Larry Hoppen

Voices' own Larry Hoppen and guests will return to their "Steady Monday Night Gig" at CityJazz, Universal Studios, Orlando, FL beginning September 10!

The "Voice of Orleans", Larry Hoppen, has always been one of classic rock's most recognizable vocalists. With crowd-pleasing mass-appeal hits like, "Still The One" and "Dance With Me," it is no wonder that a popular Florida attraction such as Universal Studios is pleased with Larry's Monday night shows at CityJazz in the theme park's City Walk.

Hoppen (and guests) have been onstage at CityJazz nearly every Monday night since the beginning of March. However, Larry and company took most of August off because of the Voices' busy schedule.

Larry explains that, "City Walk is this really cool city-like section of Universal Studios. There are a bunch of themed nightclubs. One of the popular ones is the Bob Marley reggae-themed place. And, the venue we perform at is called CityJazz. It is an absolutely beautiful place, great sound, a comfortable room to play in."

Even though Larry has been entertaining audiences there since March, things are "never boring" at CityJazz when Hoppen and his friends are "in the house." He says, "I have many guests that come in and sit in with my band and that keeps things fresh and exciting. (Fellow Voices' member) Pat Travers is one of the more frequent guests because he lives in Orlando. Charlie DeChant, the sax player for Hall and Oates has joined us (see photo). We also feature Charlie Morgan (Voices' drummer who has also worked

Charlie DeChant, Pat Travers, Liberty DeVoto, Lane & Larry Hoppen, Fred Domolut, Vince Edwards, Larry McRae (Photo by Teresa Meninno)

with Elton John and many others)." Larry's brother, and Voices' band member, Lane Hoppen is also part of the group. Both Hoppen brothers agree that while the show is a rocking good time it is also very family-friendly. Larry says that it's "Not 'white bread' but certainly something you can take your kids to. My kids like my music!" (Note: Larry has Kindergarten-aged twin daughters)

The Monday night shows usually begin around 8:30pm. Larry and his band treat the crowd to plenty of original new songs that Larry describes as "similar to Orleans in that the tracks are very melodic with plenty of vocal harmonies and a lot of guitar. But, they are different from Orleans in that I wrote these songs myself. I did not write a lot of the stuff on Orleans records."

Hoppen's name recognition and ability to bring in other musicians that respect his work have been a big boon to CityJazz. Larry reveals that, "One of main reasons they booked us was because they had nearly nobody in there on a Monday night. Now they have a crowd." The cover is minimal, in fact, sometimes there will be special promotions where people will be let in for free. Every seat is comfortable and provides a good view of the show.

In August, Larry and Lane Hoppen along with drummer Charlie Morgan "returned home" as they performed with the Voices of Classic Rock at CityJazz in Universal Studios in Orlando and for a corporate show.