DeSare, Moreno’s keyboard chemistry
interview with DeSare.
“We’ve played in big shows together, but this is the first time it’s just the two of us and two pianos,” he said. “Tony is awesome at what he does, and I can wing my way through anything.”
“We’ll come out together and do a few songs combined,” DeSare added. “We’ll each do our 15-minute solo set, and then come back together. We’re not trying to re-create the Rat Pack or anything, but we love that musical camaraderie, sort of hanging out making music and having a party.”
Steeped in the swinging American popular song tradition, DeSare first gained attention in New York when he took over the lead role in the long-running Off-Broadway musical “Our Sinatra” in 1999. A few years later, jazz guitar great Bucky Pizzarelli, who’s still going strong at 91, befriended him and started performing with DeSare around the country. Rather than confining his repertoire to the American Songbook, DeSare seamlessly interprets a century of songs. Last month, he collaborated with Postmodern Jukebox and “Hamilton” star Mandy Gonzalez on a Broadwaystyle arrangement of “Despacito” to raise hurricane relief funds for Puerto Rico.
Moreno is much more of a rocker. Born into a musical family in Santa Cruz, he demonstrated prodigious piano talent at the age of 7 and by his early teens had earned local fame while performing with his father, Frank, and uncle Joe Moreno (who with his wife, Charlotte, now runs the respected Soquel Avenue restaurant Lillian’s Italian Kitchen in Santa Cruz). Before graduating from Santa Cruz High School, he had taken over the Frankie Moreno band from his dad, and could be found on stages all over region.
Moreno moved to Nashville at 19 and found some success as a session player and songwriter. But looking to make a name for himself as a performer, he set his sights on Sin City. Far better known as a destination for already-famous entertainers, Las Vegas is an unlikely city in which to climb the music biz ladder. But over the past two decades he’s become one of the most reliable draws on the Strip, holding forth until the wee hours at storied venues like Golden Nugget’s Rush Lounge.
It was at the Nugget that violinist Joshua Bell first heard Moreno on the recommendation of several Las Vegas Philharmonic members. Impressed by his act and keyboard prowess, Bell recruited Moreno to record a track on his 2009 album “At Home With Friends,” and their hit version of “Eleanor Rigby” catapulted Moreno’s name far beyond Nevada.
He’s been putting together shows with growing casts of accompanists ever since, which is one reason why he’s looking forward to Saturday’s stripped-down affair.
“I never do this,” Moreno said. “I can’t remember the last time I did something without a large production. It’s been at least a decade, and, in fact, it makes me nervous.”
They’re not about to give up their solo careers, but DeSare and Moreno both see Feinstein’s as a test run for an ongoing collaboration.
“We have so much in common, yet our styles are very different,” DeSare said. “Every time we get together, hang out and play music it’s a blast.”
“We’ll see how it feels,” Moreno added. “The audience judges all of this stuff. I always send Tony flowers on opening night, so whatever happens I’m going to save a lot of delivery charges.”