If any contemporary Las Vegas entertainer qualifies for the honorific “Mr. Showmanship,” it’s Clint Holmes. Holmes’ career included a No. 2 hit (“Playground in My Mind”) and being emcee for The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers before a Harrah’s headlining gig made him a Strip star. He now divides his time between cabaret shows in New York and Atlantic City, and resident artist shows at The Smith Center’s Cabaret Jazz, where he performs Feb. 4-6 with singer Domenick Allen. He recently spoke to Las Vegas Magazine’s Matt Kelemen.

You’re heading for Atlantic City next, right?

No, next week I’m going to New York. Monday. I have a concert in New York on Tuesday night (Jan. 12) at The Sherry-Netherland, and then I’m in Atlantic City Saturday night. The Sherry-Netherland Hotel is a private event. I’m doing that, and then I’m gonna stay in New York and see some plays and stuff, and then I’m going to go down to Atlantic City on Saturday to do a show that night at The Resorts International.

How was the New Year’s Eve show?

It really, without exaggeration, was one of the most enjoyable and one of the most rewarding shows I’ve ever done/been a part of. Everybody was so—here’s my word—serious. Serious artists, like Capathia (Jenkins), Norman (Lewis). They’re all really established Broadway people, all four of the people who are on the show except for me. Norm Lewis and Capathia, and Erich (Bergen) and Patina (Miller). Patina was the only one I didn’t know. All the rest of them have been friends for years, but it was the first time Norm and I had worked together, the first time Erich and I had worked together. Capathia and I had worked together before. They’re so good it’s crazy. It’s like one comes out and the audience goes, “Wow!” and then the next one comes out and they go, “Wow!” So it really was special. I think it was special for the audience. I’ve actually had people come up to me and say, “It’s the best show we’ve seen in Smith Center.” It’s a matter of personal opinion, but it was a great show.

I had interviewed Erich Bergen, and at the time …

He was so funny.

… he said they hadn’t exactly worked out what the show was going to be. He was obviously confident that with the power of the performers …

He’s a very funny guy. Yeah, and that’s the thing. We rehearse, and sometimes on Friday … it’s always a new show at the Smith Center, at Cabaret Jazz. So you go to rehearsal and you’re like, “Oh my God!” but I know how good the musicians are, so I know if may not be perfect Friday night, but it’s gonna be good because there’s just such good players.

Was it a little different being on stage with those people on New Year’s?

The truth is it made me put my big boy pants on. It made me go “OK, you’re walking out there with some of the best singers in the world. Literally some of the best singers in the world. So you better be ready for that.” I love that challenge. It made me very excited to get out there with those people, so in fact, I’ll tell you the other thing that made me … yesterday I had my first voice lesson in six months. Those guys do eight shows a week on Broadway. Their technique, their habits, has to be so disciplined. I don’t have to be that disciplined because I do my three nights here and have a few days off, and I’ll go to New York and I’ll do a show then I’ll have a couple of nights off. When I was at Harrah’s doing, for seven years, six shows a week, that’s how I had to be. I had to get my eight or nine hours sleep every night. It just brought me back to that reality of how high that level is.

What did you sing?

I did a West Side Story medley. Because it was more of a Broadway-themed night, I actually opened the show with a West Side Story medley that I do, then in the middle of the show I did the first live performance of a cut on my new CD with Capathia, which was a modernization of a duet that Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald did from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.

What song?

It was two songs: “I Loves You Porgy” and “There’s a Boat Dat’s Leavin’ Soon for New York.” On my new CD I did it with the Count Basie Orchestra and Dee Dee Bridgewater. We did it here with Capathia and the Lon Bronson Orchestra. It was exciting. So I did that, I did a song I wrote called “If Not Now When” I wrote after I had my cancer thing. It is what it sounds like. It’s a song about, “If you’re not gonna do what you what to do in your life now, what are you waiting for?” And it felt appropriate for New Year’s Eve.

You wrote that while you were recovering from colon cancer, and you’ve been OK ever since then?

Yeah. And then “Hallelujah.” I closed the show with “Hallelujah.”

Sounds like that was a landmark show as far as the Smith Center arc of your career.

Yeah, I think so. Myron (Martin, Smith Center president and CEO) and I looked at each other at the end of the show and went, “Another memory.” It certainly was a memorable night.

What kind of year was 2015 for you overall?

It was an up and down year. The ups were: I did a show with Earl Turner here that was one of the highlights for me of all the time I’ve been here. I’m continuing to work on my CD, which the producer called me about today, and we’re finishing at the end of this month. So that means probably April it’ll be out. It’s turning into an incredible thing. The people on it: people like Joey Defrancensco on B-3, (Saxophonist) Dave Koz and I wrote a song and he’s on the CD, Dee Dee Bridgewater from the Count Basie band, Ledesi and I just did a duet. Jane Monheit is on the CD. So it’s like I’m in bed with all these great artists. I think it has a chance to mean something.

Didn’t you start recording this at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles?

Almost everything was done at Capitol Records. That’s been a wonderful journey, working with great artists in that incredible room where Sinatra recorded, Nat King Cole recorded, Paul McCartney, Ray Charles. So that’s a continuing high for the year. The shows that we created here—continuing highs for the year. I say up and down only because I hoped the album would be done by now and it’s not, but it will be. The high of doing it was continuous, but “Really dude, we’re not done?” That was a little frustrating through the year.

What’s the window of time that you foresee it coming out?

Like I say, my producer’s in Cuba right now recording with some Cuban artists. He comes home this weekend, he finishes the mix on one of the cuts. I’m going to New York. When I come back I’m going to L.A. And supposedly we will finish everything up the end of this month, which means he should be able to finish mixing it in February, which means April it should be ready to come out. So that’s what I’m looking at.

Do you have a title for it yet?

I don’t. That’s one of the things we have to decide. We have a couple of thoughts. One of the producers thinks it should be something kind of, “Ta-da!” Something that says, “This is the work of my life.” I’ve always thought it should be a significant song title from the CD, but I’m not sure anything is completely right. We did a remake of the song “Say Something,” which would be an interesting title. We don’t know. We don’t know yet, but that’s one of the things we’ll probably decide Jan. 22, 23, 24 when I’m down there.

Who is the producer?

His name is Gregg Field. Gregg has seven Grammy awards. He was Sinatra’s drummer for a while, he was Ray Charles’ drummer for a while. He was the Count Basie band’s drummer when he was 17. He produced Ray Charles’ last CD. He’s worked on Buble’s last three albums. He’s a real guy. That’s been part of the problem. He’s so busy. He’s got 15 projects going on, and we’re one of them. And I do believe he’s excited about this one, but he’s in Cuba right now.

Yeah, you can’t hold it against him, working in Cuba with musicians.

Yeah, and that’s one of the things he does. My producer and I have said we’re kind of at the mercy of Gregg in a certain way, because he does all the White House shows. Every show that was at the White House this year, he produced the music for. He’s in that world, so you can’t go, “I want my song cut!” … “Believe me I’ll be back in two weeks, but I’ve gotta go to the White House.” … “No! Don’t go to the White House! Finish my CD!” He’s great and I love him, and it’s going to be really wonderful. The stuff I’ve heard is great.

And you’ve got this place for the release party.

That’s for sure. We’ll do one here, we’ll do one in New York, and one in LA. … As far as the CD, all the people I’ve mentioned are great people. It’s high grass to be walking in, and so I’m really excited about this CD. The frustration has been it’s taking longer than I wanted, but like you said, you’re working with these kinds of people. It just does sometimes.

Gregg said to me, “I get this complaint from a lot of artists I work with, but once the CD’s done they’re very happy.” Arturo Sandoval is another guy he produces. He’s a major player and I’m really lucky. The producer’s is a guy named Larry Safir, the financial producer. He’s just a guy who believes in me and he’s a friend, and he’s paid for this to be made.

You think there’s a breakout track that will resonate with people the most?

That’s a great question. I think the remake of this Louis Armstrong/Ella Fitzgerald thing I think has a chance to resonate with jazz radio in a big way, because it was a beloved thing and Dee Dee Bridgewater is a beloved jazz artist, and the Count Basie Orchestra is iconic. So I think that has a chance to really get some play. “Say Something” was recorded with Ledisi, who two years ago won the Grammy for Best R&B Vocal (Editor’s Note: Ledisi has received nine nominations, including four for Best R&B Performance, from 2008-2015 but has not won a Grammy yet). She was also in the movie Selma. She played Mahalia Jackson.

So she’s a really established R& B artists, so we came up with an interesting treatment of that song. That could be an important breakout thing there. The Dave Koz thing that I did is an original song that Dave wrote, and I wrote the lyric and he guests on it. That could be in the smooth jazz world, so there are two or three cuts that I think could make some momentum.

Didn’t you do some shows with Dee Dee Bridgwater?

Yeah, I did. I did the Hollywood Bowl with Dee Dee and Patti Austin, and Patti Austin’s on the CD too. Gregg was producing half of the show, and he invited me to do it. It was Ella. First half of the show was something else with Jeff Hamilton’s band, and the second half was Basie, Dee Dee, Patti and me.

You had a couple of turns with Ella this year.

Right! That’s another great show, but I was a small part of that.

You have your own shows at Cabaret Jazz, you’re featured in Reynolds Hall often for special events such as NYE and state celebrations, and are a go-to person for guest appearances such as Simply Ella.

Yeah I just hang around: “What are you guys doing?” (Laughs)

Is it safe to say Smith Center has provided unprecedented career opportunities? I mean, a show about Ella comes up and you can just zip in and be part of it.

There’s no doubt, absolutely. We hosted the Miss Nevada Pageant here, my wife and I. There’s so many events we’ve been fortunate to be a part of in Reynolds, and then my regular run at Cabaret Jazz.

The fact that you are still the resident artist at the Smith Center since 2012 speaks to your success here.

When we first started this, Myron said to me “You can do anything you want in there.” You want to do an acoustic show, you want to take your shoes off and do a barefoot show—whatever you want to do.” Which has really been great for me because of what I’ve been doing. I’ve been using different bands at different times, different musicians, going more of a jazz way here. We did a James Taylor show in October. That was a wonderful show. Then Earl Turner and I did a show that we just put together specifically for here that was a very successful show. So I’ve been able to really mix and match and do things and stretch out more. I guess it was in May we did a straight-ahead jazzy thing, acoustic jazz. Had the Lincoln Center jazz trio come in from New York, and I said to the audience, “OK, this is a jazz night.” And they loved it. So we’ve done a lot of different things. That’s been a real blessing, having that room almost as a palate.

Artists that I talk to who know you often have high praise for you. You’re almost like this entertainer’s entertainer, or performer’s performer.

Thank you. … I’m teaching master classes now.

That’s coming up, right?

Tomorrow.

What’s that going to be like?

This will be my second one, and this one’s really interesting because all 10 people … I take 10 people and we work from 10 in the morning until five in the afternoon. What I say to them is “Bring me two songs and then tell me what specifically what you want to work on.” What I think I’m qualified to work on, what I think I’m qualified to help people with, is lyric interpretation—how to make a lyric their own. It’s the difference between a good singer and an artist. The reason Sinatra and people like that are so beloved … he didn’t have the greatest voice in the world, but he was him. Always, always, always it was him. It wasn’t somebody else. If you listened to Sinatra you knew it’s him because he brought so much of himself to it. It took me a long time to learn that.

This is the simplest of examples. One of the guys at the last one wanted to sing “My Way.” I said, “Alright, what’s the first lyric in the song?” He said, “And now the end is near.” And I said, “The end of what?” And he said, “What do you mean?” I said, “The end of what? The end is near. The end of what?”

He said, “I guess the end of life.” I said, “How old are you?” He was like 36. I said, “You’re not singing about the end of your life. You have to decide what ‘the end’ is. It could be the end of a romance. It could be the end of a drug conviction. Maybe your parents died—the end of something, because if you don’t know what the end is you have no idea what you’re singing about. You’re just singing a good song.”

That’s a simple, simple thing, but that’s where it starts. They sing a song and I go, “What’s it about?” They inevitably have a surface idea: “Oh, it’s about a girl who’s in love.” Yeah, but how many times has she been in love? What’s this particular love? That’s what I teach. Lyric interpretation. Stage presence. … Showmanship, movement, becoming an artist.

Who gets more credit for your positive drive, your jazz musician father or opera-singer mother?

Whoo! Would I credit them with the positivity? Not really, my mom gave me the voice and my dad took me to hear musicians, so they gave me … it’s like if it were sports and I played catch with my dad every day.

I love what I do. I freakin’ love it. I love to write. I love the lonely writing part of it. And they’re opposite, right? There’s one where everyone goes up and applauds —“Yay!”—and then there’s one where you write and you’re a writer. You write and you hope it’s good. I love them so much. I’m so satisfied when I do either one of them. I work with a man named Larry Moss. Google him. He’s the foremost acting coach in the world, certainly in the United States. Everyone from DiCaprio to Helen hunt, he works with them on a one-on-one basis. We’ve become great friends over the last 10 years, so I work with him whenever I can. I’m going to work with him next week in New York. That’s where what I said about teaching people, about inhabiting a lyric and finding … I learned a lot of that from Larry. He’s just a brilliant, brilliant, caring, giving, genius teacher. I’ve been at his feet for many, many classes over the past ten years and I learned a lot. The point of that is I’m still learning and I’m still excited about discoveries.

What do you see in your future?

If I’m going to set myself a couple of realistic goals, it’s going to be to continue here, to continue to build an audience and be a part of this incredible place, to get to New York, and to do jazz festivals based on the new CD.

You have your own shows at Cabaret Jazz, you’re featured in Reynolds Hall often for special events such as NYE and state celebrations, and are a go-to person for guest appearances such as Simply Ella.

Yeah I just hang around: “What are you guys doing?” (Laughs)

Is it safe to say Smith Center has provided unprecedented career opportunities? I mean, a show about Ella comes up and you can just zip in and be part of it.

There’s no doubt, absolutely. We hosted the Miss Nevada Pageant here, my wife and I. There’s so many events we’ve been fortunate to be a part of in Reynolds, and then my regular run at Cabaret Jazz.

The fact that you are still the resident artist at the Smith Center since 2012 speaks to your success here.

When we first started this, Myron said to me “You can do anything you want in there.” You want to do an acoustic show, you want to take your shoes off and do a barefoot show—whatever you want to do.” Which has really been great for me because of what I’ve been doing. I’ve been using different bands at different times, different musicians, going more of a jazz way here. We did a James Taylor show in October. That was a wonderful show. Then Earl Turner and I did a show that we just put together specifically for here that was a very successful show. So I’ve been able to really mix and match and do things and stretch out more. I guess it was in May we did a straight-ahead jazzy thing, acoustic jazz. Had the Lincoln Center jazz trio come in from New York, and I said to the audience, “OK, this is a jazz night.” And they loved it. So we’ve done a lot of different things. That’s been a real blessing, having that room almost as a palate.

Artists that I talk to who know you often have high praise for you. You’re almost like this entertainer’s entertainer, or performer’s performer.

Thank you. … I’m teaching master classes now.

That’s coming up, right?

Tomorrow.

What’s that going to be like?

This will be my second one, and this one’s really interesting because all 10 people … I take 10 people and we work from 10 in the morning until five in the afternoon. What I say to them is “Bring me two songs and then tell me what specifically what you want to work on.” What I think I’m qualified to work on, what I think I’m qualified to help people with, is lyric interpretation—how to make a lyric their own. It’s the difference between a good singer and an artist. The reason Sinatra and people like that are so beloved … he didn’t have the greatest voice in the world, but he was him. Always, always, always it was him. It wasn’t somebody else. If you listened to Sinatra you knew it’s him because he brought so much of himself to it. It took me a long time to learn that.

This is the simplest of examples. One of the guys at the last one wanted to sing “My Way.” I said, “Alright, what’s the first lyric in the song?” He said, “And now the end is near.” And I said, “The end of what?” And he said, “What do you mean?” I said, “The end of what? The end is near. The end of what?”

He said, “I guess the end of life.” I said, “How old are you?” He was like 36. I said, “You’re not singing about the end of your life. You have to decide what ‘the end’ is. It could be the end of a romance. It could be the end of a drug conviction. Maybe your parents died—the end of something, because if you don’t know what the end is you have no idea what you’re singing about. You’re just singing a good song.”

That’s a simple, simple thing, but that’s where it starts. They sing a song and I go, “What’s it about?” They inevitably have a surface idea: “Oh, it’s about a girl who’s in love.” Yeah, but how many times has she been in love? What’s this particular love? That’s what I teach. Lyric interpretation. Stage presence. … Showmanship, movement, becoming an artist.

Who gets more credit for your positive drive, your jazz musician father or opera-singer mother?

Whoo! Would I credit them with the positivity? Not really, my mom gave me the voice and my dad took me to hear musicians, so they gave me … it’s like if it were sports and I played catch with my dad every day.

I love what I do. I freakin’ love it. I love to write. I love the lonely writing part of it. And they’re opposite, right? There’s one where everyone goes up and applauds —“Yay!”—and then there’s one where you write and you’re a writer. You write and you hope it’s good. I love them so much. I’m so satisfied when I do either one of them. I work with a man named Larry Moss. Google him. He’s the foremost acting coach in the world, certainly in the United States. Everyone from DiCaprio to Helen hunt, he works with them on a one-on-one basis. We’ve become great friends over the last 10 years, so I work with him whenever I can. I’m going to work with him next week in New York. That’s where what I said about teaching people, about inhabiting a lyric and finding … I learned a lot of that from Larry. He’s just a brilliant, brilliant, caring, giving, genius teacher. I’ve been at his feet for many, many classes over the past ten years and I learned a lot. The point of that is I’m still learning and I’m still excited about discoveries.

What do you see in your future?

If I’m going to set myself a couple of realistic goals, it’s going to be to continue here, to continue to build an audience and be a part of this incredible place, to get to New York, and to do jazz festivals based on the new CD.