A casual conversation in a small Catskills café has led to a holiday jazz collaboration at The Parlor in Narrowsburg this weekend. Broadway standout Margo Seibert will perform with local group The Treble Makers, turning familiar tunes—and a few surprises—into intimate jazz arrangements.
Seibert recalls how it all began. “I was in Callicoon visiting the Naven Koken, a little Scandinavian and German café, which is RIP no longer, but they’re doing pop-ups now, and met the owner,” she said. “She was talking to me about her husband. He had a little jazz set and he was looking for a singer, and I was chatting with her about the fact that I am a singer and a performer and looking for more opportunities to perform locally here. And so she connected me with her husband.”
Their first meeting took place at Two Queens in Narrowsburg. “We were talking about, you know, what venue do we think…who might be interested in this kind of music, and Susan Mendoza overheard us at Two Queens,” Seibert said. “She was like, ‘Did you say venue?’ And immediately said, ‘Follow me,’ and walked us downstairs to The Parlor…why don’t you give it a try here.”
From a simple town chat came “this really kind of organic meeting of the minds,” Seibert said. “So we’re excited to play together. That’s what it’s all about. Like, you just coming together organically like that.”
The setlist mixes classics and unexpected choices from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. “We just kind of get together and play through the chart and see what we can do to make it ours,” Seibert said.
Image: Margo Seibert is a Drama Desk, Drama League & Lucille Lortel nominated actress, singer and activist.(Credit: margoseibert.com)