Angela Leone Is “Old Fashioned” and a Lot More

By Michael Barbieri****She’s old fashioned, but we don’t mind it! Angela Leone’s cabaret act, All My Tomorrows, at Don’t Tell Mama, showcased a charming performer with a pleasant, relaxed vocal style and a love of classic American standards.

Leone is relatively new to cabaret, having come on the scene in 2012. She came from a musical family and was a proficient woodwind musician who was awarded a scholarship by the City of New York as a member of the All City Orchestra. In 2013, she began studying voice at the Singers Forum, where she met her vocal coach Bill Zeffiro, who soon after became her musical director. She’s had three prior, outstanding performances of All My Tomorrows at Don’t Tell Mama, and has recently released her CD of the same name.

With her opening number, Lerner and Loewe’s “Almost Like Being In Love,” I caught a warm saloon singer vibe almost immediately. She followed that up with “I’m Old Fashioned,” by Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer. Leone’s ease with the vocal, and her clear love for the material, gave the song an honesty that was very appealing.

After introducing her excellent band—Jordan Pettay on tenor saxophone, Chip Fabrizi on drums, John Loehrke on bass and Musical Director Bill Zeffiro at the keys—she gave us a pretty, yet somewhat melancholy, ballad by Ted Koehler and Ruby Bloom, called “Forget About Me.” This soft, jazzy piece about the end of a relationship and letting go of the past, allowed Leone to create a sadly romantic mood, with just a tinge of heartache in her voice.

Leone had Zeffiro introduce her next song, Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen’s “All the Way,” with a story about the songwriters waking Frank Sinatra WAY too early to have him approve the song for the film The Joker Is Wild. Of course, Sinatra’s recording of the song became a smash hit, so it’s a good thing they woke him when they did. Leone herself told us of her favorite songwriter, Johnny Mercer, before launching into “I Thought About You,” by Mercer and Jimmy Van Heusen. This song happens to be a favorite of mine, and yet I had never heard the opening verse, so I was pleasantly surprised when she included it in the number. Just lovely!

And while most of the songs we heard were from the Great American Songbook, one of the exceptions was Stephen Sondheim’s “Loving You,” from the musical Passion. Though she sang it well, I would like to have seen a quieter, more introspective delivery of the piece. With just that minor bit of tweaking, it could’ve been much more impactful.

Other selections included the fun, uptempo “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” by George and Ira Gershwin, a swingy version of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “The Girl From Ipanema,” and Bobby Caldwell’s “Tomorrow,” a sweet, sad ode to the sorrow of lost love.

For me, one of the highlights of the show was when Leone and Zeffiro joined forces on a kicky duet of Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields’ “I Won’t Dance.” Their warm interaction and the happy swing tempo of the number demonstrated their wonderful onstage rapport and solid friendship. I also enjoyed Leone’s subtle and smart interpretation of Cy Coleman’s “I Walk a Little Faster,” with a cheery ad-lib opening that transitioned into a more romantic feel as the song progressed.

Aside from the material, which I enjoyed tremendously, one of the remarkable aspects of this show was the sound. The back room at Don’t Tell Mama is relatively small, and I was seated two tables from the stage, just in front of the sax and drums. Still, with four musicians in such an intimate space, I was still able to hear every word! This, of course, had much to do with Leone’s delivery and the restrained dynamics of the band, but was also in great part due to the skills of Technical Director, J.P. Perreaux, who kept the sound balanced beautifully! In addition, Lennie Watts’ direction was spare and kept the show moving at a perfect pace.

As the show neared its end, Leone treated us to the song that had lent it’s title to her CD and to the show itself: Cahn and Van Heusen’s “All My Tomorrows.” Again I felt that romantic saloon singer feeling in the ease and comfort of her delivery. Interestingly, I jotted down in my notes that her vocal brought to mind the great Tony Bennett. What I hadn’t known at that point, was that she has actually been called “the female Tony Bennett” in past reviews! I do hope Leone is flattered by my observation; if you’re going to be compared to someone, how lovely to be compared to one of the best!

All comparisons aside, though, Angela Leone is clearly a good old fashioned singer in her own right, and with this as my first glimpse, I look forward to seeing what she has to offer the next time she graces our New York cabaret stages!