VARIOUS QUOTES …
“Dane Vannatter has been compared to Mel Torme, and we can see why. His voice has a floating quality that gets in your head and won’t leave.”
Steve Greenlee, The Boston Globe
“You are simply the best male singer we have ever heard live! Loved your voice, deameanor, looseness, songs, all of it. You should be a huge star!”
Marlene & Billy VerPlanck, at Danny’s Skylight Room, New York, May 27, 2005
“My lucky streak was already operating a couple weeks back when Dane Vannatter did us a favor after a few silent years and made the trip from Boston to Danny’s Skylight Room…..He’s joyful and mellow as only a seasoned pro can be, and the invaluable qualities are infectious…. Before he finished the last of three earned encores, he promised he wouldn’t stay away this long in the future. If he needs help booking an Amtrak seat, I’m willing to make the call.”
David Finkle at Danny’s Skylight Room, New York, May 27 for Back Stage, June 2005
“Seize the opportunity to hear him sing as well as chat away in an amusing and self-effacing manner.”
David Finkle, The Village Voice, November 2005
“Dane Vannatter’s voice, style and presentation should be heard by lots of people and I’m happy to spread the good word.”
Jordan Rich, WBZ Boston
“Dane Vannatter’s distinctive style leaves an imprint on whatever music he sings. He is a powerful and strangely commanding presence.”
David Wildman, The Boston Globe
“I’ll be looking forward to hearing more from Dane Vannatter. His reading Friday of the Ethel Waters-associated “Thief in the Night” was graceful and no singer on the bill had greater tonal beauty.”
Chip Defaa, New York Post
“Vannatter is one of the most jazz-savvy cabaret singers around. [The CD Double Standards] is guaranteed to satisfy……”
Bob Blumenthal, The Boston Globe
“What makes Dane Vannatter such a standout is that he’s carving out his own vocal style, one that mixes facets of jazz and cabaret with intelligence and care.”
Robert Nesti, Bay Windows, Boston
“What a thrill it was to hear you sing the night of my tribute. I think you’re very talented. A lot of wonderful things should happen to you!”
Margaret Whiting, New York
“Dane Vannatter’s CD “Flight” is simply phenomenal. He’s got confidence, style and one helluva powerful voice.”
H. Scott Jolley, Time Out New York
“Dane Vannatter is an artist who defines the purest aspects of intimate singing. A lovely voice, combined with a winning personality that make his interpretations of the Great American Songbook a joy to hear. Don’t miss him!”
Ron Della Chiesa, WGBH, Boston
“Dane Vannatter, who just released “Flight” is one of our leading cabaret lights.”
Bob Blumenthal, The Boston Globe
“Your CD is lovely. I particularly liked “Warm All Over” and “Empty Garden.” Keep up the good work.”
James Gavin, author of Intimate Nights: The Golden Age of New York Cabaret
“You have great taste in music and your singing is equally tasteful. I wanted you to know the high regard I have for your work.”
David Finkle of The Village Voice, New York
“When Dane Vannatter sings the songs he sings so well, no one sings them better!”
Mike Palter and Lynne Jackson, Boston
“This young man has one of the finest voices heard in NYC in some time – right up there with Tom Anderson, Phillip Officer and other fine tenors on the current scene.”
Stu Hamstra, Cabaret Hotline, New York
“Dane Vannatter makes it sound so easy – his style is so natural and his sound so free that one could get the mistaken impression that singing isn’t work to him at all, but as simple as breathing and just as organic. On his latest release “Flight” he delivers on the promise of thie first album in a program of tasty standards, and several surprises from the modern songbook that are right at home with his vision of popular song. Intimate, swinging, and heartfelt performances sure to please as diverse an audience as one could imagine, in this age of world music and global media.”
George Evans, CKUT/K103, Montreal
“If any song can be considered Vannatter’s signature tune it’s “Here’s to Life,” a contemporary ballad that soars with intensity in his hands.”
Robert Nesti, Bay Windows, Boston
“He has a beautiful, shimmering voice, as attractive full-out as when used softly, and his falsetto is uncommonly rich. More important, he understands the essence of cabaret singing. With every song, he takes a point of view, and there is not a moment or choice that does not serve that vision.”
Roy Sander, Backstage, New York
“My favorite among the new young male singers.”
Carol Sloane, Jazz Vocalist, Concord Records
“He shows impeccable taste in his musical choices. A lovely yet little-known song “Wild is the Wind” shows Vannatter’s lyrical style at it’s best, and recalls the kind of ballad singing that Johnny Mathis excels in.”
Robert Nesti, Bay Windows, Boston
“Dane Vannatter has the voice, the talent and the poise to make a go of it in New York.”
Scott & Barbara Siegel, Dramalogue
“He crosses styles so easily; his ballads are always dreamy, intense and undeniably moving, and his uptunes swing with a carefree enjoyment, a jazz comprehension way beyond his years.”
Marle Becker, WBAI-FM, New York
“This Boston-based pop and jazz vocalist is becoming such a hot commodity. Dane Vannatter is definitely a major plus on the New York club scene. He has star markings all over.”
Backstage, New York
REVIEWS …
From townonline.com/The Boston Tab, May 14, 2001
“No Double Standards Here” by Ed Symkus
Dane Vannatter’s sweet, pure and strong vocals are the icing on a layered and complex album that goes from serious to wacky and back again.
It’s enough to have these spare, tasty, beautifully played and recorded instrumental arrangements — ” My Heart Stood Still ” and ” I Remember You ” are two of the best. But to also have Vannatter’s sweet, pure and strong vocals on top is some mighty fine icing, particularly when he hits the high notes. Love songs are the order of the day here — well, except for the witty love-gone-wrong tales of ” You Turned the Tables on Me ” and ” Just A-Sittin’ and A-Rockin.’ But at the same time, there are some wonderfully performed well-known standards, like ” You’re Driving Me Crazy ” and some rare gems, like ” If Love Is Good to Me ” that have been dug up and shined.
From CABARET SCENES Magazine
November 1999 by B. Douglas Swiszcz
Playing to a near-capacity room at the Regattabar in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Dane Vannatter performed two sets that displayed his incredible talents. Vannatter, a favorite in the greater Boston area, has a style that comfortably fuses elements of both cabaret music and jazz. There is a respect for the lyric that is the hallmark of cabaret. But his jazz-influenced phrasing often gives his songs a looser, more natural feel. He is able to make each song his own, putting his personal stamp on it without sacrificing its original intent. Vannatter’s repertoire showed his versatility. He shifted effortlessly from standards like “Blue Skies,” “The Nearness of You” and “Day In – Day Out” to the pure pop sounds of Stevie Wonder’s “Overjoyed” and The Main Ingredient’s “Just Don’t Want to Be Lonely.” The singer also balanced high-energy, swinging numbers like “Small Day Tomorrow” and “Mildred, Won’t You Behave,” with spare, understated readings of songs such as “I Cover the Waterfront” and Leonard Cohen’s complex “Famous Blue Raincoat.”
Vannatter’s tenor voice is a fluid and expressive instrument, as stunning in the choir-boy purity of his high notes as it is in the richly textured, full-bodied sounds that he produces in his lower register. His big, tour-de-force numbers (the title tracks from his two CDs) showcased both the delicacy and power that distinguished his singing. “Here’s to Life,” with its carpe diem philosophy, was dedicated to all dreamers. When the singer reached deep inside himself to pull up that glorious, final note, the effect was thrilling. Vannatter made Craig Carnelia’s “Flight” resonate with the rich imagery of its lyrics and its soaring melody. His dramatic handling of the number conveyed the urgency of the human spirit’s need to transcend its physical and temporal trappings and sail, unfettered, above earthbound complacency.
Dane Vannatter feels his music deeply and is able to communicate those feelings vividly to his audience. One would be hard-pressed to find an indifferent listener in the crowd. He’s that good.
From townonline.com/The Boston Tab, September 7, 1999 –
“Dane Croons the Tunes” by Ed Symkus
Vannatter’s is a classic singing voice for crooning, a style perfect for the kind of material this album is packed with: pieces by Mercer, Ellington, Comden & Green, etc. Among the offbeat choices, a cover of the Motels’ “Suddenly Last Summer” fits nicely into the program, but Joni Mitchell’s “Night Ride Home” is just too sublime. Vannatter’s voice is a warm, powerful, yet beautifully controlled tenor that can easily go shooting into the alto range. He opens up and lets loose on “This House Is Haunted” and presents a beautiful pairing of “It’s the Talk of the Town” and “Lonely Town.” And stick around for a final heartfelt hidden cut, probably titled “Thread of Life.”
From BACKSTAGE (NYC) March 4, 1999
“Bistro Bits” column by John Hoglund
Rarely have I played anyone’s new album as much as Dane Vannatter’s new release, “Flight”. Few male vocalists have such colorful shadings and subtle nuances in their voices. This, my friends, is a voice to be reckoned with. He sounds like a perfect combination of the old and the new. He has Mel Torme’s jazz sensibilities and Tom Anderson’s fluent phrasing on the most sensitive lyric line, making his the perfect vocal instrument for classic chestnuts like “I’m Glad There Is You” and “Day In – Day Out,” and gorgeous readings of Elton John’s “Empty Garden” and Joni Mitchell’s unforgettable “Night Ride Home.” All cuts are so potently delivered in a uniquely expressive, haunting tenor that comes right from the heart.
Extravagant sensuality illuminates Frank Loesser’s “Warm All Over.” And Vannatter’s gifted interpretive abilities shine on the album’s title cut, by Craig Carnelia; having heard “Flight” many times in cabaret, I believe this is the definitive version, making all others moot. (Too many singers miss the mark on this song.)
Every once in awhile I have the opportunity to experience a thrilling, exciting new voice with unlimited potential. Such is the case with Vannatter and this stunning new CD. Now let’s hope this Boston-based vocalist finds a New York home and realizes the potential he has.
From The Boston Globe March 18, 1999
Column by Dorothy Clark
Trying to explain what “cabaret” music is can be an elusive effort that produces inadequate definitions, but when Dane Vannatter sings, his meaning is clear. “Flight,” his second CD, captures the swing, charm, and grace that highlight this Boston-based vocalist’s live performances. Vannatter employs his sensuous tenor on songs of various genres to make “Flight” a soaring adventure into his interpretation of the cabaret style. With selections that range from standards “You Make Me Feel So Young” and “Day In-Day Out” to the contemporary pop offerings of The Motels’ “Suddenly Last Summer” and “Night Ride Home” by Joni Mitchell, Vannatter shows an engaging sincerity. It is further brought out by an uncluttered, tasteful quartet accompaniment of Doug Hammer on piano; Peter Kontrimas, bass; Jim Gwin, drums; and Kenny Wentzel on flugelhorn, trumpet, trombone, and flute. Tonight, Vannatter also performs in and directs “The Songs of Jerry and Dennis Livingston: From Tin Pan Alley to Silicon Valley.”