Jazz Articles about Mike Pinto

About Mike Pinto

Album Review

Frank Lamphere: Frank Songs, My Way: Frank Lamphere Sings Sinatra

Read "Frank Songs, My Way: Frank Lamphere Sings Sinatra" reviewed by David Bondelevitch

by David Bondelevitch
March 10, 2026

"Now that's original... How'd he ever come up with that one?" These words open the press material for Frank Songs, My Way: Frank Lamphere Sings Sinatra, and it is a solid question, with so many albums of Frank Sinatra covers. It would be tough to top Tony Bennett's Perfectly Frank (Columbia Records, 1992). Performers who cover other performers tend to make two mistakes. First, they often pick the obvious songs, which have probably been covered many times, ...

Album Review

Rich Willey: Puttin' On the Ritz

Read "Puttin' On the Ritz" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
August 28, 2023

When Irving Berlin wrote “Puttin' On the Ritz" in 1927 on a unique “transposing piano" tuned to his preferred key of F#, little could he ever know that one day, among the myriad numbers of covers of the tune, that it would title an album that features, among other attractions, Electronic Voice Instrument “wah-wah" solos. Putting that on hold, Rich Willey's effort apes the concept of that tune as an elegant effort. “Puttin' On the Ritz" offers ...