Reviewer Shows Admiration

“The very talented James Benjamin Rodgers and pianist Jillian Zack take the audience on a journey charting Weill’s musical evolution…a perfect collection of songs not well known and avoids the easy trap of big hits and overly familiar pieces. I would venture to guess that Rodgers, like me, favors Weill and wants to share his adoration of the composer who changed the American musical forever.”

“This is a very talented man embarking on a journey of his own as he charts Weill’s evolution through countries and times, steering with his music the course of an enormous true love: composition.”

“When Zack plays these pieces, they instantly take us to those places and those years. It is as though she were born to play his work and I wish that Lenya had lived long enough to hear her play these Weill masterpieces. For the American songs in the second half, she adopts an all-too-familiar Broadway style, which perfectly serves the songs. You have to marvel at the ease with which this artist changes the scope of her pianistics.”

“Rodgers is no slouch, either. He sings in German and French with pure theatrical tones and no accent difficulties in spite of his heavy New Zealand speaking voice. He is particularly effective in the Jean Cocteau lyrics of “Es Regnet” and the Roger Fernay song “Youkali.” For “J’attends un Navire,” which became a French Underground song during World War II, he creates an entire world through the song.”

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