Traditional pop singer Ron Kaplan was born in Hollywood, CA, the son of a professional trumpeter who played in jazz bands. His early influences were the pop singers of the 1950s, including Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. His first instrument was the drums, although he later played piano and guitar. After studying at an acting workshop, he attended Valley College in Los Angeles, from which he graduated with an associate in arts degree in 1976. After college, he turned to songwriting and performing. He continued his education at the University of California at Santa Cruz, earning a B.A. in psychology. After a decade of listening closely to instrumental jazz, in 1995 he began performing the standards of the Great American Songbook. Since then, while maintaining a non-music career as an agent for the Allstate insurance company until his retirement in June of 2007, he has sung with a variety of jazz musicians, not only in southern California, but also in Las Vegas, London, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. In 1997, he recorded his debut album, High Standards, for his own Kapland Records label. In 1999, he recorded Lounging Around, which was released initially in 2000 and reissued in revised form on July 15, 2006. Dedicated, released on May 1, 2003, was his third album, and he followed it with Jazz Ambassadors on June 15, 2004, Saloon (on which he was accompanied only by pianist Weber Iago) on August 31, 2005, New York, his 10^th anniversary release on Kapland Records…in jazz we trust in October 2007, and finally a live recording in 2008 recorded at Kuumbwa Jazz Center as a benefit concert, American Songbook Preservation Society…Singing the Great American Songbook.  In addition to his performing and recording activities, he founded and became the executive director of the non-profit organization the www.GreatAmericanSongbook.org

<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]-->

Hi Friends...visit me on myspace @

http://www.myspace.com/kaplandrecords

Also visit me @ www.ronkaplan.com

And...check out my acting page @ www.ronkaplan.com/acting.htm

Finally, donate to American Songbook Preservation Society and keep this truly American music out in front of the public for the next 100 years and beyond @ www.greatamericansongbook.org

Thank you!

RonKaplan

Kapland Records...in jazz we trust

Dear Friends and Music Lovers!

As some of you may know, I am a singer and a great fan of America’s

Classical music...Jazz and the Great American Songbook, known and

loved around the world.

Will you help me to endow a Foundation dedicated to

continuing this legacy for future generations?

Our Mission: To preserve our cultural treasure known as the Great

American Songbook by presenting this music to the public at home

and abroad as Ambassadors of Song. Our purpose is to build

an Organization to stand the test of time and continue this body

of work for the next 100 years and beyond for public benefit.

“In a hundred to a hundred and fifty years from now, I believe that

people will recognize the music of Gershwin and Ellington as the

classical music of our time.” Tony Bennett

You can help me achieve this mission with your

generous donation!

We are looking for Donors who believe in this American Cultural

Legacy and want their name or business associated with the

American Songbook Preservation Society Foundation

as we fulfill our mission.

Our Goal is $25 million, which will underwrite our Foundation

in perpetuity. We are asking that concerned individuals help

us make this happen with their support. 

The American Songbook Preservation Society is

a California Charitable Corporation, exempt from taxation

under section 501 (C) 3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

As such, your donations are fully tax-deductible

as allowed by law Tax ID #56-241033

Please mail your donation to American Songbook Preservation

Society 9051-A Soquel Drive, Aptos, California 95003

Email us at: info@greatamericansongbook.org

or call us at (831) 687-0278.

Thank you for your support!

Ronald Kaplan, Executive Director

www.GreatAmericanSongbook.org

 ….Singing the Great American Songbook

What is the Great American Songbook, also known as the

 “Popular Standards”?

It is largely composed of songs written between 1920 and 1960 from

the Tin Pan Alley era through the Broadway stages and sets of

Hollywood musicals.

This era represented a unique period in the history of

American popular music.

It was a period that saw the advent of a new type of songwriting,

utterly original in some respects, but grounded in the simple structure

of the Tin Pan Alley era that preceded it, and strongly influenced by

the musical form known as Jazz (and by the precursors of Jazz:

Ragtime and Blues).

The Great American Songbook is a distinct body of works, which

collectively represent one of America’s true cultural treasures, and

exemplify popular songwriting at its best, with vivid, literate

lyrics set to haunting elusive harmonies and gorgeous melodies

that have come to hold an exalted place in American culture and

around the world.

Of the American Songbook Popular Standards, most were

written for specific spots in shows, films, specialty acts, or revues.

They were the product of professional songwriters and lyricists

working at their craft. In the hands of a capable singer like

Ella Fitzgerald or Frank Sinatra, the Standards serve as a sort of

musical thesaurus of the spectrum of human emotions.

Maybe that’s the reason these songs and this body of work

continue to engender such a deep response to this day.

The purpose of the American Songbook Preservation Society

is to keep these songs in the public consciousness, by performing

them in venues around the country and around the world

with the highest musical integrity and interpretation from a cast

of highly capable Singers and Musicians as Ambassadors of

American Song.

Future Projects: include archiving and organizing historical documentation about the composers and lyricists, the personalities, and their works, as an educational resource for future generations for use in the classroom and the university. In addition, we will record and develop new material for presentation to the public as representative of this body of work. Finally, we will work on a permanent display using modern technology to bring the Great American Songbook and it’s inhabitants to life.

Some of the Great American Songbook Composers and Lyricists

Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington • Billy Strayhorn • Ted Koehler • James Van Huesen • Jules Styne • Rogers and Hammerstein •  Lerner and Loewe • Meredith Wilson and Frank Loesser • Harold Arlen • Irving Berlin • Lew Brown • Johnny Burke •Irving Caeser • Sammy Cahn • Hoagy Carmichael • B.G. DeSylva • Howard Dietz • Walter Donaldson • Al Dubin •Vernon Duke •  Dorothy Fields • George Gershwin • Ira Gershwin • Mack Gordon • Johnny Green •Oscar Hammerstein II• Otto Harbach • E.Y. Harburg • Johnny Mercer • Ray Noble • Mitchell Parish • Cole Porter •Ralph Rainger • Andy Razaf • Leo Robin • Richard Rogers • Harry Ruby •

Arthur Schwartz • Mac Gordon • Lorenz Hart • Ray Henderson • Jerornre Kern • Burton Lane • Frank Loesser • Jimmy McHugh •

Gus Kahn • Bert Kalmar • Thomas Wright “Fats” Waller •  Harry Warren • Richard Whiting • Spenser Williams • Victor Young • Vincent Youmans • Irving Mills, and many others

S I N G I N G  T H E  G R E AT  A M E R I C A N  S O N G B O O K