Home Page: jonpaulpuno.com

Lushly orchestrated and hauntingly simple, the music of Jon Paul Puno is less classical or pop - the two genres listed under his ReverbNation page - than it is the soundtrack to his own personal Broadway musical.

A classically trained tenor, Puno is at his best when he's recounting simple ballads of love and loss, his voice rising in intensity as he reaches the climax of each song: these songs are meant to be visualized on a stage, performed, watched as much as listened to. Indeed, Puno's background is a visual one; he doubles as a film director, having graduated from the University of Southern Californa School of Cinematic arts.

The most successful songs are those in which Puno embraces his skill as a performer as well as a singer - ballads like "The Climb," and "Falling Slowly," in which Puno is able to convey his emotions in classic showstopper style: simple melodies, straightforward lyrics, and honest, clear delivery, all of which allow Puno to be the star of his own song: as much a character in his story as the composer behind it.

Less successful, conversely, are his forays into pop; in "Push," Puno's danciest single, the overwhelming electronic orchestration and thumping beat distract from the honesty of Puno's vocals, and with it his greatest strength. This is still an issue in "Say (All I Need)" - albeit to a lesser degree: while the song is certainly "poppy" - it nevertheless allows Puno's crystal-clear voice to take centre stage.

As a performer, Puno is perhaps more reminiscent of great female balladeers like Barbara Streisand or Judy Garland; his slow appreciation of melody is an unfortunate rarity among many male pop singers, although it must be pointed out that Puno's theatricality never veers into camp territory.

Still, the comparison with female divas is with which he cannot be unfamiliar; Puno actively seems to court it with his Italian-language cover of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You." It is in occupying this space - a male answer to the Broadway babes of decades gone by - that Puno ultimately finds his niche, and it is certainly a worthwhile one.