© 2003 Al Somma, all rights reserved.

SONGS OF INNOCENCE, SONGS OF EXPERIENCE

In his debut recording, Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience, Al Somma introduces a distinctive and very personal approach to some of the classics of the American popular songbook—with a bow to major influences like Louis Armstrong, Nat "King" Cole and Frank Sinatra.

By restoring many of the introductory verses of these classic songs, Somma has helped a growing audience discover—or rediscover—the saucy wit and sheer romance of American popular standards. In Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience, Al Somma explores the songs of seeming polar opposites such as Irving Berlin and Thelonious Monk in order to tell us of the complexities of the human heart.

New Yorkers began hearing about Al Somma in 1993, when he founded King Vamp, a quartet inspired by the musical styles of the 1920s and '30s. When he later stepped out as a solo performer—making his Friday-night home at Torch, the romantic East Village supper club—the response was immediate and sustained.