" JUST FRIENDS" MEL TORME SWINGS WITH THE BOSS BRASS

" Just Friends"  Mel Torme Swings With The Boss Brass.  In 1932, John Klenner, a German born, classicly rained musician wrote a song that is still played, especially by jazz musicians and singers. The lyrics were provided  by Sam Lewis and their short, intensive nature are well-matched  with the rhythmic thrust of the melody.
In this version, Melt Torme teams up with 21 piece Canadian jazz band created and master minded by Rob McConnell. McConnell was a spirited and inventive valve trombonist who was slated to replace Bob Brookmeyer in Gerry Mulligan's Quartet. Other considerations prevailed and McConnell built up a very extensive book of original songs and highly imaginative arrangement of jazz and popular song standards. McConnell's hard-driving arrangement, played by the cream of Toronto's jazz musicians, creates a dynamic interplay between the band and Torme whose timing, articulation and improvisational flights of fancy are compelling. McConnell's valve trombone solo is very reflective of the man himself, dynamic, cranky and humorous all at once. The recording has a free-flowing feel of a small group so well-rehearsed and integrated are the singer and the musicians.Other things to listen to are the tight, unison section playing, some exuberant scat singing with Torme and McConnell trading solos and the tempo slows to a strolling tempo only to finish in a bravura, up-tempo finale. Torme and The Boss Brass made two records together   showcasing the remarkable collaboration  of a singer, an arranger/trombonist and McConnell's own band of dedicated  musicians.





LINK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhFW2Rj1qR0

"TRY TO REMEMBER" THE POWER OF MUSIC MEMORIES

"  Try To Remember"   The Power of Music Memories.  In 1962, " The Fantastiks" a small scale musical began a twenty year run, The song " Try To Remember" became a very popular song. It's message was that when we have a favorite song memory, it reminds us of who we are, where we've been and how our sense of self is shaped. Such familiar music becomes the soundtrack for a movie that starts playing in our head. The concluding lyric line states  "  Try to remember, And if you remember than follow, follow, follow." The song suggest that it's important and psychologically healthy to reflect on the memories evoked by music . Jerry Orbach was the leading man in the original 1962 production. Twenty years later, he performs the song on a television program He also become well known as a regular on the original Law AND Order series.

LINK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEW1F9kZ-UE

"CRAZY WORLD"- A HENRY MANCINI HIDDEN GEM

" Crazy World"- A Henry Mancini hidden gem. As a major film composer, Henry Mancini has a long list of hit songs that were first introduced in movies. "Two For The Road" ", Dear Heart", "Charade", and " Moon River" are just a few of his lasting song credits. In VICTOR  VICTORIA , starring Julie Andrews with Robert Preston and James Garner, Julie introduced "Crazy World" an elegiacand rueful commentary on the vagaries of love. Unlike many of Mancini's pure melodic creations, Crazy World does not adhere to the classic A A B A song structure. Instead the lengthy melody continues with little repetition of themes and more complex and entrancing harmonic treatment. It is  not an easy song to sing  but  Julie Andrews performed it beautifully in the film and in a subsequent stage version. Leslie Bricusse created the insightful lyrics for the Mancini melody. They fit like a glove.

The version heard here is by K.T.Sullivan, a classicly trained singer who has made the world of Cabaret her personal domain. She is also the Artistic Director of the Mabel Mercer Foundation whose mandate is to continue the rich artistic tradition of the legendary cabaret performer, Mabel Mercer. There is a vibrant and innovative cabaret tradition in NYC and other major US cities with new performers continuing to advance the pursuit of literate song performance.
K.T.Sullivan sings with the restrained passion that the song requires  supported by a wonderfully rhapsodic piano accompaniment.

LINK http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W8N5tiwdzs