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. Mr. Rankin was particularly partial to the Beatles. He recorded a number of their songs, including “Blackbird,” “With a Little Help From My Friends” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” When John Lennon and Paul McCartney were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987, Mr. McCartney asked Mr. Rankin to represent them at the induction ceremony. Johnny Carson presented Rankin on “The Tonight Show” more than 20 times.
“Above all, I’m a jazz singer who likes to mess with the melody,” he told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 1997. “I sing songs that touch my heart, the songs I would like to sing to someone in front of a roaring fire on a comfy couch draped in flowers.”
His soft, wispy, laid-back tenor voice never seemed to show signs of aging. He had a distinctive habit of rushing the melody and straying from the printed music as composed.
Showing posts with label Kenny Rankin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kenny Rankin. Show all posts
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
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.
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.
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