Mark Blackburn

TONY BENNETT / BILL CHARLAP – Nobody Else But Me

"When I am with her, I'm glad the boy who's with her, is nobody else but me!"

When he was about to turn 90, Tony Bennett recorded with another great jazz pianist (my favorite among those I've seen in 'live' performance here in Winnipeg) -- Bill Charlap – for their Grammy-winning album of Jerome Kern favorites titled “The Silver Lining.” 

It's midnight and just for me, Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio is playing Tony & Bill's terrific version of NOBODY ELSE BUT ME --  described at Wikipedia as “the last song Jerome Kern ever wrote” (note below). 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmDzQKwz0f8&t=1s

Wikipedia:

"Nobody Else but Me", sometimes called "Nobody Else but You", is a 1946 song composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II for the 1946 Broadway revival of the musical Show Boat when it was introduced by Jan Clayton as the character Magnolia.[1] This was the last song written by Kern; he died shortly before the 1946 production opened.[2]

Vocal recordings

• 1946 Jan Clayton in the Show Boat cast album.[3]

• 1957 Barbara Lea – for her album Barbara Lea With the Johnny Windhurst Quartet.[4]

• 1959 Mitzi Gaynor – for her album Mitzi[5]

• 1959 Peggy King – for her album Lazy Afternoon[6]

• 1961 Ruth Price – for her album Ruth Price with Shelly Manne & His Men at the Manne-Hole.

• 1963 Sarah Vaughan – for her album The Explosive Side of Sarah Vaughan.

• 1964 Tony Bennett – included in his album When Lights Are Low.

• 1965 Dinah Shore – for her album Lower Basin Street Revisited.[7]

• 1995 Mel Tormé – for the album Velvet & Brass.

• 2001 Kristin Chenoweth – for her album Let Yourself Go.

• 2003 Tina May – for her album I'll Take Romance[8]

• 2007 Annette Sanders with Bob Florence – for their album You Will Be My Music.[9]

• 2015 Tony Bennett – for the album The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern.

SINATRA / RIDDLE – This Nearly Was Mine

Playing right now on Siriusly Sinatra – some people's favorite track on the singer's own favorite album, “The Concert Sinatra”: From South Pacific, Rodgers & Hammerstein's THIS NEARLY WAS MINE.

Frank Sinatra Jr said there were “80 plus” musicians in the symphony orchestra that night in 1963. He knew that, because he was present – “getting goosebumps” at what his father achieved – there on the Goldwyn sound stage – the largest in Hollywood history.

Nelson Riddle said that these were his finest arrangements, and that he never saw the singer “more focused” than for these recordings.

Each time I hear the opening orchestral flourish for this one, I think the same thing: Will it still give me goosebumps? Never fails! You too?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2etEOUCF16A

TONY BENNETT – It Was Me

“What is your favorite summer song?” asks Tony Bennett's Facebook page this day. Happy to say (without hesitation) it's one by Tony himself from long ago 1963: IT WAS ME. With a melody by French composer Gilbert Becaud and English lyric by Norman Gimbel.

Too obscure to be mentioned in Becaud's Wikipedia entry which focused on two other melodies of his that became major hits: 'What Now My Love?' And 'Let It Be Me.'

Wiki says Gilbert Becaud was 74 when he died of cancer in 2001 “on his houseboat in Paris.”

Google to learn that Tony Bennett himself declared that IT WAS ME was his own “favorite summer song.”

I see my namesake reviewed this one “3 years ago” with notes about the prolific lyricist whose poignant lyric was included (below) at “The Tony Bennett Interactive Discography”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc376NcoISg&t=4s

“It Was Me” was written by Gilbert Becaud as “C’etait Moi,” with English lyrics by Norman Gimbel. It’s a beautiful love song that brings memories of summers past and, maybe, to come. In 2009, Tony Bennett named this as his favorite summer song on NPR; you can listen to the interview here.

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Who’s the one you would find on the beach every day
Lying there on the shore while his friends swim away
Lying there in the sand only inches from you
Watching you every day til the summer was through
It was me

Who would help gather shells for the bracelet you made
Who would find you the cups for the pink lemonade
Who was always beside you whenever you’d swim
When you sat by the sea as the daylight grew dim
It was me
It was me

Now that summer is gone
And the warm skies are cold
And the soft winds are crisp
With their wintery chill
Do you ever think back on the night when we kissed
Can you ever forget
I know I never will

Who’s the one next to you in the group photograph
Who’s the one with the face too unhappy to laugh
Standing there looking down so uncertain and shy
Like a boy who’s in love, so in love he could cry
It was me
It was me
Me finding out
It was you

JOHN PIZZARELLI – "Maybe I'm Amazed" (to be) "Swinging on a Star"

In the space of a few minutes, on his most recent live streamed “It's 5 o'clock Somewhere” show, John Pizzarelli celebrated “Paul McCartney's birthday” with two of his own favorites composed words & tune by Paul: “And I Love Her” at around the 13:55 mark, and (from Paul's first post-Beatles solo album) “Maybe I'm a Man” ( 10:20 ).

Followed immediately by the best solo jazz guitar rendition ever (says me) of Jimmy Van Heusen's first (of four) 'Best Original Song' Oscar winners: (You could be) "Swinging on a Star" ( at the 16:25 mark).

https://www.facebook.com/JohnPizzarelliOfficial/videos/983427529360891

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Shared by John Pizzarelli at YouTube -- from his 'Midnight McCartney' album

1. "Alright, Okay, You Win" (Mayme Watts, Sidney Wyche) – 3:31 (duet with Diana Krall)
2. "Everyday (I Have the Blues)" (Peter Chatman) – 3:38 (duet with Stevie Wonder)
3. "Don't Cry Baby" (Saul Bernie, James P. Johnson, Stella Unger) – 2:43
4. "Good Morning Heartache" (Ervin Drake, Dan Fisher, Irene Higginbotham) – 4:56 (duet with Sheryl Crow)
5. "Let the Good Times Roll" (Fleecie Moore, Lovin' Sam Theard) – 3:14 (duet with B.B. King)
6. "Evenin'" (Mitchell Parish, Harry White) – 4:14 (duet with Ray Charles)
7. "I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues" (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) – 3:55 (duet with Bonnie Raitt)
8. "Keep the Faith, Baby" (Luchi de Jesus, Lila Lerner, Watts) – 3:51 (duet with k.d. lang)
9. "Old Count Basie Is Gone (Old Piney Brown Is Gone)" (Joe Turner) – 3:24
10. "Blue and Sentimental" (Count Basie, Mack David, Jerry Livingston) – 3:20 (duet with Kay Starr)
11. "New York State of Mind" (Billy Joel) – 4:30 (duet with Billy Joel)
12. "Undecided Blues" (Jimmy Rushing) – 3:17
13. "Blues in the Night" (Arlen, Johnny Mercer) – 3:33
14. "Stormy Weather" (Arlen, Koehler) – 4:34 (duet with Natalie Cole)
15. "Playin' with My Friends" (Robert Cray, Dennis Walker) – 4:47

TONY BENNETT – The Best is Yet to Come

Just watching a 'live' performance by Tony Bennett (“at the 'i-tunes' festival in London, in 2010”) of THE BEST IS YET TO COME – a song whose title words (from my favorite female lyricist Carolyn Leigh) were the very ones Frank Sinatra wanted inscribed on his gravestone.

Tony would have been 83 then – the same year he performed at our thousand-seat concert hall in Winnipeg; I caught up with him after the show at his hotel – in time to declare:

“Mr. Bennett, that wasn't merely the best performance by an 83-year-old – that was the greatest performance by anyone that I have ever seen.”

We conversed for a few minutes as he inscribed my copy of his book 'The Good Life' (1998).

I was just reminded by a dear friend and professional musician in Wisconsin of just how affecting Tony's latter-day performances could be: Samuel Chell – a retired English prof and professional jazz pianist – recalled a more recent performance:

I first heard Tony in concert in 1964 – pleasant but hardly gripping. 2015 was a different story. The crowd at Milwaukee's Riverside Theater was simply enthralled.  Now in his late '80s, Tony finally waved off his musicians and filled the deep and high space with "Fly Me to the Moon," a singing the entire lyric  "a cappella."  When the applause stopped, Tony made a curious statement: "You see, I sing jazz."  

20 years ago such an explanation would have seemed gratuitous.  But to this audience, comprising under-55 year olds, it seemed to come as a revelation. Without elaborating, Tony launched his finale, "The Good Life," which is not only one of the best songs written after 1960 but the title of Tony's autobiography.  

Following this experience, I was too overcome by emotion to speak--even to my wife, who wondered if I was angry or depressed.  After half an hour I had assembled myself sufficiently to suggest that the concert was on the same level as any of the six Sinatra concerts we had attended together.  I only wish the event had been recorded.

A well-recorded video we could only hope! – like this performance, in London 2010: The same great musicians including Lee Musiker, piano, Gray Sargent, guitar and Harold Jones percussion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmRmgysMngY

MCCARTNEY – Kisses on the Bottom

It's quarter to three, there's no one in the place except you and me, and Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio is playing Paul McCartney.  From his KISSES ON THE BOTTOM album of a decade ago, channel 70 has been playing at least one track per day; the latest is the title track, I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter (“a lotta kisses on the bottom, I'll be glad I got 'em”). With my favorite guitarist / jazz singer John Pizzarelli playing rhythm. Like vintage guitars and violins, this album just improves with age, you may agree. Some of these tracks are my 'all-time favorite' versions – case in point. This won a Grammy for best music video. But you knew that.

JAMES TAYLOR – his award-winning jazz vocal:  'Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight'

On his Facebook page today James Taylor shared with us a favorite 'live' concert version of 'Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight' (1979). Or as I like to call it – my “other favorite jazz standard of the 1970s” along with Billy Joel's 'Just The Way You Are' – both songs featuring brilliant sax solos.

In my favorite of his teaching videos for guitarists, James uses cameras attached to the body of his favorite instrument (see below) to share key sequences of what he himself dubs the song that brought him into the new category of “folk/jazz.”

Coincidentally (or not) I'd just been re-reading a 'review' by my namesake “4 years ago” about my own favorite version – James with an all-star cast of jazz musicians, recorded in 2002 as a 'return favor' to sax giant Michael Brecker, whose iconic solo was featured on James Taylor's original recording of 30 years earlier (for his 'One Man Dog' black vinyl LP).

James' recapitulation for Michael's 'Nearness of You' album won James the Grammy for “Best Male Pop Vocal” – as well as one of 15 Grammy awards Michael Brecker picked up in an all-too-short but utterly brilliant career: only 57 when he left us in 2007.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOOZ1PlTkPY

Wikipedia

"Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter James Taylor, from his 1972 album One Man Dog. The song has been included on three of Taylor's greatest-hits collection albums: Greatest Hits (1976), Classic Songs (1987) and The Best of James Taylor (2003). Taylor re-recorded the song for the 2001 Michael Brecker album Nearness of You: The Ballad Book; this rendition won Taylor the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 2002.

James' own YouTube video -- making those beautiful chord sequences look easy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV5JfELpibs&t=1s

TOMMY EMMANUEL -- Bluegrass and Blue Smoke

Just left my "other favorite, living guitar virtuoso" a note -- re a video clip from a recent concert.  I meant to add: "Is it just me, or does Tommy get better (even faster) with age?"

As a young man in Australia, Emmanuel wrote to his hero Chet Atkins in Nashville, Tennessee. Eventually, Atkins replied with words of encouragement and a long-standing invitation to drop by to visit. In 1997, Emmanuel and Atkins recorded as a duo, releasing the album The Day Finger Pickers Took Over the World. It would be Atkins's last album.

DOYLE DYKES – Tiger Rag (“Chet Atkins cover”)

If I didn't know better I'd say, What a coincidence! Just yesterday, this life-long Chet Atkins fan had been recalling “the fastest picking Chet ever did” – on his early “HI FI IN FOCUS album (a monaural recording made in his basement studio, circa 1956) with TIGER RAG as the opening track. There were certain phrases – clusters of notes – that Chet played faster than . . . anyone, before or since.

So. Imagine my delight to find Tiger Rag the very one Doyle Dykes selected to play for us on line last night – employing a similar-sounding Gretsch 'White Falcon' instead of Chet's signature 'Country Gentleman' guitar. (Doyle owns multiples of each great instrument).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLB35BI-FgI

As 'covers' go, it is almost perfect! Doyle would be the first to tell you that Chet managed to slip in a few extra notes, at certain key moments (those moments when Doyle will chuckle, or say under his breath “Get in there!”). And those fast phrases Chet managed to play 'clean' without blurring of notes (See below:)

To appreciate what Doyle accomplishes – alone, I would say, among the greatest, finger-style virtuoso's – listen to the original. (Really, is there anything you can't find at YouTube?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIfCBeU6dx8

TONY BENNETT / BILL EVANS – Make Someone Happy

On his Facebook page today Tony Bennett posted a beautiful graphic with the quote: "My goal is to express truth and beauty."

Recalling jazz piano giant Bill Evans' final words to Tony – his favorite jazz singer shortly before he died. The jazz world's most influential pianist's last words to Tony:

“I wanted to tell you just one thing. Just think truth and beauty. Forget about everything else. Just concentrate on truth and beauty, and that's all.”

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Ask his fans to list their top five favorite albums -- not just his -- and Tony's mid-seventies recordings with Bill Evans are at the top of most everyone's list. Coincidentally (or not) I awoke this sunny day singing a line from Jule Styne's best song – MAKE SOMEONE HAPPY.

Fame, if you win it, comes and goes in a minute

Where's the real stuff of life to cling to?

Love is the answer – someone to love is the answer

Make someone happy – just one, someone, happy

and you will be happy too!

Best ever rendition? No contest. Jule Styne, a fine pianist himself, said this was his favorite. Yours too?

Thanks for sharing Tony Bennett. Celebrated elsewhere [search] “ Great Melody, Great Lyric, Great Rendition, Songwriting Workshop, Harmony Central “ p. 42

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Gmp84bmqQw

CALABRIA FOTI – Just One of Those Things

I awoke this day (our hottest of the year so far) humming a Cole Porter tune – one of his best melodies and most memorable lyrics -- IT WAS JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS. Recalling in the shower one particular stanza. From memory imperfect . . .

If we thought a bit, to the end of it, when we started painting the town, we'd have been aware, that our love affair, was too hot, not to cool down . . .

So 'Goodbye Dear, and Amen' – here's hoping we'll meet now and then --  it was great fun, but it was just, one of those things.

Suddenly it is day's end, and guess what YouTube just sent my way? My favorite living jazz singer Calabria Foti and her most recent (2019) recording of same: made more memorable with a solo by my all-time favorite clarinet virtuoso Eddie Daniels who is now 81, and a jazz samba opening with nylon-stringed guitar played by another longtime hero of mine, Gene Bertoncini who turned 86 this year. Really, isn't this a delight?

From Calabria's all- Cole Porter album, 'In The Still of the Night.' If you purchase and don't love, I promise to pay for your copy. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YPxIw-ABek

TONY BENNETT – All Mine

Tony Bennett's catalog is so vast that Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio keeps playing love songs of his I never heard before – like just this minute:

“The 24 hour home of the Great American Songbook,” says the unidentified voice of Channel 70 before playing ALL MINE – with a graphic of where to find this obscure but beautiful recording from Tony, with the refrain:

“From the moment of your birth, you were destined to be my love, always, all mine!”

Included on a 1997 Concord records compilation produced by Helen Keane (who produced Tony and Bill Evans' alone together recordings in the 70s). Arranger not specified in the otherwise informed note (below). At YouTube this day, a re-packaged version, posted by Tony himself two years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgJXw6ZZBMk&t=27s

Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group All Mine · Tony Bennett Tony Bennett Sings For Lovers ℗ 1997 Concord Records Released on: 2006-03-03 Associated Performer, Vocals: Tony Bennett Associated Performer, Guitar: Wayne Wright Associated Performer, Upright Bass: John Giuffrida Associated Performer, Drums: Chuck Hughes Producer, Recording Producer: Helen Keane Studio Personnel, Mastering Engineer: Kirk Felton Composer Lyricist: Francis Hime Composer Lyricist: Jay Livingston Composer Lyricist: Ray Evans Composer Lyricist: Ruy Guerra

DR. DON SHIRLEY -- classical and boogie music at the Orange Bird jukejoint

Most everyone's favorite moment in “Green Book” – when Tony Lip tells the pretty bartender, “He's only the greatest piano player in the world.” And then to Don Shirley: “Go on, tell her!” “Don't tell me,” she says – “show me” – nodding in the direction of the piano: an upright (recently tuned) with the requisite 'glass left on one end of the piano' by “someone who should know better” -- as Doc jokes in a previous scene explaining to Tony why he couldn't perform classical music (only jazz standards and show tunes) for white audiences.

It's a moment at the end of their tour, and you realize that Tony has never heard his employer play a short virtuoso piece by a classical composer; neither has he any idea that Dr. Don Shirley is an admirer of boogie woogie piano stylings, and astonishes the appreciative blues band who join him on stage. Just as an aside:

Today I received my Amazon Prime “free shipping in 2 days” DVD copy (“disc made in Mexico”) – two days after I'd sent my musical sister in Toronto a “next day delivery” copy: “It took my breath away,” she said adding that “it's already one of my all-time favorite movies.”

She'd not heard of it before! I heard of it thanks to a daughter-in-law who predicted “you will enjoy this one.”

The subtleties in this scene! As when the cook emerges from the kitchen, an assistant in tow – to see for himself the source of this amazing music. The look on his face.

The casting of everyone in the 'Jukejoint' (not to mention the entire movie) is note perfect: Don't you love the beautiful 'bar maid'? – her joyful surprise the moment 'Dr. Don' plays those first, up-and-down-the-entire-keyboard arpeggios.

I'm 76 now, and believe this moment in film history will give me goosebumps at every replay. So if they're around when I shuffle off this mortal coil, I'll ask loved ones to play this four minutes of joy from “the Orange Bird” jukejoint.

 w

TONY BENNETT – O Sole Mio

When I met Mr. Bennett outside Winnipeg's Fairmont Hotel and he inscribed my copy of his 1998 book The Good Life (“To Mark, Thank you very much!”) I told him how I was particularly affected by his recollections of his father: his "big hands, his strong arms," and that his Dad was so very musical and that, as Tony said, “He inspired my love for music.” Tony was only ten when his father died age 41 of congestive heart failure – something Tony says “could have been treated by modern medicine.”

Tony said that his Dad “derived tremendous pleasure from singing to anyone who would listen, just like he did himself, when he was a child. He had a beautiful voice. He used to sit on the front stoop of our house and sing a cappella to my brother and me, in the gentle sensitive voice that I can still hear.”

“My father was a very poetic, sensitive man, full of love and warmth, and I vividly recall being cradled in his giant arms until I fell asleep. I see the 'huge' man of my earliest memories. His arms were strong and his hands were big and his eyes were deep, dark and soulful. When I looked into those eyes I felt there wasn't a problem in the world that he couldn't solve.”

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I'm guessing his Dad would have loved Tony's version of O Sole Mio recorded as a single in 1972; albeit a jazz arrangement (by Neal Hefti I believe) sung in the dialect of Naples in which it was originally composed. (Wiki note below).

A concert video from the time period attests to Tony's definitive rendition, you may agree. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr2fKgMl7Cg&list=RDfr2fKgMl7Cg

Wikipedia

"'O sole mio" (Neapolitan pronunciation: [o ˈsoːlə ˈmiːə]) is a well-known Neapolitan song written in 1898. Its Neapolitan language lyrics were written by Giovanni Capurro and the music was composed by Eduardo di Capua (1865–1917) and Alfredo Mazzucchi (1878–1972).[2] The title translates literally as "my sun" or "my sunshine".[3] The lyrics have been translated to other languages.

English translation (first stanza)

What a beautiful thing is a sunny day!
The air is serene after a storm,
The air is so fresh that it already feels like a celebration.
What a beautiful thing is a sunny day!

TONY BENNETT – Sophisticated Lady

John Pizzarelli opened his latest live-stream show with a snippet of Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Lady. He didn't acknowledge it and I left him a note wondering “if any listeners caught it?” 

Google for “Sophisticated Lady” and the first offering this day at YouTube is also the most recent important recording – by Tony Bennett with solo piano accompaniment.

Comments from kindred spirits below the video speak for many of us – this one especially:

GSUSISBEAST

(1 year ago)

“Honestly one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard. I am so attached to Tony’s version specifically. The way Tony ends the song is unforgettable.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcyogXVwWmY

Google the question: “Who was Sophisticated Lady written for?

Answer: A good guess would be his mom, Daisy Kennedy Ellington. History tells us that she was a beautiful, intelligent, educated woman who doted on her son, Edward Kennedy Ellington (1899-1974).

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Coincidentally I'd been looking at Tony Bennett's favorite of his many portrait paintings, one he said he “never could sell” and so it hung on a wall of his home for decades before he donated it to the National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian) which noted:

In honor of the 110th birthday of Duke Ellington, the National Portrait Gallery today unveiled a portrait of the composer by his friend and fellow musician Tony Bennett. 

The painting depicts Ellington with a bouquet of pink roses in the background. Bennett chose this motif to celebrate Ellington’s habit of sending the singer a dozen pink roses whenever Ellington composed a new song. In the first rank of American composers, Duke Ellington was “beyond category”: his more than 2,000 jazz compositions include “Satin Doll” and “Sophisticated Lady,” as well as Black, Brown and Beige and the later “Sacred Concerts.”

Legendary performer Tony Bennett (born Anthony Benedetto) here portrays the man he celebrated as his mentor. “When I worked on his portrait, I was inspired by the look of divine serenity on his face,” Bennett noted, and he inscribed the painting, “God Is Love.”

PEGGY LEE – The Folks Who Live on the Hill

Google for The Folks Who Live On The Hill, and the first offering is “song by Peggy Lee” – which is fitting, because my favorite female singer 'owned' this one – playing right this minute on Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio with a graphic of a 2020 compilation album “Ultimate Peggy Lee.”

Peggy said it was her favorite of all of her recordings – not least because her good friend Frank Sinatra conducted the orchestra for the entire album.

It holds a special place in my heart: When I was 17 (a very good year) I played an instrumental recording of “Folks Who Live on the Hill” for my musical Mom – from a guitar album by Charlie Byrd. She promptly sang the entire lyric – by Oscar Hammerstein set to a perfect tune by the 'dean' of 20^th century composers Jerome Kern.

First version at YouTube this day – this one (with, I see, a review by my namesake “3 years ago”).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcUG7LDenr0

WES MONTGOMERY – Down Here on the Ground

Not for the first time, I learned of the passing of a musical hero – arranger Don Sebesky – from my favorite jazz singer / guitarist John Pizzarelli: during his latest 'live-stream' “It's 5 o'clock somewhere” show John paused to say,

“Don Sebesky was a dear friend – and the reason I can play half of these chords to these songs, is because of him. He was just a darling man. And a genius. He made my life a lot easier with a lot of great charts, and things like that. Don Sabesky left this world at the age of 85 a couple of weeks ago (4/29/2023) and he is going to be sorely missed.”

Philadelphia radio station WRTI had (I think) the best online summing-up of Don's work:

Don Sebesky, whose dynamic flair as a composer and arranger left an indelible mark on the sound of modern jazz and pop orchestration, notably through a prolific association with the producer-executive Creed Taylor, died on April 29 at a senior living center in Maplewood, NJ. He was 85.

Sharing the news on social media, his son Ken Sebesky said he had died after a six-year struggle with post-stroke Parkinsonism.

For a generation or two of listeners, Sebesky’s arrangements are synonymous with worldly sophistication in a jazz-crossover lane. His work for Taylor’s CTI Records in the 1960s and ‘70s set the gold standard on albums like Freddie Hubbard’s First Light, Milt Jackson’s Sunflower, and Wes Montgomery’s Bumpin’ and A Day in the Life.

Sebesky was a perennial nominee at the Grammy Awards, and his three wins came in quick succession, all for his own recordings. He took best instrumental arrangement for a version of “Waltz For Debby” off the 1998 album I Remember Bill: The Tribute to Bill Evans. His next two were both for selections on Joyful Noise: A Tribute to Duke Ellington, which Sebesky often cited as the favorite among his albums. In addition to the arranging award for a take on “Chelsea Bridge,” he won best instrumental composition for “Joyful Noise Suite,” a three-part invention.

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Turner Classic Movies TCM had “Cool Hand Luke” on two nights ago and it triggered a favorite musical memory – my favorite short solo by Wes Montgomery “arranged by Don Sebesky.”

The most viewed version (131K) at YouTube featured a review by my namesake "4 years ago":

Down Here on the Ground – Wes Montgomery

Ask any jazz guitarist where Wes Montgomery belongs on the list of guitar greats. They will, every single one of them say, “At the top.” I love it that Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio gives Wes almost daily air play.

My all-time favorite (short radio play) recording by Wes featured a very young Herbie Hancock at the Steinway. His obbligatos and fills are, to this day the very model of what the pianist should do in the presence of greatness. Bet you Wes complimented him during the playback of this recording!

The gorgeous melody, Down Here on the Ground, was composed by Lalo Schifrin. The mid-song improvisation by Wes remains my single favorite (short) jazz solo of all time. From the appropriately titled “Wes Montgomery's Finest Hour.” So it was. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-gaNU0d-Wk

JANE MONHEIT / JOHN PIZZARELLI – They Can't Take That Away from Me

I was two years old when my parents acquired an album of 78 rpm records for a then- new Fred Astaire movie musical (The Barkleys of Broadway) featuring my very first “favorite song” --- the one about “The way you wear your hat ….”

After posting the above Tony Bennett version (and pronouncing it in some way “definitive”) YouTube sent me about 50 other versions! As if to say – Are you sure? What about these gems? Foremost among them a 'live' television performance of the best female jazz singer I've ever seen in concert here in Winnipeg – Jane Monheit, accompanied by John Pizzarelli (see below).

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Just watched a replay of John's latest “5 o'clock somewhere” live-stream one hour show – hoping he would salute the song with a brand new version. Each time John plays it differently – another mark of a jazz virtuoso. And after playing three other Gershwin tunes, in medley, earlier in the show – and not this one – John suddenly says (at around the 21:29 mark) “Now – we're going back to Gershwin: 'The way you wear your hat' …. ”

At song's end an immediate transition to the best fast jazz samba version of the Gershwins' Fascinating Rhythm that I have ever heard played and sung: at around 22:36 mark.

https://www.facebook.com/JohnPizzarelliOfficial/videos/181605601509890

My new (old) “favorite 'live' version by a female jazz singer” – sent my way today from YouTube: From most everyone's favorite jazz variety television show that was hosted by the late jazz piano great Ramsey Lewis – who left us last year at age 87.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNPBsuR--BM

Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality.[1] Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five gold records and three Grammy Awards in his career. His album The In Crowd earned Lewis critical praise and the 1965 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance. His best known singles include "The 'In' Crowd", "Wade in the Water", and "Sun Goddess". Until 2009, he was the host of the Ramsey Lewis Morning Show on the Chicago radio station WNUA.

Lewis was also active in musical education in Chicago. He founded the Ramsey Lewis Foundation, established the Ravinia's Jazz Mentor Program, and served on the board of trustees for the Merit School of Music and The Chicago High School for the Arts.

Lewis died in his sleep at his home in Chicago, on September 12, 2022, at age 87.

TONY BENNETT -- They Can't Take That Away from Me

On his Facebook page Tony Bennett shared a "portrait I painted of Frank Sinatra -- who died on this day in 1998."

[Compelled to respond:]

Like all 'master' painters Tony Bennett accomplishes so much in so few brush strokes! The REAL art of painting. Just look at the eyes! The deceptively simple application of a tiny bit of black paint and you wonder: how does he do that? And Sinatra's smile – that beaming smile – is one reserved for best friends like Tony.

The way your smile just beams . . .

The way you wear your hat . . .

Favorite lines from my favorite Gershwin tune. Hard to believe it's exactly 30 years since Tony Bennett and his great piano player Ralph Sharon (alone together) did the definitive recording of THEY CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME. Definitive not least for including the first 50 seconds of the opening verse, which deserves to be heard, you may agree!
 

My friend (and all time favorite Amazon reviewer) Samuel Chell writes that Tony has "captured something very personal, intimate, subtle in the jawline and smile that makes him recognizable to anyone who had the luxury (as I did) of watching him in person multiple times and of course on film. It's not simply an expression of "selfish" pleasure but of a reassuring composure that projects itself onto the auditor(s). It's an expression that says 'That was marvelous! All is forgiven. Let's take it from the top and do it again. You go first this time. I'll have your back'."

TONY BENNETT / STEVIE WONDER – For Once in My Life

“Stevie Wonder turned 73 today,” said my wife reading the paper aloud. Triggering memories of Stevie's greatest harmonica solos (rivaling Belgian-born Toots Thielemans as 'greatest-ever' on that instrument). No better solo than this one! (starting around the 2:04 mark).

My musical heroes recorded this, my favorite track on Tony's first DUETS album. A few months later they performed it 'live' at the Grammys – and won the award that night.

They had both introduced the song in the 60's – Stevie's was the hit version – of what became a life-long signature piece for both of them.

Love how Tony expresses (for all of us at song's end) the “wonder” of Stevie's playing.

That Grammy awards night video was promptly removed from YouTube for 'Grammy copyright' reasons. But someone's uploaded the audio of that performance – to one terrific photo of these geniuses at work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQQzosJRtn8

DIANA KRALL / JAMES TAYLOR – I've Grown Accustomed to (his/her) Face

At this moment Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio is playing Diana Krall's jazz cover of maybe the best song ever composed for Broadway;  many songwriters feel that way, including my compatriot Gene (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars) Lees -- lyricist and author who included an erudite analysis of its greatness, in one of his last books.

A 'guy song' -- until someone like Diana Krall sings it as,  “I've Grown Accustomed to HIS Face.” Her jazz cover was recorded in 2009. More recently James Taylor performed it -- with such definition you'd swear (if you didn't know better) that he wrote it – words and tune. (Not included on his Grammy-winning AMERICAN STANDARD album of 2020).

When he shared his 'official version' at YouTube, James Taylor included a thoughtful written introduction, complete with lyrics.

[JAMES wrote:]

"I've Grown Accustomed To Her face" was recorded during the sessions for "American Standard," but only released as a bonus track at certain outlets. [Including Target stores – which no longer exist in Canada. My copy was obtained and mailed to me by a dear friend -- “Bob in Boston.”]

“Written by Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner, for the 1956 musical 'My Fair Lady'."

“We cut more songs than would fit on the album, American Standard, which made the promotional department happy. They find uses for the extra tracks, usually as 'exclusive' material for the big box retailers. But I’ve regretted not giving these pieces the exposure I think they deserve.

“I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face is from one of my parents’ favorite records, the [Broadway] cast recording of Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady. '... damn, damn, damn, damn, damn... I’ve grown accustomed to her face...' Henry Higgins reluctantly realizes that he loves Liza Doolittle.”

James added that [one of Nashville's greatest living fiddlers] “Stuart Duncan plays a lovely tuned-down violin."

LYRICS

I've grown accustomed to her face

She almost makes the day begin

I've grown accustomed to the tune

She whistles night and noon

Her smiles, her frowns

Her ups, her downs

Are second nature to me now

Like breathing out and breathing in

I was serenely independent and content before we met

Surely I could always be that way again, and yet

I've grown accustomed to her look

Accustomed to her voice

Accustomed to her face

I guess I’m used to hear her say

Good morning everyday

Her joys, her woes

Her highs, her lows

They’re second nature to me now

Like breathing out and breathing in

I'm very grateful she's a woman

And so easy to forget

Rather like a habit

One can always break, and yet

I've grown accustomed to the trace

Of something in the air

Accustomed to her face

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHib412Eba8&t=1s

Diana Krall's 2009 recording was played this hour on Siriusly Sinatra: my “other favorite” jazz cover version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75ZMaPM56kY

KENNY RANKIN – When Sunny Gets Blue / Peaceful

Like Gordon Lightfoot, Kenny Rankin started his career with live solo performances -- self-accompanied -- before small audiences in coffee houses:  ('Just me and my guitar' as James Taylor put it in a song of that title.) When I wasn't looking, someone shared to YouTube one such early performance – Kenny singing and playing his own composition “Peaceful” – a hit for Helen Reddy (see below).

I'm looking at an old 78 rpm record label – included in the Wiki entry for WHEN SUNNY GETS BLUE – reminding us who introduced this 50s jazz standard beloved by singers including Nat Cole (but not Sinatra) and virtuoso horn players like Chet Baker; as well as a host of 60s guitarists who were crazy about it – all of whose versions seem to have vanished like the wind since Johnny Mathis introduced the song in 1956 (B-side of his first hit “Wonderful, Wonderful” -- Wiki note below).

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From his earliest days performing 'live' in coffee houses, before small audiences, Kenny Rankin would include this one with his own solo classical guitar (gut stringed) accompaniment.

Google for “Kenny Rankin at YouTube” and sure enough, the very first offering this day: “From the DVD The Jazz Channel Presents 2001”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrt8Y-F3U14

Kenny Rankin with a very early solo performance one of his own compositions, 'Peaceful' (a hit for Helen Reddy).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av21FvTeScE

According to Wikipedia

"When Sunny Gets Blue" is a song written by Marvin Fisher (music) and Jack Segal (lyrics), which has become a jazz standard.[1] The song was originally recorded in September 1956 by Johnny Mathis backed by Ray Conniff and his Orchestra, released in February 1957 as the B-side of Mathis's debut single "Wonderful! Wonderful!". The song was included on the compilation album Johnny's Greatest Hits, released in April 1958. The album was a smash hit, staying on the Billboard pop chart for 490 weeks, including 3 weeks at number 1, and 57 weeks in the Top Ten.[2]

The song was recorded in January 1957 by June Christy for her album Fair and Warmer!, released later that year.[2] Pete Rugolo arranged and conducted for Christy. Around the same time, Nat King Cole recorded it for his album Love Is the Thing, with this rendition praised by music critic Will Friedwald as displaying Cole's "tenderness, compassion and empathy".[3] Arranger Gordon Jenkins backed Cole.

DOYLE DYKES – On 60 Broadway

At Gordon Lightfoot's Facebook page I recalled a moment in 1965 when I spoke briefly with him at a coffee house (remember those?) in my hometown of Ottawa Canada when he was still largely unknown.  Alone with him in a hallway I asked how he tuned his bass strings to get that signature sound on Early Morning Rain. “Tune your (big) E string down to D,” he said.

Doyle Dykes does that here, for one of my favorite of his own compositions, titled “On 60 Broadway” – a tribute to Gretsch guitars' original NYC home – as well as to “honor Fred Gretsch” (who cherishes Doyle's music and friendship and has gifted him with guitars).

Doyle introduces us to his instrument: a “1955 Martin D-28, with Brazilian Rosewood.” (Coincidentally what Gordon Lightfoot always played when he wasn't playing his Gibson 12-string.)

At song's end, Doyle's adorable little Terrier intervenes “at the end of a hard day” to remind him “it's time for bed.”

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Sent my way by the intuitive genius that is YouTube, as if to say: “You didn't see this first time around, did you?” (when posted 18 months ago). The entire eight minutes is a joy to hear ... but if you only have time for “60 Broadway” – pick it up halfway through at the 4:24 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIRkJw86eGw

KENNY RANKIN – Pussywillows, Cattails, Soft Winds and Roses

When I awoke this morning (to borrow an opening line from another favorite Lightfoot song) I was thinking about the most beautifully 'impressionistic' song (both words & tune) that Gordon ever wrote: the one I thought most likely to be covered by jazz singers and instrumentalists:  Pussywillows, Cattails (Soft Winds and Roses)

Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio gives regular airplay to my alltime favorite jazz guitarist / singer Kenny Rankin. I believe they've played this 1974 recording -- featuring Kenny's own nylon-string guitar stylings plus a lovely string arrangement.

Combined with an inspired video and accurate lyrics scroll – this is such a treat, you may agree. Wonder if this was Gordon's own favorite 'jazz cover' of any of his songs? Kenny Rankin's rendition of 'Blackbird' was Paul McCartney's favorite (Wiki note below).

When 'home made' videos are this good, they tend to elicit heartfelt comments and this one posted a decade ago has accumulated 1.8 million 'views' and thoughts like these:

EARLE FROST (4 years ago)

“NICE!!!!! This is easily my favorite Gordon Lightfoot song, and this delightful artist does it justice. VERY lovely guitar playing in particular!!

LOVELY SO SWEET (3 years ago) “I used to blast this in my car, people stop me and ask me the name of this song!

MARILYN ALBERT (11 years ago) “My two daughters gave my husband and I goosebumps when they harmonized this together as children. I still love it!

MARIA XENIA ALLEN (11 years ago) “Excellent video!!! Love the photos and the quality of the sound recording is perfect (to my imperfect years.) Eternal memory, Mr. Kenny Rankin, who gave me many hours of enjoyment of his songs. "Silver Morning" is a perfect album; have loved it since the 1970s. Thanks for sharing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmuPbZSOeaA

Kenneth Joseph Rankin (February 10, 1940 – June 7, 2009) was an American singer and songwriter in the folk rock and singer-songwriter genres; he was influenced by jazz. Rankin would often sing notes in a high range to express emotion.

He was a guitarist on the album Bringing It All Back Home by Bob Dylan.[3] He appeared on The Tonight Show more than twenty times.[3] Late night TV host Johnny Carson wrote the liner notes to Rankin's 1967 debut album, Mind Dusters.

After recording the Beatles' song "Blackbird" for his album Silver Morning, he was asked by Paul McCartney to perform it when McCartney and John Lennon were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.[2]

When Rankin worked with Alan Broadbent, Mike Wofford, and Bill Watrous, his music got closer to jazz. His songs were performed by Peggy Lee, Mel Tormé and Carmen McRae; Stan Getz said his voice was like "a horn with a heartbeat".

Rankin befriended comedian George Carlin; both were signed to Little David Records. Starting in 1972 Rankin was often the opening act or musical guest for Carlin's live performances. Rankin sang at Carlin's memorial service in June 2008.