New York Christmas – Paul Safy, Jr.
NEW YORK AT CHRISTMAS
music: Richard Currier
words: Jim Piazza
Traffic, rent and fear make me wonder why I’m here
When a home bound train sounds like music to me
But come December I suddenly remember
That Manhattan is the only place to be…
A Santa Claus on every block, Radio City
Skyscrapers wrapped with a bow
It’s Christmas Eve around the clock In New York City
Wish you were here for the show
Thought it won’t be as merry without you tonight
I’ve still got Broadway to make Christmas bright
The neon glow of falling snow lights up the city
New York is Christmas to me
If dreams come true and here they do
Soon I’ll be seeing
New York at Christmas with you
If you long for the song of a snow crested lark
It’s just a subway to old Central Park
The neon glow of falling snow lights up the city
New York is Christmas to me
If dreams come true and here they do
Soon I’ll be seeing
New York At Christmas, New York At Christmas,
NEW YORK AT CHRISTMAS… WITH YOU!
© 2008 currier/piazza music
Paul is 25 years old and was born and raised in Buffalo, NY. His grandfather (from Tempera, Italy) first introduced him to music and to traditional Italian classics. He remembers sitting at the piano after learning some scales (in Italian of course) and then being taught God Bless America. He recalls the song as being one of the first he ever sang. Paul comes from a very close-knit family with a younger brother and an older sister as well as his loving and supportive mother Bernadette (Scirri) and father Paul Sr. (family from Zaita, Labanon). As you may have guessed, Paul is a family kind of guy.
He first got into “the crooners” when he found a tape of “Frank Sinatra’s Greatest Hits” in his fathers collection. I remember listening to “That’s Life” and “Forget Domani” over and over because I loved them so much. As he grew up, so did his musical interests, expanding to Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Motown, Country and the other hits of the 50s and 60s. So with a very diverse background in music genres by the time he entered high school at the age of 15, he fell in love all over again with the great crooners of the mid 20th Century. He bought up whatever he could get his hands on from Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bobby Darin and Sammy Davis Jr.
He was inspired when he first saw the film “Goodfellas”. When I heard the title track “Rags to Riches” and discovered that it was Tony Bennett who was singing, the hook was in! “I became so enthralled with his style, power, and range that I couldn’t stop listening.” Paul is a graduate of The State University of New York at Buffalo. While attending school, he recorded his debut album Introducing Paul Safy which included two Bennett songs that he really loves; “I Wanna Be Around” and “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”.
After winning the Fox affiliated (American Idol), Buffalo Idol in 2007, Paul was invited to sing at the Buffalo Philharmonic as a special guest star with The Duke Ellington Orchestra. He opened in Rochester, NY for the Buffalo-born singing family sensation The Scintas at the High Falls Festival. And for the second consecutive year he performed for the Buffalo Sabres Aces and Blades annual charity event. He sang for Macy’s national fund raising Shop for the Cure event. Later that year he was invited once again to perform with the Buffalo Philharmonic as their featured guest singer at The Holiday Pops concert. At the invitation of the Philharmonic conductor Robert Franz, Paul was asked to solo at the Mansfield, Ohio Symphony Holiday concert.
I first met Paul last spring through a friend who worked with The Duke Ellington Orchestra when Paul sang with them in Buffalo. We’ve written a show and we’re booking our tribute tour: “If I Were Tony Bennett” – Paul Safy, Jr.
This guys a winner. I promise you, “The Best Is Yet To Come”!
Wishing you a White & Very Merry Christmas…
“It’ll nearly be like a picture print by (Currier & Ives)”.
Ho, Ho, Ho,
Sincerely,
Richard Currier
(Producer and General Manager – If I Were, LLC.)
http://www.ifiweretonybennett.com/
Duration : 0:2:55
Bach To Rock is a highly acclaimed two week music program where 10-16 year olds play in rock bands, devolop their guitar,bass, keyboard, drum, and/or vocal skills, build confidence, learn songwriting, multi-track recording, music software, sound equipment, performance skills, theater improv games and more. The program builds to a real rock concert at Mulcahy’s, one of Long Island’s top music clubs!
A late-1980s tour of QRS Music’s piano roll manufacturing facility in Buffalo, New York, originally aired on the TVOntario children’s show “The Acme School of Stuff”.
Bach To Rock is a highly acclaimed two week music program where 10-16 year olds play in rock bands, devolop their guitar,bass, keyboard, drum, and/or vocal skills, build confidence, learn songwriting, multi-track recording, music software, sound equipment, performance skills, theater improv games and more. The program builds to a real rock concert at Mulcahy’s, one of Long Island’s top music clubs!