" 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.