BLIX STREET RECORDS TO RELEASE DANIEL RODRIGUEZ’S

“POR TI VOLARÉ” SPANISH LANGUAGE ALBUM ON JUNE 4

First New Release from ‘America’s Tenor’ in Four Years is a Family Affair

Powerhouse vocalist Daniel Rodriguez, most familiar to music fans as America’s Tenor and New York’s Singing Policeman, notches another career credit when independent Blix Street Records issues his first Spanish-language album, POR TI VOLARÉ onJune 4.  Not only does the collection of beloved Latin songs include contributions from Rodriguez’s father, cousin (who served as executive producer) and his godson’s parents (chorus), but it blends two widely popular musical genres that have tended to live separate, if equal, lives.

“We wanted to try and do something new with Latin music,” explains the 48-year-old native New Yorker, best known for his poignant rendition of “God Bless America” at numerous September 11 memorials, as well as a string of patriotic, operatic and inspirational albums.  “The idea was to do Latin music that was familiar, but was presented in a different way.  I’m not a salsa singer, I’m a tenor.  The music on POR TI VOLARÉ is danceable, but it’s got big vocals. That’s something that hasn’t really been present in the Latin market.  So we put it together, with [producer] Robert Navarro, and brought in musicians from Puerto Rico, and we asked my dad to do a duet with me, and we did it.”   

“We wanted to try and do something new with Latin music,” explains the 48-year-old native New Yorker, best known for his poignant rendition of “God Bless America” at numerous September 11 memorials, as well as a string of patriotic, operatic and inspirational albums.  “The idea was to do Latin music that was familiar, but was presented in a different way.  I’m not a salsa singer, I’m a tenor.  The music on POR TI VOLARÉ is danceable, but it’s got big vocals. That’s something that hasn’t really been present in the Latin market.  So we put it together, with [producer] Robert Navarro, and brought in musicians from Puerto Rico, and we asked my dad to do a duet with me, and we did it.”   

The song selection on POR TI VOLARÉ (“Time to Say Good-Bye” in English) features many of the most cherished titles in Latin and international pop music, from the traditional “Malaguena Solerosa” to Ernesto Lecuona’s “Siboney” and Alberto Dominguez’s hugely covered “Perfidia.”  Whether insistent boleros or heart-tugging ballads, the program brims with both rhythmic and emotional movement.  The musicians supply the former, but Rodriguez gets full credit for the latter.  One would expect nothing less from a talent who performed his first recital (at age 16) at Carnegie Hall, took time off from his job as a New York City police officer to study opera with Placido Domingo, recorded his first two albums with Grammy-winning producer-arranger Tom Scott, and has appeared at events as diverse as the Rose Parade and the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics.

 “I’ve always wanted to do an album of the music that I grew up with,” Rodriguez says of POR TI VOLARÉ, “especially the songs my father used to sing.”  It’s clear that “En Mi Viejo San Juan,” often referred to as the unofficial Puerto Rican national anthem, is the singer’s favorite track:  “The duet was one-take.  My father sang his part with authenticity and perfect pitch.  There was nothing done to it, no ProTools or anything.  When he finished, he said, ‘Do you want me to fix it?’ I said, ‘No. It was perfect.’”  His 70-something father smiled and said, “That’s how you do it!”  “Obsesión,” “Somos Novios” and “Jurame” are also songs Daniel learned from dad.  And “My grandfather taught me to sing ‘Granada.’”

Rodriguez’s commanding version of “Malaguena Solerosa” was done “as a tribute to Placido.  I studied with him for two years, and I wanted to show my appreciation.”  “Siboney” is a Rodriguez concert staple, and “Besame Mucho” is a time-honored tune he knew would help anchor the album for fans of Latin-music standards.  The opening title track and its reprise (sung in the original Italian as “Con Te Partirò”), usually regarded as Andrea Bocelli’s signature piece, had a unique genesis.  “Go on YouTube, and you’ll see that everybody and their mother has recorded ‘Por Ti Volaré,’” Rodriguez explains, “but not with a Latin beat.  When I heard it, I thought, ‘This could be a salsa!’  It’s something that the American pop market knows through Bocelli, it was an Italian hit as ‘Con Te Partirò,’ and now it’s a salsa.  It transcends all markets!”

Rodriguez is effusive in his praise for the non-singing participants of POR TI VOLARÉ, whose efforts helped make the two-year, Florida-recorded project the success that it is. 

 “It would have been easier to just go out there and get a salsa band and try to re-create what’s going on currently,” he says.  “But we had to get the right musicians to give it that something unique:  the big tenor approach with the real salsa sound.  It’s something you can dance to, but you still have your ear to the music too.”  Likewise key to the project was producer Robert Navarro (whose credits include projects with Celia Cruz, Machito, Eddie Palmieri and Ray Barretto) and engineer Dave Rideau, who’s worked with such artists as Patti Labelle, Luther Vandross, Janet Jackson, Charlie Daniels and Earth, Wind & Fire.