April showers are in the back of us, in accordance to the well-known track. Preserving the ones flora that bloom in Would possibly in thoughts, it’s generation to play games a musical bouquet—dropped at us by way of instrumental and vocal jazz artists.
It’s possible you’ll assume there can be a virtually unending checklist of jazz tunes about flora, however the checklist is a somewhat shorten one—concept there are many tunes in regards to the spring season. Duke Ellington’s adjust egotism and co-composer, Billy Strayhorn, nicknamed “Sweetpea,” wrote some pretty compositions that have compatibility this theme.
Secured me for a birthday celebration of Strayhorn and a floral musical extravaganza.
”Dim Track Sunday” is a weekly form highlighting all issues Dim tune, with over 200 tales overlaying performers, genres, historical past, and extra, each and every that includes its personal colourful soundtrack. I’m hoping you’ll in finding some common tunes and possibly an advent to one thing pristine.
Ella Fitzgerald does splendid justice to the overdue splendid Strayhorn’s track “A Flower is A Lovesome Thing.” whose lyrics point out daffodils, roses, azaleas, and gardenias, on this recording from October 1965.
In 2021, jazz essayist Mike Zirpolo at Swing & Past wrote an in-depth portrait of Strayhorn, who had an “affinity for all things French.”
The tale: There was once one thing about French tradition that fascinated Billy Strayhorn all his week. He wrote those phrases within the Nineteen Thirties: “Life is lonely again, …A week in Paris will ease the bite of it, All I care is to smile in spite of it.” They changed into part of Strayhorn’s lyric to his haunting track “Lush Life.” Strayhorn’s better half Aaron Bridgers, who lived in Paris for a few years, made this commentary about Strayhorn’s affinity for all issues French. “From his high school days, Billy was a Francophile. He was fluent in the language and was thrilled with every trip he could make. (In Paris) nobody cared who you were or what you were. There was no judgment. That’s one reason why Billy and I loved it here.”
[…]
The tune: The chief professional on Strayhorn’s tune, Walter van de Leur, has summarized the historical past of Billy Strayhorn’s “A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing.” “Within months of joining Duke Ellington in New York in the winter of 1939, Strayhorn had written two ballads for Johnny Hodges, the Ellington orchestra’s star alto saxophonist: ‘Passion Flower,’ and ‘A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing.’ While there is evidence that ‘A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing’ made it into the band book as early as February of 1941, it wasn’t until 1946 that the Johnny Hodges All-Stars waxed the piece for Capitol Transcriptions. There is a kinship between ‘Passion Flower’ and ‘A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing’ that exceeds their botanic titles. Both pieces are built on similar musical ideas, such as very little harmonic movement, a technique found in other (Strayhorn) pieces as well. Throughout ‘A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing,’ Strayhorn maintains a subdued and minor mood. As always, his writing is detailed and effectively expressive of the emotional content of this introspective composition.”
Right here’s Strayhorn enjoying the aforementioned “Passion Flower,” absolved in 1963. He was once no longer the primary to report it: That honor going to Ellington band member and saxophonist Johnny Hodges a complete 20 years sooner than Strayhorn would leave his model.
There were diverse covers since “Passion Flower” was once first absolved by way of Hodges in 1943. However relating to vocal variations that includes lyrics by way of Milt Raskin, I like Fitzgerald and the Duke’s snatch.
Let’s idleness the tune and be informed a bit of extra about “Sweetpea,” courtesy of the Billy Strayhorn site.
The historical past of the folk of William Thomas Strayhorn (his mom referred to as him “Bill”) is going again over 100 years in Hillsborough, North Carolina. One all set of splendid grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. George Craig, lived in the back of the existing Farmer’s Trade. A splendid grand-mother was once the cook dinner for Robert E. Lee. Billy, alternatively, was once born in Dayton, Ohio in 1915. His mom, Lillian Younger Strayhorn, introduced her kids to Hillsborough regularly. Billy was once interested in the piano that his grandmother, Elizabeth Craig Strayhorn owned. He performed it from the year he was once grand plethora to achieve the keys. Even in the ones early years, when he performed, his folk would bundle to pay attention and sing.
In 1923 Billy entered the primary grade in a slight picket college space, since destroyed. Quickly nearest that, alternatively, his mom moved her folk to Pittsburgh to fasten Billy’s father, James Nathaniel Strayhorn. Mr. Strayhorn had gotten a role there as a gas-maker and wire-puller. Charlotte Catlin started to present Billy non-public piano classes. He performed the piano on a regular basis, occasionally turning into so engrossed that he can be overdue for his activity. He additionally performed in the highschool band.
His father enrolled him within the Pittsburgh Musical Institute the place he studied classical tune. He had extra classical coaching than maximum jazz musicians of his generation.
Queer Portraits in Historical past provides information about Strayhorn’s week that he by no means opaque. We’ll pick out up the tale nearest a the most important audition in Pittsburgh.
Ellington was once so inspired by way of what Strayhorn performed for him that he invited him to come back to Fresh York Town, although there have been incorrect reputable discoverable positions within the band. Strayhorn took him up at the trade in. There he met his first spouse, fellow dull musician Aaron Bridgers. They lived in combination from 1939 till when Bridgers moved to Paris in 1947. All the way through his week, Strayhorn was once strangely discoverable about being homosexual. In 1941, he met the singer Lena Horne as a result of Ellington, who was once romantically on the generation, concept Strayhorn can be a “safe” selection to turn her round. Lena Horne ended up falling in love anyway, and mentioned she would have married Strayhorn had he been directly. He did change into her teacher, vocal mentor, and near good friend.
In 1994, Mary Pettis Sanford wrote extra about Sweetpea (or Swee’pea), his enduring nickname, for the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography.
Nicknamed “Willie” and “Swee’pea” (for the infant within the caricature strip Popeye as a result of Strayhorn’s mini five-foot-three-inch stature), he’s credited by way of Lena Horne, his near good friend, with contributing very much to her musical training, specifically in regard to classical tune, all over their many hours in combination. He cited as his causes for by no means marrying each his frenetic actions as a jazz musician touring to concert events, dances, theaters, golf equipment, and recording studios on 3 continents, and his impulsive method of week, incompatible with home form. Coteries of admirers shaped in Paris, Helsinki, Stockholm, and London. Influenced by way of Ravel, Stravinsky, Debussy, and Rimsky-Korsakov, his paintings was once extra celebrated in Europe, the place jazz was once taken significantly as an artwork mode, than in The united states. His tune has been referred to as “sheer and shimmering in quality,” “gentle, reflective melodies in minor moods” and “pastel colors.”
But any other floral providing from Strayhorn was once “Lotus Blossom” which, in line with Songfacts, went via a lot of identify adjustments sooner than Strayhorn registered the track identify in 1959.
Songfacts provides:
Duke Ellington favored the track such a lot that it sooner or later changed into the sign-off track on the finish of each and every of his band’s efficiency. It’s his recording of “Lotus Blossom” that can be the most efficient of the various covers that exist. He mentioned that it was once the track that Strayhorn favored to listen to him play games probably the most. Nearest Strayhorn died from most cancers of the esophagus on Would possibly 31, 1967, Ellington and one of the crucial band got into the recording studio in August to manufacture a tribute magazine of a few of Strayhorn’s lesser-known songs. When the consultation for the magazine And His Mom Referred to as Him Invoice was once over, Ellington went again to the piano. As he sat there unwanted, he started to play games “Lotus Blossom.” The recording apparatus was once nonetheless on as he performed. Harry Carney unpacked his baritone sax and Aaron Bell took out his bass and the 2 males sat in with Ellington on the second one refrain. It changed into the endmost observe of the magazine and plenty of jazz critics considered this rendition of “Lotus Blossom” as Ellington’s ultimate eulogy to his good friend. Fittingly, when Ellington died in 1974, Alec Wyton transformed the track for the organ and he performed it at Ellington’s funeral at St. John the Divine in Fresh York.
Give that ultimate rendition a pay attention.
But any other floral track is the beautiful “Single Petal of a Rose,” written for Queen Elizabeth II. As Christopher Carroll wrote for the “Secret Music” form at Lapham’s Quarterly:
Hidden Track: On Duke Ellington’s The Queen’s Suite
The track, “The Single Petal of a Rose,” was once a number of the most lovely and private melodies Ellington ever wrote. It was once the center-piece of The Queen’s Suite, six songs he and his collaborator Billy Strayhorn composed for Queen Elizabeth II in 1958. 5 of the six songs constitute other musical parks—a grove stuffed with fireflies, or a mockingbird making a song at sundown—not hidden by way of Ellington in his travels all over the world. A number of of those, he wrote in his autobiography, represented one of the crucial maximum shifting moments of his week. This is a important creative success, even by way of the criteria of this type of prolific composer. However nearest recording it, he gave to the queen what he claimed was once the one album, refusing to leave the magazine in his lifetime.
Have a pay attention:
This splendidly poignant presentation of the track was once recorded by way of the Classical Theatre of Harlem in 2022:
Talking of my favourite flower OI’m an established rose grower), let’s end our Would possibly bouquet with two variations of nation and blues songwriter-musician Tim Hardin’s “Misty Roses.” The primary is an instrumental by way of The Trendy Jazz Quartet, recorded in 1972.
I like Astrud Gilberto’s 1966 bossa nova samba vocal shield.
I’m hoping you’re taking part in Would possibly blooms these days!
Secured me within the feedback for extra, and please proportion any floral favorites no longer lined right here!
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