I hosted an old fashioned art salon at my Brooklyn apartment this weekend with 10 friends from different creative backgrounds. Performances and contributions ranged from poetry to old school rhythm & blues vocals, cello driven art/rock, acting, newly minted music videos, vintage jazz guitar, photography, and fashion. Mara Kaye's strong and saucy vocals kicked off the night with Billy Jackson's subtle but grounded accompaniment on guitar. They started with a Sam Cook cover and later brought down the house with co-written originals Happy #2 and Sweet Circular Ode.

Serena Jost

Serena Jost treated us to some new material from her soon to be released album A Bird will Sing, with haunting and delicate lyrics, intricate tones, and formidable beats; often stomping in time, and commanding the cello as both melody maker and percussion section. Later, Dan Machlin captivated us all by reading poems from his own Dear Body (Ugly Duckling Presse) and later crooned the Jerome Kern classic 'I'm Old Fashioned'; accompanying himself on guitar.

As for myself, I had always wanted to do something at a salon that put me out of my element so I performed opposite my actor friend in a movie scene she's auditioning for. It was a bit unnerving at first, but everyone said we did well, and I recall a few laughs at the 'right' moments. It was a great experience, complete with screen-test style videos the day before so we could observe our interaction and delivery... We did our performance before the music so I could get on with pouring cocktails and snapping pictures!

I was impressed with the material everyone brought to the table and grateful for the turnout and support in everyone's work.... It was a great night and I can't wait to do another one at some point. Several people mentioned they were impressed with the level of talent and quality of all the contributions. I agree!