" Spring will be a little late this year " Here in Ontario, Canada, Spring is definately late with only a scraggly forsythia in sight. Words & Music by Frank Loesser ( Guys & Dolls. How to succeed in Business, Most Happy Fella) The song was written for a 1944 film " Christmas Holiday"
Here it is sung, in a live performance, by Carly Simon along with noted songwriter Jimmy Webb,


https://youtu.be/gg_zRHfLHh0

" Need a pandemic pick-me-up ?  Listen to"A Wonderful Life" by Joe Williams and " Here's To Life" by Shirley Horn.
They both acknowledge that life can be difficult but optimism is still possible to sustain us all through the world-wide pandemic dilemma.

 https://youtu.be/x1HVtXRAKK0


https://youtu.be/QOj1JryGj8A

' 'A Saloon Singer"-Bobby Short. In Manhattan, famous people would flock to the Carlyle Hotel to see and listen to Bobby Short, a consummate singer of songs, old and new, sometimes borrowed, sometimes blue. With consummate phrasing and crystal clear articulation,he brings to life the songs of Cole Porter, George & Ira Gershwin, Rodgers & Hart and newer songs of the day.
This is a brief clip of what a typical Bobby Short session would sound like. The response of such an elite audience is very animated.

https://youtu.be/36F-yVW6aDw 

" Lush Life", by Billy Strayhorn, is a very long and highly complex song. Sinatra failed in his attempt to record this as the soundtrack indicates. He just gave up and in the refrain, you can hear him straining and several notes were actually off pitch.
In contrast, listen to Queen Latifah perform it beautifully .You can see and hear how well Strayhorn, at age 21, mastered a striking melody and provided insightful lyrics describing the Lush Life.

https://youtu.be/O2-MalOvxD4 


https://youtu.be/mub-gyuPFlw

"  What is a fugue ?" Several people wanted to know more about what constitutes a fugue in musical terms. This was in reference to a 
fugal approach to Harold Arlen's Over the Rainbow I had posted earlier.
I believe the attachment explains the nature, form and intent of a fugue.

https://youtu.be/vAFETgpt9PA 

" Make the Man Love Me"  From the musical ' A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' music by Arthur Schwartz and Lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Dorothy was one of the finest female lyricists who worked with Jerome Kern, Jimmy McHugh ( The Sunny Side of the Street) and Cy Coleman on several musicals like "Seesaw.'
The song has a lovely verse that establishes the mood and content of what is to follow in the main chorus or refrain. It is sung by Maureen McGovern in a controlled but passionate exploration of a desire to be loved, in this case, by the character's own husband, a very troubled soul.
The piano accompaniment provides a near orchestral background. I have found that sometimes  just a piano, accompanying a singer, allows one to focus on the melody itself and how well the singer delivers the words and music.
Concert or art songs by opera and classicly trained singers are often ably supported by just the piano. 

https://youtu.be/Bncn-14-OeE

" Why did I choose You" & " I,m All Smiles'
Two great songs from a musical The Yearling. It was based on the book by Margaret Rawlings which became a film starring Gregory Peck & Dorothy McGuire.
Barbra Streisand sings " Why Did I Choose You". an explanation for the reasons behind a love while Andy Williams sings I"m All Smiles" which could be the response of any male saluted in the Streisand song.

 https://youtu.be/r2808C5f1XM


https://youtu.be/gTpPOrAT4Ec

 '  For old fart Canadians, a radio reminder. "  In the forties and fifties, CBC radio had a very successful radio variety show called Thee Happy Gang. Here is that theme song, one that sends a useful message for todays' sobering situation. Keep Happy with The Happy Gang. Do you Remember the show, old-timer?

 https://youtu.be/b8Ycx7XzgHwhttps://youtu.be/b8Ycx7XzgHw

"  Simple Gifts "  This Shaker hymn harkens back to a time when ordinary, every day pleasures satisfied   pre 20th Century Americans. This humble philosophy is now being observed by many in response to the restrictions on the usual social habits, the ones we followed prior to the onslaught of the current virus.
Y0-Yo Ma plays the cello part with the vocal by Alison Krauss.

 https://youtu.be/baNueuDCue0

"  The Heather on the Hill " Today, on a blustery Toronto spring day,I spied a bunch of heather for sale at my local high-end emporium. I started singing to myself the song The Heather On The Hill.It was from lerner & loewe's BRIGADOON.The movies starred Gene Kelly & Cyd Charisse as star-crossed lovers in a make-believe land set in Scotland.
Now my pink heather plant is in our window sill looking out on our private garden enclave. The plant prompted me to post this lovely song sung by Gene Kelly.
 I will also post an instrumental version with George Shearing , arranged and conducted by Robert Farnon. He was a Toronto musician who found fame and fortune in Great Britain as a major composer and arranger of light,classical music.

https://youtu.be/3jPcyiOr02k 


https://youtu.be/v2cQeQWVuo8 

"  Searching for beauty & optimism ?  A Song of Summer, by Frederick Delius . An 11 minute tone poem that should evoke contemplation and serenity . This is something we all need during these perilous and fractious times.

 https://youtu.be/2qsriktzVFw

"  A Time For Love"   Another song by Johnny Mandel. lyrics Paul Francis Webster for the film An American Dream. The words of Webster are quite poetic
" As time goes drifting by" "A time for summer skies & hummingbirds & butterflies "'. As sung by Tony Bennett, the lyrics adjust magically to the wonderful melody of Mandel.

 https://youtu.be/ko_QMd0ZBjQ

"  I Have dreamed"  Richard Rodgers, like Jerome Kern, was a notorious stickler for wanting his songs to be sung exactly as they appeared on the printed sheet music. He hated how vocalists and jazz musicians altered the tempos and added improvisational twists to the original compositions.
He did compliment Dorsi Day saying " Her version of  " I Have Dreamed" was the finest interpretation he had ever heard of  his famous waltx from "  The King and I."

Doris Dy was much more than the young lady courted by Rock Hudson or James Garner in polite sex comedies. Will Freidwald, a most critical song scholar, described her voice sounding like " Liquid Sunshine."

https://youtu.be/8ncM4w4BeZk 

"  Eydie Gorme Sings Two Cole Porter ballads."  Although Cole Porter wrote clever,fast-paced songs with ingenious rhymes, he had a more thoughtful & restrained side to his writing both music and lyrics.
" Why Shoudn't I ?" ponders the wisdom of falling for romance whereas  " Every Time We Say Goodbye" speaks of the heartbreak from even the briefest departure.
Both songs are sung by Eydie Gorme, a singer who also had a lengthy solo career in addition to her duet career with husband Steve Lawrence. Gorme has a clear, penetrating voice with a 4 octave range \She can also softly caress tender love ballads like the two songs performed here.

 https://youtu.be/veh3AUY7gjk

https://youtu.be/PNC3yRte1FM 

"  Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most " A song from the post- Great American Songbook era but having the same musical and poetic qualities as its predecessors. Music is by Tommy Wolfe and lyrics are by Fran Landesman
The ending has a memorable descending melodic line. The lyrics are quite colloquial and noteworthy
and well-matched to Tommy Wolfe's sinuous melodic structure.
Jane Monheit is a rising jazz and cabaret performer who is building a very substantial catalogue of traditional standards and more recent worthwhile compositions.

https://youtu.be/KPvy-leSy6E 

"  Spring is Here"   This is a somewhat sad reflection of Rodgers & Hart asking " Why Doesn't the breeze delight Me etc." Given the current pandemic situation, there is not a lot to inspire the typical anticipation of what a new season can bring. In fact, ten years later, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein 11 wrote,  " It Might as Well Be Spring", a much more positive perspective on the predictable delights of springtime.
I offer both versions , each one of which offers musical and poetic pleasures. Both songs are given fine performances by Frank Sinatra , First arrangement by Nelson Riddle, The second by Don Costa, a great writer for strings.

 https://youtu.be/LZi-l9jVgeU      Frank Sinatra

https://youtu.be/rRZVSWDW2Jo   Sinatra

" Missing versions of Yesterdays ( Jerome Kern) & Yesterday ( Paul McCartney)
An earlier Facebook post compared two versions of songs dealing with personal memories. 
The versions I had quoted are no longer available due to copyright restrictions. 

Instead, Ella Fitzgeral subs for Sinatra on Yesterdays while Paul McCartney performs Yesterday in a live concert.

 https://youtu.be/GNJecweyc4o


https://youtu.be/wXTJBr9tt8Q