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I was born on Long Island, in Oceanside, New York, back in 19XX (you don’t really expect to know everything) and lived about twenty miles from the glorious Nassau and Jones beaches. My parents had a love for music and were always singing during their daily routines of running a household. (Thanks, Mom and Dad, for all those melodic duets; weren't you romantic!) In the early days both parents sang in church choirs and musicals, which began my early exposure to music. Being gregarious souls, my parents developed lasting friendships with people I learned to call aunts and uncles, and during backyard parties would enjoy one another’s company singing into the wee hours of the morning. When I reminisce about those times today, I realize that singing was and is a great catalyst for enjoying wonderful times with friends. Some years ago I started taking voice lessons and that endeavor has culminated in my first CD venture: “Charles J-Crooner Classics.”

So, what’s with the boat, you might be asking? This little baby has been in my extended family since 1962, where it provided great service and fun running the waters of Moriches Bays, part of the southern bays network of Long Island. I bought the boat from my cousin back in the mid 1990s and managed a restoration process to bring it back to the beautiful classic you see today. Having already come up with the CD title based on the style of music and reflecting on what would make for an interesting CD cover, it came to me that it would be fun to dress up in a tuxedo á la the crooners of yesteryear--Sinatra, Martin, Davis, Cole, etc.—and take some shots in my classic boat. As we were tooling around on the Potomac, we wound up in front of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and it seemed a natural to pull all the elements together for the cover. The photo was provided to the graphics team at Disc Makers, who developed the final concept for integrating the photo, the flowing draperies, and the period font into the artwork that makes up the CD cover.

This CD is an eclectic mix of timeless pop, cabaret, romantic and classic crooner songs wonderfully written and very lyrical. After the first two songs, "Mona Lisa" and "Danny Boy," favorites of several extended family members, the subsequent list of songs generally covers a romantic theme organized in a fashion that transports the listener from the darker side of romance i.e., betrayal (“A Blossom Fell”) and pain (“Crazy”) to the ecstatic level of unconditional love exemplified in “More.” What a starting lyric, “More than the greatest love the world has known, this is the love I give to you alone.” The CD finishes with an offering of hope in “Over the Rainbow,” “if happy little blue birds fly, beyond the rainbow, why oh why can’t I…” As to the boat, what can I say; like the songs, it’s a classic! I hope you enjoy “Charles J-Crooner Classics.”


A Note of Thanks!

To Jim Tucker, a wonderful piano player, who—in between teaching piano, writing music and working with his own band—was able to find the time to support this project. Jim’s talents on the piano combined with his ability to make minor arrangement changes on the fly greatly contributed to the uniqueness of sound and the simple but dynamic combination of voice and piano found on Crooner Classics.