He may not yet be as famous as Bryan Ferry, but Tony DeSare - the resident singer/pianist in the Captain's Bar at the Mandarin Oriental who the former Roxy Music frontman briefly upstaged with an impromptu set at the hotel's reopening gala bash - is clearly a star in the making.
DeSare, who will be performing at the bar every Monday to Saturday from 9pm onwards until November 2, was brought over with his regular New York trio featuring Brian Czach on drums and his songwriting partner Mike Lee on bass.
He's a hot ticket in the Big Apple, where he has performed to packed houses at Birdland, Jazz at the Lincoln Centre, Shanghai Jazz in New Jersey, and at Cafe Carlyle - the domain of New York's best known piano man, the late Bobby Short.
Last year, Telarc released his debut album, Want You, and a second is almost ready for release. Want You is a strong cabaret jazz set very much in the Short style, except that, as well as having an assured grasp of the great American songbook, DeSare and Lee write originals that sound perfectly at home alongside the well-worn standards.
Originals on the disc include the title track, which has a swinging feel and changes that recall Van Morrison's Moondance, a strong ballad called How I Will Say I Love You, and the breezy I'd Have it All if I Had Drew, which the duo wrote for the 2004 movie My Date With Drew.
DeSare has made intelligent use throughout of session musicians to augment the basic piano, bass and drums lineup. Want You features a moody muted trumpet obligato from John Swana, and the vocal and piano on How I Will Say I Love You are nicely balanced with a string arrangement.
The really decisive additional element though is the hard driving rhythm guitar of the great Bucky Pizzarelli, which can be heard to particularly telling effect on the standard Just in Time, which is played at a dauntingly rapid tempo. Pizzarelli also contributes some strong solos. The two men met on a gig at the Apollo Theatre, and DeSare credits his contributions with shaping the core sound of the CD.
