By Marilyn Lester***San Francisco Bay Area crooner Jonathan Poretz delivered on his promise in his show Totally Tony: Keepin’ The Music Playin’ at 54 Below. The evening was chock-full of music and remembrance all about the iconic singer. It’s been little over a year since Bennett died at age 96 after a career that ended pretty much up to his death. And, as Poretz pointed out, Tony Bennett probably sang just about all of the major tunes of the American Songbook, perhaps even more than his great friend, Frank Sinatra (1915-1998).
Following an eye-opening video intro of a very young Bennett, with clips of the maturing singer, Poretz entered the room with “Rags to Riches” (Jerry Ross, Richard Adler), the first of more than two dozen familiar numbers packed into about 70 minutes on stage. This bounty owed itself to a well-thought out narrative that was personal and informative and never over-powering, as well as to the length of each song (which reflected recording restraints during most of Bennett’s career).
Adding to a sturdy, rich bari-tenor, Poretz was relaxed and charmingly personable, a classic crooner in the style of his inspirations, Bennett and Sinatra (whose repertoire he sings in the same key). From numbers in mid-tempo, such as “The Good Life” (Jack Reardon, Sacha Distel), “I Wanna Be Around” (Sadie Vimmerstedt, Johnny Mercer) and “For Once In My Life” (Orlando Murden, RonMiller) to the swingers “Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)” (Leslie Bricusse, Anthony Newly) and “The Lady’s in Love with You” (Frank Loesser, 
Burton Lane)—with scat, Poretz proved himself versatile. Generally, crooners excel at a package of tempo, rhythm, melody and lyrics in fairly equal measure. This isn’t to say that interpretation of lyric falls by the wayside; Poretz’ delivery of “Once Upon a Summertime” (Michel Legrand, Eddy Marnay, Eddie Barclay, Johnny Mercer) was especially poignant. The little-sung verse with “The Shadow of Your Smile” (Johnny Mandel, Paul Francis Webster) added texture to this slow ballad.
There was humor too: for “Who Can I Turn To…” Poretz sang the number as Newley and… Kathryn Hepburn. Special guest, singer-musician and reviewer, Andrew Poretz, joined his brother on the now iconic “Theme from New York, New 
York” (John Kander, Fred Ebb). The duet was a role-playing nod to their upbringing in the environs of the city that never sleeps, the place where if you can make it here, you can “make it anywhere.” With Jonathan as “Frank Sinatra” and Andrew as “Tony Bennett,” the two were a fun bright spot in the show, and, as Jonathan reminded us about Bennett and his career: unique. In an ironic twist, when Poretz sang “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” (George Cory, Douglass Cross), he noted he’d also left his own heart in his hometown as well as his adopted city.
There was so much more in this entertaining evening, with Poretz backed up by a superb trio of pianist Richard Nelson Hall, bassist Sam Bevan and drummer Kent Bryson, the latter two who had spotlight moments to shine in. But it was Bay Area-based Hall who stood out especially, withe lyrical playing, jazz and improv chops and a sympatico working relationship with Poretz.
Photos by Beth Naji except photo of Jonathan and Andrew by Nadette Stasa
