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Between the recent national heat wave and our recent Words of the Week here at Word & Song, I decided to revisit a brilliant song, an American standard since the day one, "Summertime," written by the great American composer, George Gershwin, for his opera, Porgy & Bess. When this song comes to my mind, I of course think of it as a vocal, and obviously Gershwin planned it as an aria. But in researching the music I ran across the most sublime instrumental jazz/swing version of the song by the big band of Artie Shaw. George Gershwin was a musical genius of the highest order, and listening to the instrumental alone allows you to focus on the composition, apart from the lyrics, excellent though they are and perfect for Porgy & Bess.
As you listen to Artie Shaw and his Orchestra's flawless performance of an amazing song, one which some consider the greatest written in the Twentieth Century in America, notice the "voices" of the four instruments which play the melody in turn. The first two, featuring Artie Shaw's remarkable clarinet and Roy "Little Jazz" Eldridge's positively plaintive trumpet, are as close to vocals as you can get with musical instruments. The other two solo segments feature the remarkable skills of Michael "Dodo" Marmarosa on the ivories and Herbie Steward on the tenor sax. This version of Gershwin’s song has the free-flowing feel of an improvisation about it, but the entire piece was brilliantly arranged by Eddie Sauter. Can musical instruments sing? For an answer to that question, lend an ear to this matchless recording from 1945.
For an extra treat, here’s “Summertime,” sung by the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, accompanied by Russell Garcia and His Orchestra, with Frank Beach on the trumpet (1957).
Excellent choices. I am going to put them on heavy rotation for the rest of the summer (which here in south Florida never ends).
One of my favorites, there are few versions I have heard I don't enjoy. I fell in love with the song first through a live recording by Stefon Harris and Blackout, a funk and soul inspired jazz take. The studio recording on their album Evolution is similar.