ACCLAIMED SINGER, SONGWRITER & PIANIST
TONY DESARE
RETURNS TO THE ALGONQUIN HOTEL
CELEBRATING THE 2009
JOHNNY MERCER CENTENNIAL WITH
“MERCER, MOON RIVER & MEâ€
FEBRUARY 3 – 21
NEW TELARC CD“RADIO SHOW†IN STORES 1/20
TONY DeSARE – the acclaimed singer, pianist and songwriter – will return to the famed Oak Room of the Algonquin Hotel for an exclusive three week engagement from February 3-21 with a new show “Mercer, Moon River & Me,†celebrating the centennial of legendary lyricist Johnny Mercer. In addition to classic Mercer lyrics like “That Old Black Magic,†“One For My Baby,†“Blues In The Night†and “Moon River,†he includes rarely performed numbers such as “Have You Got Any Castles, Baby?†and “The Country’s In The Very Best Of Hands.†DeSare will also perform original compositions from RADIO SHOW, his new CD from Telarc International due out January 20. The show will feature Steve Doyle on bass and Ed Decker on guitar. All shows have a $60.00 cover and $30 food and beverage minimum. All performances are at the Oak Room (59 West 44th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues). Please call (212) 419-9331 for reservations.
Tony has won critical and popular acclaim for his concert performances throughout the United States as well as in Australia, Japan and Hong Kong. According to USA Today, “DeSare belongs to a group of neo-traditional upstarts stretching from Harry Connick Jr, to Michael Bublé and Jamie Cullum. DeSare covers old and newer pop and jazz standards without smothering or over-thinking the material.†Tony will also be doing a free in-store performance and CD signing at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, January 21 at Barnes & Noble Lincoln Center (1972 Broadway at 66th Street).
Johnny Mercer – hailed as one of the greatest lyricist of the 20th century – collaborated on over 1,100 songs with some of America’s foremost composers including Henry Mancini, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, Hoagy Carmichael and Duke Ellington, winning four Academy Awards. Also an accomplished singer, Mercer was president and co-founder of Capitol Records. He was instrumental in discovering and nurturing the recording careers of such music icons as Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, and Nat King Cole. His southern roots are reflected in his intelligent, optimistic lyrics that reflect the romantic yearnings, energy and personality of the American Dream.
“It was his country background that made Mercer’s lyrics so unique and powerful,†says DeSare. “Mercer was a success in big cities like New York and Hollywood, yet he wrote of wide open spaces, apple trees, birds and trains in the distance and he did it all with unmatched wit, optimism and beauty. Being a country boy myself from the farms of upstate New York, I am interested in exploring both sides of his personality.â€
Radio Show – DeSare’s new CD which recaptures the magic of broadcasting’s golden age – spans several decades of swing, jazz and pop. Several eras in American popular music are tied together by the voices of radio announcers who set the tone for each individual track and the recording as a whole. Most prominent and diverse among the announcers is former “Saturday Night Live” comic and longtime radio personality Joe Piscopo. More than just a collection of period songs with clever intros, though, Radio Show offers up a historical retrospective of the intimate relationship between the music, the listener and the magic medium that brought them together.
The idea came from some old Frank Sinatra recordings in DeSare’s collection that captured the iconic singer in his early years, performing for radio broadcasts during World War II. “Radio created an atmosphere in which to frame the songs,†says DeSare. “You’d hear Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Judy Garland or any other prominent singer of the day, all singing each others songs, whatever was the hit of the week. In that same way, I wanted to create my own modern-day radio show on a record, where I could sing any song from any artist or any generation, and do it with my own arrangement. I’ve included songs from the ‘30s all the way through the ‘80s.â€
The album opens with a World War II-era orchestral fanfare and voiceover intro, followed by a big band rendition of the Harold Arlen/Ted Koehler classic, “Get Happy,†a track loaded with punchy horn riffs and Hammond B3 organ. The following track, the smooth and easygoing “A Little Bit Closer,†is one of five tunes penned by DeSare – all of which fit seamlessly with the generational touchstones throughout the recording. He injects a bossa vibe into “Bizarre Love Triangle,†a piece originally recorded by New Order in 1986 and rearranged here to include jazz chanteuse Jane Monheit (both she and DeSare deliver one of the verses in Portuguese). “I always thought this song would make a great duet,†says DeSare. “It wasn’t written that way originally, but I thought that if the lines were swapped within the song, like a real conversation about a relationship, it could work really well.â€
DeSare’s upbeat take on the Hoagy Carmichael/Sidney Arodin 1930 chestnut, “Lazy River,†is based on an arrangement recorded by Bobby Darin in 1961. “Darin basically rewrote the melody,†says DeSare. “Part of that song is a nod to his style, and the ending sounds a bit like ‘Mack the Knife,’ so you could say this track is a tribute to both the song itself and to Bobby Darin.†The swing version of “Easy Lover,†the 1984 pop duet between Genesis frontman Phil Collins and Earth Wind & Fire alum Phillip Bailey, presented a stylistic challenge, says DeSare. “When you listen to the original, it’s just not designed to be a swing song, really,†he says. “I just took the original melody and the lyric, and I had to reinvent everything else. My goal was to make it like a Count Basie-type swing tune.â€
One of the most powerful moments on Radio Show is DeSare’s stirring rendition of Bob Dylan’s seminal protest song, “The Times They Are A-Changin’,†prefaced by a montage of quick sound bites from the decades leading up to the 1960s. “I had played that song live a few times, and it’s a really powerful statement,†says DeSare. “Dylan’s original version – one guitar, one harmonica, one voice – is very much of the ‘60s. But if you reframe the tune with piano and sing it in a different way in a different key, it sounds like an entirely new song.â€
TONY DeSARE will launch an international tour with two weeks in London, then will continue on to cities such as Los Angeles, Boston, Washington DC, Seattle, St. Louis and Palm Beach. “With his dark hair, bright brown eyes and toothpaste smile that rarely fades,†raved The New York Times, “DeSare is one of the most promising young male performers. He is a Sinatra acolyte in his early 30s who sings Prince as well as Johnny Mercer.â€
Tony DeSare performs with infectious joy, wry playfulness, and robust musicality. His takes on classic standards and sophisticated original compositions have earned him a reputation as one of country’s hottest young singer/pianists. His sound is romantic, swinging and sensual, but what sets Tony apart is his ability to write original material that sounds fresh and at the same time blends seamlessly with the Great American Songbook.
With a sexy, distinctive sound, Tony’s 2007 recording, Last First Kiss, spotlights a refreshingly contemporary combination of originals and standards, from Prince’s “Kiss†and Carole King’s “I Feel the Earth Move†to classics like “You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To†and Sammy Cahn/Jimmy Van Heusen’s under-recorded gem “Come On Strong.†The album also features the legendary guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli and a horn section. The CD – which debuted at #5 on the Billboard chart and #3 on the Amazon.com ranking and also #2 on the iTunes jazz chart – was featured on NPR’s “Weekend Edition Saturday.â€
Want You, Tony’s debut CD, debuted at #16 on the Billboard chart when it was released in May 2005. The CD includes standards like “Two For The Road,†“Just In Time,†and “I Wish You Love,†as well as originals “Marry Me†and “How I Will Say I Love You.†He performed selections from the CD on national broadcasts of the CBS Early Show, NBC Weekend Today and Fox News Channel. Tony composed and performed the title theme to My Date With Drew, an independent documentary feature film about a guy who has 30 days and $1100 to get a date with Drew Barrymore. It has been featured on “The Tonight Show,†“The Today Show,†Playboy Magazine, Entertainment Weekly and Premiere. The movie’s theme song, “If I Had Drew,†is featured on his debut CD.
