The producer Phil Geoffrey Bond discusses the first of three volumes of Stephen Sondheim music and lyrics out now, Sondheim Unplugged: The NYC Sessions – Volume One (Yellow Sound Label, 2021), with Joseph Planta.

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

It was three Fridays ago that the news that Stephen Sondheim died hit our computer screens, our phones and other devices. Since then an outpouring of memories, songs, of his letters to admirers and fans have filled those same digital screens, as his genius is rightfully lauded. His music and lyrics are also immortalised in a new release, the first of three volumes. Timely doesn’t begin to describe what’s to be had in the two-disc album that’s out now, available on digital and streaming platforms too. Sondheim Unplugged: The NYC Sessions – Volume One is out now, while volumes two and three will be out in 2022. All told there will be 120 Sondheim songs, featuring 65 singers. There are songs from the Sondheim oeuvre that are fun and familiar, as well as lesser-known ones; gems all. This comes out of the smash New York revue, that in over a decade, has featured Broadway’s most impressive vocalists along with a piano. It’s Sondheim at his purest if you will, the way he wrote these songs. In this new album, the recordings are done in the studio and feature several performers who originated roles in Sondheim musicals like Annie Golden, Danielle Ferland, and Teri Ralston. Others featured in the forty-two tracks of volume one, include the vocal group Marquee Five, Michael Winther, Donna Vivino, Karen Mason, Stearns Matthews, Hunter Ryan Herdlicka, Alice Ripley, Sally Mayes, and Charlie Levy, among many others. These vocalists are accompanied by Music Director Joseph Goodrich on piano. And this monumental collection is produced by Phil Geoffrey Bond, who joins me now. I’ll ask him about what Sondheim has meant to him, the Sondheim Unplugged revue, and now this album. Phil Geoffrey Bond is the host of the revue which finds its regular home at New York’s famed Feinstein’s/54 Below. Visit www.SondheimUnplugged.com for more. The album is from Yellow Sound Label. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Phil Geoffrey Bond; Mr. Bond, good morning.

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