Other Side of Me

Greta originally hails from Paris where she spent her early childhood. She began her music career performing in opera and concerts, but the music of Brel, Aznavour, Piaf - a world of love, passion and pain and the romance of Paris - haunted and inspired her, drawing her to their music and sound. Singing in French, English and German, her eclectic repertoire also includes the work of Kurt Weill, Hollaender, Sting, Bryan Ferry, and Leonard Cohen. Greta has given concerts in Europe, Australia, and the Caribbean, throughout the United States and in well-known New York venues. Now also performing with the Kabarett Kollektif, (a group of ten European-based Artists living in NY, dedicated to preserving the tradition of European cabaret), she received the 2006 New York Nightlife Award for Unique cabaret Performance. Greta spends her time between New York and France. ___ It takes a certain feeling, a certain sensibility - a certain period of living and losing - to really understand the passion, the edge, the danger of these songs. Of the material Greta pours out to you is an amazing song entitled, Love Noir, by Jeffrey Roy and Steve Blevins - and, Thank God, it's on her new CD. I had never heard it and it blew me away! I implore you: Go see Greta just for that song: and you'll never forget the song-or her. And - those hands. The long, red, red nails; they will tell you everything you'd ever need to know about passion. I'd advise you to run and buy Greta's CD. But to really experience the songs Greta portrays, you should make a serious attempt to see her. Trust me: it doesn't get any smoky-cabaret than this. For me this is Soul Music. Stuart Lee WNYX-TV/MetroAccess TV Network-Nightlife/Entertainment Editor and Critic-At-Large Greta's performance is classic and she evokes in her elegance and intelligence the tradition of Aznavour and Brel. In her show, In The Dark Of The Night, Greta dramatically portrays a woman exploring her inner turmoil-experiences of love on the rocks, of growing indifference, of being fed up, of memories of men who have passed through her life, of intense and conflicting feelings. The first of Greta's numbers, the well known Aznavour song Yesterday, When I Was Young, highlights her dramatic persona, a woman no longer (if she had ever been) an innocent, possessed of a cynicism that comes with experience, but still hopeful of achieving the love that will erase past disappointments. Another song, intriguing, although it's meaning is elusive, is the haunting First We Take Manhattan, by Canadian poet/singer Leonard Cohen. It tells of almost inexpressible boredom, an eternally restless need to move on from wherever the singer finds herself. Greta's voice can alter to convey a myriad of emotions. At times, it is husky, sultry, impassioned, or even hard-edged. In all, the show is replete with beautiful songs, beautifully sung. Barbara and Peter Leavy Cabaret Scenes The collaboration of Greta, Patterson, and Lee on such songs as Leonard Cohen's "First We Take Manhattan" and the "Cigarette Tango" were exciting to witness. Better still was their emotionally urgent rendition of Serge Lama's "Je Suis Malade". Greta was at her best when she sang with an angry defiance. Her theatricality found it's most effective vehicle in songs in which she could toss off a lyric with attitude.... her finale number, "You Can Go", was done with scornful bravado. Scott and Barbara Siegel New York Drama-Logue This striking cabaret singer personified the rough edged passion of the classic French chanteuse, taking her audience away to another place and time. Several of Greta's songs were performed in their original French and German, following a brief introduction in English that was pure poetry to create the setting. What followed was a testament to the power of this singer to transcend the basic literal utterances of a song. Greta transported us to the flourishing cabaret scene of pre-war Berlin, with a medley sung alternately in English and German. This introspective, philosophical medley highlighted the struggles of love and war, and the emotional defenses one had to employ that sadly left such emptiness, void of life. Keith Meritz Cabaret Scenes As soon as this show started, I began to jot down words; the feelings I felt as this fantastic lady sang. Here are a few of the words; passion - glamour - sparkle - intensity. I could check my thesaurus for more, but you cannot help feeling excited when Greta is on stage. Stu Hamstra Cabaret Hotline This lady doesn't leave one emotion untouched...she caresses them and then tears them wide open. Listening to Greta, one is transported into another realm; you want to order rich red wine, cheese and crusty French bread, the better to soak up her spirited performance. Don't get the wrong impression: Greta's power to draw the audience into a trance where images of days gone by and foreign tongues reign supreme are keenly contemporary. Her fiery performance of an eclectic mixture of songs is as exuberant as first love. Greta conjures up your dreams. Lyon Burke Planet Music/The NY Planet Greta brings international flavor to cabaret. She combines the depths of Garbo and deftly tosses off the sultry between the lines sarcasm of Dietrich. Besides her excellent choice of songs from Kurt Weill, Bricusse, Aznavour, etc. She varies her patter to transfix her audience. You'd go again and any woman would kill for her black velvet gown. Bravo! Marjorie Gunner On & Off Broadway Greta typifies the tradition of Paris' Piaf, who built a career dedicated to suffering and love gone sour. However, unlike Piaf, Greta entices with rich, deep chest tones and a dark, even fiery vibrato to underline emotion. Such songs as "Je Vais T'Aimer", " J'Attendrai" and "Le Droit D'Aimer" throb with that interior pain so honored and used by French thrushes. Greta pierces the heavy emotional clouds with several rays of good-natured, if cynical, fun. "Money, Money, Money" and "Après La Revolution" reflect a worldly-wise sense of humor toward material values. From the appreciative mitting of the dressy crowd, it's obvious that Greta, with her style of rich, deep Burgundy singing, commands an audience that will be drawn from sophisticated Americans and Europeans. Mars VARIETY Unique...A musical Sorceress John Michael Koroly WRSO-FM/CAB.