of very strong religious influences
from my grandparents. I was the
soloist in the choir. I had to go to
Sunday School and Bible School
and did all kinds of Christian stuff
because they wanted me to. I
loved them very much and they
took care of me. It was a wonderful environment that I lived in
to be honest. It was very simple.
There wasn’t much money, but
there was food on the table and
they took good care of me.
Your parents were both accomplished actors. Were you more
interested in being an actor or a
musician? Oh, I was definitely going to be an actor and I was an actor before I became a professional
musician. I was raised with music. My grandmother was a piano
teacher and an opera singer; my
mother was a singer and a dancer; and my father was a brilliant
singer. When I would go to visit
my dad he gave me a lot of Cole
Porter, George Gershwin, Rodgers & Hammerstein influences and
I got into big band on my own.
Bobby Darin was a huge influence
on me because he was the bridge
between my father’s