Stepping Back in Time for the Warm Embrace of Melinda DeRocker's 'I'll Be Seeing You'

Melinda DeRocker belts one out in the studio. Photo by Stefan Falke.

IT'S a romantic record that conjures up an image of soulmates snuggled near a crackling fire on a cold winter night.

How apt, considering that “I'll Be Seeing You” is a soundtrack of the union of two young people about to be separated by the call of World War II in the winter of 1944. It is also the debut album of veteran singer, musical director and actress Melinda DeRocker. The aforementioned couple is her parents.

“The songs on this album were the musical backdrop for their story along with countless others in that remarkable time in American History,” writes the Mississippi native in the liner notes.”

"I'll Be Seeing You" is a gift. Photo from Melinda DeRocker Facebook page.

MDeR's parents introduced her to this music, from Porter, the Gershwins, Carmichael and others. These ditties belong to that vast musical catalog lovingly and reverently known as the “Great American Songbook.”

Many are familiar because they are used to sell cars and laundry detergent. Occasionally, they show up on Broadway and are frequently mined on the regional theater circuit. Fans of old films will have familiarity with them, too.

For senior citizens in their 70s and up, though, these old chestnuts – classics – are the songs of their youth, just as a generation is coming up on Beyoncé and Bieber. Just as a generation came of age on “The Beatles and the Motown Sound. “I'll Be Seeing You” will resonate with everybody, regardless of age; the sentiments they express know no era. These well-crafted songs will never go out of fashion.

How many times have songs like “Embraceable You” (Track 4) and “Love Is Here To Stay” (Track 10) been covered? Countless, of course. Yet MDeR, who grew up singing in the church and has European classical and musical theater training, makes them her own. In her hands and those of co-producer Paul Kim, they are delivered with freshness and a jauntiness. They are jazzy; they swing. They bring smiles and laughs.

No parental controls are necessary because "I'll Be Seeing You" is suitable listening for everyone, from cradle to rocker. Particularly engaging is “Day By Day” (Track 12). (Sample "I'll Be Seeing You" on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/MelindaDeRockerMusic/app_470868196288052)

Melinda DeRocker and her band set feet to tapping at the Warner Library in Tarrytown, New York. Photos by Penni Urquhart.

Recently, MDeR, whose credits include a national touring production of "The King and I," performed tunes from “I''ll Be Seeing You” to a full house at the Warner Library in the Hudson River village of Tarrytown. She resides there with her public relations executive husband.

On Monday (16 June), this daughter of Hattiesburg will be on stage for a soldout concert during the city's FestivalSouth culture fair. Before MDeR set off for Dixie, she commented briefly on her record and going home again.

YOUR TRULY: You have been singing since you were knee high to a June bug. Why your very first album in 2013?
MELINDA DeROCKER: I just didn't think of myself as a recording artist. I'd done musical theater and classical singing and been a choral director all these years. Recording wasn't on my radar until very recently.

YT: The Great American Songbook is a thick “tome,” chock full of beautiful songs. Explain briefly the song selection process. What are some classics that did not make the cut, that you really wanted to include but were not able to?
MDeR: Yes, there are thousands to choose from. I chose my songs first of all based on the theme of the album, enduring love, a tribute to my parents' 68-year long marriage. That automatically eliminated a lot of songs. Then I chose for variety – uptempo, ballad, sassy, humor, etc. – to create an entertaining album to listen to. But probably the overall question I asked myself was, is this a song I LOVE to sing? If I don't love singing it, the listener is probably not going to love hearing me sing it.

YT: What inspired the title, “I'll Be Seeing You?”
MDeR: Part of it was going down the list of song titles and saying to myself, does this one resonate? There were some obvious no's, like "Day By Day", which people might confuse with the song from "Godspell." But also, when I was rehearsing "I'll Be Seeing You" instead of singing it only as a slow, kind of melancholy ballad like it's usually done, I went into a gentle swing that reflected the kind of jaunty hope that the lyrics imply – "I'm going away for now, but I'll see you again." So there's love and hope in the title, two of my favorite words.

YT: Who are some of your all-time favorite singers and why? (At least two examples, please.)
MDeR: Wow, there are so many. I grew up listening to Barbra Streisand, who did things vocally that were unique at the time. Many singers have tried to imitate her but not many successfully. In recent years I've loved seeing Barbara Cook in concert, who puts a song over so beautifully. She's in her 80s but can still sing in perfect pitch, with such a pure quality of tone and vulnerability in her voice brought about by life experience and impeccable musicianship. She's a real role model for me. And I love Peggy Lee anytime.


YT: Describe the audience for this record.
MDeR: I hope it's a very diverse one. I'd like to think that these iconic songs can resonate with all ages, and I've had comments to that effect on my music page – old and young, in-between, and from rock music lovers, country music lovers, classical music lovers. I think when good music is done well, most people recognize it and appreciate it. (https://www.facebook.com/MelindaDeRockerMusic)

YT: What are some of the feelings/emotions you hope this record will stir in listeners?
MDeR: I aimed to produce something beautiful to listen to, so first beauty. And then, joy, hope, warmth of love – just overall good feelings!

YT: How long were you in the studio recording?
MDeR: We recorded in a small studio, so it was done in segments and layers. In the first session with piano, bass and drums, nine songs were laid down in four hours with scratch vocals. Then I came back in and recorded the real vocals in two sessions of about three hours each. We went from there, adding in the other songs and instruments. The entire time span was over a period of about six months.

YT: Growing up mainly listening to and enjoying the classical music (jazz, standards) of the United States, how was this proclivity received by your peers who were mainly grooving to the beat of pop and rock?
MDeR: I don't remember experiencing any pushback from my peers. I just remember being in my own world musically, and happy in it.


YT: You are journeying HOME to Mississippi for a concert that will include songs from this record. How are you feeling?
MDeR: Excited to see old friends and family, to get to share this music live with them. It's where I had my first experiences singing and I'm grateful for the opportunities that community gave me.

YT: Would you like to add anything?
MDeR: The Psalms are full of the exhortation to "Sing!" I hope to be doing just that the rest of my days, if the good Lord allows it!

YT: Thank you.

Visit http://www.bit.ly/1oZJtqB to purchase “I''' Be Seeing You”; visit http://www.festivalsouth.org/events.html to learn more about Melinda DeRocker's concert and “FestivalSouth.”

For Better or Worse (Worse), 'The Great Gatsby' 2.0

ABOUT 10 minutes into The Great Gatsby, Yours Truly was tempted to walk out of the beautiful Ziegfeld Theatre.

Before I bolted I quickly schooled my thoughts to ponder why I would wish to do such as thing. The answer came soon enough: I did not like what I’d seen heretofore and was convinced that it would not get any better.

In the final analysis I was right. I stayed, though, because your humble guide doesn’t leave in the middle or beginning of films. I stay until the bitter or sweet end, after the final credit and the screen fades to black.

Besides new-fangled “The Great Gatsby” isn’t so bad that anybody should walk out on it. Indeed, it has a coupla three things to recommend it. The film opens widely in the United States and Australia today. Incidentally, it was filmed in Australia, not on Long Island in New York

No doubt, Dear Readers, you’re asking yourselves why I would even contemplate walking out on what has been one of the most hyped films of the year. Simple: my immediate impression less than a quart of an hour into it, was that it reminded me of a cross between “Animal House” and “Weekend at Barney’s.” The early party scenes at the mansion where mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) resides were too over the top and, frankly, boring.

Just another wild night at the Gatsby manse in "The Great Gatsby." Photos courtesy of Warner Brothers.

Writer, producer, director Baz Luhrmann&Co. seemingly decided that the way to suggest the loosening morals of this Jazz Age is to show a party that is one garment away from a full-on orgy. It is laughable. The partygoers seem like a bunch of children playing dress up in their parents clothing.

Perhaps it is unfair to compare this film, based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s now classic novel, to the 1974 version based on the same novel. Alas, comparisons are inevitable. Though “The Great Gatsby” 2.0 is more faithful to the novel, particularly in a larger focus on Nick Carraway’s (Tobey Maguire) recollections and featuring more ethnic diversity, it falls far short of the 1974 film starring Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Sam Waterston, Bruce Dern and Lois Chiles.

Jay Gatsby is over the moon in love with Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan) who is now married to true bluebood Tom (Joel Edgerton.) Gatsby enlists Daisy’s cousin, Nick, as matchmaker. At this juncture the story really begins to unfold until it unravels.

“The Great Gatsby” 2.0 is so much like this current age and “relevant to now” as suggested in its production notes. It is loud, coarse, puerile, shallow and lacking in subtlety. Further, it plays more like a comedy rather than a tragic love story. “The Great Gatsby” is the story about the boundless love of one man for one woman. If only every woman at least once in her lifetime could be with a man who loves her thus.

Of the main five characters in “The Great Gatsby” 2.0., only LdiC as Jay Gatsby and Australian newcomer and recent college grad Elizabeth Debicki as Jordan Baker shine in their roles. CM as Daisy Buchanan, the love of Gatsby’s life and TM as Daisy’s cousin and Gatsby’s neighbor, Nick Carraway, are particularly miscast. CM doesn’t convey Daisy’s vulnerability, while TM is more wide-eyed geek than a grounded Midwesterner.

Meanwhile, why, oh why did BL shoot this film in 3D? Just because the technology exists does not mean that one must avail himself of it. It works for a “Spiderman”; it’s out of place in “The Great Gatsby" 2.0. Ditch the infernal 3D glasses and enjoy the basic HD version. The film is sumptuous visually. Simon Duggan's cinematography is breathtaking. Sets and costumes by Catherine Martin are sublime.

Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) welcomes his woman Daisy (Carey Mulligan) and her husband Tom (Joel Edgerton).

The soundtrack, on which Jay-Z serves as executive producer, is an interesting mix, featuring Jay-Z, Kanye West, Fergie and others. The orchestration of Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black,” performed by Beyoncé and André 3000, is both beautiful and haunting; Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love,” performed by Emeli Sandé, sticks out like a sore thumb.

"Young and Beautiful," performed by Lana Del Rey, is the album’s lead single. It plays during love and play scenes between Gatsby and Daisy. The song effectively captures the insouciance that Gatsby tries to recapture when he’s with Daisy that so marked their life before he went off to war and she married another.

Nick (Tobey Maguire) and Jordan (Elizabeth Debicki) are enablers in "The Great Gatsby."

Jay-Z is also a producer of “The Great Gatsby” 2.0. One wonders whether he used any of his influence to get blacks cast in roles other than as servants or whether this element is part of the director’s desire to be more faithful to the book.

After all, blacks (called Negroes at the time) would have been present in the various speakeasy joints, for instance or at the filling station. Or living in tenements amongst poor "ethnic" whites who were allowed to call themselves white but were accorded very few "white skin" privileges by the WASP power structure.

Daisy (Carey Mulligan) and Leo (Leonardo DiCaprio) have a moment in "The Great Gatsby."

One quibble: the black female speakeasy dancer might have looked a bit less like a hooker. Many of these women were beautiful and might have been mistaken for models …Owl eyes (Max Cullen) is one of the best things about the film.

Purists will think “The Great Gatsby” 2.0 hideous. Young people will be delighted.

Visit http://www.thegreatgatsby.warnerbros.com/ to learn more about "The Great Gatsby"; the film is rated PG-13 for some violent images, sexual content, smoking, partying and brief language. Rx.