Marie MacGillis profile picture

Marie MacGillis

Devil says yes but the Lawd says no

About Me


TBA NUMEROUS DATES @ WARSZAWA
with The Hot Toddy Trio
Free. Great Polish food! 8:30pm 2 sets
July 17th 2008- Heritage Square Museum with The Hot Toddy Trio
5pm-6:30pm
July 27th 2008- Maxwell Demille's CICADA CLUB with The Tip Top Trio
$75 Cover. Great food!
8:30/10pm 2 sets
Dean Mora's Orchestra
I'll be singing @ the penthouse after party
We will celebrate Maxwell Demille's annual 39th birthday!
Aug 28th 2008- Heritage Square Museum with The Hot Toddy Trio
5pm-6:30pm
Sept 28th/Nov 9th 2008 - THE CICADA CLUB with the Model Millionaires
No Cover. Great food! 8:00/9:30pm 2 sets
Booking related inquiries: booking @ mariemacgillis dot com
***PRIVATE EVENTS NOT LISTED*** More shows TBA but currently I'm mainly writing and recording with Ezra Reich and The Violet Heirs. Also, my brand new cd "Sittin' in the Catbird Seat" is finished!
BUY IT HERE AT MARIEMACGILLIS.COM
Marie singing "Blue Skies" at the Cicada Club with "The High Society Boys"
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Video by: Seth Shulman
My friend Ezra Reich:
The Jazzabilly Album:
For all of you who keep asking- the Jazzabilly Blues album is still out on ITunes. Go buy it!Click Below!
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Biography:
Marie Fleur MacGillis grew up in a rural town just north of Ann Arbor Michigan in the 1980s. As a little girl she often found herself in the company of her 90-year-old grandparents Angus and Cecilia or with the musical Italian family down the street. Most likely she’d simply be on her own, enjoying the forest and the creatures it harbors-exploring and conversing in solitude like a feral child. By age 9 the spirits of the forest enchanted her musically, inspiring several notebooks of songs written about saving the world and the habits of foxes.
Marie’s ears firt heard the sounds of a voice in song from the lips of her own mother. Known around home as The Blues Momma, she exposed Marie to the likes of Patsy Cline, Ruth Brown, Bessie Smith and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. It would be Marie’s first taste of the old-time music and style she would find herself more deeply entwined with as she grew up. Expectedly, Marie also developed an obsession with anything old Hollywood; the dancing, the films but mostly the music!
Marie’s first experience with her own vocal endeavors began with red wine stained lips under a twenty-foot crucifix in her local Catholic church. By high school her experience and interests had expanded, having performed operatic arias, Catholic hymns, show tunes, blues ballads and old country love songs.
While receiving her higher education at Michigan State University and The University of London, Marie focused on broadening her vocal abilities by delving heavily into jazz and modeling her style after the great American jazz divas like Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and smilin’ Lena Horne. Though jazz became her performance based passion she never lost her enthusiasm for the intrinsic musicality of the written word. As a young logophile Marie took pleasure exploring the words of poets like Allen Ginsberg, Philip Larkin and Emily Dickinson.
Passion fueled Marie to move to Los Angeles where she began her much dreamed about Hollywood career; selling people their own graves at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. This was not part of the dream, so… one night after drinking wine from a box, she made an a cappella demo using a $10 mic… in her kitchen… with the ceiling fan on. They were known as The Kitchen Demos and have since become lost in the vortex of the past. These low-fi at best, recordings paved the way for her first professional gigs when she began singing for, onetime teen idol Johnny Crawford and his Hot Club Quartet. Crawford had moved on from his early career as a crooner (“Cindy’s Birthday”) and child actor (The Rifleman) to play Django Reinhardt-style gypsy jazz around L.A., and with Marie MacGillis’s arrival, the combo expanded its repertoire to include new arrangements of old standards. In addition to Crawford’s band, Marie also performed with the great Dean Mora.
In 2006 Marie formed the Jazzabilly Blues with legendary rockabilly guitarist. Harvey, who’d recently helmed rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson’s acclaimed “I Remember Elvis”, fused his trademark vintage licks with MacGillis’s affection for the Great American Songbook to create a unique stylistic hybrid of jazz, rockabilly and blues. This eclectic musical mix of Americana caught the ears of Cleopatra Records who released the 2007 album entitled, “Billie Holiday Presents Marie MacGillis and the Jazzabilly Blues”, a compilation album featuring timeless Holiday tracks and the Jazzabilly Blues’ rendition of classic standards plus original songs.
In 2008 Marie released her second album introducing her new band, The Model Millionaires, a sextet of incredible musicianship, including the incomparable guitarist and whistler John Reynolds; grandson of Zasu Pitts. The style of this album entitled “Sittin’ in the Catbird Seat” is decidedly reformed antiquity. It’s an amalgam of pre-war jazz favoring the whimsical hits of the 1930s, spicing it up with the passion and drive of 1920s blues, reefer jazz and western swing. Marie MacGillis and the Model Millionaires are regular performers at popular vintage hangouts such as LA’s downtown art deco gem: Maxwell DeMille’s Cicada Club. Recently featured on local LA news and Inside Edition, acclaimed fashion designer Sue Wong hosted the end of Fashion Week with a gala at her grand Hollywood mansion; finding the Model Millionaires to be the ideal musical accompaniment for her trademark style of vintage elegance.
Currently Marie is working on a new project called the Violet Heirs with Ezra Reich, the talented son of Steve Reich. Ezra’s music has been described as "Beatles meets Prince" (NY Noise) and compared to "Everything from Bryan Ferry to the Cars" (TimeOut London), with songwriting that "reminds you of the value of melody" (Indieville). Reich's music was the theme to a national advertising campaign for Tommy Hilfiger's "H" Line, featuring David Bowie. The Violet Heirs plan on releasing their first album in early 2009 with all original pieces written by Ezra and Marie. Danny B. Harvey will be a featured guitarist along with other magnificent guest artists.
With her appeal in the global music scene Marie MacGillis will be recording a 15 track album with her friends from across the Pacific, The Sweet Hollywaiians; a Japanese Hawaiian swing band from Osaka Japan. Marie is currently planning a tour with them which will include California and Japan during fall of 2008.
In addition to Jazzabilly Blues you can also see Marie performing traditional '30s jazz with The Hot Club Quartette , Model Millionaires and the. Soon soon soon- Ezra Reich and the Violet Heirs!
Photo by the great Mila Reynaud

My Interests

adventure, alchemy, alf, alfred hitchcock, andy kaufman, angus young, ann arbor, anne sexton, antiques, aphrodisiacs, art nouveau, athena, atomic '50s, austria, ballet, bauhaus, beatles, belting notes, being a real sweetie pie, bettie page, big league chew, billie holiday, bird calls, blue footed boobies, bob odenkirk, boston terriers, brandy alexanders, buddy holly glasses, busby berkeley, cabernet, catholic saints, mackintosh, checkhov, chicken vindaloo, chocolate, cindy sherman, comedic acting, comic book nerds, coming up with ditties and hooks, craftsman bungalows, cream soda dum dums, david lynch, deco, decoupage, detroit, django reinhardt, duane hanson, eames, edgar cayce, edwardians, ella fitzgerald, environmental activism, esoteric studies, fat cats, flamenco dance, foxes, frank lloyd wright, frank sinatra, frida kahlo, gardening, gershwin, getting sassy, getting vibes, gilbert adrian gowns, gourmet cooking, halifax ns, harps, high glass breaking notes, high heels, improv comedy, indie films, intellivision, ireland, italy, jim carroll, johnny depp, johnny green, journey, kids in the hall, laguna beach 1919, larkin, listening to music on old records, london, los angeles, love, lyrical dance, lyrics, magic, making jazz hot again, math, mary tyler moore, metaphysics, michigan, michigan state university, mies van der rohe, modern dance, modernism, mucha, mushrooms, musicals with great dancing, norwegian wood, nostalgia, npr, opera, owls, patsy cline, patton oswalt, paul taylor, pecan pie, pentwater, persian food, photography, physics, plasticman, poetry, pointe shoes, pop culture, pugs, questioning gimmick snack foods, ringo, rosicrucians, rubies and garnets, ruth etting, sapphires, scary old abandoned houses/buildings, scotland, screwball comedies, scrying, sensuality, shakespeare, simpsons, singing in my car, sit-ups, sketch comedy, smiling, soft skin, sondheim, spirits, stained glass, stratford, tap dancing, tarot cards, tennessee williams, the beach at dusk, the fifth contingency, the groundlings, thunderstorms, twyla tharp, uncabaret, victoriana, watching the detectives, wax seals, wind chimes, words, writing letters, xanadu, young hipsters, zingers

I'd like to meet:

Oh I already met them... and they are divinely exquisite!!!:

Music:

Piazzolla, June Christy, Arcade Fire, Danny B. Harvey, Nan Wynn, Kay Star, Dean Mora, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Dawn Upshaw, David Bowie, Don Redman, Janet Klein, Connie Boswell, The Beach Boys, Ezra Reich, Lemon Demon, Anthony Sunseri, Dolly Parton, Suzy Williams, LCD Soundsytem, Lambert Hendricks and Ross, Brad Kay, Beatles, The Beach Boys, John Reynolds, Purcell, Debussy, ELO, Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Dinah Washington, Lena Horne, The Boswell Sisters, Journey, Frank Sinatra, The Byrds, Mozart, Bows, Etta James, Patsy Cline, Copeland, Stevie Wonder, Lavern Baker, Billie Holiday, The Detroit Cobras, Doors, Irving Berlin, Beatles, Woody Herman, Johnny Green, Mirah, AC/DC, Weezer, Sarah Vaughan, Peggy Lee, Dean Martin, Goldfrapp, Charlie Parker, Bessie Smith, Violent Femmes,They Might Be Giants, Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, Johnny Crawford, Maude Maggart, Fiona Apple, Chet Baker, Erykah Badu, Joni Mitchell, Janis Joplin, Django Reinhardt, Gonzalo Bergara, Raymond Scott, Ruth Etting, Jane Green, Dr Dre, Dick Powell, Johnny Mercer, The Go, Big Sir, Rasputina, Doug Kershaw, Artie Shaw, Kay Kyser, Doors, Steely Dan, Queen, Christine Nelson, Jennifer Keith, Royal Crown Review, Led Zepplin, The White Stripes, Bix Beiderbecke, Sammy Davis Jr, Amon Tobin, Daniel Johnston, The Raconteurs, linnzi Zaorski, Loretta Lynn, Pet Shop Boys, Ella sweet Ella Fitzgerald, Bach, Bizet

Movies:

The big Lebowski, American Movie, Anything Harold Lloyd, Class of 1984, Streets, Long Hot Summer, Red Headed Woman, Slaughterhouse five, Giant, Jacob's Ladder, Wet Hot American Summer, Dancemaker , Poison Ivy, Old School, The Virgin Suicides, The Loved One, Alphaville, The Apartment, Harvey, Written on the Wind, His Girl Friday, Lobster Man from Mars, Rushmore, Adaptation, Being John Malkovitch, Rejected, Sex Education for Trainables, Superbad, Chicago, Cabaret, Spirited Away, The Sweet and Lowdown, Swingers, Office Space, Rear Window, The Royal Tennenbalms, Citizen Kane, It Happened One Night, Ocean's Eleven (original rat pack), Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Vertigo, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, Run Lola Run, Gold Diggers of 1933 and 35, Harold and Maude, The Big Sleep, The Notebook(sorry but I think I saw this one like 5 times in one summer!!), Shop around the Corner, College, The Apple, The Stuff, The Wind, The Crowd, Village of the Giants, Earth vs Flying Saucers, 20 Million Miles to Earth, IT, On our Merry Way, Somewhere in Time, You Can't Take it With You and many many more!

Television:

I haven't had cable in at least 2 years now so basically I don't ever watch TV unless I rented it on Netflix or downloaded it. It's a great way to live because there's never ever time for commercials. Six Feet Under, Stella, The Office (both versions) Mary Tyler Moore, Arrested Development, Dick Van Dyke, The Wonder Years, The Twilight Zone(old school), TV Funhouse, Futurama, Mr Show, Seinfeld, The Simpsons, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Daily Show, The Family Guy, Chapelle's Show, The Colbert Report, Quantum Leap, Little House on the Prairie, Freaks and Geeks, Weeds

Books:

At any given point I have about 10 books I'm currently reading. Mostly I love juicy biographies and various antiquarian books. My dear grandmother was an alcoholic librarian and I miss her. Not all these are actually novels: Seamus Heaney selected poems, In the Name of the Rose, Any Norton anthology of collected poetry or anything, The North Ship, Slaughterhouse Five, The Virgin Suicides, No Logo, Love in the Time of Cholera, Blindness, Echoes from the Void, The Great Gatsby, The Quaker City; or The Monks of Monk Hall by George Lippard, Black Elk Speaks, Catcher in the Rye, Narnia Books, Choose Your Own Adventure books, Tennessee Williams plays, The Yellow Wallpaper, Anne of Green Gables etc there are too many to name!!

Heroes:


My Blog

Cyd Charisse

Grampy sent me many letters during the years he was alive. For some reason the only one I can ever find now is the one where he just goes on and on about Cyd Charisse's legs in this film for about fiv...
Posted by Marie MacGillis on Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:15:00 PST

I’ll always be a sucker for Frank Sinatra!

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Posted by Marie MacGillis on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:22:00 PST

Add the Model Millionaires Myspace page

Hey check it out & go add it! It’s my new project! 4 new songs from the new album, "Sittin’ in the Catbird Seat" are posted. In the beginning of May there will be 11 others for you! my...
Posted by Marie MacGillis on Wed, 09 Apr 2008 02:46:00 PST

Upcoming shows/ On the news

     I’ve got lots and lots of information for you this time!  Thank you for taking the time to read this and double thanks if you come out to these events. Old timey jaz...
Posted by Marie MacGillis on Thu, 20 Mar 2008 05:24:00 PST

Martha Tilton LOVE

Did I ever tell you how in love I am with Martha Tilton and her smooth voice... Also, she has to be just the most darling creature I've ever seen!: Here's Barbara Stanwyck with Mart...
Posted by Marie MacGillis on Tue, 26 Feb 2008 01:36:00 PST

The summer of 78

A lot of you kids wouldn't remember the summer of 1978- including me since I was only 1... but here's a photo of me and my older brothers. They tortured me from day 1:...
Posted by Marie MacGillis on Mon, 11 Feb 2008 03:10:00 PST

King of Jazz

If you sit down and watch this whole thing I promise it will probably be one of the greatest things you've ever seen in your life!!! Also, if anyone wants to make music videos with me inspired by thi...
Posted by Marie MacGillis on Sun, 13 Jan 2008 05:04:00 PST

TONIGHT!!!!

Buy your tickets here!!ps- HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! XOXO...
Posted by Marie MacGillis on Mon, 31 Dec 2007 03:24:00 PST

Callas

Maria!! I love you always! You glorious woman! ...
Posted by Marie MacGillis on Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:36:00 PST

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOLLYWOOD STEVE!!!!

In case you didn't see it on the other blog Steve:HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOLLYWOOD STEVE HUEY!!!  You've always been the coolest dude around with long luxurious flaxen locks! ...
Posted by Marie MacGillis on Wed, 21 Feb 2007 03:13:00 PST