“Now entertain conjecture of a time – maybe it’s 1958, maybe
it’s 1598, maybe it’s today…” With those words, spoken slyly over a cool,
hipster jazz groove, JOHN ALLEE draws us into BARDFLY, an otherworldly,
super-literate and supremely swinging realm that finds the veteran stage and TV
actor, singer-songwriter and all-around creative hyphenate fusing his dual
lifelong passions for all things Shakespeare and jazz.
Showcasing his wide array of talents as a vocalist,
composer, lyricist and dramatic performer, the eclectic 13-track set – in which
he assumes the persona of Feste “The Bardfly” Johnson – mines compelling verses
from a wide swath of the Bard’s canon from Othello to Henry IV as a foundation
for everything from blues, ballads and hymns to compelling spoken word and
swingin’ ditties. An award-winning author and composer of musical plays, the
Los Angeles based Allee composed all the music for BARDFLY. While he set some
of Shakespeare’s lyrics directly to music, on seven pieces he added words and
phrases to dazzling dramatic effect, essentially becoming a co-writer with his
muse.
Allee’s first professional “collaboration” with the Bard
came via an LA Opera production of Benjamin Britten’s musical adaptation of A
Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Gordon Davidson in which he played an
airborne Puck. Among dozens of stage credits, Allee’s career since has included
performances in other Shakespeare plays. In fact, BARDFLY grew organically out
of Allee’s role as Twelfth Night’s Feste the Clown in a theatrical mashup
called Barfly Shakespeare, presented at a night club in North Hollywood. He was
tasked by the director with coming up with a jazz club vibe for the tunes and
first landed on “The Wind and the Rain,” which he recast as an easy swinging,
hepster strut. He would later choose that tune as the perfect closer to the
album.
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