If you ask almost anyone about Sonny Stitt, they’ll probably tell you he was really bad. Like, in a good way. But occasionally, some people will forget. In case of this rare occurrence, there’s a cd that’s appropriately named: “Sonny Stitt: Just In Case You Forgot How Bad He Really Was.”
I just got it from the AADL. Not because I forgot, but because I happen to like Sonny Stitt. The songs are all pretty good. I think it’s parts of a live set that he did a while back. Stitt is just really freakin’ good, and not as repetitive as some people (Dexter Gordon, I’m looking at you!).
My favorite part of this album is probably the cover art. Seriously, I think they looked through all pictures of Sonny Stitt and found the one where he looked baddest.
There’s an instrumental version of this song by the Art Blakey Trio that I’ve liked for a while. One day, I don’t remember quite when, the random feature of iTunes played me the vocal version on the giant Clifford Brown collection I have. I like learning the words to songs, especially Jazz standards, so it was a surprise to me that the song actually had words:
Falling in love with love is falling for make-believe
Falling in love with love is playing the fool
Caring too much is such a juvenile fancy
Learning to trust is just for children in school
I fell in love with love one night when the moon was full
I was unwise with eyes unable to see
I fell in love with love with love everlasting
But love fell out with me
What’s interesting is that there are two rhymes for each line. Like how ‘trust’ rhymes with ‘just’ and ‘fool’ rhymes with ‘school.’ It’s easier to do in this song since there’s only like, eight lines and most of the time they’re just rhyming ‘love’ with ‘love’ anyway.
I like the idea of a song about falling in love with love. It’s meta! The only way to get more meta would be to write a song about this blog post about a song about falling in love with love! Someone should totally do this.
At first, I thought the line was “caring too much is just a juvenile fantasy” because all the instrumental versions I’ve heard give that note extra “syllables.” I guess instrumentalists can take more liberties with the song than vocalists. Sometimes I think adding more “syllables” is a bad idea, but it works in this song (maybe because I heard it that way first).
I started listening to a bunch of different versions of the song on Last.fm. The Sarah Vaughn version is pretty damn sweet! Let’s see how this Amazon.com MP3 Widget thing works:
Well, it didn’t take long for Rick Astley to get out of my head. While on shuffle, my iTunes played the Bob Mintzer version of “My Foolish Heart” sung by Kurt Elling. It’s really a nice ballad. And the arrangement by Mintzer is nice and slightly weird as is his style.
The night is like a lovely tune, beware my foolish heart!
How white the ever constant moon, take care, my foolish heart!
There’s a line between love and fascination,
That’s hard to see on an evening such as this,
For they give the very same sensation.
When you are lost in the passion of a kiss.
Your lips are much too close to mine, beware my foolish heart!
But should our eager lips combine, then let the fire start.
For this time it isn’t fascination, or a dream that will fade and fall apart,
It’s love, this time it’s love, my foolish heart!
And, as usual when I get a standard stuck in my head, it’s really friggin’ stuck in my head!
So I just got back from a concert with the LCJ and Wynton Marsalis. Man, those guys are good!
They did some kind of tribute to Duke Ellington’s love songs. While it was a good set, I would’ve like to hear, y’know, songs from other people. Wynton and the gang are already criticized enough for playing “era” music, so it’s weird that they limited themselves even further.
The sounds were definitely authentic-sounding, but it’s funny because whenever someone takes a solo, you can hear them sort of drift into the future (or our present) and play licks that would have been unheard of (well, at least unheard) in Duke’s band. I mean, what’s the point of sounding so accurate and then playing a solo that’s got hard bop licks?
Overall though, it was pretty sweet. And they played C Jam Blues as an encore. Just for the record, if I was a girl, I’d totally have Wynton Marsalis’ babies. That’s all!
So currently, I’ve got Stella By Starlight stuck in my head. It’s mostly the Chet Baker version that appears on “The Best of Chet Baker Plays.” I’ve got a few other versions that are pretty good, like the Bill Evans one.
My friend David always likes to point out how bad the words for this song are. They really are probably the worst lyrics to a jazz standard ever:
The song a robin sings,
Through years of endless springs,
The murmur of a brook at evening tides.
That ripples through a nook where two lovers hide.
That great symphonic theme,
That’s Stella by starlight,
And not a dream,
My heart and I agree,
She’s everything on this earth to me.
Does anyone know what a song that a robin sings through years of endless springs sounds like? Or a murmur of a brook rippling though a nook? And Stella by starlight is a vision, not a sound, right? Couldn’t we say something about Stella herself, rather than babble endlessly about stupid rhymes (brook and nook make me stabby)?
If you can look past the shitty lyrics, the melody is really nice. Plus this song has the distinction of having some unique changes that I can’t really say sound like any other song. Off the top of my head, at least. The tune works well uptempo or as a ballad, too.
If only I had my Real Book with me and some kind of trumpet practice mute so I don’t bug (and by bug, I mean serenade) the neighbors…
Recent Comments