For this music’s article I am jumping ahead a century or so, to an era of American music that is now known as “standards”. This is the music my parents loved and I would occasionally find them dancing to the music in the kitchen. I am picking two musical pieces to illustrate what are now known as musical standards.
The first is “Misty” a song written by Erroll Garner in 1954. Originally it was strictly a jazz instrumental and at the request of numerous singers, lyrics were later added by Johnny Burke. The song was quickly a hit and recorded by many singers, with the Johnny Mathis version being the most popular.
Over the years a controversy has arisen over the song whether it was really Jazz or just kind of jazzy in style. My own piano teacher let me play the song and as she said “who cares what genre the music is, it’s a REALLY neat song”.
To show the music in its’ best light, I have chosen a version recorded by the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald.
The second song I picked is “Autumn Leaves”. This was composed in 1945 by Joseph Kosma , from Hungary, with lyrics by Jacques Prevert while the two were collaborating on music while in Paris. The English translation of the lyrics was made by Johnny Mercer.
The song became an instant hit in America and has been recorded by everyone in the Jazz and pop music world. Unlike Misty, the song Autumn Leaves is universally accepted as true Jazz. In fact many college music programs use this song to illustrate Jazz chord progressions and show musicians how to improvise using this music as a base.
There are so many recorded versions of this song I had a difficult time choosing one. Finally, I chose one done by Nat King Cole as truer to the jazz foundation of the song