W.C.HANDY' AND HIS " St. LOUIS BLUES"

W.C.Handy and his" St. Louis Blues"  Alec Wilder , writing in American Popular Song: The Great Innovators; 1900-1950" concluded that " No American song is better known or has had more performances than St. Louis Blues.  It most certainly is one of the most notable of popular music landmarks. Handy's many blues are a marvellous contribution to the body of American popular song."   It is also is instructive to quote Isaac Goldberg writing about Handy's important blues development role in his book  Tin Pan Alley.

         " Willian Christopher Handy " the father of the blues" is not the inventor of the genre: he
             is its Moses, not its Jehovah. It was he who, first of the musicians, codified the new spirit
             in African (Negro) music and sent it forth upon its conquest of the North.
             The " rag" has sung and danced the joyous aspects of Negro life.
             The "blues," new only in their emergence, sang the sorrows of secular existence

Goldberg also said " Handy was the first to set jazz down upon paper-to fix the quality of the various 'breaks" as these wildly filled in pauses were named. With a succession of " blues' he fixed the genre."
The " blues " undoubtedly is the most purely indigenous American popular music invention. Other innovations in popular song were also created through  harmonic and melodic devices which essentially were drawn from European and formal compositional  roots. Even Duke Ellington's jazz pieces drew heavily upon the modern " French" harmony of Ravel and Debussy.

" St. Louis Blues" is quite unique since it is written in four distinct segments. It starts with the
usual 12 bar sections each with different lyrics. The third section is in the form of a tango reflecting early Spanish New Orleans. with the lyric stating" St. Louis Woman, wid her diamin' rings" . This "Spanish" segment is most unusual  and instantly memorable.The final section is another 12 bar blues chorus. Not all recorded versions follow the sheet music since the song does inspire performers to take liberties with both the music and lyrics.

Bessie Smith, known as the" Empress of The Blues" is featured in a dramatized filmed segment in which she portray a sad and broken woman, living example  of what Isacc Golberg had said what the blues were all about " The sorrows of secular existence" especially for Afro-Americans before and during W.C Handy's era.
Bessie is accompanied by an small orchestra and a chorus which lends an essence of the spiritual tradition in a song that is anything but spiritual in tone or intent. Bessie Smith's own life was filled with the sadness and despair echoed in the song and her performance does reflect what the blues is all about. 

A more reflective version is provided by Maxine Sullivan who led a much different life than Bessie Smith which  is evident in her more relaxed yet poignant style.. Two black women with different histories find commonality in an immortal W.C.Handy composition.
BESSIE SMITH LINK:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Who6fTHJ34

MAXINE SULLIVAN LINK http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_aai_ItJ7E

TONY BENNETT & CARRIE UNDERWOOD DUET " IT HAD TO BE YOU"

Tony Bennett & Carrie Underwood Duet-" It Had To Be You"   Reputed to be Johnny Mercer's favorite song, " It Had To Be You" was written over 90 years ago by Isham Jones and lyricist Gus Kahn. I mention the age of the song because here we have  Tony Bennett, an almost 90 year old
singer, pairing with a twenty-something young singer coming from a country/pop tradition to sing a 90 year old song.
Bennett has been on a life-long mission to present and preserve the best of what he and others have called America's classical music. By partnering in duets with a wide range of younger singers from pop, rock, country and blues, he and his duet partners explore different ways of performing the standards that come from The Great American Songbook. Bennett does not impose a rigid stylistic format on anyone with whom he sings . Rather he encourages duet partners to bring their own style and perspectives to the repertoire which has been chosen by Bennett.
A number of the singers have commented on how open and encouraging Bennett has been in the planning and recording session and this has made their collaboration memorable and enlightening.
In the video, Carrie Underwood expresses her appreciation of Bennnett's nurturing approach and it seems to always produce great performances from a highly diverse group of younger singers.

NOTE: Who would have ever thought that as provocative as performer like Lady Gaga would ever succcesfully record a classic Irving Berlin song with Bennett. " Steppin' Out With My Baby" is a delight and Tony visibly is turned on by her presence and outrageously hip style and persona.

" It Had To Be You"  LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dspLgqlPMmk

JEROME KERNS LAST SONG " NOBODY ELSE BUT ME"

Jerome Kern's Last Song  " Nobody Else but  Me."  Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein created " Showboat"  in 1927. It was a landmark development in musical theatre and a distinctive departure from the European influenced shows that marked Kern;s earlier theatrical ventures. " Can't Help Lovin' That Man of Mine," " Make Believe " " Bill"  " Why Do  I Love You?" and, of course " Old Man River" are songs that are still well known and performed.

In 1946, there was another revival of " Showboat" for which Kern and Hammerstein wrote a new ( and which was to be Kern's last melody) called  " Nobody Else But Me." Alec Wilder described it as " Avery beautiful song though far from simple. It was characteristic of Kern, Wilder relates " To undertake unusual melodic innovations and he raised song writing to the level of highly distinguished melodic composition."  Comparing Kern;s later compositions with the operetta style of his earlier career demonstrates the extraordinary advancement in composition. Wilder notably concludes that " I must note that to me perhaps the most striking quality of " Nobody Else But Me"  is its " American soundingness." It serves as a perfect epitaph to his career."

I have heard a great many jazz instrumental and vocal interpretations of this song which is further testament to the rich melodic and harmonic elements that jazz players are always seeking.
Betty Bennett, a little-known but excellent singer  provides an interpretation of the song as it would have been performed in a musical theatre performance.


Pianist Brad Mehldau, in  vivid contrast to a formal stage performance,,  demonstrates the jazzman's improvisational delight in the dramatic chord changes of Kern's last song.

vOCAL LINK: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khc7TaBtd20

Instrumental LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9QF5hFYt4c

" YESTERDAYS" and " YESTERDAY"--JEROME KERN MEETS PAUL McCARTNEY

" Yesterdays" and " Yesterday"--Jerome Kern meets Paul McCartney"  In 1933, Jerome Kern and lyricist Otto Harbach wrote "Yesterdays" for the musical Roberta. It is an very evocative, sombre song with a straightforward, overall structure but unforgettable for its ingenious harmonic progressions. The lyrics are a little old -fashioned rhyming " forsooth " with " truth" and " chaffed" with " laughed."  I'm sure " forsooth" has not been part of regular English language use for at least 300 years. ( Cole Porter could have legitimately used in as part of his Shakespeare segments in Kiss Me Kate. ) Nonetheless, instrumentally the song has a somewhat brooding quality that is very compelling.
Frank Sinatra provides a performance of " Yesterdays" that is quite in keeping with the formal nature of the melody and the lyrics that lament of " Days that I knew as happy, sweet sequestered days"  His performance transcends the archaic language which he does his best to downplay. After all, Frank was from Hoboken, New Jersey -not Stratford-On-Avon.

In 1965, Paul McCartney wrote both music and lyrics for " Yesterday." It deals with the break=up of a relationship, perhaps autobiographical and adorned only by a guitar and a string quartet. His lyrics are the everyday speech of the common man who sadly confesses that " I'm not half the man I used to be, There's a shadow hanging over me -------- and now I long for yesterday." This is a much more personal story being told by McCartney , especially when compared with the high flown sentiments provided by Otto Harbach.
Both songs are famous for their different reasons and I believe that the Kern composition is superior to McCartney's rather straightforward tune. However, McCartney's words are more  heartfelt and compelling and reflect the emotional language of an ordinary man while avoiding the archaic and stilted vocabulary of Mr. Harbach.

Kern Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXjreu_32YE

McCartney Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho2e0zvGEWE

HANK WILLIAMS SR.- A MAJOR INFLUENCE ON 20TH CENTURY POPULAR SONG

Hank Williams Sr.-A Major Influence On 20th Century Popular Song:  Although he died at the early age of 29, Hank Williams Sr. created memorable music across a broad musical spectrum. Country, folk, blues and gospel songs are all part of his song writing talents. " You're Cheatin' Heart" and " Hey,Good Looking"' were major hits and covered by a wide array of other performers.
 He paved he way for the wave of other singer/songwriters who would come to dominate popular music for the past 40 years.
One of his gospel songs " House of Gold"  is a serious attempt to warn people of the futility of pursuing money and material possessions. In a memorable recording, Kenny Rankin, a versatile singer, guitarist and composer almost pleads for us to heed Williams dire warning unless we " We Get Down On Our Knees and Pray" and abandon the quest for material gain.
 I am by no means a religious person but Rankin's genuine poetic singing and playing forces one to sit up and listen. The string arrangement by Don Costa partway through the song only intensifies the musical and lyric message's impact on the complete performance.

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

TONY BENNETT AND BILL EVANS---" WE'LL BE TOGETHER AGAIN"

Tony Bennett & Bill Evans--" We'll Be Together Again"---In the 1970's, two jazz influenced artists collaborated on a memorable 2 CD recording project highlighting the best of The Great American Songbook. Bennett had already performed with a number of notable jazz musicians and jazz influenced composers and arrangers like Johnny Mandel with whom Bennett has had a long and fruitful collaboration. Bennett has said that there was a minimum of planning and preparation with Evans improvising off a long list of possible standards and Bennett responding with heightened improvisational performances. Bennett has stated that " Evans played like an ocean in a storm." and the intensity engendered by Evans imaginative creations can be clearly heard in his own playing as well as Bennett's receptive and emotionally charged performances.
The song is a classic 1945 tune " We'll Be Together Again " written by Carl Fischer and Frankie Laine ( Fischer was Laine's long time accompanist.) It has been described as " A great illustration of pop ballad sophistication and its difference in character from a theatre ballad." Interestingly, the release or bridge, which usually takes on a different form and style from the main chorus, actually uses material of the refrain in the release. This is an unusual but welcome deviation from accepted song writing practice.
The song has been recorded by well over 100 artists with Sinatra's  version in the iconic "
" Songs for Swinging Lovers"  recording especially notable. That version had Sinatra backed by Nelson Riddle and a large orchestra. However, Bennett and Evans do equally well in their highly  empathic  two person, one- voice version..

LINK:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW5eE_KRVIQ

" A QUIET THING" A LITTLE KNOWN CLASSIC

A Quiet Thing:--A Little known Classic: In 1965, John Kander and Fred Ebb wrote an entertaining musical called  Flora The Red Menace. This was one year before their smash hit Cabaret which Director Robert Fosse also turned into a successful motion picture starring Liza Minelli. A very young Liza starred in Flora the Red Menace portraying a politically naïve person flirting with ultra progressive ideologies. She was a great hit in her first major Broadway appearance and Kander and Ebb also wrote other material over the years for Liza Minelli. Kander and Ebb songs are often described as " jazzy ":featuring a strong rhythmic pulse as in the case of " New York,New York" a famous Sinatra anthem.

" A Quiet Thing" is much more reflective, fairly long and more melodic than much of the songwriter's other songs.
The marvellous American soprano Eileen Farrell teams with the great Canadian born arranger Robert Farnon in a beautifully orchestrated version of the song. Farnon is often acknowledged as the greatest writer for strings and this performance is clear evidence of that wonderful gift. He also introduces little instrumental  passages introducing  brass, woodwinds and a solo violin which do not intrude but complement the overall lush yet restrained arrangement. In the over-heated world of pop music and triumph of amateurism, this performance is an effective antidote to so much contemporary musical drivel.

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