Music
Press
"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)." - Contra Costa Times
“Jonathan Poretz swaggers into our living rooms and hearts with ‘A Lot Of Livin’ To Do.’
“Poretz and co-arranger Lee Bloom have not merely dusted of old standards but injected new life into these fine compositions.
“The album which has both a nostalgic ambience and a sixties vintage CD cover captures the very essence of the eras from which these tunes are drawn.”
“‘A Lot Of Livin’ To Do’ is an album you should go out looking for and not merely wait to stumble across. 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.”
- JazzPolice.com
“Poretz comes across silky, swinging and cool as hell, sort of a cross between Darin and Mel Torme. And man, can this guy Poretz scat, loose and insouciant—a bit of a lost art, it sometimes seems, in the male vocalist field.” - AllAboutJazz.com
"Silky smooth and swingin', Jonathan Poretz's voice beautifully wraps around a lyric and lets the song soar!"
- Entertainment Reporter, KRON-TV, KCBS-AM
Discography
"A Lot of Livin' to Do", debut CD released on Pacific Coast Jazz label on January 16, 2007
Photos
Bio
Some say he was born with a microphone in his hand. That would explain why Jonathan Poretz is so comfortable performing his brand of great American jazz standards to audiences large and small. Whether appearing in an intimate club or a large outdoor venue, Jonathan brings an electric energy to any stage he’s on, a talent he’s been cultivating since his early teens, when he sang professionally in bands that featured jazz greats including Charlie Shavers, Chuck Wayne and Joe Puma in his home town of New York City.
Blending the swinging vocal stylings of Sinatra, Torme, Bennett and Darin, Jonathan is equally comfortable performing with a trio or a 17-piece big band, putting his own unique stamp on every song he sings and every story he tells through the great American standard songbook.
Jonathan has been appearing as Frank Sinatra in the “The Rat Pack Is Back" aka "The Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey & Dean" in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Memphis, Boston and Springfield, MA. He also appears regularly at various Bay Area venues, including LJ’s Martini Club, Jazz @ Shanghai 1930 and Le Colonial.
He is also a regular vocalist with the Harold Jones Boss Men big band, led by legendary drummer Harold Jones, the beat behind Count Basie in the ‘70s and Sarah Vaughan in the ‘80s, and currently on tour with Tony Bennett. Past appearances with the Boss Men included performances at the Russian River and Calistoga Jazz Festivals in the fall of 2004.
Jonathan can also be heard as the featured vocalist for the Starduster Orchestra big band and the Joe Agro Sextet, performing swinging standards at public venues, such as the Sausalito Arts Fair, the Caledonia Street Fair and Jazz and Blues by the Bay in Sausalito as well as various private events in the Bay Area.
Jonathan’s acclaimed debut CD, “A Lot of Livin’ to Do” was released on the Pacific Coast Jazz Label in January 2007with a sold-out CD release party at Jazz at Pearl's, the premiere jazz nightclub in San Francisco. The CD is available most everywhere online, including Amazon.com and CD Baby.com.
Visit www.jonathanporetz.com for more information and to hear audio clips.
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