JEFF HARNAR SINGS SAMMY CAHN: THE SECOND TIME AROUND Releases Two Tracks

The new album from MAC and Bistro Award-winning concert artist Jeff Harnar – Jeff Harnar Sings Sammy Cahn: The Second Time Around – is available for iTunes pre-order starting today, Tuesday, July 16. This pre-order allows for instant download of two tracks, “I'll Only Miss Him When I Think of Him” and “Come Fly with Me,” which features Grammy Award winner Nicole Zuraitis. The album will be released on CD and digital formats on Friday, July 26. Harnar revisits his 2001 Sammy Cahn recording, long out-of-print: the original album has been remixed, reimagined and expanded upon, reflecting both Harnar's desire to widen his perspective on the lauded lyricist's work – new tracks feature guest appearances by Grammy Award nominee Clint Holmes, the acclaimed vocal trio MOIPEI and Nicole Zuraitis – and his own growth as an artist and interpreter. The Second Time Around is also available for pre-order on Amazon.com. 

Harnar will celebrate the album with concerts at New York's 54 Below on Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27. The album's guest vocalists – Clint Holmes, MOIPEI, and Nicole Zuraitis – will appear on Saturday, July 27, while MOIPEI, Sally Mayes, and Eric Comstock will appear Friday, July 26. Harnar will also feature the Cahn program in London, England at The Pheasantry (9/13-14, 2024) and Boca Raton, FL, at the Adolph & Rose Levis JCC (1/22-23, 2025), with other tour dates to be announced.

By the numbers alone, Sammy Cahn was one of America's greatest songwriters: the most Academy Awards for Best Song; nearly 100 tunes recorded by Frank Sinatra; the highest paid songwriter of his day. Working largely with composers Jule Styne and Jimmy Van Heusen, Cahn turned out lyrics that were by turns romantic, witty and punchy, with a touch of melancholy that touched the hearts of millions; songs such as “Come Fly with Me,” “All the Way,” “Call Me Irresponsible,” “Time After Time” and “I Fall in Love Too Easily” – all included here – became embedded in the fabric of the nation.

Originally a stage show, Harnar's tribute to Cahn was a New York Times “Critics' Pick” and led Liza Minnelli to rave, “I wish Sammy could have heard this; he would have loved it. I certainly did.” Now, with Alex Rybeck – Harnar's music director and pianist of over 40 years – providing arrangements for both the tracks retained from the original album and the half-dozen newly-recorded ones, this celebration of a pillar of the Great American Songbook is made all the sweeter through the workings of time: lovelier, as Cahn himself wrote, the second time around.

Tommy Krasker, co-founder of PS Classics, comments: “Jeff came to us in 2021 with a proposal for three albums: two new recordings and a reissue of a CD long out of print. Having released 2022's I Know Things Now: My Life in Sondheim's Words and Jeff's Cy Coleman songbook, A Collective Cy, in 2023, we turned our attention to the reissue, his 2001 tribute to the great Sammy Cahn. But the more we looked at the album, the clearer it became that what was needed was more than a simple re-release. The passage of time meant that Jeff related to the material differently now – as an artist and interpreter, but also an individual; there were things he wanted to say – ways of expressing himself – that could only be accomplished by going back into the studio. The sound of albums, too, has changed dramatically in the last 25 years, and we wanted the album to feel every bit as immediate and contemporary as Jeff‘s interpretations. And so over the ensuing months, the original album was remixed and remastered, new tracks were added, older tracks reenvisioned, and what emerged is something very much new, drawn from something old. As we were discussing the process, and the fact that Jeff was enjoying a rare opportunity to take a second look at material that was very dear to him, he mentioned with amusement that one of Cahn's classic songs was, in fact, entitled ‘The Second Time Around' – and that became the perfect title for this new album. When we gathered in the studio to record – armed with charts created especially for this album by Jeff's longtime music director, Alex Rybeck – the joy in the room was palpable. How often do we yearn for a chance to revisit a moment in our lives, knowing what we know now? That's what this album came to represent – not just for Jeff, but for all of us. We hope you'll feel that joy of rediscovery as well.”

When the stage version of the Sammy Cahn show opened, The New York Times hailed it as “Highly Recommended. Smart, entertaining... Mr. Harnar's singing is as creamy as ever.” Variety raved: “Harnar's polished performance recalls a music era dominated by romanticism. The songs are timely again today... lilting lyric grace and finger-snappin' bounce.” Michael Feinstein added, "I discover something new in a lyric every time I hear Jeff Harnar sing.”