The Five Most Heart-Felt American Ballads Named After A Women

                                                       "Tulips and Oranges"  2117
                                                Still Life Oil on Canvas- 16 X 20

While spending time in "Lockdown" for the last couple of weeks, I started to think about some of the great songs that have been written and named after women.  So I started to search out a list and I was surprised that I found a lot more candidates then I had imagined.  I wanted to select only five songs that I believe are the best examples performed in a Jazz-like format.   I think that the five songs below would find their way on anyone's list.  There are others that one may argue should be among the top five, and I have no argument with that thinking.  But these five songs are hard to ignore.  In order to add to your enjoyment, I have attached a vocal arrangement and an instrumental of each song.  The list of performers is sterling.  Some old, some young but all are best of class at what they do.

The first "YouTube"is for the classic song "Laura".   I have selected the instrumental version which includes a terrific Trombone solo performed by Bob McChesney with Pat Tuzzolino on Piano.  Pat also did the wonderful arrangement.  I felt that McChesney and Tuzzolino captured the emotion of the music and presented the story of Laura even without the lyrics.   The selection of the vocal version was difficult as many of our great vocalists have recorded this song.  I finally decided to go with The Four Freshman's recording.   The Music for "Laura" was composed for the 1944 movie of the same name by David Raksin  and the lyrics were written by Johnny Mercer.

                                                                      "Laura"

The second "YouTube" is "Emily" with music by the great Johnny Mandel and Lyrics by the incomparable Johnny Mercer.  The song was composed for the 1964 film "The Americanization of Emily" but strangely it was not sung in the movie, so it couldn't be nominated for an Academy Award.  The award for best song in 1964 was "Chim Chim Cher.ee" from Mary Poppins.  If the Directors of "The Americanization of Emily" had any musical brains, they would have taken home an Academy Award for this Mandel and Mercer gem.  But who knew!  I selected the Tony Bennett recording of "Emily" because Tony's approach to the lyric just brings it alive with emotion.  The fact that the pianist accompanied him was Bill Evans makes this recording as good as you can get.   For the instrumental version, I wanted to use Fred Hersch's solo piano recording but I could not find it posted on "YouTube".  I did find a recording with The Bill Evans Trio that I also love.  Bill is joined by Eddie Gomez on Bass and Marty Monell on Drums.

                                                                          "Emily"

The third selection is the song "Mona Lisa" , music and lyric by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston.The song was written for the 1950 film "Captain Carey" and won an Academy Award for best picture.  The title and lyrics refer to the Leonardo da Vinci painting "Mona Lisa" .  I'm sure it is no surprise that the vocal I choose was Nat King Cole's recording.  This recording was made 70 years ago and it still sounds like it could have been recorded yesterday.   I chose a recently released instrumental version performed by Pianist Larry Fuller.  It's on Larry's new CD, "Overjoyed" and it's a great piece of music!

                                                              

                                          " Mona Lisa"

The fourth selection is the song "I Loves You Porgy" written by George and Ira Gershwin with lyric help from DuBose Heyward.  This song was published in 1935 for the Opera, "Porgy and Bess" and is still being performed all over the world.  A great piece of music with a lyric that brings the emotion of the story to life .   I picked the Billie Holiday vocal because it still speaks to me.   The instrumental is a haunting recording by Trumpet superstar Arturo Sandoval.
                                 
                                    "I Loves You Porgy"

                                       
Our last selection is the song "Nancy With the Laughing Face" written by Jimmy Van Heusen and yes, comedian Phil Silvers.  This song written for Sinatra's daughter has been covered by tons of Jazz greats.  It just has a nice feel to it and having the Sinatra history attached  certainly helps its longevity.  The instrumental version I selected is from my life-long favorite Alto Sax player, Cannonball Adderley who is joined on Piano by Bill Evans.  The vocal version I picked is from the fabulous Jazz Vocalist, Kurt Ellin.


Well, there you have it!  Some of the finest Ballads composing and singing the American Jazz world has ever produced.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed creating it.

                                                                                   " Nancy With the Smiling Face"

Manhattan Transfer Sings to Sold Out Audience The McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, California

Manhattan Transfer, Cheryl Bentyne, Tim Hauser, Janis Siegel and Alan Paul

The Manhattan Transfer made its annual visit to the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, California to the delight of a packed house of loyal long-time fans.  This appearance was special as the group was celebrating its 40th year together. Hard to believe that this multitalented group has been singing for 40 years. They did not miss a beat or a note tonight. If there are any more talented vocal groups singing today, other than the sensational Four Freshmen, then I have not heard them. The four members of this group are mega singing stars whether singing as a group or individually. Tonight we had the pleasure of hearing the group sing its classic hits from the past and also had the pleasure of hearing each individual sing solos of their own choice.  In my opinion, The Manhattan Transfer never sounded better with their amazing harmonies and vocalese stylings. Vocalese is a word they coined to express the art of singing lyrics in the form of a jazz instrument.

Tim Hauser founded the current Manhattan Transfer group in 1972 and has produced many of the group's albums.  Alan Paul is also a founding member of Manhattan and is a nine-time Grammy winner. Both Tim and Alan were from New Jersey. Janis Siegel is the third founding member of the group.  Janis has released more than 6 solo albums and has garnered critical praise from her fans. Tonight, the group sang "Birdland", a song Janis arranged and won a Grammy for in 1980. Cheryl Bentyne joined the current group in 1979.  Cheryl has also published many solo CDs and she won a Grammy with Bobby McFerrin for their vocal arrangement of "Another Night In Tunisia".

Tonight's show was a clinic in how the human voice can turn into a beautiful musical instrument. What a treat for us that these four incredible talents shared the same stage to give us almost two hours of visual and listening ecstasy!

The Manhatten Transfer is touring again and if they get to your city, don't miss a chance to see and hear them.

CD Review: "Yeah......About That" by Johnny Hodges

I just listened to a remarkable new CD from Trumpeter Johnny Hodges which highlights his ability not only as a Trumpet player but also his talents as a composer/arranger and sound engineer.  John has been playing Trumpet since the 5th grade but don't be fooled by the fact that this is his first solo release.  Johnny has paid his dues over the years performing as a sideman for musical greats across many different types of music and sound.  Just a few of the notable artists he has worked with include: Paul Anka, The Temptations, The Four Freshman, Clark Terry, Roy Clark, Diane Schuur, Vic Damone and Johnny Mathis.

This CD has a funky jazz-inspired sound on some exciting new music that Johnny has composed and arranged.  He also produced all the rhythm programing and the Brass. A virtual one-man band with the feel of a big and serious jazz group.  Bryan Cook added his Trumpet to the mix on track 8, "First Try" and Jeff Barone played some serious guitar licks on Tracks 3 & 8.

I especially liked Track 1, "Dixie Twister", Track 3, "Cozumel" and Track 5, "Para Ti, Mi Amor". There is no doubt that Johnny Hodges is an excellent songwriter, arranger, sound engineer and jazz Trumpet player. This is pure and simple a great jazz CD with a modern but disciplined sound that won't disappoint any Jazz fan.  This CD was released on August 21, 2012.  In my opinion this CD is worthy of a  Grammy nomination. This proves that Jazz is still alive and well in the USA in year 2012.