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Songwriter, Producer and Arranger Jeff Golkin continues his musical journey of love and life on his third album, Orchestra in the Pit-A Tribute to Broadway, a musical retrospective celebrating his deep love of this singularly unique art form born of his nearly ten years in musical theatre, including three Broadway shows, two National Tours and a number of off-Broadway productions. Jeff Golkin & Forever Love’s Orchestra in the Pit-A Tribute to Broadway, begins with the lead track Magic to Do, allowing the listener backstage for a brief moment before the action begins. The stage manager calls for “orchestra in the pit” over the loudspeaker and directs cast members to take their “places please” before the curtain rises and the musical journey begins.
Lead vocalist Joanne Williams sets the stage lyrically for the magic that is to come throughout the album, as Jeff and the Forever Love troupe make their way down Broadway. Each of the carefully selected and creatively reimagined Broadway melodies on this fourteen-track album stand alone and together, conveying through lyrics and masterful musicianship, expressions of sentiments that run deep within the soul with a fresh and contemporary vibe, done only the way Jeff Golkin & Forever Love can!
From smooth jazz to latin explorations, Big Band swing to soulful R&B, nostalgic ballads to bolero, jazz waltz to soul-stirring gospel, the selections of Orchestra in the Pit embody a timeless appeal that touches the heart and express the simple theme that happiness lies not in extraordinary endeavors or spectacles, but in the simple things and moments we share each day with those we love. They capture the exhilaration of the experience of life and the multitude of emotions which inspire the endless possibilities of our hopes, dreams and imagination. Orchestra in the Pit is a tribute to Broadway and all of the incredibly talented musicians who have selflessly occupied the hidden space below the stage called “the Pit”. It is with gratitude that the Forever Love family honors all of those musicians who are not always seen, but whose artistry is the vital fabric of the beautifully rich and unique musical tapestry known as the Broadway musical.
GONNA BUILD A MOUNTAIN
RELEASE DATE: December 5, 2025!
Motown goes to church on December 5 with the release of our next single, “Gonna Build a Mountain”! This classic Anthony Newley/Leslie Bricusse composition from the 1961 Broadway smash “Stop the World - I Want to Get Off” gets a holy, holy makeover in the barn-burning gospel styles of Mavis Staples, Aretha Franklin and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Powerful piano, wailing organ, joyous drums, proclaiming horns, infectious bass and full gospel choir preaching to the heavens come together as one to support the soulful vocals of Ms. Joanne Williams as she tells her tale of faith and perseverance. Joanne has everyone dancing in the aisles and raising their hands skyward while the band testifies!
THE BIG CLOWN BALLOONS
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Upright bass and smooth, sultry tenor saxophone transport us into a smokey NYC nightclub circa 1940. Drums and piano join in, elevating the sound another notch into the realm of the classic Blue Note recordings of Dexter Gordon and Hank Mobley and simmering with a coolness developed through hundreds of nights spent refining their craft on the dimly lit stage. You can almost hear the cocktail glasses clink to the beat of the quartet laying down the smooth grooves. Just then, trombones join in and we’re eased into the world of classic big band jazz ala Count Basie, never losing that confident, effortless swing.
Big brass and swinging saxes up the ante and the next thing you know, we’re off into double-time swing, getting all the feet tapping and fingers snapping. The building of brass and saxes out of the double time and into a shout chorus that pushes everything over the top gives way to a swinging tenor sax/piano solo coda as the band swings until the very last joyous trumpet shout! This is a journey through classic jazz at its finest!
LIFE OF THE PARTY
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Get ready for the release of our next single, “Life of the Party”, from the John Kander and Fred Ebb musical, “The Happy Time”!
Jeff, an original cast member of the show, reprises his role as “Foufie”, the piano-playing roughneck who kicked off the show stopping “Life of the Party” production number accompanying David Wayne on stage on the piano. One of Jeff’s fondest memories of the show was his one-on-one time with Mr. Kander as he worked out the final arrangements for the introduction to the song.
Jeff Golkin and Forever Love’s instrumental rendition of the original song includes piano and big band horns in a classic call and response before kicking into a funky New Orleans second line groove. A mellifluous trombone brings us straight down to Bourbon Street for a street parade party full of swinging saxophones, wailing brass and percussion that has the whole crowd moving to the funky rhythms! Trombone and trumpet get solo features...and they even give the bass player some! You can’t help but get caught up in the party!
IT'S YOU AGAIN
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Gentle latin percussion, piano motifs and harmonized flutes give way to the sultry flugelhorn melody of “It’s You Again” as it tells a tale of love and longing. Jeff Golkin & Forever Love’s version of the classic Walter Marks composition musically sets a scene of a quiet night, pale moonlight and two lovers resting comfortably in a loving embrace, their heartbeats aligned in rhythm together with the dreamy pulse of the music. Musical homage is paid to the vibe, feel and color of timeless love themes with this arrangement as piano and subtle jazz guitar and soft, yet lush, strings support the warm tone of this haunting melody. You can almost feel the warm breeze whispering through the secluded love nest in the moonlight as the lovers drift off to sleep in each other’s arms.
GRAPES OF ROTH
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This full big band jazz arrangement of the Burt Bacharach composition “Grapes of Roth”, from his Broadway production "Promises, Promises”, captures the delicate balance of pop with jazz, deeply intricate harmonies and endlessly intriguing musical twists and turns that made Bacharach one of the most loved and respected composers of his generation. Brass and woodwinds entwine melodies with infinitely surprising countermelodies as the rhythm section lays down an effortless, gently funky groove, taking the listener on a breezy musical journey that feels like cruising down the Pacific Coast Highway in a classic convertible, top down, Wayfarers on and not a care in the world. The sonic embodiment of the sunny California ethos.
ONCE IN A LIFETIME
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A solitary upright bass tumbao drifts through the air like a cool breeze on a warm Havana night. An effortless heartbeat of percussion soon joins in to beckon the lovers, and soon to be lovers, to the dance floor. The piano montuno and rhythmic punctuations of a red-hot horn section get the hips swaying to the sultry groove as the ocean gently and rhythmically kisses the nearby beach in tandem with the music, setting the scene for the delicate melodies of “Once In a Lifetime”. Masterful piano, Spanish guitar and lush strings all take turns telling the tale of following your destiny no matter where it takes you and seizing the moment while Latin jazz flute improvisational flights urge the dancers onwards endlessly into a night of love, passion and new possibilities that are truly una vez en la vida!
Just before the Beatles’ “British Invasion” of 1964, there was the British Invasion of Broadway when David Merrick obtained the rights to bring a show he saw in Nottingham to America. That show was “Stop the World – I Want To Get Off.” The show introduced Anthony Newley and its British cast to Broadway. Newley, who directed and co-wrote the book, music and lyrics with Leslie Bricusse, introduced a new, refreshing and unconventional style of musical to Broadway. Merrick, who had produced old-fashioned musicals during the “Golden Age” such as “Gypsy”, “Carnival” and “Irma La Douce”, had been looking to develop new forms for the musical stage, and he found that in “Stop the World”, which in his words, added a new imaginative dimension and experimentation to musical theatre.
Jeff’s older brother Dewey, due to his uncanny resemblance to Newley, was cast as the young “Littlechap”. During the show’s run, young Jeff had the opportunity to spend time with the lesser-known, up and coming, multi-talented Newley, his wife Joan Collins, and Broadway legend Joel Grey, who replaced Newley when the show moved from the Shubert to the Ambassador Theatre. This experience, along with the incredible score, has had a lifelong impact on Jeff’s musical journey.
Jeff adopted the Newley-Bricusse ethic of theatrical simplicity in his own musical endeavors, creating music that can universally stand alone regardless of its origin. “Once in a Lifetime” is one of many such Newley-Bricusse compositions. The song is a stand out from the show and is included in our tribute to Broadway album, not only because of its melody, but because of its simple and universal message: to seize the moment when fate takes your hand, destiny calls, and opportunity knocks to achieve great things!
24 HOURS A DAY
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One of the most underappreciated scores of the 1967-68 Broadway season was Walter Marks’ Golden Rainbow, which starred Broadway legends Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme. Overlooked for even a Tony nomination for the score or the stars, Golden Rainbow was a wonderful musical which survived the Actors’ Equity Association strike of 1968. It tells the story of every person in search of a dream – in search of their own golden rainbow!
Reviewed by Ed Sullivan as a “Helluva show”, Marks’ score resonated with audiences for 383 performances at the Shubert and George Abbott Theaters.
Marks wastes no time bringing us into the exciting world of Las Vegas in Act I, Scene I with “24 Hours a Day”, a brash and exciting musical welcome to the bright lights and fast pace of the casino life, drawing the audience into a story about winning and losing, and ultimately the rediscovery of lost love.
From the first drum beat and blast of the horns, you are instantly transported to “Sin City”, smack dab in the middle of the action on the Las Vegas Strip in the late 1960’s! The ringing slot machines sounding out over the constant murmur of the crowded casino, the lingering haze of cigarette smoke lit by a ubiquitous neon glow, the ever-attentive cocktail waitresses delivering scotch on the rocks by the trayful, the constant parade of Vegas showgirls in feathered headdresses making heads turn in admiration, men in slick suits and ladies in evening gowns headed to see a performance from one of the legendary Rat Pack icons, the clacking of the spinning roulette wheel, the palpable tension of the gambling man dangling on the precipice of either a life changing win or losing it all, the air thick with the ever present buzz of the never ending nightlife are all captured in full Vegas-style big band glory! Trumpets, saxophones and trombones wail their bluesy excitement over bombastic drum fills, capturing the excitement of the scene, the same excitement that draws our main character to “The City That Never Sleeps” to follow his dream.
MAGIC TO DO
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Orchestra’s opening number, Magic to Do (from the Broadway musical Pippin), begins by bringing us backstage to join in the excitement and anticipation of the “inner circle” moments before a Broadway show! We get to experience the musicians warming up just before cast members take their places. We hear the band kicking into the slinky groove to set the vibe of the evening and the curtain rising. The spotlight hits and the audience is immediately captivated by Joanne Williams’ sultry lead vocals inviting us all along for this musical journey, her voice reminiscent of the great Ben Vereen, who starred in the original 1972 production of the show, and Patina Miller, who starred in the 2013 revival.
Joanne is soon joined by the rest of the cast who, in true Broadway style, encourage us to allow our imaginations to run wild! Following the theme of celebrating the “orchestra in the pit”, the band gets to stretch out into the fadeout, with jazzy flute and 70’s influenced rock guitar improvisations that make us all want to move our bodies in rhythm and bliss out! Magic to Do is the perfect gateway to the whole Orchestra in the Pit experience, inviting us to “go along Broadway” with Jeff Golkin & Forever Love to discover all of the lovingly curated selections of reimagined Broadway classics!
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