Interview: Jeff Harnar Revisits Sammy Cahn at His 54 Below Album Release Show

Acclaimed singer Jeff Harnar recently revisited his 2001 Sammy Cahn album, long out-of-print. His new album, titled The Second Time Around, has re-mixed, re-imagined and expanded upon the original, reflecting both Harnar’s desire to widen his perspective on the lauded lyricist’s work – new tracks feature special guest appearances by Grammy Award nominee Clint Holmes, the acclaimed vocal trio MOIPEI and Grammy Award winner Nicole Zuraitis – and his own growth as an artist and interpreter.

Harnar is doing a two-show run at 54 Below on Friday July 26th and Saturday July 27th, coinciding with the album’s release. (For more information and to pre-order the CD, visit PS Classics’ website.) The show shines a special spotlight on Cahn’s lyrics for Sinatra, Hollywood, and World War II. Featured songs include “All The Way,” “Teach Me Tonight,” “Call Me Irresponsible,” “My Kind of Town (Chicago Is),” “I Fall in Love Too Easily,” “Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week),” and “Time After Time.”  Sammy Cahn was a lyricist with more Academy Award nominations than any other songwriter: 26! He won four Oscars, an Emmy, wrote a string of hits for Frank Sinatra, Doris Day and Dean Martin, and during World War II wrote a catalog of songs that captured the emotional climate of the nation.

I spoke with the MAC and Bistro Award-winning cabaret singer about the exciting re-recording project, and what to expect from the album release shows at 54 Below.

When did you first discover Sammy Cahn? 

I was a little late to the party with Sammy Cahn.  I certainly had heard his lyrics all my life: Sinatra, Dean Martin, and the songs from World War Two were mainstays in my parents’ record collection for our Philco Home Entertainment console.  

I really didn’t grasp the astonishing breadth of his career: over 30 Academy Award Nominations (including four wins); an Emmy for the song “Love and Marriage”; and the fact he put more words into Frank Sinatra’s mouth than any other lyricist, until my Music Director Alex Rybeck and I were researching a Warner Brothers Songbook show for an Algonquin Hotel engagement in 1991.  That Sammy Cahn isn’t a household name is really astonishing given just how many of his songs are in the collective psyche.  

Why did you decide to revisit this Sammy Cahn album?

The original album, Sammy Cahn All the Way, was self-produced by Alex and myself 25 years ago.  We were exhilarated when a new label, Jerome Records, picked it up and gave it a first class release.  Later that same year, Jerome Records abruptly shuttered its doors.  The album has remained out of print ever since.

In my quest to get the album on streaming platforms, it was PS Classics that suggested my revisiting and reimagining the content, reflecting where I am today, as a man in my sixties versus a man in his forties all those years ago.  I was delighted at the prospect .  Not many people get the gift of returning to a completed project with the intention of making it even more truthful. 

And with those changes in mind, it seemed truly appropriate to retitle the album.  And thus it is: Jeff Harnar sings Sammy Cahn The Second Time Around.

Can you give me an example of a song that you went back to and re-recorded with a different angle or with new insight?

Obviously, we needed to add our new title song, The Second Time Around, to the album, among the six new tracks.  But perhaps the most meaningful song to re-record for the album was taking “I’ll Only Miss Her When I Think of Her,” from the Broadway musical Skyscraper, and changing the pronouns to “Him,” making the song more personal.  Our original track was very much in the style of the Broadway version, with a big ending.  For the 2024 version, Alex had the brilliant idea to change the feel to a Bossa Nova, and feature Sean Harkness on guitar, making the whole feel more intimate and honest.  I’m so grateful I have the courage today be my more authentic self the second time around. 

How are you feeling about your upcoming CD release shows at 54 Below later this month? 

Well, there’s a lot for me to celebrate with this engagement:  this is the first time 54 Below has offered me a two-consecutive night, weekend booking, which in itself is thrilling; the Friday July 26th performance actually coincides with the album’s official release date, which means these songs will all go out into the world that same day; and the Saturday July 27th performance falls on my 65th birthday.  What better way to celebrate that milestone?!

Are you planning to do anything differently at the live show than is on the album?

There’s a very fun set of songs in the live show from the musical Skyscraper that are not only delightful and give me the opportunity to sing a duet with Alex, but also set up the album’s “I’ll Only Miss Him When I Think of Him” quite effectively. 

Also, we’ve added three duets to the album and, in a move that’s very unique for me in a solo show, I’ve invited special guests to join me both nights to perform those wonderful Alex Rybeck arrangements. On Friday night we’ll have Eric Comstock, Sally Mayes and the triplets from Kenya, MOIPEI.  On Saturday night the artists from the album will join me: Clint Holmes, MOIPEI, and this year’s Female Jazz Vocalist Grammy Winner, Nicole Zuraitis.

What's coming up next for you? 

The weekend after the Sammy Cahn shows at 54 Below, Alex and I will bring our Cole Porter show to The Hamptons Summer Songbook by The Sea Series at LTV Studios in Wainscott, NY on August 3rd and The Bradstan Boutique Hotel at The Eldred Preserve in Eldred, NY on August 4th.

You can find us at The Pheasantry when we bring Sammy Cahn to London on September 13th and 14th.  And I’m especially delighted Andrea Marcovicci and I will be co-hosting the opening night of The Mabel Mercer Foundation's Cabaret Convention at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall Tuesday October 22nd.  That night is Put On A Happy Face, a celebration of the songs of Charles Strouse.   

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

The final song of both the Sammy Cahn album and our show is “Time After Time.” I find it astonishing that Alex Rybeck and I have had a remarkable gift of time together, 41 years now, making music and albums together.  It truly has been a dream collaboration for me.  And along with that, in the 25 years since we first recorded this album, we’ve both lost our parents, loved ones and even the Executive Producer for this album and last year’s Cy Coleman album, Alvin Kabot.  Through these soon-to-be 65-year-old eyes, the gift of time with each other is a precious commodity, and perhaps the only true Fountain of Youth. As Sammy wrote, “I only know what I know, the passing years will show, you’ve kept my love so young, so new. And time after time I tell myself that I’m so lucky to be loving you.”

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Tickets to the 54 Below shows are available on their website. The performance on July 27 will also be livestreamed.

For more information on how to pre-order the album, visit PS Classics' website.

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