Ron Kaplan

SALOON: The Ron Kaplan*Weber Iago Album

Kapland Records www.ronkaplan.com
I'm Just A Lucky So And So, It Was A Very Good Year,
"S Wonderful/I Got Rhythm, Alfie, Nice Work If You Can Get It,
Desafinado, Willow Weep for Me, Agua de Beber, Who Can I Turn To.
Personnel: Ron Kaplan, vocals, Weber Iago, piano

By Bill Donaldson

Ron Kaplan, a late bloomer who commenced a singing career in his forties, like many other singers, has returned to the music he heard as a youth: that of vocalists singing standards from the Great American Songbook. After experimenting with various other styles, including rock and folk music, Kaplan gravitated back toward the songs with the meaningful lyrics and the unforgettable melodies that remained in his head decades after he first heard them. As a result, Kaplan has made up for lost time. He has recorded in fairly rapid succession four albums on his own label, each one with different configurations of instrumentation. On Kaplan's latest CD, he has chosen to sing solely with piano accompaniment, and appropriately he has named it Saloon. The CD does suggest the quality of a male singer entertaining an audience with spur-of-the-moment song choices and insouciant appeal, as the piano follows him in an environment apparently outside a studio, though inside a studio it was recorded. The name of the CD seems to be consistent with the fact that Kaplan's early favorites were members of the Rat Pack, some of who, like Dean Martin, described themselves as saloon singer,

Indeed, Kaplan includes one of the schmaltzy songs associate with the late-Sinatra era, "It Was A Very Good Year", with the same sense of indulgent sentimentality and the speaking of truths self evident to men who have lived a long life like fine vintage wine. But some of the other songs are those that attained popularity in the late sixties or early seventies, like "Alfie" or " Who Can I Turn To?" Whatever the era of the songs' origins, Kaplan wrings poignancy from them with his rich baritone, breathy on "Willow Weep For Me" and jaunty on "I'm A Lucky So and So". Kaplan obviously is enjoying his better-late-than-never status as a balladeer in control of his destiny as he gets to select the songs he sings and as he gets to release his singing on his own label.

On Saloon, he chose to record solely with a piano accompaniment - by Brazilian native Weber Iago. While one wouldn't expect saloon singing to be the rage in Brazil, Iago's back-up is particularly effective on bossa nova numbers like "Desafinado" whose lyric "out of tune" may be supported to a degree. On "Agua de Beber", strangely enough, Kaplan converts the song into one that a person might hear, yes, in a "saloon", as the Americanization of bossa nova take hold. Iago's controlled, deliberate accompaniment retains some of the song's originality and spirit. Iago's presence on some of the other tracks helps to establish their feeling, such as his sensitive introduction to "Who Can I Turn To?" or his similar work on "Alfie", which offsets the liberties that Kaplan takes with the song in melody and rhythm. With a fondness for romantic ballads and a crooner's interest in reaching out and touching someone, Ron Kaplan has created his most intimate atmosphere yet for his singing of American standards.