The audience was very familiar with the music of their life time and equally familiar with Clint Holmes’ style as a crooner. The songs fit well and the orchestra was an outstanding addition to the big band style of Frank Sinatra.

The Las Vegas Philharmonic
The usual philharmonic setting was augmented with the addition of a saxophone section, and the expanding of the brass section. Further a drum set and guitar were added to produce the music in the style of Frank Sinatra with the wonderful orchestration. The setting of the group around the grand piano and Mr. Holmes use of the stool provided an intimate feel even in a large, full concert hall. The opening selection did the work it was intended to do, setting up all the familiar melodies and preparing the listener for what was to come.

What was to come was a wonderful evening. The orchestra, the conductor, the singer, the memories all combined perfectly with the audience applauding all aspects of the concert. Going to a concert of the Philharmonic, one expects to enjoy listening, but this concert was also a visual treat. From the violins to the percussionists the orchestra seemed to truly be enjoying the experience. The visual treat included watching the saxophone section change from the sax to the flute, clarinet, and oboe. They never missed a beat and their variety of expertise was as amazing as their quick changes and wonderful music.

Vincent Falcone
Vincent Falcone was the guest conductor for this pops concert by the Philharmonic. He had worked with Frank Sinatra for many years and his list of accomplishments seems unlimited. He is working to preserve the musical work and style of Frank Sinatra as well as current recording in the jazz genre.

As the conductor, he set a rapid pace taking the audience from What a Wonderful World, and Fly me to the Moon to an exploration of their own lives with It was a Very Good Year. The first set ended with the Lady is a Tramp.

Mr. Falcone was a joy to watch as he moved from a classic orchestra director, to the big band style directing from the piano. All this movement did not distract from the joy he shared through the music. His rapid pace and limited banter kept the audience aware that to complete a tour of Frank Sinatra’s work would require much more time then he was given.

Beginning with Summer Winds, he then hit the Las Vegas theme of Luck be a Lady and My Way. He saved the best for last, ending with New York, New York.

Clint Holmes
Mr. Holmes sang the entire program of Frank Sinatra songs. Often in Las Vegas the word tribute means impersonation, but Mr. Holmes stated from the beginning that he was not trying to impersonate Sinatra, he was here to offer his talents in respect to Frank Sinatra style. He was able to do this very, very well. He warmed up with What a Wonderful World and Fly Me to the Moon. Then, with Come Rain or Come Shine he slowed the tempo way down and vocalized a beautiful arrangement.

With It Was a Very Good Year, he really captured the audience, most of who could relate to the passing of time and the desires of the different stages of life. He ended the first half of the program with The Lady is a Tramp.

Beginning the second part of the second part of the program with Summer Wind, Clint and the drummer, Tommy Check, then went solo on I’ve Got You under My Skin. Giving the singer a rest the trombone solo by Dick McGee added a second stanza with the entire orchestra finishing off the song.

Clint admitted to never having sung the Las Vegas trademark songs of Luck Be a Lady Tonight and My Way which he did in an outstanding manner. He ended the program with New York New York.

The applause was so emphatic that Vincent Falcone called him back several times and they agreed to an encore even though there was no orchestration for an encore. Several people shouted out their requests including Chicago, but they chose One for My Baby. This was well received with audience members shouted out the lyrics while Clint adlibbed. The evening ended on a hilarious high note and no one seemed ready to leave.

Updated: 4:55 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, 2011

When singer/songwriter Clint Holmes appeared with the Palm Beach Pops last year, he mentioned in passing that Sammy Davis, Jr. was one of his heroes and that someday he would love to do a tribute. Knowing a sure-fire hit when he saw one, Maestro Bob Lappin made the informal booking for the next season right then and there onstage. 
 Fast-forward to Monday night at the Kravis Center, when Holmes returned to pay homage to his idol in a well-balanced program that was as close to a perfect match of subject, guest artist, material and performance that the Pops has delivered in recent memory.

Holmes came out with a preview of what was to come during the first act, delivering a short medley of Sammy’s signature tunes, including two gems from the Anthony Newley/Leslie Bricusse musical, Stop The World, I Want To Get Off. The Vegas veteran instantly commanded the stage, easily holding his own against the large ensemble on the classic Once In A Lifetime and getting the orchestra and the audience to join in for a call-and-response section on the gospel-tinged Gonna Build A Mountain. This brief appearance really helped the pacing and balance in the first half and served to not only give the guest star a proper nod, but also build anticipation for the second half.

Rounding out the opening set was Kern’s gorgeous Long Ago and Far Away and the Gershwins’ I Got Rhythm, both Pops standards. The latter tune started with the basic trio, Lappin on piano with veteran bassist Ranses Colon and the great Frank Derrick on drums.

The second half was all about Sammy, with Holmes kicking off the festivities with a solid take on That Old Black Magic. Ably assisted by Musical Director/Pianist Jeff Neiman, Holmes showed more polish, vocal power and sheer versatility than he displayed last year — which is not an easy task — as he worked his way through a well-thought-out program of all the numbers you would expect, sprinkling in anecdotes and other back stories along the way.

But even though the approach to the program was admittedly one of an unabashed fan, Holmes put his own mark on the material, singing the songs his way (with the obvious Sammy influence allowed to run free), but without getting in the way of the interpretation process. The result was very satisfying for both the audience as well as the performers onstage.

Among the highlights were two twin-spin double plays: Newley’s Who Can I Turn To? matched with the optimistic For Once In My Life (with the uptempo Stevie Wonder tune juxtaposed nicely as a slow, emotional ballad) and Davis’ 1973 hit Candy Man played alongside another child-like pop smash from that same year, Holmes’ only Top 10 hit, Playground In My Mind. The audience happily sang along on the bouncy choruses of both songs.

Next came the first in a series of goosebump moments: the classic I Gotta Be Me, quickly followed by a big, hankerin’ swagger on There’s a Boat Dat’s Leavin’ Soon for New York, from Porgy and Bess, that was reminiscent of Bobby Darin.

The hits just kept on coming with a touching reading of Bojangles and a knocked down, dragged out, call-the-fire-department version of The Birth of The Blues that started slowly with a cool intro improvised between Holmes and trumpeter Steve Ahern, and then built to a fever pitch, as did the obvious encore, What Kind of Fool Am I?

In all, a near-perfect mix of a great guest soloist who appeared to thoroughly enjoy a dream assignment, an orchestra at the top of its game and a well-loved subject made for an exceptional night at the Pops. What’s not to like?

By DAVID A. FRYE
Special to the Daily News

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

A great musical match-up took place Monday night as Maestro Bob Lappin and the Palm Beach Pops welcomed veteran entertainer Clint Holmes to the Kravis Center stage.

An extremely polished performer, Holmes seemed right at home fronting the large group. He held his own through a well-paced set of quiet ballads as well as big numbers, while sharing the spotlight with Lappin and an array of soloists from the Pops lineup.

Holmes came out of the gate swinging with a tight big-band arrangement of Get Me To The Church On Time, from My Fair Lady, the first of many show tunes — both classic and original — performed that evening. Displaying a well-tempered confidence that only comes from 20-plus years in Vegas and Atlantic City, Holmes smoothly segued from one tune to the next, weaving anecdotes and one-liners into the mix in a conversational tone that doesn’t feel rehearsed. In fact, he makes you feel right at home, sharing his tasteful interpretations of a wide variety of material while channeling bits of the heroes he has known over the years: a little bit of Sammy Davis Jr. in What Kind of Fool Am I?, a little Sinatra in Under My Skin, and a little Michael Jackson in a refreshing version of Human Nature.

Other highlights included the stunning West Side Story Suite — a beautifully understated abridged version of the show that was a one-man tour-de-force — along with several original tunes from a yet-to-be-produced autobiographical musical, and his 1974 number one pop hit, Playground In My Mind, which had the Kravis crowd happily singing along.

Accompanied by Musical Director Jeffrey Neiman on piano and synthisizer (not often heard with the Pops) and the brilliant pianist Mike Renzi, Holmes covered a wide variety of musical styles.
While the Pops players are still as bankable as ever, both individually and as a unit, the lighting designs and audio mix have never been better, making for a great overall experience.

By pairing with Holmes, likely the most talented “one-hit wonder” whose name you might not recall but certainly should remember, the Palm Beach Pops has raised the bar substantially for future guest performers, and found a solid collaborator who is as close to a perfect fit as it’s had in recent years. It resulted in simply a great night of music.

He may admire Nat “King” Cole, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Frank Sinatra as “cool cats” (his father’s term), but, in fact, Clint Holmes is the coolest of them all. In an all too short five night run at Feinstein’s Loews Regency, it’s no wonder that this 64 year old powerhouse has the staying power. Holmes is mostly a Las Vegas phenomenon where he plies his trade thanks to an invitation from Steve Wynn some ten years back.

At the young age of 10, he was listening to the great Nat “King” Cole sing “Orange Colored Sky,” the rousing opening splash to his show. Family matters in Holmes’ life as his song choices are constructed with lots of patter about them; Dad a black jazz singer, Mom a British white opera singer who is now 95.

There isn’t an inch of body part that doesn’t come into play as Holmes performs. He is in the moment at every breath, turning each lyric into a juicy morsel. In a tribute to Sammy Davis, Jr., a sad, soulful “What Kind of Fool Am I” was punctuated with a unique dance routine, vocal tap sounds into the mic; “Bluesette” (a tribute to Ella) became a vehicle for the best rapid-fire scat I’ve heard against each of the instruments in his trio. “All The Way” was another sure-fire high energy pleaser.

His almost monologue-style renditions of songs are dramatic interpretations like the short 4 to 8 bar sections from the score of West Side Story, the first musical he ever saw on Broadway, suddenly developing into a full fledged medley and a standing ovation.

Holmes did have a big hit song in 1973 that was #2 on the charts, “Playground in My Mind.” As a songwriter himself, heartfelt “1944,” was a retrospective of love about his parents’ romance and life together. Five years ago, he survived cancer and “Hallelujah” resounded with a certain joy, but not as triumphant as his originally penned “If Not Now When!” that, once again, brought the audience to its feet.

Clint Holmes is probably one of our greatest entertainers. His performance is the little big show, Las Vegas style on a small stage, in an inspired showmanship. He’s accompanied by top notch musicians, including the ever-nimble fingers of Musical Director Jeff Neiman on piano and Synth, along with Steve Beskrone on bass and Jess Gopen on drums.

It’s not only me, as I’ve heard many say “when are we going to see this man starring on Broadway?”

Clint Holmes

By John Katsilometes · April 22, 2011 · 10:07 PM

Clint Holmes has picked up what they term in sports as a road victory with his opening at Feinstein’s at Lowes Regency in New York.

In attendance Thursday night, the first show in a four-performance engagement, were Liza Minnelli, Harry Belafonte, Michael Feinstein, former New York Mayor David Dinkins, jazz great (and Henderson resident) Dee Dee Bridgewater, famed songwriter-composer Leslie Bricusse and esteemed Las Vegas entertainer Kelly Clinton Holmes, who doubles as Holmes’ wife.

Backed by a just a trio (bassist, drummer and Musical Director/pianist) in the cozy space, Holmes drew four standing ovations and earned the praise of New York Times reviewer Stephen Holden, who wrote of the 64-year-old Sammy Davis Jr. disciple, “His high-energy singing is a friendly frontal assault whose sheer enthusiasm softens your resistance.”

Having known Holmes for years, I can verify that his sheer enthusiasm never fails in its resistance-softening properties.

But the review (and read it here) was a deservedly laudatory testament to Holmes’ stirring, autobiographical stage show. Also noted, and this was new information to me, was that Holmes’ lone hit, “Playground in My Mind,” reached No. 2 on the Billboard charts in 1973, pinned between Paul McCartney’s “My Love” at No. 1 and Elton John’s “Daniel” at No. 3.

I’m thinking what you’re thinking: Medley.

Regardless, I can’t wait to see Holmes again in Las Vegas, either at our favorite haunt, the Stirling Club at Turnberry Place, or a hotel-casino showroom. It’s been too long between gigs.

Clint Holmes
Unless you’ve spent time in such casino towns as Las Vegas or Atlantic City, you may not be aware of Clint Holmes, who is playing a six-night stand at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency. True, he had a #2 hit on the pop charts in 1973 with his smash single “Playground in My Mind,” served as Joan Rivers’ sidekick on her short-lived talk show, and hosted his own TV show, “New York at Night.” — but he’s rarely been seen here, in part because his brand of old-fashioned showmanship is better suited to larger venues than the intimate cabarets in town.

Nonetheless, as he proved in his wonderfully entertaining show, no matter the venue, Holmes is an entertainer’s entertainer, a throwback to such all-around performers as Sammy Davis, Jr., Bobby Darin, and Harry Belafonte (one of the many celebrities in his opening night audience).

The charismatic performer, here accompanied by his Musical Director /pianist Jeffrey Neiman, bassist Steve Beskrone and drummer Jess Gopen, boasts a powerful voice and a wide-ranging vocal style that is showcased to excellent effect. From his slam-bang opening number “Orange Colored Sky” (made famous by Nat King Cole) to his emotive rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” he pulls out all the stops.

He displays an Al Jarreau influence on his jazzy rendition of “All the Way”; a talent for Ella-style scatting on Toots Thielemans and Norman Gimbel’s “Bluesette”; and a dazzling vocal dexterity on an intricate medley from West Side Story that brought the crowd to its feet. The show also includes two self-penned numbers: the nostalgic “1944″ and “If Not Now When,” the latter inspired by his successful bout with cancer.

He dutifully sang his only hit, noting with pride that it rested on the charts between Paul McCartney’s “My Love” and Elton John’s “Daniel.” “If I had another hit, I’d do it now. We’d have a medley,” he joked.

True, some numbers, such as “What Kind of Fool Am I?” and Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On,” suffer from bombastic arrangements that seem out of place in this venue. But any missteps are compensated for his charming and humorous stage patter, which includes affectionate reminiscences of his parents.

It takes guts for a performer to sing calypso right in front the singer who popularized it on these shores so many years ago, but Holmes pulled it off with a joyous medley of Harry Belafonte classics. It was but one of many highlights of a triumphant show that should guarantee this terrific performer a return engagement.

Clint Holmes is an entertainer determined to give the proverbial 150 percent. Or is it a thousand? You get the idea. To the uninitiated, he is an obscure one-hit wonder whose identifying song, “Playground in My Mind,” rose in 1973 to No. 2 on the charts, where he said it got stuck between Paul McCartney’s “My Love” (No. 1) and Elton John’s “Daniel” (No. 3). But under the aegis of Steve Wynn, Mr. Holmes, now 64, has become a major Las Vegas attraction who might be described as the next generation’s Wayne Newton.

Enlarge This Image

Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times
Clint Holmes brought the energy of his Las Vegas show to the first of his series of concerts at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency on Tuesday.
Mr. Holmes, fortunately, has more talent than Mr. Newton. And on Tuesday evening at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, his aggressive, sweaty showmanship had the opening-night crowd on its feet. His high-energy singing is a friendly frontal assault whose sheer enthusiasm softens your resistance. He was backed by a trio that included Musical Director Jeff Neiman on keyboard, Steve Beskrone on bass and Jess Gopen slam-banging the drums.

The son of a white British opera singer and a black American jazz man, Mr. Holmes presented himself as the proud descendant of a show business lineage he traced from Nat King Cole through Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Harry Belafonte (who was in the audience), Bobby Darin, Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson.

Among those names Davis stands out as the ultimate inspiration for Mr. Holmes’s I-can-do-everything attitude. Because the club’s tiny stage precluded much movement, his tap dancing consisted of complicated glottal clicks.

Vocally, Mr. Holmes is a solid belter who pays close attention to lyrics. He doesn’t simply recycle oldies with the blasé suavity of standard lounge singers. Rethinking them from the beginning, he turns them into personal dramatic monologues. In a medley of fragments from “West Side Story,” every phrase was packed with so much strenuous acting that you barely noticed that they were fragments. Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” had a beginning, a middle and a soaring end in which praise triumphs over strife. “Bluesette,” a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, showcased his flashy, rapid-fire jazz scat yodeling.

If Mr. Holmes’s performance indicates a trend, the new lounge lizard has a trait not commonly found in the old: sincerity, or at least the appearance of it.

Clint Holmes performs through Saturday at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, 540 Park Avenue, at 61st Street; (212) 339-4095, feinsteinsattheregency.com