A TRIBUTE WITH HEART

Laurie Roldan honors Karen Carpenter
with affection, authenticity, and grace.

Singer Laurie Roldan could easily be elected president of the Karen Carpenter Appreciation Society. Her concert tribute at The Green Room 42, A Song for You: The Music of Karen Carpenter & Friends!, reflects a lifelong devotion to the singer/drummer while broadening its repertoire without losing sight of its inspiration. The attitude is serious and somewhat reverential, bordering on worshipful.

Roldan says she’s been absorbing the recordings of Karen Carpenter, made with her brother Richard Carpenter, since the age of 5. The lifelong immersion has clearly paid off. While a natural similarity in timbre may be the luck of DNA, her careful attention to Karen’s vocal quality, phrasing, and even appearance results in something striking. Most impressive are the distinctively Karen-esque rich low notes. The resemblance is uncanny at times, but this is more tribute than imitation.

Her commentary traces both her own musical journey and Karen Carpenter’s, touching on their experiences, influences, and inspirations. At times, however, the spoken material feels too obviously scripted and studiously memorized, resulting in somewhat stilted delivery. One never questions the affection and connection she has for her idol and role model; it’s heartfelt, but the lines sound more like they come from a printed page than from the heart. Some transitions from speech to song also need attention; there were instances of awkward dead silence, making the intended connections miss the mark or feel too on the nose.

In case you’re wondering if there’s a buzz-killing cloud of emphasis on the psychological issues and anorexia that tragically led to the legend’s early death, no need to worry. There is no ponderous or pity-drenched post-mortem here. The pressures of show biz success and personal struggles are not sugar-coated, but there’s nothing exploitative either.

Another welcome aspect is that the material revisited is not merely a lazy list of the biggest Carpenters hits. Yes, some of the best-selling singles are included: the upbeat “Top of the World”; the downbeat “Rainy Days and Mondays”; and the Oscar-winning and -nominated movie themes “For All We Know” and “Bless the Beasts and the Children.” Deeper dives include material from television appearances, notably two medleys Carpenter shared with veteran vocalists of earlier generations. One paired her with Ella Fitzgerald, featuring standards, and the other with Perry Como. For these re-creations, Roldan was capably joined by Alexandra de Suze for the Fitzgerald selections, and her husband, Dan Roldan, for the Como material.

Other duet partners were equally effective, each bringing a distinct personality: Christopher Andrew Aceves for “Ticket to Ride,” the Beatles cover from Carpenters’ first album; Lianne Marie Dobbs for two duets; and Gabriela Gomez for two songs more closely associated with Linda Ronstadt. The solid band included pianist Mathew Zwiebel, drummer Mitch Bowers, and bassist Magda Kress.

Karen and Richard Carpenter’s records and persona were pooh-poohed as a pop flavor too vanilla and bland—or sugary sweet—by some critics. Laurie Roldan unapologetically sticks with the frozen-in-time image rather than trying to modernize it. When she sings “Yesterday Once More,” ostensibly a salute to the rock and roll of earlier decades, it does dramatic double duty, serving as a loving journey back to the Carpenters themselves. It’s a valuable valentine.

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A Song for You: The Music of Karen Carpenter & Friends!
Laurie Roldan
The Green Room 42, 570 10th Ave., 4th Floor inside YOTEL in New York City
performed April 30, 2026
for future performances, visit The Green Room 42
for more info, visit Laurie Roldan

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