Nick Ziobro
A Lot of Livin’ to Do
(Titanium Entertainment)
January 31, 2015
Reviewed by John Hogllund for Cabaret Scenes
Some have asked: who’s carrying the torch of the Great American Songbook? Harry Connick, Jr., and Michael Bublé aside, Michael Feinstein can’t do it alone.
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Enter Nick Ziobro, the latest archivist of good songs. His career is off and running, having played with pop symphonies and toured with Feinstein. (Ziobro is a winner in Feinstein’s Great American Songbook Competition.)
It’s clear that Ziobro has classic good taste. Clearly influenced by his mentor (Feinstein), who produced the album for Titanium Entertainment, the young man sails skillfully through well-chosen standards on A Lot of Livin’ to Do. Because of his youth (he’s all of 17) and crooning songs closely associated with greats from the past, he will invariably be compared to the likes of Dick Haymes, Bobby Darin, Sinatra, etc., and to a handful of today’s torchbearers of that American Songbook. However, he has enough vocal heft to stand on his own. With his supple, lyric baritone, he offers fine, swinging readings on “I Won’t Dance,” “Too Close for Comfort,” an upbeat “All of Me” (where he unwisely scats tremulously) and the album’s title cut. All are done with a red-hot band and sumptuous big band arrangements by Tedd Firth (who outdoes himself). Yet, as confident as Ziobro is on the swing stuff, he shows a real flair for singing in an intimate way that belies his age.
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This is most obvious on tender treatments of “Anyone Can Whistle,” “Here’s That Rainy Day” and a trenchant “Blame It on My Youth” (which was also on Feinstein’s debut album recorded at The Algonquin).
There’s a lot to say about this young man who seems on the brink of wide recognition. For now, it’s safe to gush that he is a song stylist from an old school where lyrics meant something to a sophisticated audience which would be cheering loudly. He is a singer of rare sensitivity and real intelligence who hangs his soul on Darin and Sinatra’s moon. The results are elegant and refreshing, considering today’s opaque music scene. In this age of push, shouting and forgettable tunes and singers, Ziobro returns to the more refined days of soft lights, enchantment—and something called craft. Few debut albums are this impressive.
The gifted musicians, led by Firth, are about as flawless as it gets. What a treat to listen to such artists. Not enough can be said about Firth, Jay Leonhart (bass), Ray Marchica (drums), Brian Pareschi (trumpet/flugelhorn), Marc Phaneuf (sax/clarinet) and Bucky Pizzarelli (guitar).