Saturday, July 5, 2008

A Few of My Favorites

I know I'm not the only hopeless romantic out there. A few of you suffer from this same incurable condition. To give you an idea of just how far my pathology has progressed, I have decided to share with you two of my favorite romantic/ jazz arrangements.

This first one is performed by the late Bill Evans. This arguably is (in my humble opinion) one of the most beautiful love songs ever written, and has been covered - often times very poorly - by hundreds of artists around the world. If you want the version with the lyrics, might I suggest Dusty Springsfield or Alison Moyet renditions.

"What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life"





Herb Alpert was one of the first trumpeters I heard as a child. His music reached my ears before that of Chuck Mangione's, and I have developed an unswerving appreciation for him ever since. If I'm not mistaken, this song - which debuted in 1979 - was his biggest commercial hit. I know you know this one!

"Rise"




And finally, a song that has incorrectly been labeled Jazz Suite No.2, and written by Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovitch. It was made famous by Stanley Kubrick's horrendous 1999 film "Eyes Wide Shut" starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. My great-grandmother - a Spaniard born in the late 1800's - used to sing to us a folk song she brought with her from Asturias that bears an uncanny resemblance to Dimitri's waltz. I'm sure it's just coincidence. Anyway, the waltz is beautiful, joyous, and richly melodic. The movie is NOT.

"Waltz"


6 comments:

Kimberly said...

Thanks for sharing! Absolutely beautiful and will share with my hubby and perhaps this will trance him into a hopeless romantic. I enjoyed this posted and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Blessed be God Forever,

Kimberly

Katie Alender said...

I believe that last song was my brother's first dance at his wedding.

However, I can't say for sure because my computer speakers stopped working! Lovely!

Terry Nelson said...

I like these too.

Vicki aka Diva Mom said...

'What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life' is our wedding song and Bill Evans is my husband's greatest inspiration. (Dan is a professional pianist.)

Thanks for the YouTube link!

Tracy said...

awww, thanks for sharing Tom, these are fantastic!!

uncle jim said...

gee ...
and i like the selections, too