Class. Grace. Craft. Style. Heart. Soul. All qualities you’d think had disappeared from the jazz-vocal world with the passing of those great divas of the golden age. It would seem as though the contemporary scene is made up entirely of shallow clotheshorses, “singers” more concerned with image than art. It would, that is, until you’ve heard Pamela Pentony.
Sure, like the classic songbirds of the past Pamela looks great in a sparkly dress. But that’s just the icing: With her it’s first about the music. And throughout her deep, storied career it’s always been about the music, about giving the jewels of the Great American Songbook nothing less than the rich luster they deserve—while adding a few layers of her own magic to the patina, of course. Whether she’s scatting wildly on some breakneck bebop nugget (who else does that these days?) or making tender love to a timeless romantic ballad, Pamela turns any room into the kind of atmospheric venue audiences will thank the moon and stars they found.
“My dad used to play me Ella Fitzgerald when I was little,” says Pamela, who grew up in Brooklyn. “Right away I loved Ella because her voice is so clear, I could understand every word she was singing.” In addition to the iconic First Lady of Song, other greats who influenced Pamela’s style include Helen Humes, Peggy Lee, Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, and of course Billie Holiday.
The daughter of professional dancers, Pamela didn’t wait long to make her way to the stage. After starting dancing at age four and assisting her mother’s classes at 10, she made her professional singing debut with a big band when she was 19. From there it was a straight shot to the theater world, where she appeared in musicals on and Off-Broadway and at London’s National Theatre alongside such budding talents as Richard Gere, Vicki Sue Robinson, and Peter Allen. Frequently accompanying Pamela as a pianist on auditions in those days was her next-door neighbor, a young singer-songwriter named Barry Manilow. (She later returned the favor by lending her voice to Manilow’s 1973 debut LP.)
And it was during her time in New York that Pamela really began to make her name as a first-call jazz vocalist, working the clubs with some of the music’s top names and doing studio dates for hire. Musicians she’s performed with over the years include Bernard “Pretty” Purdie, the Ink Spots, Malcolm Cecil, Danny Brubeck, Karl Berger, Hugh Brodie, Pete Levin, Bobby Johnson, Kenny Davis, the Persuasions, Santi Debriano, Jeff “Siege” Siegel, Ira Coleman, Francesca Tanksley, Dean Sharp, Mike DeMicco, and many others. During a residency in Paris she performed at top venues like Le Bilboquet and Le Pigeon Blue, and worked with legendary reedsman Tony Scott. Since moving to New York’s Hudson Valley, Pamela has remained active in jazz, performing everything from traditional to “out” styles, running a popular local jam session, and releasing the CD Absolutely Live. Besides working as Bard College’s jazz vocal teacher, she teaches individual students and private workshops.
She’s come a long way since those days of singing along to Ella next to her parents’ hi-fi. But one thing has always been clear, and never more so than when you see her perform: Pamela Pentony was born to sing jazz. “I’ve been doing it for so long, and it’s such a huge part of me,” she says. “I can’t picture not doing it.”
After hearing her live, music lovers will certainly feel the same.
