Esperanza Spalding

...performing “Overjoyed” at White House tribute to Stevie Wonder.



Jazz bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding (born 1984) won the 2011 Grammy Award for Best New Artist, making her the first jazz artist to win that award. Justin Bieber was widely favored to win.

I Wanna Be Around - Waverly Seven

Guitarist/vocalist John Pizzarelli is a guest of Waverly Seven, a septet of NYC jazz musicians formed in 2006. Featured is Anat Cohen on clarinet.



I Wanna Be Around was composed by Johnny Mercer in 1959, and the best known recording was made by Tony Bennett in 1963. In 1959, Mercer received a partial song lyric from beautician Sadie Vimmerstedt, who lived in Ohio. It was just one line, "I want to be around to pick up the pieces when somebody's breaking your heart." Mercer developed it into the song that is now a jazz standard, and he shared royalties with Ms. Vimmerstedt (about $3,000 a year in the 1960s). True story.

Mr. Bennett and Bono update a classic:

All about Ronnie - Chris Connor

Venerated jazz singer Chris Connor died August 29, 2009, at the age of 81. Her career reached its peak in the 1950s, but she performed until 2004.

Here is her rendition of "All about Ronnie," a jazz classic written in 1953 by Joe Greene. It is a smouldering ballad of romantic obsession. Connor's voice is much in the mold of June Christy, whom she replaced in the Stan Kenton band in 1952.

Stella by Starlight (1944)

Music by Victor Young; lyrics by Ned Washington (the song writing team on My Foolish Heart and I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You)
From the Paramount film “The Uninvited,” starring Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey and Gail Russell.

Keith Jarrett Trio. This track begins with an extended piano solo by Mr. Jarrett; bassist Gary Peacock does not join in until the 3:23 mark. Jack DeJohnette is on drums.



A vocal rendition by Anita O'Day, white gloves and all. (1963, live in Japan)

Estaté - João Gilberto (vocals, guitar)

Sing in Portuguese by composer João Gilberto.

Translation:

Ah, summer!
Your warm embrace is like a kiss remembered
Once full of love but now it's just an ember,
Like something in the heart one wants to lose.

Ah, summer!
The sun that woke and warmed us every morning,
That painted splendid sunsets every evening
Is useless now, except to sear my soul.

Another winter comes and
All the petals dying on the rose
A thousand petals lie beneath the snow—
At least perhaps some peace might come again.

Ah, summer!
You gave your fragrant scent to every flower
And filled us with a love of so much power
So I could slowly perish in its pain!

I Must Have Left My Heart - Molly Johnson

From the 2002 album titled ANOTHER DAY


Molly Johnson is a Canadian jazz singer and songwriter. The child of a white mother and a black father, Johnson's career started in the mid-1960s when she performed in musicals. She later made history at the Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival, becoming the first Canadian female vocalist in the festival's 17-year-history to sell out a show on the main stage. She has even regaled royalty during a private command performance aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia before the Prince and late Princess of Wales, as well as having performed for Nelson Mandela and Quincy Jones.

In late 2008, Johnson released her fourth full-length album, a record of standards titled “Lucky.” In March 2009 “Lucky” took home the Juno Award for "Vocal Jazz Album of the Year".

In 2007, Miss Johnson was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

I MUST HAVE LEFT MY HEART
Marc Jordan / Steve MacKinnon (Canadian songwriting team)

Molly Johnson, vocals
Mike Downes, bass
Colleen Allen, alto sax
Andrew Craig, piano
Mark McLean, drums

Tonight was black and blue
This overcoat won't do
It's falling all apart
When I left you I must have left my heart

The walls are tumbling
My feet are stumbling
I'm all alone in the dark
When I left you I must have left my heart

Must I always be lonely?
With my dreams at your doorway
Just one more empty dog day
Afternoon

Shall I run to your door?
And stay forever more
I don't know where to start
When I left you I must have left my heart

Blame It on My Youth

Keith Jarrett Trio
In this sensitive performance by pianist Keith Jarrett, the influence of Bill Evans is obvious.



This song, composed by Oscar Levant in 1934, has a remarkable lyric by Edward Heyman:

If I expected love when first we kissed, blame it on my youth.
If only just for you, I did exist, blame it on my youth.
I believed in everything, like a child of three.
You meant more than anything, all the world to me.

If you were on my mind all night and day, blame it on my youth.
If I forgot to eat, and sleep and pray, blame it on my youth.
If I cried a little bit, when first I learned the truth,
Don't blame it on my heart, blame it on my youth.

UPDATE:
Jazz stylist, composer, singer and acoustic guitarist Kenny Rankin lost his life to lung cancer in Los Angeles on June 7, 2009. He was 69 years old.

In the following audio clip, Kenny Rankin injects the trademarks of his laid-back vocal style: portamento and condensing the timing of a phrase (rushing notes ahead of their rhythmic placement as originally composed). Like a true jazz singer, he abandons the printed melody more often than not, adding his distinctive mark to the entire track.

Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars (Corcovado)

Bossa Nova jazz standard composed c. 1961 by Antonio Carlos Jobim. The English lyrics were written by Gene Lees. Corcovado is the name of a dramatic mountain that rises above Rio de Janeiro, atop which sits a statue of Christ. "Quiet Nights" is the title of Diana Krall's most recent album of bossa nova songs (2009).
Here performed by the multi-talented Queen Latifah, on her "Trav'lin' Light" CD.




And next the classic 1963 rendition by saxophonist Stan Getz, Tom Jobim, João Gilberto and vocalist Astrud Gilberto. Astrud had never sung professionally before this album, which launched her career. She received the "Latin Jazz USA Award for Lifetime Achievement" in 1992 and was inducted into the "International Latin Music Hall of Fame" in 2002.

After You're Gone: an Errol Garner tribute

Peter Cincotti – a tribute to stride pianist Erroll Garner
Live performance at New Morning Jazz Club, NYC (2004)



After You’ve Gone (1918)
Words by Henry Creamer, music by Turner Layton

This song was introduced by Al Jolson at the Wintergarden Theater (NYC) in 1918. It was originally conceived as a ballad, but gained popularity as an up-tempo number. Shirley Horn recorded it in 1963 as a slow ballad and made it convincing. Gene Krupa’s 1941 performance has become a jazz classic.

Another rendition by guitarist John Pizzarelli and his trio:

This Bitter Earth – Gladys Knight

This philosophical ballad was composed by Clyde Otis in 1959 for Dinah Washington. This rendition by blues singer Gladys Knight is remarkable for its jazz style (click on the link).

www.last.fm/music/Gladys+Knight/_/This+Bitter+Earth?autostart=1

This bitter earth, what fruit it bears,
What good is love that no one shares?
And if my life is like the dust that hides the glow of a rose,
What good am I? Heaven only knows.
Lord, this bitter earth can be so cold.
Today you’re young, too soon, you’re old.
But while a voice within me cries,
I’m sure someone may answer my call,
And this bitter earth may not be so bitter after all.

I’ll Close My Eyes -- Dinah Washington

I’ll Close My Eyes (1945)
Performed by Dinah Washington (1962)
Music by William Gordon Reid; lyrics by Buddy Kaye

www.last.fm/music/Dinah+Washington/_/I%27ll+Close+My+Eyes?autostart=1

Heaven sends a song through its doors
Just as if it seems to know I'm exclusively yours
Knowing this, I feel but one way.
You will understand it, too, in these words that I say:
I'll close my eyes to everyone but you,
And when I do, I'll see you standing there.
I'll lock my heart to any other caress.
I'll never say yes to a new love affair.
Then I'll close my eyes to everything that's gay
If you are not there to share each lovely day
And through the years in those moments when we're far apart,
I'll close my eyes and I'll see you with my heart.

Tragically, Dinah Washington (1924-1963) died from an accidental overdose of diet pills and alcohol at the age of 39 in December of 1963. She had been a successful blues, jazz and gospel singer. Her penetrating voice, excellent timing, and crystal-clear enunciation added her distinctive style to every piece she recorded.

She made a strong impression at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958, but the 1959 release of “What a Diff’rence a Day Makes” was the track for which Washington won a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Performance; the song was her biggest hit, reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

She was married seven times, and divorced six times while having several lovers, including Quincy Jones, who was then her young arranger. She was known to be imperious and demanding in real life, but audiences adored her. In London she once declared, “…there is only one heaven, one earth and one queen…Queen Elizabeth is an impostor”, but the crowd loved it!

An up-tempo instrumental version:

Performed by guitarist Dave Wilkinson, drummer Caspar St. Charles and organist Abel Boquera at the Bel-Luna Jazz Club, Barcelona (Spain), July 13, 2006.

Here's That Rainy Day

How times change -- Frank Sinatra sings under an open tasseled umbrella and smokes his way through this poignant ballad about a love that turns into a cold, rainy day. From the pen of Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke, this song was the only success from a 1953 Broadway musical titled "Carnival in Flanders," which closed after just six performances.



The song has sophisticated, complex harmonies and an unusual bass line, but the melody is perhaps its most distinctive feature; it never goes where one would expect.

Solo piano version from pianist Bill Evans (album was called "Alone"):

www.last.fm/music/Bill+Evans/_/Here%27s+That+Rainy+Day?autostart

I Can’t Get Started

Music by Vernon Duke, lyrics by Ira Gershwin

This rendition features the complete lyrics and a superb (but uncredited) saxophonist.


This song was introduced by Bob Hope, who sang it to Eve Arden in “Ziegfeld Follies of 1936.” It was sung for laughs, while Eve Arden made caustic comments about Bob Hope’s passionate interest.

“Ziegfeld Follies of 1936" trivia:
This was Fanny Brice’s last appearance in a Broadway show and George Balanchine’s Broadway debut as a choreographer. Despite the name, Florenz Ziegfeld had been dead for over three years (the Schubert Brothers had purchased the rights to Ziegfeld’s name).

Bunny Berigan (trumpet & vocals - 1937)

Exactly Like You

Music by Jimmy McHugh and lyrics by Dorothy Fields (published 1930). The song was introduced by Harry Richman and Gertrude Lawrence in the 1930 Broadway show Lew Leslie's International Revue which also featured "On the Sunny Side of the Street."

Black Coffee

Vocalist Sarah Vaughan.
A blues song written in 1948; music by Sonny Burke and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster. Sarah Vaughan's 1949 recording on Columbia made the charts.



Perhaps the definitive bop version of this song is by Sonny Criss (alto saxophone):
www.last.fm/music/Sonny+Criss/_/Black+Coffee?autostart

Trivia: Lyricist Paul Francis Webster holds the record among lyricists for the most number of Academy Award nominations — sixteen.

I'm feeling mighty lonesome, haven't slept a wink.
I walk the floor and watch the door and in between I drink
Black coffee. Love's a hand me down brew.
I'll never know a Sunday in this weekday room.

I'm talking to the shadows from 1 o'clock til 4.
And lord, how slow the moments go when all I do is pour
Black coffee. Since the blues caught my eye
I'm hanging out on Monday my Sunday dreams to dry.

Now a man is born to go a lovin', a woman's born to weep and fret,
To stay at home and tend her oven
And drown her past regrets in coffee and cigarettes.

I'm moaning all the morning, and mourning all the night
And in between it's nicotine and not much heart to fight
Black coffee. Feelin' low as the ground.
It's driving me crazy just waiting for my baby
To maybe come around... around
I'm waiting for my baby to maybe come around.

My nerves have gone to pieces, my hair is turning gray
All I do is drink black coffee since my man's gone away.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another rendition by vocalist K.D. Lang
and saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr.

Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most

Song (1955) lyrics by Frances Landesman; music by Thomas Wolfe, Jr.; Recorded in 1961 by Ella Fitzgerald (another Virginia native!), her version contributed to the tune's becoming a jazz standard. Her final phrase descends to the very lowest end of her register, for an unforgettable effect (click on the link, then click on the PLAY button in the upper right hand window).

http://www.last.fm/music/Ella+Fitzgerald/_/Spring+Can+Really+Hang+You+Up+the+Most

Trivia: Lyricist Fran Landesman, born in New York, is known as the Dorothy Parker of jazz. She continues working from her present-day home in London.

The poignant lyric can perhaps trace an inspiration back to T. S. Eliot's "April Is the Cruelest Month," the opening lines from "The Waste Land" (1922). Quite a pedigree! The song is a narrative about being out of phase with the seasons, describing a winter romance that faded long before the arrival of spring, a time when everyone else is focused on the hope and bloom of new love. "All I've got to show is a splinter for my little fling...love seemed sure around the New Year, now it's April and love is just a ghost...spring arrived on time, only what became of you, dear? Spring can really hang you up the most."

Here, a contemporary performance by chanteuse Jane Monheit.



And a video of a live performance by tenor sax man Stan Getz:

Stan Getz - Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most
Uploaded by savelonp

A complete performance of the song by June Christy (arranged by Pete Rugolo)
www.last.fm/music/June+Christy/_/Spring+Can+Really+Hang+You+Up+The+Most?autostart

Something Cool

Performed by June Christy (1955)
Written by Hollywood composer/lyricist Billy Barnes.



"Something Cool" is an unusual jazz standard that became June Christy's signature song. Its lyrics are an extended narrative, full of emotional complexity.

In response to an offer to buy her a drink, a girl in a bar tells you she wants "something cool." It's warm here, she tells us, and she's far from home. She can't seem to remember your name, but she must know you from somewhere, because she never drinks with strangers. You offer her a cigarette:

"A cigarette? / Well, I don't smoke them as a rule /
But I'll have one / it would be fun / with something cool."

She tells you about her glory days, when she lived in a large house, had lots of suitors and took trips to Paris. But that's in the past. Returning to the moment:

"About a date? / Oh wait / I'm such a fool /
He's just a guy / who stopped to buy me /Something cool."

This ballad contains so much narrative, emotional baggage and character development, that it is a unique entry in the library of jazz standards.

Lush Life

Lush Life is a jazz standard with both lyrics and music written by Billy Strayhorn in the 1930s. However, the song was only performed privately by Strayhorn until he and vocalist Kay Davis performed it on November 13, 1948 with the Duke Ellington Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. The song's lyrics describe the author's weariness of the night life after a failed romance, wasting time with "jazz and cocktails" at "come-what-may places" and in the company of girls with "sad and sullen gray faces/with distingué traces". Strayhorn was only 16 years old when he wrote the majority of the song, which was to become his signature composition, along with Take the A Train.

Performance by Queen Latifah (from the 1998 film Living Out Loud).

This Marvyn Warren arrangement was subsequently included on The Dana Owens Album in 2004 (Dana Owens is the real name of artist Queen Latifah). This is an interesting title sequence, in that it begins with Queen Latifah and at the end switches to Holly Hunter finishing the song dressed in only a bra (I would not lie to you).



If you have any recollection of that movie at all, it’s likely the scene in which Eddie Cibrian massages Holly Hunter (and introduces a whole new generation to “At Last” as sung by Etta James – at the 3 minute mark). Warning – it’s erotic as all get out, so you might not want to watch this with your grandmother.

Take Five

Kurt Elling (left) and Al Jarreau (right) tackle the seldom-performed lyrics and modulate their way through an astonishing scat-singing performance on the LEGENDS OF JAZZ public television series.



Take Five is an instrumental jazz composition first recorded by the Dave Brubeck Quartet on its 1959 album Time Out. Composed by Paul Desmond, the group's saxophonist, it became famous for its distinctive, catchy saxophone melody and use of 5/4 time, from which its name is derived. It has since become the most identifiable jazz composition in history.

The Time Out album contained only seven tracks totaling a scant 38.5 minutes of playing time. Each was an original composition written in a time signature unusual for jazz – 6/4, 9/8, 5/4, etc. – which accounted for the album title. Blue Rondo à la Turk (written in 9/8 time, the rhythm of the Turkish zeybek folk dance) echoed Mozart’s “ronda alla turca” from his piano sonata #11, written in 1783.

Carmen McRea’s 1961 version of Take Five included lyrics written by Dave Brubeck and his wife Iola.

Upon his death in 1977, Paul Desmond left the licensing rights for Take Five to the American Red Cross. Since that time, the organization receives all the royalties related to the performance of the song.

One for my baby (and one more for the road)

Toots Thielemans - harmonica
Jamie Cullum - vocals



One for My Baby (and One More for the Road) was written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer for the film musical The Sky's the Limit (1943) and was performed in the film by Fred Astaire. The song was popularized by Frank Sinatra and became one of his signature tunes.

Harold Arlen described the song as “another typical Arlen tapeworm” – a “tapeworm” being the trade slang for any song that exceeded the conventional 32 bar length. He called it “...a wandering song. Lyricist Johnny Mercer took it and wrote it exactly the way it fell. Not only is it long – forty-eight bars – but it also changes key. Somehow Johnny made it work.”

A famous and acclaimed performance of the song was by Bette Midler, sung to Johnny Carson on the penultimate night of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Both Midler and Carson got caught up in the emotion of the song (Mr. Carson was visibly blinking back tears), and an unusual camera angle on the set framed the two in a poignant fashion. It earned Midler an Emmy Award (1992) for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program. The lyrics were adapted to suit the occasion – for example, “...and John I know you're getting anxious to close.”