BORDENTOWN CITY: A doctor by day, a musician by night

Bordentown physician is a master of the keyboard

By Amber Cox
   BORDENTOWN CITY – Inspired by The Doors after seeing them in concert, a medical school student went out and bought his first keyboard.
   Over 30 years later, Nick Rossos practices internal medicine at his home office on Farnsworth Avenue and is releasing his fourth CD.
   The Record Collector, 358 Farnsworth Ave., will be hosting the “Improvisations” CD Release Party for Dr. Nick and the Wah Wah Boys on Sunday as a free event from 2 to 5 p.m.
   Rachel Rossos, Dr. Rossos’ oldest daughter, and her husband, Michael Gallant, will perform a number of songs from the CD and songs from their own CD that is being released in March.
   Dr. Rossos fell in love with music when he attended Junior High School Number 2 in Trenton where he was required to take a music appreciation class.
   ”I was having such a blast,” he said. “I realized from then on that I really had a passion for music. I just love hearing music. I always wanted to play music, but I never had time because I was pre-med.”
   He attended Wagner College on Staten Island for his pre-med courses and tried to stay involved with the music world. He was the social chair of his fraternity so he could choose bands for events and even managed Foodroom, a popular band on Staten Island at the time.
   Dr. Rossos went to graduate school on Long Island, where he met his wife, Noreene. He said he was a regular at the Filmore East, which was “probably the best music venue in Manhattan for young, underground music.”
   He saw The Doors play in Manhattan in 1967 and went out the next day and bought a keyboard.
   ”We still have the keyboard,” Ms. Rossos said.
   Music runs in the genes since his Greek grandfather was part of a Greek band in the ‘30s and ‘40s playing an instrument called the santour.
   As the Rossos’ daughters, Rachel and Alexandra, got older Dr. Rossos decided to buy a new keyboard and start to take lessons.
   ”In a few years I realized, I’m a doctor, I don’t have time to be proficient, but I did enjoy creating songs, writing them and putting them together,” he said.
   His first CD released in 1995, “Listen to My Music,” is “a lot of little melodies” that he calls “relaxation, go-to-sleep, meditation music.” It has proven helpful in his day job where he gives it out to his patients who are having problems relaxing and insomnia.
   Dr. Rossos collaborated with Tom Marolda, an award-winning songwriter, whom he had just met for his second CD, “Cathexis,” released in 1998.
   ”The funny thing is, the chemistry was immediate. Not only could I work with him and he would do exactly what I told him, it came out great,” Dr. Rossos said. “He grew up in Trenton and went to the same Junior High School Number 2 as I did, only one year apart. We were there at the same time, only I never met him. Here it is 30 years later and we bump into each other in music.”
   Dr. Rossos said he loved working with him, and he still continues to work with him today even though Mr. Marolda lives in Las Vegas.
   For “Cathexis,” Dr. Rossos also brought his daughters and a number of other talented musicians into the mix.
   His third CD, “Bohemian Fusion,” was released in 2007 and Dr. Rossos went back to a lot of his old music to bring the CD together.
   ”Improvisations: Dr. Nick and the Wah Wah Boys” began to come to life in 2010. The name “Dr. Nick and the Wah Wah Boys” was created by Mr. Marolda.
   ”Wah wah is the pedal that the guitar players use,” Dr. Rossos said. “Usually it was for emphasis or embellishment for a certain part of the song. I wanted the whole song wah wah from start to finish.”
   Dr. Rossos said when the song, “Loving You,” was done being recorded, just after one take, Mr. Marolda looked at him and said “you know what, that sounds like ‘Dr. Nick and the Wah Wah Boys.’”
   ”I said that is the name, that has to be the name,” Ms. Rossos said. “It took him a little convincing. He didn’t think it was right at first. It was just so unique and catchy and it embodied what it is. That’s why it ended up to be that.”
   Now anyone that works with Dr. Rossos, even people who created music with him in the past, are honorary Wah Wah Boys.
   The first song on the CD, “Mom’s Favorite,” is actually Dr. Rossos’ daughter Rachel’s song. She performs the song with her husband, Michael Gallant, on the CD. The second song, “Brave New World,” has a Latin mix, another one time studio take.
   The fourth song, “I Love You,” is from Dr. Rossos’ third CD.
   ”I just put that in because it’s still one of my favorites after 10 years,” he said.
   Susanna Ngao, who does vocals and plays the flute for the song, is Dr. Rossos’ daughter Rachel’s former roommate. She also performed on his third CD playing the flute.
   The “Improvisation Medly” is the fifth song.
   ”I went back and picked my favorite improvisations from my other CDs and I mixed them together with my daughter, Alexandra,” Dr. Rossos said.
   The sixth song, “Nick’s Blues,” is from Dr. Rossos’ first CD and was included because it is a complete improvisational song.
   ”Happy,” the seventh song, is also improvisational but Alexandra plays it. She was 9 years old when the song was originally recorded.
   ”It’s still everyone’s favorite little boogie song,” Dr. Rossos said.
   ”Guitar Talk,” was created because Dr. Rossos wanted a song “about guitars talking to each other, sort of like the ladies on ‘The View.’”
   ”Entropy,” was a gift from Mr. Marolda to Dr. Rossos.
   ”I had a favorite little Greek melody and I said do a little guitar and rock to this melody and he came back with that,” Dr. Rossos said. “It’s not only wah wah, he mixed the classic sound of the Greek melody with the wah wah, psychedelic guitar. He threw some words in, ‘If you’re sick, go see Dr. Nick.’ I guess that was like a tribute to me.”
   ”Cathexis,” the last song on the CD is Dr. Rossos’ favorite meditation song.
   ”I think it’s his shining achievement,” Ms. Rossos said. “I think it’s his best song ever.”
   The CD is dedicated to three people who died in the last few years: Dr. Rossos’ cousin, Tony Hahalis; Paul MacDonald, the artist of the CD cover; and Joel Weisman, Ms. Rossos’ cousin.
   ”It’s dedicated to them because they loved the arts and they would have appreciated it,” Dr. Rossos said.
   Dr. Rossos is also on the Grammy Voting Committee. In order to be on the committee a person has to have at least nine songs for sale to the public. His first CD was on sale at Borders and a number of his songs are on sale at CDBaby.com.
   This year, Dr. Rossos and his wife are attending the Grammys.
   ”This is the first time we’re going, so it’s the most exciting,” Ms. Rossos said.