INTRIGUED, a gaggle of media and public relations personnel tested Gary Williams’ knowledge of Frank Sinatra on a balmy Tuesday afternoon.
With a quick performance of the four randomly chosen songs from the list of 100 he claims to know, the British singer impressively moved from one Sinatra classic to another with a rhythmic snap of his fingers.
And so he should.
Gary has spent 20 years of his life singing to the tune of Sinatra all across the world. It has afforded him the chance to sing at Buckingham Palace for the Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla, the famed Royal Albert Hall, at Sinatra’s Palm Springs home and record at Abbey Road, London.
Sinatra lovers will get a chance at the Jukebox, during the 2014 edition of Virgin Atlantic Holders Season.
“This is a fun show and it changes every time I do it because [some] audiences . . . would request the hits and some will request lesser known songs. Obviously we can’t do everyone’s requests . . . ,” he said later in an interview, held at Holders Great House, just a few feet away from where he will be performing.
“I sing a few songs to introduce myself and Harry “the Piano” Williams and then everyone on their tables will have 100 Sinatra songs and I am telling them to tick their favourites and [then] we collect the forms. . . I will go through all of the sheets to find the most requested songs and make a note of the particular reasons why the song was requested [as well as] look for a few surprises, because it is also nice when people [choose] the lesser known songs.”
And if the audience is not satisfied, well “they are the one to blame,” he quipped with a flash of his blue eyes.
Gary was on a short layover on the island before joining up with a Royal Caribbean cruise on which he will be performing. Although he had previously been to Barbados, next month will be his first time performing here.
Obviously, nuances and musical style of the singer are heavily influenced by Sinatra. But an impersonator he is not.
“I was in a [UK-based] Rat Pack show for about three years and there I did have to be an impersonator. It was partly trying to make my voice sound like him, but it was also more trying to capture the essence of the man and [his] attitude . . .,” Gary explained.
“In my own shows I sing songs from other artists, but . . . this is my way of paying homage to the man and the music. For someone to stand there and try to be him, it is a waste of time . . . . I think it is a pointless exercise. I have my own voice.”
The singer had a passion for “blue-eyed soul” from the first time he first heard Sinatra playing on the radio at four years old. Unlike many musicians, Gary did not grow up in a musical family, but naturally gravitated towards swing music and jazz standards.
“I made for an odd child, because when my friends were listening to pop music and whatever was in the charts, I would be listening to . . . Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra,” he mused.
Furthermore, Gary is not classically trained in music, making him one of the lucky few who are doing exactly what he was born to do.
“I can’t read music and I never had a singing lesson. It’s just something I could always do . . . . I was always able to sing.”
He got his break at 23 years old through hometown glory, with the backing a local show producer who believed in his talent. The 43-year-old described the show as the most important one of his career.
“He was contacting all of the big bands because I was a kid 23 and I was relatively inexperienced, no one wanted to work with me,” Gary recalled.
“He then hired the local concert hall and the BBC big band and told them, ‘I will pay you and the show will be a sell-out, but on the condition that you work with my singer,’ [which was] me
. . . The concert was a really big success. After a few days, the band gave me a call and asked me to a television [show] with them and a tour.”
It gave him the chance to meet and be seen by influential producers and event organisers. At times, the demand for his voice has led him to musical performances, but Gary believed his true talent lay in jazz and swing music.
“This style fits like a glove. So while I can and do have to sing other styles I usually have to think a little bit more,” he added.
Because of this, obvious comparisons to Michael Bublé will be made. So, what does he think of him?
“I think Bublé is terrific. I think he has charisma and a great voice and is a real showman and I am happy for the success he has because he deserves it,” Gary said.
Comparisons aside, the singer has also spilled some of his musical notes into written word, with his book Cabaret Secrets, which he said was doing well. The work details inside information for up-and-coming singers who wish to pursue a career in the swing or jazz genres. However, he noted that it was not always the best fit for everyone.
“There have been a lot of people catching on to the revival of swing and jazz and standards and Sinatra. There are some pop singers that have performed this and made albums that are not very good. They probably sing Sinatra as well as I would sing pop, which is not very well,” he concluded.
