Nicholas Rodriguez
The First Time
(PS Classics)
September 27, 2015
Reviewed by Victoria Ordin for Cabaret Scenes
The First Time, seasoned stage and television actor Nicholas Rodriguez’s debut album, may be about first experiences and new directions, but its polish and daring make it sound like the release of a veteran recording artist. Best known for TV’s One Life to Live, the actor boasts a long and diverse list of regional and off-Broadway theater credits, as well as a turn in Broadway’s Tarzan. Called “spectacular” by The New York Times, “awesome” by NPR, and “outstanding” by the New Yorker, I can add little to the praise already heaped on the eclectic collection from the native Texan with a BM and MM from the University of Texas.
Beyond the artist’s astonishing vocal talent (as confident in falsetto as in low ranges), what strikes me most about The First Time is Rodriguez’s ability to make me love songs I actively dislike. “Leaving on a Jet Plane” (John Denver) would make a top ten list of banned songs at my wedding or any party, yet as sung by Rodriguez and arranged by the brilliant pianist David Budway, I not only tolerate but love it.
Likewise the jazzy interpretation of “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,” the only song I sort of like from Oklahoma!, the only classic (or Rodgers and Hammerstein) musical whose popularity I never understood. (Perhaps I would have liked the musical better had the legendary songwriters infused it with jazz and set it somewhere else!
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Converting me to the John Denver and Rodgers and Hammerstein hits would be accomplishment enough, but deepening my love for Joni Mitchell’s “Conversation” and “A Case of You”—two of my favorite songs by the iconic singer-songwriter—is equally impressive. Covers of cherished songs often fail by comparison with the originals, but Rodriguez and Budway are masters of interpretation: the songs evoke the originals, yet stand on their own as though new compositions. And Neil Cain (bass), Donald Edwards (drums) and Ron Afif (guitar) play with the cohesion of a band together for years. With its prominent bass and guitar rather than piano, the spare rendition of Stephen Sondheim’s “Sooner or Later” (another song generally sung by a female) exemplifies the spirit of reinvention throughout.
Other outstanding tracks include “I’ve Never Been in Love Before” (Frank Loesser), “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” (Gerry Goffin/Carole King), “You’ll Be in My Heart” (Phil Collins, from Tarzan), “Brave” (Sara Bareilles), and the ethereal yet melancholy “Waters of March” (Antonio Carlos Jobim). A poignant “That’s All” concludes this wonderful collection from a performer who deserves to be a household name.