musicology #475

(Billie Holiday – My First Impression Of You)

LISTEN

Today will always be a very special date in my calender…our beautiful son’s birthday. The boy is 12 and I love him more than words alone could ever suggest. The kid is a constant source of joy and inspiration, (they both are), and I just want to lay one down for the kitten in an effort to express my feelings for him.

Recorded 72 years ago, (almost to the day), in New York on January 6th 1938 and featuring an all star cast of Buck Clayton, Benny Morton, Lester Young, Teddy Wilson, Freddie Green, Walter Page and Jo Jones.

Fabian this one’s ALL yours…LISTEN TUNE…..

“My first impression of you was like a sight of flowers in spring,
You were a glorious thing..to see,
My first impression of you was something indescribably new,
I stood there looking at you smiling at me,
If you had stepped right out of heaven it wouldn’t surprise me more,
I thought you were an angel from heavens door,
It may sound silly but true my heart just stopped when I caught your eye,
So overwhelming was my first impression of you”….

musicology #471

2LegendsClash II #7

(Billie Holiday – Am I Blue)

LISTEN

Not easy to follow Dinah. I’ll lay my cards on the table right now and confess that for me she hits the highest highs and reaches the lowest lows and when I hear her sing it stops me in my tracks but Billie does too. Both of them knew that without love, life was hollow. No matter the cost it was the one emotion that could move mountains. Love is out of fashion in the 21st Century and music reflects that…and I quote;

“There is a very thin line between artistry and trash: a Johnny Mercer or a Lorenz Hart can take the most banal of themes (and what is more banal than a love song?) and with one felicitous phrase or wry observation make your heart jump with joy – or break it. Others, on a good day, can more or less duplicate those emotions. The rest of the time they fall flat and the increasing sophistication of subsequent generations only exposes their deficiencies”.

I can’t agree with ‘love being the most banal of themes’ at all but it certainly reflects the ‘Age Of Reason’ that we find ourselves living in where financial success is the yardstick by which to measure achievement. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy consuming and for that I need money but my experience is that it doesn’t truly deliver long term satisfaction, happiness or fulfillment.

Before I get too carried away I’ll put my soapbox away and just let Billie step up and speak