Remembering Max

In December 2022, the author of this blog, Max Weissengruber passed away.

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He greatly enjoyed writing the many posts for this blog (as well as his other blog) and sharing his love and knowledge of music with people from around the world.

When attending live music, his analytical mind would kick in and spur him to create insightful observations like these: Jazz in the Kitchen - Notes by Max Weissengruber

Even all the way back in 1957, Max was passionate about jazz, as you can see in this letter to the editor in Downbeat magazine.

Below you will find a playlist of recordings of Max at the piano. They include standards and his own compositions.

When a Love Affair is Over: The most heart-wrenching emotion in life may come at the end of a once-in-a-lifetime, love affair. Not from a mere passing fling but due to the real thing. Edward Redding wrote a song called End of a Love Affair. Two male singers offer a totally different version of the same song, each with arangements by two of the greatest arrangers for vocalists. For Frank Sinatra, Nelson Riddle wrote a somewhat pensive and restrained version in which Sinatra sounds quite rueful. He laments " So I go at a maddening pace, And pretend that it's taking her place, But what else can you do , At the end of a love affair ?"

Tony Bennett, on the other hand, has been backed by a rousing, live concert arranged and conducted by the great Robert Farnon. I venture one reason might be the constant joyful persona of Bennett who always seems to look on the sunny side of life. Depression, something that Sinatra has  admitted is a periodic condition while Bennett remains the cock-eyed optimist.

Listen to both versions and decide which version appeals to you and why. This is a musical Rorshach Test.

* Frank Sinatra: End of a Love Affair   Album " Close toYou"

* Tony Bennett:  End of a love Affair: Live with Robert Farnon

 

 

A Quiet Thing

Written by Kander & Ebb for a Liza Minnelli musical. This version features Eilleen Farrell, a classically trained opera singer. She could sing convincingly in a popular song mode (unlike most strained attempts by opera singers who over articulate in stentorian fashion. The arrangement is by Robert Farnon, who like Percy Faith was trained at Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music under the guidance of Alberto Guerro.  

https://youtu.be/Av9RnsiwQAQ

My Romance

 One of Richrd Riodgers many songs of Romance-My Funny Valentine,With a Song in my h eart, Glad to be unhappy etc,   

Here's the video 

 

Rhapsody For Rachmaninoff  click here 

 

https://youtu.be/DvCgiEZ7WDw 

" Invitation"  This is a lush and haunting theme from a 1952 film with Invitation as the film's title.Lyrics by Paul Francis Websterwho specialized in adding lyrics to film music after the fact. Best Example The Shadow of Your Smile, music by Johnny Mandel
It has the same mysterious song elements as Laura and Stella by Starlight. All three songs pursue a highly charged adoration of the female star of each film.
This is a performance by Rosemary Clooney with an arrangement by Nelson Riddle. They had a passionate romance which also led to some of her best recordings.

 https://youtu.be/z3IkB48eFjc

" Laura" This David Raksin/Johnny Mercer song is an evergreen classic that has been recorded over 300 times. This special version features Kenny Colman, a little-known Canadian singer who was praised by Frank Sinatra as a superior singer of classic ballads. One can never get enough of Laura, a song that many famous songwriters, like Cole Porter, wished that they had written.

https://youtu.be/_7jJjyuAFms 

" It Amazes me." This as song for all men who are surprised that any attractive woman would find them worthy of attention or even long term relationships. AS Tony Bennett admits in this Cy Coleman song, he is humbled by the fact that a woman could like him, something for which he is most grateful. Since humility is not always a trait belonging to all men ( including myself) the song can serve as a reminder for us to be grateful for the women who bless our own lives
PS It took me 82 years to learn this.

https://youtu.be/6Jf0gEq0YWY 

" Everytime We Say Goodbye" This is a 1944 song by Cole Porter. But is not one of his smarty-pants, sophisticated and risque songs. It is a sober and tender comment on the pain of separation. Strangely enough, given the Covus 19 devastation,it could also serve as a song to acknowledge the passing of one laid low by the virus. It is sung by Lady Gaga in a very respectful and mature performance style.More than 70 years after the song was written, it still has relevance today.

https://youtu.be/aUm41zP63lo




https://youtu.be/aUm41zP63lo

Cole Porter: A history and songs of a great American original. In a live stream with Michael Feinstein and Carnegie Hall:

https://youtu.be/lkOTJcXq-rE 

George Gershwin concert with Michal Feinstein  A streaming program sponsored by Carnegie Hall   

https://youtu.be/MMBhRtuubdU 

"  Laura"--A jazz and vocal treat. David Raksin wrote this haunting melody for the famous film with Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney with Clifton Webb as the deranged villain.
It had little public appeal until Johnny Mercer wrote those evocative lyrics and soon it became a standard for all time. The Singer Unlimited was spun out of the Ji-Lo's and added a female voice to replace the original high tenor sound of Clark Burroughs. Those four singers would record a number of separate vocal lines and eventually become a chorus through the arranging genius of Gene Puerling. Gene's vocal wizardry is combined with the imaginative jazz arrangement of Rob McConnell, founder and leader of the 21 piece Boss Brass ensemble.
Here you have a marvellous melody, arranged for a large number of over-dubbing lines from 4 singers and McConnell's solid jazz support of both the song and the singers.

NOTE: A number of famous songwriters have stated that Laura, was one song they wished that they had written.

https://youtu.be/GlnI05l-Jks

 A Time for Love: Johnny Mandel was a master arranger/composer with such movie song hits like The Shadow of Your Smile, Emily,The Theme from M:A:S:H and many others. He also did wonderful arrangements for singers like Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand & Michael Buble. He could make great songs sound even better with his dynamic orchestrations supporting the singer and the song. A Time For Love. The lyrics are by Paul Francis Webster who also wrote the words for The Shadow of your Smile. Very descriptive as in
                            " A time for summer skies
                               For Hummingbirds & Butterflies
                                For tender words that
                                Harmonize with love"
The singer is Jane Monheit, a sultry jazz and cabaret performer who has a great feeling for love ballads, as in her version of Haunted Heart by Jonathan Schwartz & Howard Dietz.

https://youtu.be/0ubBEo69Mis \    A time for Love

https://youtu.be/23dTy9rn0Rc       Haunted Heart

" Somewhere Over The Rainbow" Over the Rainbow was voted the best song of the twentieth Century by the Recording Industry.
For many, it will recall Judy Garland's iconic role as the lttle girl from Kansas who went off to see the Wizard of Oz and her many adventures on that journey.
This version, by the wonderful operatic singer Renee Fleming, is a totally different approach. First of all, the arrangement is so sumptuous and fully orchestral,it would rival any operatic aria written in the twentieth century by Puccinni, the acknowledged master of the bel canto singing style as heard in his La Boheme or Madam Butterfly. Renee Fleming invests her performance with a passion that illuminates the masterful harmonic of composer Harold Arlen that enhances the melody with which almost everyone is familiar.At MGM, Producer Arthur Freed had to fight studio executives who though the song was too advanced and complex to be appreciated by a mass 
audience.Fortunately, Freed prevailed. In addition,the lyrics of E.Y.Harburg have given hope to so many people. In a way,his words encapsulate the once defiant optimism  of an earlier era in America, something that now seems to have disappeared.
I would urge you to listen not with the nostalgic memory of the Garland film but as a classical vocal and orchestral composition. Right at the end ,Fleming creates her own cadenza, a trope that allows singers, musicians and composers to improvise
a personalized ending based on the main themes of Arlen's composition.

" The Girl From Ipanema" Since Portugal is the country posting the most pageviews on this blog, I always admired how Brazilian composers especially the Emperor of Bossa Nova, Antonio Carlos Jobim who is seen in this version of The Girl From Ipanema. He created and popularized the Bossa Nova which is sung in Portugese, the native language of Brazil. The Bossa Nova rhythm  is the most interesting musical trend since the 1960's . It can even be applied to standards from the Great American Songbook like in Irving Berlin's 'Change Partners. It's sung by Sinatra in true Bossa Nova fashion and accompanied by Jobim himself.

https://youtu.be/pUdnWMaysJs 

https://youtu.be/IaUp2aNKMFY    Sinatra

Retirement Planning. " Wait Till Your 65" From the musical On a Clear Day, Lerner & Loewe wrote a delightful song satirically extolling the virtues of a financially secure
retirement. I dedicate this to Wendy Hickey, my financial advisor who had me wait till 75 to enjoy the bounty of a trouble-free retirement. 

https://youtu.be/lEggjtfmnE4 

" Rhapsody for Rachmaninoff" I had developed a musicological relationship with Michael Conway Baker, an award-winning Wsr Coast composer. Iwas paricularly impressed with his ballet score for"Washington Square"based on the movie " The Heiress" which starred Olivia DeHavilland & Montgomery Clift, as a fortune hunting suitor. I helped Michael with editing some of his autobiography. He especially warned new composers to avoid teachers and academics who believe that melody or tonality was not pure and tended to excite emotions rather than succumb to a sterile, formal analysis favoured by a purely academic approach. He played his tribute to Rachmaninoff for me and,ultimately dedicated the printed score to my wife Ann Weissengruber.Ann always searches to find the melody or singing line in any composition,something that was always at the center of Michael;s own compositional efforts.
 Listen to Michael at the keyboard playing with an all female string ensemble. The melody is dominant throughout the entire piece.

https://youtu.be/bWyaEoErruc 

" A Nightingale Sang in Berkely Square." After the German bombing of London ceased temporarily, this gentle song was often played to reassure Londoners that peace and tranquility would once again return when the Nightingale would sing its lovely song. Vera Lynn included this as one of her wartime songs that lifted the spirits of the British people.
This is a wonderful performance by Sir George Shearing and Mel Torme. I saw them do this version at The Royal York Hotel. As Shearing duplicated the trill of the Nightingale in high notes on the piano, the audience broke into a lengthy applause for both Shearing's piano playing and sensitive interpretation of Mel Torme.
   
https://youtu.be/CJKjn2OtyH0 

AT LAST:  Glen Miller recorded this song for  the 1941 film Sun Valley Serenade. Music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Mack Gordon. It later became a soulful hit for singer Etta James.  This version is by iconic singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell, who demonstrates what constitutes a song " Standard.'  It's a song that, although written more than 50 years ago, is still being played and heard regularly. Joni  Mitchell is a very accomplished songwriter herself and
benefits from the symphonic style arrangement that surrounds the entire performance,


https://youtu.be/WQK4QKGbcTI

" Suppertime" Irving Berlin wrote a song in 1933. Introduced by Ethel Waters, it's about a wife's reaction to news that her husband has been lynched and how she has to tell her children that father will " Not becoming home no more !' The current social unrest around systemic racism is a reminder of the long and sad history of racism in America. You can hear the anguish in Ethel Waters voice because she had experienced the virulent racism in the South.
Earlier on, Waters introduced Harold Arlen's Stormy Weather at the Cotton Club. She had 12 encores of that song.

 https://youtu.be/Y5Zvjjbc-Hk