Cabaret Scenes CD Review

Originally recorded and released in 2002, Craig Pomranz’s My Heart Don’t Skip a Beat is making the rounds again thanks to his recent engagements at the Metropolitan Room in New York and The Gardenia in Los Angeles. Having missed seeing Pomranz live in New York during his July engagement, when his repertoire celebrated summer and heat in general, my curiosity to hear his disc of love songs was piqued by several glowing reviews. Sadly, the experience of actually doing so was somewhat of a disappointment.

To be sure, Pomranz has a voice. But the technique of his production and the quality of the resulting sound is certainly subjective based on my repeated hearings of My Heart Don’t Skip a Beat. To my ear, Pomranz sings with a pinched, slightly nasal sound that, while not painful, is neither extraordinary nor distinctive. The disc also isn’t helped by a noticeable amount of reverb behind Pomranz’s vocal line that tends to shade his sound rather than enhance it. Pomranz has a light tenor with a quavering vibrato that often sounds manufactured instead of natural. He has repeated pitch problems (“Close Your Eyes” and “Don’t Go To Strangers” are especially egregious) that can’t simply be written off as stylistic, jazz interpretation and he annoyed me with a tendency to breath in the middle of phrases. Where jazz singers are concerned, these types of distinctions are often a matter of taste, but I would classify Pomranz as a cabaret singer, not a jazz singer.

On the positive side, his programming taste is impeccable (even if the grammar of the CD title made me wince) and the arrangements, by the estimable Barry Levitt, are gorgeous and beautifully produced. But based on this disc and without the advantage of having seen him in person, Pomranz is a singer better experienced in the intimate and personal environment of a cabaret where his critically acclaimed personality and charm can augment his performance, rather than on the one-dimensional medium of a recording

David Hurst
Cabaret Scenes
October 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org

Craig Pomranz

My Heart Don't Skip a Beat

Previs Productions



	Craig Pomranz My Heart Don't Skip a Beat Previs Productions
Originally recorded and released in 2002, Craig Pomranz’s My Heart Don’t Skip a Beat is making the rounds again thanks to his recent engagements at the Metropolitan Room in New York and The Gardenia in Los Angeles. Having missed seeing Pomranz live in New York during his July engagement, when his repertoire celebrated summer and heat in general, my curiosity to hear his disc of love songs was piqued by several glowing reviews. Sadly, the experience of actually doing so was somewhat of a disappointment. To be sure, Pomranz has a voice. But the technique of his production and the quality of the resulting sound is certainly subjective based on my repeated hearings of My Heart Don’t Skip a Beat. To my ear, Pomranz sings with a pinched, slightly nasal sound that, while not painful, is neither extraordinary nor distinctive. The disc also isn’t helped by a noticeable amount of reverb behind Pomranz’s vocal line that tends to shade his sound rather than enhance it. Pomranz has a light tenor with a quavering vibrato that often sounds manufactured instead of natural. He has repeated pitch problems (“Close Your Eyes” and “Don’t Go To Strangers” are especially egregious) that can’t simply be written off as stylistic, jazz interpretation and he annoyed me with a tendency to breath in the middle of phrases. Where jazz singers are concerned, these types of distinctions are often a matter of taste, but I would classify Pomranz as a cabaret singer, not a jazz singer. On the positive side, his programming taste is impeccable (even if the grammar of the CD title made me wince) and the arrangements, by the estimable Barry Levitt, are gorgeous and beautifully produced. But based on this disc and without the advantage of having seen him in person, Pomranz is a singer better experienced in the intimate and personal environment of a cabaret where his critically acclaimed personality and charm can augment his performance, rather than on the one-dimensional medium of a recording David Hurst Cabaret Scenes October 2008 www.cabaretscenes.org