Close listening reveals a thin layer of Mark Murphy grit beneath his polished patina and, particularly on "Come Rain of Come Shine," a hint of Tony Bennett. In what amounts to a solid assortment of safely appealing standards, highlighted by a pleasurable blending of Frank Loesser's "My Time of Day" and "I've Never Been in Love Before," from "Guys and Dolls," Poretz proves himself a fine belter and ballader.
If Mel Torme' is "The Velvet Fog" than you've at least got to name vocalist Jonathan Poretz "The Velvet Haze", as his smooth-yet-hip sound gives a fair nod to the Bow-tied One. Poretz' treatment of the Great American Songbook goes down nice and easy as he croons through swinging versions of "This Time The Dream's On Me" and "Just One Of Those Things." On a gentle version of "My Time Of Day" he brings great controlled emotion with just the sparse support of Lee Bloom's piano, before cranking the music up a notch and swinging into "I've Never Been In Love Before". Poretz all through this disc displays great range and control, and his selection of Noel Jewkes on tenor works together like jelly with peanut butter. All through the disc, the rhythm section is tight and in the pocket, keeping the music fresh and snappy. Fans of Torme will rejoice over the heir apparent.
Whether crooning the perfect Rodgers & Hart ballad "It Never Entered My Mind" or swinging ebulliently on the Harold Alren/Johnny Mercer chestnut "Come Rain or Come Shine," Poretz projects a forthright masculinity, vulnerable but virile, that often seems to have disappeared with the lost art of male jazz singing (Kurt Elling is the only male vocalist under 40 I can think of with a similar swagger).
Jonathan Poretz swaggers into our living rooms and hearts with “A Lot Of Livin’ To Do” the title and opening track from his debut album. Presenting standards by some of the best songwriters in the history of American jazz music, Poretz can be sophisticated (“Then I’ll Be Tired Of You”) and sensitive (“I See Your Face Before Me”), while at other times struts his stuff, as with “This Time The Dream’s On Me.”
The album, which has both a nostalgic ambience and a sixties vintage CD cover, does not attempt to copy, but rather captures the very essence of the eras from which these tunes are drawn. Poretz and co-arranger Lee Bloom (Charles Mingus, Madeleine Peyroux) have not merely dusted off old standards but injected new life into these fine compositions.
The album sounds like a live stage presentation, achieved primarily by having all the musicians in the studio playing while Poretz was singing versus recording each of the artists separately. The final recording for most of the songs was accomplished through one or two takes, leading to a fresh sound rather than an antiseptic overproduced record.
Poretz’s vocal presentation of three-time Tony Award winner and Theater Hall of Fame composer Charles Strouse’s “A Lot of Livin’ To Do” has the right degree of cockiness and is complemented by Bloom’s lively piano chops. Harold Jones, whose performance resume includes Natalie Cole, Count Basie, Hoagy Carmichael, Sarah Vaughan and B.B. King, just to name a few, adds texture with some sensitive drumming. The song also features some excellent scatting by Poretz.
The San Francisco area native sounds spookily like Frank Sinatra as he croons Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer’s “Come Rain Or Shine.” Arlen was the author of charts such as “Over the Rainbow” and “I’ve Got The World On A String” while Mercer was one of the most prolific lyricists to put pen to paper, a fabulous singer and the co-founder of Capitol Records.
Poretz’s reading of the Nat King Cole's “On The Street Where You Live” (written by Fredrick Loewe/Alan Jay Lerner) pulls at our heartstrings and captures the essence of a man whose sensibilities have given away to being intoxicated with love. As he croons, “I have often walked/Down the street before/But the pavement always/Stayed beneath my feet before/All at once am I/Several stories high/Knowing I’m on the street where you live/“, it is easy to envision the ladies in the audience swooning.
The flute is one of many instruments that Noel Jewkes has mastered and those talents come to the fore on “It Never Entered My Mind” as he brings an ethereal element to Bloom and Poretz’s interpretation of the Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart song. Jewkes raises the bar he set with his own excellent musicianship when he provides us with an awe-inspiring sax solo on the “My Time Of Day”/”I’ve Never Been In Love Before” medley.
Other fabulous songs on this disc include Cole Porter’s “Just One Of Those Things,” “How Insensitive” (Antonio Carlos Jobim/Norman Gimbel/Vinicius De Moraes) and “I’ll Remember April.”
A Lot Of Livin’ To Do, released on the Pacific Coast Jazz label, is an album you should go out looking for and not merely wait to stumble across. I am not aware if Poretz or the label has plans to make any of these tunes available as single downloads but I would not recommend taking that approach if it is an option. Poretz has woven together a collection of songs that are interdependent and build a strong and romantic theme from the opening track to the closing number.
A Lot of Livin' to Do introduces Jonathan Poretz, an impressive new crooner whose singing sometimes recalls Mel Tormé (particularly on the more uptempo material) but is fresh and original within the genre. Poretz has an attractive voice, he swings, and he shows versatility on the high quality standards. High points include "A Lot of Livin' to Do," "I'll Remember April" and "On the Street Where You Live." Poretz's backup group is very jazz-oriented and there are quite a few excellent solos from Noel Jewkes (on four different instruments) and pianist Lee Bloom. Overall, this is a very impressive effort.
(4 Stars)
On more under-recorded tunes like the ballads “Then I'll Be Tired of You” (by Schwartz/Harburg), “I See Your Face Before Me” (Schwartz/Dietz), and the swinging “This Time The Dream's On Me” (Arlen/Mercer), Poretz does an effective job with shading and nuance that would do Sinatra and Tormé proud. On a Frank Loesser medley from Guys and Dolls, Poretz matches up the rarely heard “My Time of Day” with an unusally uptempo take on “I've Never Been In Love Before.”
Frank Sinatra's footwear makes for some tough shoes to fill. But judging by A Lot of Livin' to Do, San Francisco-based vocalist Jonathan Poretz has done an able job of rendering Old Blue Eyes in “Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey & Dean (The Rat Pack),” a show with performances in San Francisco, Las Vegas and Boston. Not that Poretz sounds like Sinatra on the recording. With a delivery that is closer to that of another Sinatra-influenced singer, Bobby Darin, Poretz comes across silky, swinging and cool as hell, sort of a cross between Darin and Mel Torme.
The title tune, a classic American Songbook standard, opens the set, popping to life on some subdued Latin-flavored percussion behind Poretz, who is a bit hushed at first, before the band cranks things up into a more characteristically—for the tune—jaunty mode. And man, can this guy Poretz scat, loose and insouciant—a bit of a lost art, it sometimes seems, in the male vocalist field.
That sets the stage for the rest of the set, which is comprised of a bunch of familiar tunes out of the Songbook: “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “I'll Remember April,” the always beautiful (and especially so here) Rodgers and Hart jewel “It Never Entered My Mind” and “I See Your Face Before Me.” “Just One of Those Things” finds Poretz backed by a flexible rhythm team, along with Noel Jewkes' smoky, moody wee hours tenor saxophone; “I'll Remember April” features his clarinet, and Antonio Carlos Jobim's “How Insensitive” his flute.
And I can't close without mentioning the sound, which is very crisp and clean, with subtle “live” resonance, like sitting in a small, half-filled nightclub, close to the stage.
If you take a superb ensemble and add a fine singer that explores the
American love song with due deference, you will have a delightful mix
that is easy on the ear. Jonathan Poretz' vocal along with a smoldering
tenor solo by Noel Jewkes makes "Then I'll Be Tired Of You" a ballad
that that will catch your attention and linger long after the last note.
A catchy piano intro by Lee Bloom followed by Poretz' solid vocal on the
brightly done "Come Rain Or Come Shine" is a fine tribute to this Arlen
/ Mercer classic.
"Just One Of Those Things" is one of those chestnuts that bears repeated
spinnings. Some 4 bar exchanges between Poretz' scatting and Jewkes
tenor gives this tune a new dimension. This number, in my estimation, is
the highlight of this album.
A lover of the Great American Songbook will find this recording
irresistible and a pleasant departure from the state of music in these
troubled musical times. This is a super CD with a talented singer and
top notch accompaniment.
5 Stars
Sounds Like jazz singer Jonathan Poretz is ''Livin' A Lot thank you'' in terms of his hard drivin' vocalism..He's chosen a jazz group up for the challenge as well that swings the music as hard as Jonathan. It's also appropriate that Jon pays accolades to the ''shoulders'' that paved the way to his real time vocal efforts, i.e. Mel, Tony. Frank, et al. Listening to these guys have moulded Jon into the vocal bomb which he has become, as he literally explodes on to the musical sensibilities of his new listeners....US! Jonathan sings his songs with an all embracing style delving into both the bebop and swing idioms....And, his vocal maturity I predict will bring him the fame & notoriety he deserves.
New to me until this CD arrived, Jonathan Poretz is a fine singer of the classic pop repertoire. He takes songs such as 'Come Rain Or Come Shine', 'A Lot Of Livin' To Do', 'I'll Remember April', 'This Time The Dream's On Me' and 'Just One Of Those Things' and gives them a sharp, new edge. His respect for the tradition is evident throughout and he is always melodic and rhythmic. He is accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Noel Jewkes, here playing tenor saxophone, clarinet, flute and valve trombone, pianist Lee Bloom, with shared duties by bassists Pierre Josephs and Jeff Neighbor and drummers Vince Lateano and Harold Jones. This is a very attractive album and one that should appeal strongly to all those who love the great American songbook. Jonathan appears to be based on the west coast and those of you living out there should try to see and hear him live. I don't know for sure, but chances are his gigs are listed on his website.
- A jazzy combination of slow jams and playful tunes encompasses Jonathan Poretz’s A Lot Of Livin' To Do. The title track opens the album and it is a salacious version of the breezy ditty. It has percussion work from Vince Lateano, and Poretz’s sensual voice muses lyrics like, “There are girls ripe for some kissin’. And I mean to kiss me a few. Oh those girls don’t know what their missin’. I’ve got a lot of livin’ to do.” “My Time of Day/I’ve Never Been in Love Before” has soulful tenor saxophone play from Noel Jewkes. “Then I’ll Be Tired Of You” has drum play from Lateano, more smooth saxophone work from Jewkes and piano play from Lee Bloom. Poretz speaks of his romantic feelings and just how deep they run, with lyrics like, “I’ll be tired of you when stars are tired of gleaming. When I’m tired of dreaming then I’ll be tired of you.” “Come Rain or Come Shine” is a playful tune with nimble piano play from Bloom and lyrics like, “I’m gonna love you like nobody’s loved you, come rain or come shine.” Jonathan Poretz’s A Lot Of Livin’ To Do is the perfect blend of upbeat and tenebrous tunes for the jazz enthusiast.
Rating: 9.5
"Silky smooth and swingin', Jonathan Poretz's voice beautifully wraps around a lyric and lets the song soar!"