In the words of revered jazz critic Ira Gitler, she “has it all, and then some … artistic, swinging, and superbly entertaining.” Awards Barbara Fasano's BUSY BEING FREE is sheer perfection. This is a CD from a singer who has thrilledme from the first time I heard her. She is in full command and has established herself as one of the top singers of the day." ~ DavidKenney, WBAI "Everything Old Is New Again" Barbara’s many New York headline engagement include concert appearances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s American Songbook at the Appel Room, Rose Hall, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, New York Festival of Song, Town Hall and New York’s 92nd Street Y’s Lyrics and Lyricists series. Starring engagements in cabaret and nightclubs include Birdland, Jazz at Kitano, The Algonquin, Feinstein’s, The Carlyle, Iridium, 54 Below, Café Sabarsky, the Palace in Stamford, CT, Night Town in Cleveland, Live at Zedel and Pizza Express Live in London, Monteverdi Tuscany in Italy, and the Royal Room at the Colony Hotel in Palm Beach. Arts centers and music festivals across the country include Saratoga Jazz Festival, Music Mountain Festival's Twilight Jazz, Kravis Center, Caramoor, Arizona Jazz Festival, Jersey Jazz, Kanbar Center, Cooperstown Music Festival, Provincetown Cabaret Festival, Sheldon Concert Hall and Jazz at The Bistro in St. Louis, Night Town in Cleveland, Prince Music Theatre, and Kerrytown Concert House . As well as being elegantly written, Busy Being Free is eminently readable - a treasure trove of profound insights into love, lust and female desire. -- Emma Lee Potter * DAILY MIRROR * From the author of Your Voice in My Head and Royals comes a beautiful, breath-taking, unputdownable memoir about love and heartbreak, sex and celibacy, growing up and starting again.

Busy Being Free by Emma Forrest | Hachette UK Busy Being Free by Emma Forrest | Hachette UK

I was at the cemetery, admiring the flowers and books at the graves of Karl Marx and Douglas Adams. The thing found most painful about divorce is that there was no Mark spot at which to leave offerings…. Songs are the place to leave offerings by everything you lost and everything that stayed - and they’re the flowers too.” Having said that, there were parts of the book that I really enjoyed and that also made me reflect on my own experiences in a new light. She redeemed herself for the fact I had to keep looking up words. Barbara Fasano sings with such deeply felt belief in her material that the art she practices is closer to pure expression than interpretation. Her take on 'Photographs,' in which she brings at least three levels to the song at the same time, is worth the price of the CD."— David Hajdu, music critic for The Nation Lauded by everyone from Nigella Lawson to Lisa Taddeo, the title of Busy Being Free is taken from the song Cactus Tree by Joni Mitchell, in which Mitchell sings about an unnamed woman’s need for freedom and resistance to romantic commitment. In every case, the woman “thinks she loves them all” but ultimately is always “too busy being free.” – a notion which ties in beautifully with the melodies of Busy Being Free. At times I laughed out loud but I also nearly gave up on the book two or three times because the name dropping and superfluous vocabulary became irritating.Mitchell has called herself a "serial monogamist." She carried the inner tension presented in this song throughout her life. The most delicious memoir that kept me in bed all day. I wonder what it is like to live with a mind like Forrest's, which makes such shooting connections between things and sees a great pattern in it all. I think she might be a genius. Eve Babitz didn't die, she just regenerated as Emma Forrest -- Sophie Heawood, author of THE HUNGOVER GAMES

BUSY definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary BUSY definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary

Barbara Fasano is not just a singer, she is a persuasive storyteller. In her warm alto, supported by John di Martino's blissful arrangements and a swinging band, she is committed to telling these stories ... an exceptional ballad singer who can also swing. And sing she does. Borrowing from the tapestry of her life, she imbues truth in her delivery at every turn." ~ John Hoglund, Cabaret Scenes La Fasano is an excellent interpreter, as much at ease with jazz as with music having cabaret roots... the perfect interpretation of Arlen’s songs with a sophisticated voice ..." for, or enjoyment of, what one is doing: a diligent student. industrious often implies a habitual characteristic of steady and zealous application, often In some studies, it was found that people use busyiness to “hide from… laziness and fear of failure”. “We burn valuable time doing things that aren’t necessary or important because this busyness makes us feel productive,” he wrote. “As it turns out, you really do have to slow down to do your best.”It made me laugh when she highly recommended being creative without having to worry about paying the bills. I wish. She moaned about not being able to afford to buy a place in London with a garden. Most people can’t even afford to live there period. But I tried to stay with her frame of reference and could see that coming from a huge Californian house would be a huge adjustment and I accepted her invite into her assimilation and transformation, warts and all. A beautiful, unputdownable memoir about love and heartbreak, sex and celibacy, growing up and starting again. * SHEERLUXE * Steven Suskin of PLAYBILL raves, "The good news today is that we now have another Arlen collection that can be played alongside Harold's. Fasano brings us Arlen treasures both familiar and non ... praise the band, and the singer, and thank them for a bluesy, jazzy, swinging album of Arlen." Barbara Fasano, whose fourth CD BUSY BEING FREE(MAC Award ~MajorRecording of the Year) was released to critical acclaim ("My favorite new vocal album"— Will Friedwald, WSJ) has been hailed as one of the nation’s most stunning and soulful singers. A Resident Artist at New York's legendary Birdland Jazz Club, where she performs Saturday nights, recent highlights include a 2-week Residency in Italy at Monteverdi Tuscany and headlining at the Saratoga Jazz Festival with her trio. For a fun live video clip, GO HERE.In 2022 she headlined for the third time at Music Mountain's Jazz series. For a rather surprising answer to the FAQ "How does a NYC singer prepare for a concert in the mountains?" GO HERE. Other highlights include multiplesold-out engagements at Birdland Theater, London's Pizza Express, & headlining at both Carnegie Hall & Lincoln Center. Personal productivity… is the most important one, as it centres around the time that I make to spend with my family, my friends and doing things that fulfil me as a living person,” he wrote. “I know it’s odd to look at the time you spend with your family as being productive... but by doing so, I’m mentally making it more important. I’m giving it the same weighted value that I put on being able to keep a roof over my head and food on the table. Personal productivity keeps me human and reminds me what really matters in this world."