When I was thirty one, I had done WAY more than I had EVER dreamed I could, more than I would or more that I dreamed that I SHOULD be allowed. I set the bar REALLY low for a lot of reasons. it wasn't about failing or success, but I really didn't know what I wanted out of life.
So when I had sung operas from every century, from the earliest to world premieres, from singing with the best symphonies in the world to playing with the best musicians I could think of, without doing anything more than showing up with a God-given gift, I didn't really know what that meant. I didn't really know how absolutely special that was. Frankly I was in shock most of my twenties and much of my thirties...how did I get here? I was not a brain, or a jock, or a real theater geek, or a photog, or frankly an artist, but I could ALWAYS sing.
Still, that wasn't enough to give me the confidence to DO anything. I still just showed up.
Then things started to get difficult. Then it got hard and sometimes it got almost impossible. It was these times that left me to really look and see just what it was I was doing, both the wrong and right. Swinging in the gusty mountain wind (figuratively speaking) with my fingers gouged into a narrow crack I HAD to figure out why I was there, where I was climbing or else I could always have jump onto the helicopter that was lowering a safe platform for me, to take me back down to earth. Twelve feet below.
Phew.
I go to all of these symposiums and have meetings and wave when people invite me to society functions because folks, they think I've done a lot. I'm not disputing them, because a lot of things have happened, but man! I've just gotten started.
I defined that I can be a working artist, a career singer, getting paid to show up and make the cords vibrate. That wasn't hard, but coming up with HOW I wanted to be an ARTIST was a long time in the making.
So this first thing is Wee Small Hours. From obsession to conceptualization to actual stepping foot on the stage...two and a half years. It's no Avatar of an idea, but it IS what I'm starting with.
I have a lot of friends involved with this, it's not just something I'm doing alone. A number of people are putting real hours into this project. Real Artists, Real Work.
It's not just about them and me though... It's about you too. You may not know it, but YOU helped me with coming up with the idea. I did listen. It may not be the perfect synthesis of what you wanted; I don't know if I am actually capable of that, all the same... Wee Small Hours is a great step.
We have two shows.
One is:
"1955" is played as the classic standards from the great Frank Sinatra album, "In the Wee Small Hours", pieces from Hoagy Carmichael, Rodgers and Hart, Yip Harburg, Harold Arlen and more adorn this intimate show. The song arrangements are familiar and gorgeous.
The other is:
..."PMV" is Jeffrey Rukaman's take on the iconic smash 1955 Frank Sinatra album, "In the Wee Small Hours". The sixteen Classic American Standards on the record are brilliantly arranged by Rukaman with an ear for post-modern pop, or pop songs from the 70's and 80's.
Yes Way!
Seriously, what's an operatic tenor doing singing pop tunes?
Well, what's La Donna e' Mobile? Che Gelida Manina? Una Furtiva Lagrima? Nessun Dorma? Some of the songs on this album, all Classic American Standards on their own, have been around just as long as say, Nessun Dorma, written in 1927. No they aren't arias, but they are songs written by artists and sung and played by countless artists. It's time they fit in the classical pantheon...only why would we do them as 1930-50's pieces only?
The GREAT thing about these tunes is that they are so malleable. I'm telling you, Rukaman is a genius. When you hear the 1955 and compare to PMV you will be blessed to see them both.
So all this work for a SONIC EXPERIENCE? Darn right! Tell Your Friends!!!!!!!!
Enjoy your time on Earth.
Nathan 
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