All the Things You Are

This was a special request from one of my youtube subscribers but I can't remember who!  Pete forgot all the mic stands (I don't know how that happens!!) but that's OK. There's a certain freedom when you're not standing still behind a mic stand. Not that I have ever stood still. I can't!
I'm wearing one of my oldest dresses from Sportsgirl, bought at a time when they had a real designer working for them. It's a beautiful wash of different colors and 100% silk. I'm wearing a pair of David Campell boots (they were a substitute for the D-Squared I really wanted but couldn't afford).
Enjoy the video!

Fab 50's Fashion

I just love the style of the fifties and none more so than my huge collection of hand beaded tops and dresses. This is one of the jewels in the crown worn with a cropped Jill Sanders suit jacket and some Nine West green pumps.   (That's all beading on a wool background!)

The Connie Lansberg Quartet performs at the Bentleigh Club once a month and it's very nice there with a dedicated jazz crowd so I'll be bringing out the rest of collection as the months go on. There were a few older woman there who said they remember these dresses and how glamorous they were. They were tickled pink to see me wearing one.  I've put My Romance on this week to celebrate my romance with fashion!

Back to Front

Sometimes you just have turn things around. Literally! I love this 1961 Lindsay Lohan "designed" matt sequined number but I find the big beige vee in the front a little hard to work with. 

  


Since the zipper is on the side I had no problem turning it back to front, pairing it with a little brown sweater and it looked great under the lights. I wore my bronze high high heels and instant glam!











This weeks video is How High the Moon and gives a great close up of Tom's masterful piano playing.

Black and White

 I'll say right now what a terrible shame that Amy Winehouse, a prodigious talent, died today. Where are the poeple who are supposed to be looking after her?  

So, Cry me a River is a fitting tune to post.

 I wore a lovely slinky sheer Broadway and Broome top I got from Shop Bop, the best US fashion site, because their International shipping is free! It looks like such a simple top but it looks great on. 
I teamed it with a pair of Morrison velvet harem pants and my Sam Edelson platform sandals.

Love for Sale? How Much??

I was going to wear something completely different for The Bentleigh Club gig which, by the way, was fabulous. It's rare when the venue tells the band that they are fantastic. Never happens so, we were very pleased. It was a great audience. But, I digress. I was going to wear my new velvet pants and a top but a great photographer friend  of mine, David Gilliver,  said he was coming down so I thought I should wear the fifties style dress that I wore once before so that I could use the photos for posters.

It looked great on my normal Zoom Q3 which broke less than a year old and looks fine in the photos, but now I have an Zoom HD which really does no one any good! Makes everyone wide!
It was freezing cold so I wore lace leggings and boots when I should have worn my lovely little red Karen Millen shoes. 

I thought the video would only get the top half in. I can't see anything through the lens so it's always hit and miss whether I have all the band in.Well, I got more than the whole band in so here is 
Love For Sale.

A Love Letter

Julie London's version of Love Letters can make my significant other cry. I aspire to make him cry too! So, even though he couldn't play with us last Friday (turncoat has a great blues band too) I did this for him while wearing my gorgeous Zambelli dress with the huge flower at the side. The green and cream pattern looked like a painting on the film and the little black bolero gave it a lovely shape. 

Because the new HD camera goes long way instead of up and down you can't see the great lace leggings and Dolce Vita black boots. I still haven't found a screwdriver small enough to take the Q3 apart. I like to fix things! Enjoy!

Twinkle in Every Sense

It has to be exactly the right weather conditions to break out the sequined leggings. Nice and chilly and gets dark early.  Perfect. My Zoom Q3 broke down so I now have to use the Zoom HD which I hate because it is wide and I need it to be tall or I get cut off. Never mind. If I can find a small Philips head screwdriver I'll have a go at fixing the Zoom Q3 myself.
This week was just the trio so I did one of my originals for you. It's called Twinkle Twinkle to go with the leggings!

Art Deco

I've been sent another photo by a lovely jazz fan Tim, who looks like a good American! Thanks Tim

What a smile!!!

I love my Outnet sleeveless jacket so I wore it with a really inexpensive flapper dress from Aesos and was so glad I was dressed up because not only did the owner arrive with his Kloe Kardashian look alike daughter but who should show up but the ever fabulous Patrizio Buanne the Italian crooner. He sat it with the band and sang Fly Me the Moon, hamming it up all the way. But he's got the big notes that's for sure. Enjoy! 

 
Oh, And I'm doing a super fast version of Down With Love.

 

Retrospective

I didn't post last week because we tried a new camera and I wasn't sure I liked it! Plus, I was wearing all black because it was freezing and I couldn't make myself get into a dress. So I put together a slide show of the last couple of years worth of gigs and outfits with my single, the one you can download here, Even So. Enjoy.

Wedding Finery

I really thought that since we were going to be playing the same time the "Wedding" was being broadcast here in Australia, that the Cap would be quiet and we'd get a really good clear sound for the recording. Ha! I was right on one thing. There were very few people there. Quiet? No such luck. We had one big table complete with 25 little kids who thought they were watching an episode of playschool and danced around and screamed into the camera. They thought they were going to be on TV. 
  I also had to take my migraine medicine because I used a new hairspray and it set off the aura that precedes a migraine. I'm always thankful when I actually do get an aura because at least then the medicine seems to work. Usually it doesn't and I'm laid up for four days in pain and extreme agony! The point being that the medicine fries my brain and I forget all the words and come in at the wrong place to boot! 
Fashion wise I finally got to wear the beautiful Allanah Hill yellow sequined bolero with a silk, watermelon pink Seduce dress I found on Ebay. I teamed this ensemble with a pair of Stuart Weitzmen pink and black swirl slingbacks. Very wedding appropriate.

 






This week's video is a mash up of two very romantic songs, The Nearness of You and That's All, the only two bits of the whole show that didn't have a child in it!

Going Back to School

I love this flirty little Lipstick dress. I found it at Forever New (in fact I bought 2 of the same design, different colors) It's the perfect Day Dress and you can wear different color slips underneath. It has a base of deep lilac with swirls of yellow, red and cornflower blue. I just didn't feel like wearing tights so I pulled out my deep magenta knee socks, teamed them with a pair of Steve Madden wooden soled sandals and there you have it. The grown up school girl look!
Now, I realize that I don't really talk about my lonely life because I don't feel the need to complain. I was alone all day today but I wrote a very complicated song using the chords of No More Blues, it took about four hours and I was exhausted! I also saw a doco on a Canadian pianist Glen Gould that was really interesting. He had control issues which I could learn from! I just let the boys do whatever they want with my songs but I like that. I'm quite limited and they bring my stuff to a whole new level.
The clip this week is "Georgia" which is on my album at iTunes because I love hearing my lovely Norwegian genius pianist Tpm Hanssen play the blues.

Red, White and Yellow???

I think I found the look. 

I was wearing a lovely 50's inspired Zambelli dress with a scrumptious pair of Karen Millan red pumps, singing Fly me to the Moon when a feeling came over me that this all made sense. The audience understood the look and the music.

 

I felt like Julie London! 

Although, what does that do to all my cutting edge outfits? Do I stick with letting the outfits broadcast the "jazz" element or do I just follow my fancy and wear my modern looks for when I sing my originals? I don't know! We finally did some work on the originals because even the best jazz guys can get lost in a chart they've never seen, or can't remember, so I can't wait to see what happens. Here's a very blurry vid of Fly Me to the Moon.

                                   

The Life of a Lonely Jazz Singer: It Might as Well Be Spring!

The Life of a Lonely Jazz Singer: It Might as Well Be Spring!

It Might as Well Be Spring!

This posting is late once again due to head implosion known as migraine. Honestly, God could not have smyte me more. Four days of agony and starvation (it's why I don't bother dieting). Things could always be worse. Right? I just wonder what it's doing to my brain???

The weather warmed right up again so I pulled out my special dress, a gorgeous silk Trelise Cooper in a bouquet of colors and tiny ruffles. There is an olive green running trough it and I teamed it with olive green tights that ran right into my Jeffery Campbell olive green boots. My drummer called it the glamorous combat look. 

Is this not a Monet inspired dress??

So here's a my ode to Spring.  "It Might as Well Be Spring."

Tea Party

It was Tom Hanssen's suggestion that we do Tea for Two as a really slow ballad and I just loved it. It took the story to a whole different and sad place! Love it. 
This week the weather turned quite cold so I pulled out my Bassike
 http://www.bassike.com/whats_new_for_women.html
harem pants in black (I just ordered two more pair in oatmeal and navy blue!)beacius ethey are so comfy and very cool. I teamed them with a J. Crew sequined top that my sister delivered to me in person because they won't ship to Australia. WHY NOT!???
I topped that with a little short sleeved jacket and a pair of Dolci Vita boots. I was accused of not being dressy enough in the last post but really, we are performing in a cafe not Carnegie Hall.
Here's Tea for Two just for you.

Rocking the Sister/Wife look

Sorry about last week. I just couldn't post because I hated the outfit. So not me but it turned really hot and I panicked!

This week my Review long ruffled maxi arrived from Ebay and was fabulous. I teamed it with an old Armani jacket in a lovely grey blue (one of my favorite hues) which was a perfect match. I was able to pull out my Dolci Vita blue suede shoes that I got last winter from shopbop.com but had not worn yet and there you have it. 

The groovy Sister/Wife/ Utah look in honor of my sister being here (my real sister!) from Salt lake City. This week I'm posting an original tune that I thought the band did a great job on. It's called Thin Line, a song about that point in a relationship where you have invested so much into it that you can't go back but you can't go forward either.

THIN LINE ©2011

 HOW DID I FALL IN LOVE  WITH A BOY 
          
SO DETERMINED TO FAIL ?

WHEN ALL I SEE IS HIS BEAUTY        

INSIDE AND OUT        THOUGH HE DRESSES IT IN DOUBT

AND I WANT THINGS TO MOVE         

 BUT I WANT TO MOVE THEM MY WAY

AND I WANT THINGS TO WORK OUT         

 THE WAY I PLANNED

BRIDGE

BUT YOU GOT A WAY OF DIGGIN’ IN

AND I GOT A WAY OF GIVING IN TO YOU

CHORUS:       

YOU GOT ME WALKING ON A THIN LINE

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE AND THERE’S NO TIME

AND I CAN’T GO BACK      I’M NOT GOOD AT THAT

AND I CAN’T GO ON        ‘CAUSE YOU WON’T RESPOND

AND THE LIGHTS GONE DIM       AND THE LINE’S TOO THIN

V.    I GOT SIX DIRECTIONS I CAN GO IN     

 SO WHY AM I STANDING STILL

AND I LIKE THE LITTLE HOUSE WE LIVE IN        

 BUT I GOT  A  LOT OF TIME TO KILL

I THOUGHT THE QUESTIONS WOULD BE BOTH OF OURS

BUT YOU STOLE THE   WHY’S AND NOW THEY’RE YOURS

AND STILL           THERE ARE NO ANSWERS

BRIDGE: F

BUT I GOT A WAY OF DIGGIN’ IN

AND YOU GOT A WAY OF GIVING IN TO ME

CHORUS:

BRIDGE 2:

YOU SWORE TO ME YOU KNEW

HOW TO GET US THROUGH

THEN YOU FELL ASLEEP       WITH YOUR EYES OPEN

BRIDGE   CHORUS

Pretty in Pink

I got accused of being very pink last Friday. I was wearing a little Sass dress that I love. It's very feminine being white with a small pattern of pink and green flowers with a silvery grey leaf pattern with little sequins and diamante buttons. I was wearing a hot pink slip that I found in an op shop for $2 ages ago which showed through the white material and then topped it with a hot pink cardi with little dogs beaded onto it that I found on ebay for $6. Thus...very pink! Mind you, I saw lots of pink in the audience as well so it must be in the zeitgeist. The shoes were an Ozsale.com.au purchase so very on sale. Very high, very pink!

This weeks video is a special request from one of my You tube subscribers. I love it when they ask for a song and I can accommodate!

Am I Blue?

I waited a long time before wearing this lovely electric blue silk Seduce dress. And now summer is over before it's began! Still, I didn't have to turn on the aircon in the bedroom once this whole summer. That's what I call good weather.  I shall have to get a move on to get through all the summer dresses I've yet to wear. I either need many more gigs or dress other singers! I have tried to dress my boyfriends' sister and she looks fabulous in a lot of my gear but she's too shy to wear them. Shame!
Anyway, here's Deed I Do. I love this song and we had a special guest, Howard Cains on the double bass.

This Can't Be Love

I saved my new Polici harem pants (remember my obsession) for last Friday and promptly dropped my dinner on them! I hope the dry cleaner will be my hero.  Then I came down with a massive migraine that lasted for 4 full days and so this little modest weekly posting is very late! I'm never sure what an outfit will look like on camera. It's total hit and miss. I think the harem line needs a shorter top so that even though the hips are full you still have a waist. I wore them with a little sequined bolero I found at Sportsgirl ages ago and it was all very beige! I think I'll have to go back to some intense color.
Here's the band with This Can't Be Love.

Sometimes I'm Happy.

It's a lovely thing when a band grows and gets more and more in tune (no pun intended) with each others musical language. I've been working hard on my singing by using Cari Cole's Warm up exercises.
http://www.caricole.com/    I haven't looked at her other stuff but the exercises are really good. If you're singer I highly recommend them as a daily workout.

This week I chose the first two songs because the crowd wasn't too noisy yet. It really is the only disadvantage working in a big cafe. People won't shut up! Plus the coffee machine...one day I will have my own venue! Here's Sometimes I'm Happy (think Sarah Vaughan) and My Foolish heart (think Carmen McRea). I wore a lovely little dress that I found on Chapel Street about 4 years ago and just hadn't worn yet. My bad. I teamed with some Italian Fem Blu lavender pumps which come from an outlet shop not too far from me and my fantastic HUGE flower ring that I found on the Modnique website.

http://www.modnique.com/  Just remember, though their shipping is cheap, it takes at least 8-10 weeks for the object of your desire to arrive.

Harem Scarem!

I admit it. I'm hooked on Harem Pants! I love that draped front and the tight ankles in all types of fabric and I hope they stay in fashion for a long time because I have a lot of them now.  I made an attempt to do some Ebay selling to pay for my new pants but no joy. So if you see something on the blog you like just contact me directly and we'll work something out! I'm wearing my Y3's (which you'll see in the video) that I got from THE OUTNET  http://www.theoutnet.com/ which lets you choose from a US site or an English site. The US site is the same in currency so I'd head for that site. Once again it was a hot night and I had another shirt planned but I decided to go with a pretty little Lisa Ho top I found on Ebay.     Oh, and the lovely little yellow sandals are Cole Hann that I picked up in the states a couple of years ago out at Camarrillo Outlet shops which is more like a small city.
(That's the lovely Vincent there on Bass)  
The video this week is Pixie Lott's little tune Mama Do which I'd like to record with my jazz band!

Flowers and Swedish Clogs

Well, not every outfit works on camera. I really wanted to wear my new Swedish Hasbeens but I think they belong on a walk next to the canals in Holland! It was very hot last week so I pulled out an old Fleur Wood dress that is always good for hot weather so I ended up looking like I left the goats outside. Never mind. The song is just lovely. Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory originally sung by the marvelous Gene Wilder.
Oh, and the necklace was a vintage find on Ebay.

Billy Boy

 Here we are in our 43 week at Capital Kitchen here in Melbourne Australia. It's a busy and groovy cafe as you can see by people walking through the camera shot constantly.
My piano player , Tom Hanssen, who I just think is fabulous, loves Bill Evens, so I have been doing my best to learn as many of his tunes as I can. It's really important that your band  likes the material you pick, (as well as each other). The boys in my quartet get to do a fair amount of instrumentals too. I'm hoping that keeps them happy. So this week I'm posting "Waltz for Debbie" which is a gorgeous song that I love doing.

It was in between hot and cool so I wore a silver sequined trapeze top I found on sale at Saba http://www.saba.com.au/ with a cute take on the boyfriend jacket, (although I'm not wearing the jacket in this clip) by The Edge-Supertrash (doesn't that say it all!) The sleeves are very intricate and a great piece to bring down the bling just a little. This was from THE OUTNET   http://www.theoutnet.com/
The shoes are Robert Robert from Myers. I don't know why I can always find them in my size and on sale. (I really am going to start my Ebay store soon!)

I Used to Be...

It took me a very long time to learn to write charts for the band especially a jazz lead sheet for my original stuff. But, I'm getting better at it and since we've had no time to rehearse I thought I would throw the band this song I wrote and see how they did. When I record it, I'd like to add flute into it but after hearing the boys and what they did with it I'm pretty happy with it. Here are the lyrics and I've posted another jazz classic (Everything happens to Me)  below. Oh, and I'm wearing a cute little Armand Basi rust colored ruffled dress with a little bolero and a pair of adorable Sam Edelman platforms. I promise that I will open my Ebay store soon!

I USED TO BE © 2010

Written by Connie Lansberg

I USED TO BE YOUR GIRL

YOU USED TO BE MY WORLD

MY WORLD HAS COME APART      

I HAVE A BROKEN HEART

MAYBE IF I SIT STILL

AND KEEP MY EYES CLOSED TIGHT

AND I DON’T TAKE THOSE PILLS        

THEY GIVE TO US AT NIGHT

THEN MAYBE I’LL SEE YOU   

LIKE I DID TODAY

LOOKIN’ BEAUTIFUL      

AS THE DAY YOU WENT AWAY

I USED TO BE YOUR GIRL

YOU USED TO BE MY WORLD

MY WORLD HAS COME APART      

I HAVE A BROKEN HEART

 I WHISPER IN YOU EAR  

YOU DON’T SEEM TO HEAR

THERE’S SOMETHING IN MY HEAD     

BUT NOTHING IN MY BED

I WANT TO GO OUTSIDE     

I NEED TO FEEL THE SUN

BUT I SHOULD RUN AND HIDE

MY HEART’S COME UNDONE

I USED TO BE YOUR GIRL

YOU USED TO BE MY WORLD

MY WORLD HAS COME APART      

I HAVE A BROKEN HEART

Hitting the High Notes

I don't have any film from NYE because it was just Tom Hanssen and myself playing for a captive audience at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club. I got to sing every ballad I know. It is a bit harder though without bass to keep us in time. We did all right though.  I know that sometimes I do get very lazy about actually practicing my scales and exercises so to motivate myself I bought Cari Cole's warm up exercises. I found them to be very worthwhile as they brought back things I knew but had forgotten.  I highly recommend them if you want to quickly improve your tone and control. Here's the link: http://www.caricole.com/
I was hoping that APRA, our collection body in Australia would bring her out here for a workshop.

Now, I wanted to take a close up of the fabulous, well I can only call it a bib, that I got from one of my favorite on line shops, Shopbop.com, but  I dropped my camera and broke it! Very upsetting. I shall just have to describe it and you can see it in this weeks' video.

It is a oblong shaped bib covered in amber and brown beads that ties around your neck to create a front piece for any plan top or dress you might be wearing. I did a little alteration on it though. I sewed the cloth tape ties together so they were at a certain level and I took the excess and sewed them on either side to turn it into more of a string vest. I think you can see it in vid. Made it much more comfortable to wear since it's rather heavy. The piece is from a designer called Haute Hippie which you'll find at Shopbop and Polyvore. I teamed with my Basikke (pronounced basic) harem pants and a silky little top from Aus label Basque. It was extremely hot that day and it's always hard to dress up when it's hot.
Here's Both Sides Now with my A team band. Once again, this is a very busy and popular cafe so it's always noisy!