mandy-doveman

Mandy Patinkin making records with Doveman, performing in NYC this month

Mandy Patinkin, who you may know from Homeland, The Princess Bride, Alien Nation Yentl, and many Broadway shows, has released two records this year — Diary: January 27, 2018 and Diary: April/May 2018 — that have him interpreting works of songwriters outside of his usual stable, including songs by Stephin Merritt, T. Rex, Randy Newman, Rufus Wainwright, Bob Dylan, Harry Nilsson, Laurie Anderson, and more. His collaborator on these records, and the one who introduced him to the songs, is Thomas Bartlett (Doveman). There will be more Diary entries, and Patinkin talked to The New York Times about how he and Bartlett teamed up:

I’d been working with [the music director and accompanist] Paul Ford for 30 years, and when he retired a few years ago, I decided to take a break. I got tired of doing all the stuff I’d been doing, and I developed a sort of learner’s block, where I couldn’t learn new stuff. Then my good friend Bob Hurwitz at Nonesuch Records put me together with Thomas Bartlett, and we started working together. I told Thomas I didn’t want to work on anything that would remind me of other stuff I’d done, and he said, “Don’t worry, I’m from a whole different world.” So he sent me 350 songs, and I stayed home last Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and listened to all of them, and chose 28 that spoke to me at that moment. Since then we’ve picked some more. I’ve found a new life partner in music.

You can listen to those two Diary albums below.

Mandy will be performing a series of NYC shows, titled “Diaries 2018,” at The Connelly Theater on October 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24. Doveman will not be part of these, and Mandy will be accompanied by Adam Ben-David on piano. Most of the run is sold-out but there are a few tickets for the 10/22 show which is a special benefit performance.

For a completely different Mandy, head here. And for more collaborative albums with Thomas Bartlett, there’s one with St. Vincent coming out this week.