When veteran singer Clark Warren, whose most recent performances in New York have been at the prestigious Metropolitan Room, sings “Nancy,” (also known as “Nancy with the Laughing Face”) one can’t help but think of Frank Sinatra whose rendition was an ode to his daughter Nancy. Warren sings it with special aplomb since Sinatra’s one-time musical associate, Wendell Gibbs, had a daughter, Gaile, about Nancy’s age. And Gaile is Warren’s wife.

But to call Clark Warren a throwback to the heydays of Sinatra, Mel Torme and Fred Astaire is an understatement. Warren is in a class by himself, a singer and entertainer who will leave you wishing you never have to leave the Metropolitan Room. You’ll want to hear and see him again and again! His other songs include the Gershwins’ “Summertime” (from the George and Ira Gershwin musical “Porgy and Bess,”) and “I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart.”

His upbeat and flavorful rendition “On the Sunny Side of the Street” was especially fun for me to hear since I used to know the late, great Dorothy Fields, who wrote the lyrics. Miss Fields and I used to visit hospitalized war veterans and loved her sunny and
loving disposition.

First published in BlackTie Magazine.