t we just put you on the books for New Year’s’? Guess I knew my plans a year early.
If you go:
Tues. Dec. 27, 8 p.m.
Highline Ballroom
431 W. 16th St.
$20-$35, highlineballroom.com
Wed. Dec 28, 8 p.m.
Sellersville Theater
24 Maple Ave. Sellersville
$25-$39.50, st94.com
Sat. Dec. 31, 10 p.m. with the Boston Pops
Boston Symphony Hall
301 Massachusetts Ave.
$51 -$140, www.bso.org
AGT Finale 2011 – Fan Reaction Video
40th Annual Logan County Arts & Crafts Festival
The 40th Annual Logan County Arts & Crafts Festival is just around the corner! The festival will be held this Friday August 7th from 3 – 8 PM and Saturday August 8th from 9 AM – 8 PM at the Logan Memorial Field House in Logan, West Virginia.
On Friday, August 7th the festival will kick-off with a Creative Art Activity hosted by Leah Vance Photography beginning at 3:00 PM. America’s Got Talent winner Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. will be on hand to greet visitors to the festival as he welcomes contestants to the Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. Talent Competition, the contest where he once took home first prize prior to winning America’s Got Talent! This year’s contest has been renamed for Landau, who will be available at his merchandise table for pictures and autographs starting at 5:00 PM. Contestants will take the stage at 6:30 PM to compete for cash prizes. The contest is free to enter; however, all contestants must be registered by the deadline of Friday, July 31, 2015 to compete in the contest. The talent show will be hosted by Burke Allen of Allen Media Strategies and Dave Allen of Dave Allen Communications. There will be performances on the outside stage by the A Mile to Nowhere Band, Horsetraders Band and Tyler Childers.
For more information you may call (304) 752.1324 or email logancountychamber@frontier.com or visit us on Facebook at 40th Annual Arts & Crafts Festival.
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