ICONIC AMERICAN SONGBOOK FINDS A CHAMPION IN TV HOST/SINGER OLEG FRISH AND HIS DREAM DUETS ALBUM  

Written on Feb, 28 2016 20:57

                   ICONIC AMERICAN SONGBOOK FINDS A CHAMPION IN
           TV HOST/SINGER OLEG FRISH AND HIS DREAM DUETS ALBUM
                   
Oleg Frish, a talk show host singer/performer  is truly living everything that embodies the American Dream.  He grew up in the Soviet Union and after hearing his first American Standard, ("Hello Dolly" by Brenda Lee) at the age of four, he instantly fell in love with the genre. By his early teens he had memorized some 15,000  songs from The American Songbook that were recorded during the "Golden Age of Popular Music" (1920 -1960).  "I dedicated most of my life to preserving the legacy of The American Songbook, and I haven't met anyone who loves or knows its history more than I do,"  exclaimed Oleg.
He became the first Russian broadcaster to produce and host his own talk show in the nation nearly 20 years ago and earlier this year he fulfilled a lifetime dream with his latest album, “Oleg Frish, Duets With My American Idols,"  which was released on his own imprint, Time Out Media, distributed by BDG/RED Distribution, LLC (a division of SONY Music Entertainment ).  It is available on iTunes at: http://bit.ly/iTunes-Duets-American-Idols and Amazon at http://bit.ly/Amazon-Duets-American-Idols). The 15-track tribute to American standards opens with an introduction by Connie Francis and duets with legendary stars;  Bobby Rydell, Gary U. S. Bonds, Lainie Kazan,  the late Ben E. King  (his last known recording ), Tony Orlando, Melissa Manchester, Lou Christie,  B. J. Thomas, Peggy March and Chris Montez. The album also features four solo performances by Oleg.
It took two years complete and noted arranger Bob Mann and the album's producer Allan Schwartzberg came up with duets concept. "I'm so grateful to have recorded with such an amazing group of artists," he stated. "Every day in the studio  I pinched  myself to make sure it was for real."
Oleg's chain of life-long dreams started when he moved  to New York in 1991 and eventually settled in Brooklyn. He started working  with RTVi (Russian Television International) on his own television series and next year will mark his 20th Anniversary as a talk show host. In that span, he has interviewed over 2000 popular music and entertainment personalities including among others;  the late James Brown, B.B. King and Donna Summer, Connie Francis, Engelbert  Humperdinck, Paul Anka, Al Martino, Jack Jones, Kenny G, Andy Williams, Marvin Hamlisch, Petula Clark, Michel Legrand, Gloria Gaynor, Brenda Lee, and Vikki Carr and  Neil Sedaka.
"I believe in miracles," enthused Oleg, "and having my own talk show in America and recording a duets album are proof that they can happen." For more information go to www.olegfrish.com or email namedia11235@gmail.com .


TOP 1O THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT OLEG FRISH
 
1. Oleg is the first Russian born radio and television broadcast journalist to host and produce his own entertainment and music programs in the United States. He was inspired to launch his career in the industry by several legendary American television hosts including Ed Sullivan, Merv Griffin, Dick Clark, Mike Douglas and Regis Philbin.
2. Oleg has been the Russia's premier broadcast journalist in the US on radio and television for the past 24 years. He has hosted two top long-running radio shows, the MUSIC HOUR WITH OLEG FRISH (1998-2005) and STANDARD TIME WITH OLEG FRISH, on WNYM Radio (970 khz AM Radio licensed in Hackensack, NJ and serving the New York Metropolitan area). His first television show about American music TIME OUT (a celebrity driven news program that was taped in various locations, was televised internationally (including the US and Canada) from 2005-2010. His current show, THE FRIDAY NIGHT is broadcast nationally in every state on RTVi and has been in production since 2011.
3. THE FRIDAY NIGHT is produced by RTVI.  It's a half hour one-on-one show format that features Oleg interviewing a major celebrity guest  52 weeks a year. Throughout his career, he has interviewed hundreds of major stars including; James Brown, B.B. King, Connie Francis, Engelbert Humperdinck, Paul Anka, Al Martino, Jack Jones, John Kander, Jerry Herman, Marvin Hamlisch, Petula Clark, Michel Legrand, Yma Sumak, Gloria Gaynor, Donna Summer, Brenda Lee, Vikki Carr, Keely Smith to name a few. The show is broadcast in Russian (voice over).
4. RTVi (Russian Television International) an international Russian-language privately owned television network with studios based in New York, Tel-Aviv, Berlin and Riga.. RTVi's European feed is not available in Russia, but they reach a global audience of more than 50 million viewers. RTVi's principal audience are millions of Russian-speaking viewers outside Russia, in some cases it’s the only TV channel available for Russian-speaking communities. There is a population of over 3 million Russian-Americans and immigrants living in the U.S, and over 350,000 living in New York. All of the network's programs are included as part of the IO Russian package that is available all major cable network distribution systems such as Direct TV (all areas except New York) Time Warner, Cablevision, Comcast and RCN. In the Tri-State area, RTVi programs can be viewed on Time Warner Cable channel 521, Cablevision channel 1182, RCN channel 530, DirecTV channel 2148, on Comcast and other channels depending on the area.
 
 
5. Duets with My American Idols, (released by Sony Red, 5/19) Oleg's fourth album as a recording artist, is a dream come true and culmination of two years of recording with an all-star cast of noted rock n' roll and pop artists that Oleg convinced to record duets with him of some of his most cherished American songbook classics including; the late Ben E. King, B.J. Thomas, Lainie Kazan, Bobby Rydell, Chris Montez, Peggy March, Lou Christie, Tony Orlando, Gary U.S. Bonds and Melissa Melissa Manchester. The album also features several solo tracks performed by Oleg and a special introduction by the legendary Connie Francis.
6.  Oleg had dedicated most of adult life to sharing his love and appreciation for the classic American songbook and preserving the legacies of many of the artist's who popularized standards around the world. The timeliness of his "Duets With My American Idols" is a subtle reminder that many of those artists and songs will be soon be lost to generations to come unless the songs are kept alive.
7.  Oleg is a one-man "songapedia," musical historian and a avid collector of archival music memorabilia (albums, books, post cards). The first American song he remembers hearing was "Hello Dolly" by Brenda Lee at age four, and by his early teens he could  recall by memory lyrics, arrangements, composers and artist of over 15,000 songs. He fell in love with many noted American, European and European artists and songs recorded in the golden decades of popular music from 1940 - 1980, and a range of genres, including American Songbook classics, rock n' roll, jazz, rhythm & blues, contemporary pop and disco.
8. When Oleg was 16 years old, his keen gift and memory of music earned him  a featured performer slot in two popular psychic shows: Miracles Do Not Exist!  and "I Simply Read Your Thoughts! " which toured all over Russia from 1979-1992. Audiences were given a large catalog of songs, and like a mentalist, he would randomly ask people from the audience to pick any song and keep it in their mind.  Within seconds, Oleg would correctly name the song they picked. At time, he performed as many as 40-60 shows a month.
9. Oleg fluently speaks and understands 6 languages, (including, Russian, English, Ukrainian, German, French, Yiddish, ..) and sings in 15 (including English, Russian, Ukrainian, Italian, Spanish, Yiddish, Japanese, Swedish, Hebrew, Yakut, Romanian, Polish, Georgian, and some others) His dream is to one day record his album in several of those languages.
10. Over the past 5 years Oleg has been developing his live show with sold out performances at the Metropolitan Room in NYC and other venues (The Laurie Beechman Theater, The Millennium Theater in Brooklyn, and Joe's Pub ) and markets including the Catalina Jazz Club in Southern California, Marco Polo Cabaret Room in Miami, ST. Petersburg Night Club in Denver and many private functions.