Legendary actor, Tony Award
nominee and singer Tom Wopat ('The Dukes of Hazzard,' 'Annie
Get Your Gun') enlisted Al Gomes and A. Michelle of Big Noise in conjunction with Sheryl Feuerstein
of EastWest Media's publicity efforts for his acclaimed
eighth CD 'I've Got Your Number.'
The Multi-Talented Star of Stage,
Screen, and TV's Recent Work: Film - The Academy Award-Winning 'Django Unchained' Music/Recordings - 'I've Got Your Number' Television - ABC Family's 'Lovestruck' Broadway - 'A Trip to Bountiful'
This is really proving to be
a banner year for Tom Wopat - from his role in Quentin
Tarrantino's hit film, 'Django Unchained,' the release of
his newest recording 'I've Got Your Number,' (a jazzy big
band swing album evoking the spirit of the 'Mad Men' era),
to the April airing of the ABC Family musical movie 'Lovestruck'
co-starring with Jane Seymour, along with his role in 'A
Trip To Bountiful' on Broadway joining an all-star cast
featuring Cicely Tyson, Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Vanessa Williams.
All this in addition to his critically acclaimed concerts
throughout the U.S.
Although one can't help but
recall his starring role in the '80s iconic television hit
series 'The Dukes of Hazzard,' which catapulted him to fame,
it is the multi-faceted Tom Wopat, actor, jazz vocalist
and Tony Award nominated star of Broadway that's been garnering
high critical acclaim for the last two decades.
Here's what the media are saying about Tom:
'What he shares with Sinatra is an ability to live inside whatever he sings. His flexibility doesn't seem to matter of self-conscious role-playing but an expression of his far-reaching musical tastes and personal experience.' - Stephen Holden, The New York Times
'Meeting Across the River, Tom Wopat - it seems an unlikely pairing of artist and song, but the Broadway-cabaret performer delivers a felt, unsentimental reading of Springsteen's haunting gem.' - Elysa Gardner, USA Today Top 10 Playlist
'Tom Wopat transcends genre
and puts the 'E' back in entertainer. A rich expressive
baritone voice that demonstrates flexibility, great phrasing
and wonderful timing. I've Got Your Number is simply another
notch in the great career of a classic entertainer. -
Jazz Critic Brent Black
'Tom Wopat is an extremely gifted actor with a gorgeous, versatile singing voice.' - Susan Hasho, Times Square Chronicles
'Wopat exuded hipster-cool yet leading man charisma as he showcased his smooth-as-silk baritone voice in an appeaing program that included blues, jazz, Broadway, standards, pops and original tunes.' - Tom Alvarez, Examiner
About the CD
Tom Wopat's I've Got Your
Number' swings into 'Mad Men' era with new recordings
of the Great American Songbook classics and contemporary
songs of Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor and
more.
With 'I've Got Your Number,' Tom's musical expedition has traveled into even more colorful territory. Backed by a thirty-piece orchestra, and produced by David Finck (with co-production by Tom and Tedd Firth), he fulfills his desire to focus on what he describes as the 'Orchestra-big band hybrid of the '60s and '70s. Like the Bobby Darin stuff,' he says. 'Frank Sinatra did big band then too, everybody did. And we really wanted to go for that - in the standards as well as the contemporary tunes. We've evoked the spirit of the New York supper club era and the cool vibe of the Mad Men days. The recording swings hard and there's a lot of really fine music.' Tom credits his arrangers for the CD's triumph - John Oddo, Henry Hey, and Tedd Firth.
And, a lot of really fine singing,
too! Listen to the way he romps through the different rhythms
of 'I've Got Your Number' and 'The Good Life' - typical
of his easygoing interaction with the grooves of his orchestra/big
band backing. And, listen as well to the way Tom transforms
the singer-songwriter tunes like James Taylor's 'The Secret
Of Life,' Paul Simon's 'The Afterlife,' Judy Collins' 'Since
You Asked,' and Bruce Springsteen's 'Meeting Across the
River' into jazz-tinged renditions. And, to the sense of
jazz authenticity that informs both Tom's singing and his
interaction with the lush big band arrangements.
There's a large handful of uniquely
appealing qualities all over the fourteen utterly captivating
tracks. Tom applies his far-ranging interpretive skills
and warm engaging baritone to discovering new, intriguing
musical twists in such Great American Songbook classics
as 'The Folks Who Live On The Hill,' 'Call Me,' 'Born To
Be Blue,' 'I Won't Dance' and, of course the title track.
At first glance, that could be viewed as a surprisingly
diverse program of material. But his versatility has been
there throughout his career and on full display in a career
reaching from his television work of the '70s and '80s to
high visibility Broadway roles in 1999's 'Annie Get Your
Gun' and 2008's 'Catered Affair' (he received Tony Award
nominations for both) and more, plus his previous musical
releases, spanning standards ('In the Still of the Night'
and 'Dissertation on the State of Bliss') into the jazz-oriented
sounds and rhythms that had always fascinated him ('Consider
it Swung').
With the release of 'I've Got
Your Number,' Tom truly feels he has found his stride.
'Performing these songs the way we do on this recording
is the most creative thing I do,' Tom concludes. 'It's extremely
satisfying and fulfilling. And as long as it feels that
way, I'm going to keep right on doing it.'
