TESTIMONIALS
Danny Sinoff is the real deal!
I know something about singers, pianists and especially singer-pianists, having worked with everyone from Shirley Horn, Norah Jones, Gregory Porter and Sullivan Fortner — including new up-and-comers like Sarah McKenzie.
Musicians from across the nation from New York to LA already know about his gifts with a song and routinely make the trek to come hear and play with the man regularly.
And the audiences that pack into his bi-weekly appearances at The Roadhouse Cafe and The London Club know something special is going on, particularly when couples get up and move to the dance floor, something I've seen even at concerts he's given.
There is something in the air when this man sings and gets down to business on the piano, and dare I say, it's magic.
South Florida has got a golden secret (for now) but news is already getting out to all points North and West, if the number of nationally ranked top-flight bassists, drummers and saxophonists that are showing up to grace the stage with him are any indicator.
I predict that the world will soon know what South Florida already knows; they've got greatness in their midst that is about to become a household name.
—Brian M Bacchus
Record producer, curator, label A&R
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To embark on the journey of being a crooner requires an air of sophistication and a touch of class.
Not only does Danny exhibit the qualities of a true songsmith, his humanity and drive to be in the echelon of Sinatra and Bennett sets him in a class all his own.
—Russell Hall
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Danny Sinoff plays the piano and sings the way i would like to play the drums. Happy, joyous and free. That comes from years of trying to master your craft. #timetoswing and Sing!
—Joe Farnsworth
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WHILE clearly influenced by legends Bobby Darin, et al, Danny is very much his own man, bringing his OWN voice to the Great American Songbook… a “keeper of the flame!"
—Jerry Weldon
REVIEWS
Make Someone Happy Review
By Morgan Enos
After years as a writer traversing the waters of jazz, new music, and beyond, I’d like to think — I hope — that I’ve developed my own point of view on jazz singers. Not that this vital branch of the music, which extends to the obvious greats of the 20th century and acclaimed modern practitioners, needs defending, per se, least of all from myself. But I keep running into fans and writers deeply entrenched in this community, who, for whatever reason, swerve around vocal jazz altogether in their engagement with the genre.
Which is their prerogative, of course. I don’t really put on vocal jazz around the house. And I’m as aware as anybody as to how wrong it can go. (Shaky supper-club vocalese can be truly nuclear on the discomfort scale.) But I try to take a holistic view of it. Especially in my years-long Mondays with Morgan column for UK Jazz News — where I interview singers all the time, despite not leaning that way in my own listening. That’s just how I am. I’m not here to hammer people with my preconceived notions, I’m here to learn.
Even more than that: jazz is nothing if not about connections, and I’m all about the connections. (In the classic rock arena, I always say that if you diss the Eagles, you’ve got to diss Jackson Browne and the Flying Burrito Brothers too.) One big moment for me was covering the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Competition, or Sassys, partly judged by Christian McBride. Everybody agrees that Christian McBride is the man. Vocal jazz obviously makes the grade for him; he’s worked with the best of the best. Who am I to disregard or overlook it?
All of this informs why I connect with Make Someone Happy, the debut recorded statement by singer-pianist Danny Sinoff, which recently hit my desk for a set of liner notes. The sense of connection is palpable — to For Danny Sinoff, Make Someone Happy didn’t begin as an album concept or a stylistic exercise — it began at home. The first musical spark came when he was fourteen, sitting with his father, listening to two CDs: Harry Connick Jr. and Bobby Darin.
“We listened to all that stuff together,” he told me. “That’s when I knew what I wanted to do.” Those nights didn’t just introduce him to the Great American Songbook; they gave him a model for connection. The feeling of being moved by a singer with a band behind him became the emotional blueprint he’s been carrying ever since.
A major part of that connection comes through the album’s producer, drummer extraordinaire Ulysses Owens Jr., whose influence on the project can’t be overstated. Owens encouraged Sinoff to do something he’d never done on record before: to step away from the piano on several tracks and focus purely on singing.
That shift wasn’t cosmetic — it was conceptual. Owens wanted to show “the other side” of Sinoff, the one shaped by those early nights listening to singers with his father. The band is filled out by Owens on drums, Ben Wolfe on bass, Dan Wilson on guitar, and Joe Magnarelli on trumpet.
And Henderson, whom Sinoff repeatedly praised during our conversations, gives the record a different kind of lift: beautifully supportive on the title track, sharply swinging on “I’m an Old Cowhand” and “I Won’t Dance,” and exuding McCoy Tyner-like command on “Charade.” Inspired by not only Connick and Darin, but Frank Sinatra, Freddy Cole, Shirley Horn, and Blossom Dearie, Sinoff is in fine vocal form throughout, with a warmth and charm you can’t fake — the innumerable late nights in lounges, clubs, and restaurants, honing his charisma, musical sense, and — as the title implies — ineffable sense of lift.
Highlights for me include “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” which pares back the proceedings to Sinoff and Wilson’s burbling guitar; a barnburning “Three Little Words,” and a razzing “All I Need is the Girl” with guest singer-trumpeter Benny Benack — his subtly gritty tone here is a marvel. A burning, kinetic take on “Charade” follows, along with the brooding, blues-drenched closer “Black Coffee.”
The cliche is that singers “breathe new life” into standards, but I’ve always believed that the standards — also thrown under the bus by the anti-singer brigade — have unending life. Again, they don’t need my, or anyone’s defending. And Make Someone Happy, in pursuing its titular mission statement, shines a light on the integrity of these songs, and proves they’ll always be fresh as long as you show up and bring you to the proceedings. In a word: connection.
How Danny Sinoff is Learning the Ropes in NYC
By Morgan Enos
“Who the eff is the amazing piano player?” a seasoned NYC jazz vocalist friend texted after I shared a video of South Florida singer-pianist Danny Sinoff on an April 3 gig led by trumpeter-singer Benny Benack III, alongside bassist Alex Claffy, drummer Aaron Kimmel, and an assortment of guests.
The piano at Baretto — a hip jazz-bossa-nova spot upstairs on 49th St. in New York City — is positioned with the player’s back to the room. It didn’t matter. Sinoff made an immediate impression, proving he’s no fish out of water in the Big Apple.
Sinoff just released his debut album Make Someone Happy on April 10, and he’s finding his bearings in the NYC straight-ahead scene. It’s all the culmination of a two-decade deep trip, as he conquered personal struggles and honed his craft night after night on the restaurant circuit.
New York remains as competitive as ever, and breaking into its jazz ecosystem isn’t easy. “I’m very fortunate that I feel like I’ve been welcomed at the top of things,” Sinoff reflects. “I’ve been blessed to be welcomed by who I consider some of the greatest musicians around.”
“Everyone I’ve met there has been so supportive of what I’m doing. They’re excited that I’m coming up from Florida, and they’ve really taken me in. Nobody’s vibed me or anything. Everything’s been positive, and the music is at such a high level, man. You can’t get that anywhere on the planet.”
Few have done more to usher him into that circle than Benack. Despite it technically being his gig at Baretto, the trumpeter-singer not only encouraged Sinoff to treat it as his album release show. Across both sets, he repeatedly shouted him out — and Make Someone Happy, on which he duets with Sinoff on “All I Need is the Girl.”
“Danny Sinoff is a proud card-carrying crooner, keeping the Great American Songbook alive today. His vast knowledge of his repertoire shines through in his shows… you can really feel his passion for the material,” Benack says. “Sinoff has a sound and delivery all his own.”
The two crooners met three years ago through mutual friends; Floridian bassist and educator Brandon Robertson brought him down to the Sunshine State. When he saw that Benack was set to play at the London Club in Naples — where Sinoff has a weekly gig — he reached out.
“I was like, Oh, man, Benny Benack’s coming to town. I’ve got to wear my best suit,” Sinoff recalls with a chuckle. “I think I ended up texting him, Man, I love your suits. Where do you get your suits? That started the conversation.” He continued to bring Benack down for gigs, and their friendly and collegial connection blossomed.
“He brought me to New York — to the Wallace Lounge, to Casa Cipriani, to Baretto, and other clubs,” Sinoff says. “He’s very gracious to cats. We understand and support each other. As fellow crooners, we’re cut from the same cloth — his words.”
Onstage at Baretto, the core quartet of Benack, Sinoff, Claffy, and Kimmel was joined, at various intervals, by guitarist Raphael Silverman, and vocalists
Carolina Peña, Gabrielle Djenné, and Angie Pastor; Misha Piatigorsky and Brandon Goldberg occasionally took over on piano.
They kicked off with Erroll Garner’s indelible “Misty,” followed by “East of the Sun (and West of the Moon),” with a characteristically limber solo by Claffy.
Leading into a burning trumpet feature on Charlie Parker’s “Scrapple from the Apple” Benack then introduced Sinoff as “the king of Southwest Florida” — and Sinoff displayed his personality through his instrument — sympathetic, supportive, laying back, but not afraid to shine when the moment called for it.
Sinoff’s first vocal feature was an easygoing “Taking a Chance on Love,” from Make Someone Happy, followed by “I’ve Got a Crush on You.” Peña’s charm suffused “Come Fly With Me”; when it came time for a “Black Coffee,” the slow, low, bluesy single from Sinoff’s album, Benack used a freshly-pressed CD copy as a trumpet plunger.
They launched into set two with the mainstay “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” On “I Wish You Love,” the younger Goldberg displayed impressive finesse and dynamics; Sinoff’s sumptuous, personal way with a ballad was on full display. Their duet, and Benack’s vocalese, on “All I Need is the Girl,” was a highlight of the set as it is the record. Called tunes kept tumbling in, like “Blue Moon” as a medley into Etta James’ immortal “At Last.” Pidagorski winningly sat in on “Pennies from Heaven.”
The session for Make Someone Happy’s follow-up is booked, with instantly recognizable names to any New York jazz fan. “It may sound silly, but I find myself longing for New York City,” Sinoff told me a few months ago, during an unseasonably cold winter in the Northeast. “I’m feeling magnetically drawn to it.”
Come early spring, audiences in New York are witnessing his flourishing, one decades in the making. And the best part is, he’s just getting started.
Danny Sinoff’s Swinging Holiday Singles: It’s All About The Warmth
By Morgan Enos
At its core, Make Someone Happy — the Boston-born, Florida-bred singer-pianist Danny Sinoff’s debut 2026 album — is not just about happy-making; it’s about the primacy of trust.
Specifically, the trust Sinoff shared with fellow pianist Tyler Henderson — who drummer-producer Ulysses Owens Jr. enlisted to take over on the piano bench on four songs, rendering Sinoff solely the singer along with drummer Owens, bassist Ben Wolfe, guitarist Dan Wilson, saxophonist Jerry Weldon, and trumpeter Joe Magnarelli.
Though something of a gambit — given Sinoff is a proud purveyor of the singing pianist tradition — it paid off. So much so that Henderson rejoined in this configuration for a pair of holiday singles: Irving Berlin’s “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” and Frank Loesser’s “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?”
While the holiday jazz market isn’t typically known for its subtlety, Sinoff is all subtlety — right down to the choices of material, neither of which even mention Christmas; rather, it carries the atmosphere, and feeling, of the season. When the slate is wiped clean, when resolutions are made to be broken, when families and friends and romance reshuffle.
By not going full “Jingle Bells” with the programming, the rich-baritoned Sinoff shows there’s still creative gas in the tank when it comes to yuletide classics.
“I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” — enhanced by what Sinoff calls "a swingin'-ass arrangement" from Weldon — tiptoes in on the easy amble of Henderson’s piano and a nimble, walking bassline from Wolfe. Against that backdrop, Sinoff irresistibly conjures a domestic scene with your main squeeze. (Or, should you happen to fly solo this holiday season — think of anyone or anything you love most in this world.)
“Hey, I’ve got no overcoat,” Sinoff sings with a swing and a kick. “I’m burning with love.” The crackling rhythm section only tosses tinder on the flame.
Sinoff slows it down for a luminous “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?”, showing his easy facility with a ballad. That is: personal, a tasteful dash of vibrato, easily placed within the lineage of the great male vocal singers (Sinatra, Bennett, and beyond) without being beholden to it. Therein, Weldon’s saxophone effortlessly buoys a bittersweet, blue Sinoff.
Like “Black Coffee,” which moodily concludes Make Someone Happy, this version of “New Year’s Eve?” is low and slow — the nights getting longer as November creeps into December. But the throughline of Sinoff’s work — honed during years of long nights, eye to eye with the audience, standards taking shape in low light — may be that we’re not alone.
Morgan Enos is a music journalist whose work has been featured in JazzTimes, GRAMMY.com, Fortune, Billboard, Discogs, Tidal Magazine, Tracking Angle, and many other platforms.