STANDARDS SINGER RON KAPLAN PICKS A DOZEN TUNES ABOUT NEW YORK

If you have heard any of the other albums by jazz singer Ron Kaplan – HIGH STANDARDS, DEDICATED, JAZZ AMBASSADORS, LOUNGING AROUND, SALOON or AMERICAN SONGBOOK PRESERVATION SOCIETY SINGING THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK – then you know he has become one of our finest contemporary singers of jazz standards. Now Kaplan has done it again with a new recording, NEW YORK, featuring a dozen classic tunes about NYC, Manhattan, The Big Apple, Bright Lights & Big City USA.

In the past few years Kaplan has performed in Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington DC. He has made television appearances on "Musician's Weekly" and "BETonJazz." He has played in the past with musicians such as Tom Garvin, Weber Iago, Larry Scala, Paul Contos, Ted Curson, Dmitri Matheny, Donny McCaslin Jr., Kenny Stahl, Dan Brubeck and Matt Wilson.

The players on NEW YORK have a long A-list of credits -- pianist and producer Larry Dunlap (Cleo Laine, Mark Murphy), bassist Seward McCain (Vince Guaraldi Trio, Richie Cole), drummer Akira Tana (Lena Horne, Pat Metheny), trumpeter Erik Jekabson (Illinois Jacquet, John Mayer) and saxophonist Noel Jewkes (Jon Hendricks, Michael Bloomfield).

Kaplan covers a couple of newer tunes – Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind” and the Man-Weil-Leiber-Stoller classic “On Broadway.” But Ron also gets into some jazz standards like Ellington’s “Take the A Train” and “Drop Me Off in Harlem” along with “Jumpin’ With Symphony Sid” (an oldtime NYC DJ) and “Harlem Nocturne.” Kaplan also covers a couple of Rogers & Hart standards (“Give It Back to the Indians” and “Manhattan”).

Kaplan has a very relaxed style that you sort of float away on, much like Tony Bennett when he is doing his laid-back, easy-going thing. Kaplan knows when to caress the lyric and when to let it go. He also steps out of the way long enough to let his band shine a bit on every tune. Since Sinatra isn’t coming back, this is really male jazz vocalizing at its finest in the modern world.