Tony DeSare
Singer, pianist and songwriter Tony DeSare, whose third CD, Radio Show, was released by Telarc Records in January 2009, has won critical and popular acclaim for his concert performances throughout the United States, as well as in Australia, Japan and Hong Kong. In early 2009, he launched an international tour with three weeks at the Algonquin Hotel’s Oak Room in New York, two weeks in London, and then to cities such as Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, D.C., Seattle, St. Louis and Palm Beach.
With a sexy, distinctive sound, DeSare’s 2007 recording, Last First Kiss, spotlights a contemporary combination of originals and standards, from Prince’s “Kiss” and Carole King’s “I Feel the Earth Move” to classics such as “You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To” and Sammy Cahn/Jimmy Van Heusen’s under-recorded gem, “Come On Strong.” The CD, which debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard chart and No. 3 on Amazon.com and No. 2 on the iTunes jazz chart, was featured on NPR’s “Weekend Edition Saturday.” Want You, DeSare’s debut CD, debuted at No. 16 on the Billboard chart when it was released in May 2005, and includes standards such as “Two For The Road,” “Just In Time,” and “I Wish You Love,” as well as originals “Marry Me,” “How I Will Say I Love You,” and the title track. He performed selections from the CD on the CBS Early Show, NBC Weekend Today and Fox News Channel.
DeSare composed and performed the title theme to My Date With Drew, an independent documentary feature film about a man who has 30 days and $1,100 to get a date with Drew Barrymore. It has been featured on The Tonight Show, The Today Show, Playboy Magazine, Entertainment Weekly and Premiere, and was awarded top honors at the New York Gen Arts Festival, the HBO Comedy Arts Festival and the Vail Film Festival. DeSare was personally selected by Sam Arlen, son of Harold Arlen, the composer of classic songs such as “Over The Rainbow,” “Get Happy,” and “Stormy Weather,” to perform with the Duke Ellington Orchestra at Birdland for the 2005 Harold Arlen Centennial.
DeSare was born and raised in Glens Falls, New York, in a musical family and began singing and playing professionally at 17. By the time he started college, he had opened for visiting headliners and built a large regional following playing to packed houses. The Tony DeSare Trio was one of the most popular bands in central New York State while Tony attended Ithaca College. Shortly after moving to New York City in 1999, he was cast as the star of the long-running off-Broadway musical smash, Our Sinatra. In the fall of 2002, DeSare performed at the legendary Apollo Theater, and was featured in New York TV personality Bill Boggs’s off-Broadway show, Talk Show Confidential, at the John Houseman Theater. He has performed at major jazz rooms such as Birdland and the Blue Note with his quartet; the Café Carlyle and Feinstein’s at the Regency; with his big band in concert halls such as Jazz at Lincoln Center; or with a 60-piece orchestra. For the 2009-2010 season, DeSare will be collaborating with Maestro Everly and the ISO to premiere his own concert evening with symphony orchestra.
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