A concept album for the new musical Whisper Darkly releases February 23 through TBIC Music Group. The immersive electro-swing show, set in a Manhattan speakeasy during the Prohibition Era, features music and lyrics by Andrew Gerle and a book by DJ Salisbury. Stream or download the album here.
The album features performances by Aléna Watters (The Cher Show), Kayla Davion (Tina), Keri René Fuller (SIX: The Musical), Tony nominees Brad Oscar (The Producers) and Howard McGillin (The Phantom of the Opera), Alli Mauzey (Kimberly Akimbo), Claybourne Elder (Company), and the West End’s Alistair Brammer (Miss Saigon). Also featured are Victoria Huston-Elem, Riley Noland, Graham Stevens, Hansel Tan, Khalifa White, D’Kaylah Whitley, and Luke Hawkins.
The artists are backed by a jazz band comprised of Grammy-nominated violinist Sara Caswell, drummer Josh Roberts, trumpeter Alphonso Horne (Shuffle Along), and Italian accordion virtuoso Roberto Gervasi.
The new musical is set in 1928 Manhattan, where Topeka McShane leads her cast at The Hush Club with an iron fist, while teaching her niece the ropes of big city life. When international African-American singing sensation Wysandria Cole Davis shows up in the audience, it kicks off a tumultuous evening that changes the club forever.
The concept album was created in collaboration with electro-swing arranger and producer PiSk (Roberto Costa) of the Italian electro-swing band The Swingrowers, and Bogotá-based Latin Grammy nominee Santiago Deluchi.
Whisper Darkly is produced by Andrew Gerle and PiSk (Roberto Costa), and co-produced by Pamela Hurst-Della Pietra and Stephen Della Pietra of Avadon Broadway.