Jeff L. – About me / my experience

I’m a strong, classically trained, and experienced singer who specializes in the below genres. My full solo-repertoire currently has well over 200 songs. I excel at sight reading, harmonizing, and whistling.

I happen to sound similar to James Taylor, but I am no imitator! I do not sound like Frank Sinatra, Billy Joel, or Johnny Mathis – nor do I want to. However, I capture their spirit and sing their songs really well. (Here’s a wonderful compliment from my wife: “I don’t like Frank Sinatra. I like how YOU do Frank Sinatra.”)

I was classically trained at West Chester (PA) University. As part of a small backup chorus, I have sung in Madison Square Garden with Barbara Streisand and twice in Radio City Music Hall (among several other east coast venues) with Broadway’s original Phantom of the Opera, Michael Crawford. I was also part of a choir that backed up Andy Williams in a Christmas concert, for two evenings at Valley Forge Music Fair. Two of my song-performances were featured in the interactive e-book version of Debra Anastasia’s Poughkeepsie (each chapter was accompanied by a single song).

More recently, for seven months, I sang for two hours every week, at a local diner for their “Sundays with Sinatra.” I also currently sing monthly at a second restaurant and several retirement communities (the latter focused on crooning).

The genres I specialize in:

  • Crooning, centered around the music of Frank Sinatra (I have 41 Frank Sinatra songs ready to perform). Also many by Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett, Bobby Darin, Michael Bublé, Sammy Davis Jr., Mel Tormé, and Jerry Vale.
  • Billy Joel: I have 33 Billy Joel songs ready to perform.
  • James Taylor: I have 14 James Taylor songs ready to perform.
  • Broadway: I have around 30 show tunes ready to perform, including a handful by Frank Sinatra that originated from shows.
  • Sappy love songs from the 1940s through 1980s: Featuring eight by Barry Manilow, plus many others by Lionel Richie, Kenny Rogers, James Ingram, Jeffrey Osborne, Hall & Oates, Bread, Debby Boone, Boz Scaggs, The Bee Gees, Huey Lewis & the News, and Neil Diamond. (Plus several by Billy Joel, James Taylor, and all the above crooners.)
  • Many other songs featuring six by Elton John, five by Bill Withers, and many more by The Eagles, Hall and Oates, Barry White, Lionel Richie, Paul McCartney, Ben E. King, Otis Redding, John Denver, and Huey Lewis & the News.