Brian De Lorenzo and Tom LaMark Orchestra to Release TOAST OF THE TOWN, VOL. 2
The album features Tom LaMark and The Tom LaMark Orchestra, performing a swinging collection of tunes that reimagines time-tested standards with fresh interpretations.
Cabaret Classics will release "Toast of the Town, Vol. 2," the second big band album from Boston-based vocalist Brian De Lorenzo, available on CD and streaming on all mainstream digital platforms on Friday, April 24. The release features Tom LaMark and The Tom LaMark Orchestra, performing a swinging collection of tunes that reimagines time-tested standards with fresh interpretations.
The album release will be celebrated with De Lorenzo performing in concert on Friday, April 24, at 7:30 pm in the Moonshine Room at Club Café, 209 Columbus Ave., Boston. Tickets are $30, available at clubcafe.com. Produced by Doug Hammer for Dreamworld Productions, with music direction and arrangements by LaMark, the new album features exclusive cover art by famed Vanity Fair illustrator Robert Risko.
"Toast of the Town, Vol. 2" spotlights beloved big band favorites associated with iconic midcentury vocalists, including Frank Sinatra, Edith Piaf, Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Nat "King" Cole, Barbra Streisand, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. Highlights include classics by Julie Styne ("Just in Time"), Frank Loesser ("Luck Be a Lady"), Cole Porter ("In the Still of the Night") and three songs by master lyricist Johnny Mercer. Part of what distinguishes the album - and the April 24 concert - are the rarely heard verses and De Lorenzo's inventive song pairings.
"One morning when I had awakened but was still in bed, 'Just in Time' was going through my head, but it morphed into 'Fly Me to the Moon.' A new song pairing was created," De Lorenzo said. "And I include the verse to 'Just in Time,' which I've never heard anyone else sing."
He also brings fresh structural choices to familiar material. "Take 'Blues in the Night.' Most singers use the structure of the original sheet music, but on one of the Capitol Sings recordings in my library, the lyricist of the song, Johnny Mercer, sings an ending that's quite different from the sheet music. I decided to use Mercer's ending; and I thought it would be fun to play with the time signature, so in the last third of the song, I alternate between 4/4 and 3/4," he said. "It adds a bit of excitement."
With De Lorenzo's spirited vocals and LaMark's masterful music direction, "Toast of the Town, Vol. 2" offers more than a nostalgic tribute. The album explores how the Great American Songbook continues to evolve while honoring its roots.
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