Contact:
Kapland Records
PO Box 742, Aptos, CA 95001
831.687.0278
e-mail: kaplandisc@aol.com

Ron Kaplan: Vocals, Eddie Mendenhall: Piano, Dan Robbins: Bass, Steve Robertson: Drums.

The Jazz Ambassadors have been described as a mix of seasoned veterans and young lions. What is for sure on this recording, is they are a gathering of dynamic musicians who offer a tonic of timeless jazz vocal classics…

Ron Kaplan has put together a tight piano trio with Eddie Mendenhall on piano, Dan Robbins on bass and Steve Robertson on drums to perform some of the most revered songs from that exotic treasure chest of the ‘Great American Songbook’. These songs need no introduction to the listener and provide a montage of wonderful arrangements, improvisation and dazzling musicianship.

Ron is a connoisseur of this music and has studied the history of its birth, rise and interpretation for four decades. This wealth of experience and immersion in the genre provides him with the tools he needs to deliver the warmth and dexterity he offers on the “Jazz Ambassadors’.

Like the opening ‘It Don’t Mean A Thing’, a swinger from the outset with the rhythm section and vocalist employing a certain amount of artistic freedom with a walking bass predominant throughout. On this cut Ron has the warm and mature delivery of a later day Mel Torme.

The bossa nova version of ‘Body and Soul’ is the album’s highlight for me, a wonderful listening experience of this Heyman, green, Sour and Eyton classic.

‘September Song’ is an eclectic offering performed in the Tony Bennett style; ‘I Left MY Heart…’, Ron’s venerable vocal style leads to a spectacular piano solo from Eddie Mendenhall and provides an atypical expression of the musical integrity of when this song was first penned.

On an album of true class and panache, other highlights include the magical ‘Stella By Starlight’, ‘Green Dolphin Street’, and the jewel in the crown, ‘Round Midnight’, the Thelonious Monk classic where Ron evokes compassion in his stylistic vocal paraphrasing and flair.

The closing ‘Don’t Get Around Much Anymore’ is panoply of articulations and rhythms which re-iterates the romantic lyricism by Ron and the spontaneous appeal of this tight piano trio.

Unfortunately it is difficult to find an album nowadays of vocal jazz classics performed with astute vocal and rhythmic detail but the ‘Jazz Ambassadors’ are an eloquent testimony, which provides a continuum for great male vocal jazz.

Track listing: It Don’t Mean A Thing, Body And Soul, September Song, Stolen Monents, Stella By Starlight, ‘Round Midnight, I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But The Blues, Green Dolphin Street, Don’t Get Around Much Anymore/I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart.

This album is not to be missed and is available from EuroClubdeJazz Showcase Artists.
As reviewed by Wes Gillespie, Editor in Chief EuroClubdeJazz.com