Diana Krall
Peggy Lee
Tony Martin
Anita O'Day
The Pied Pipers - June Hutton - 1948
The Showtunes Sing-Off - Kahn & Jones - "I'll See You In My Dreams" - Single Round
Gus Kahn and Isham Jones - "I'll See You In My Dreams"
"I'll See You in My Dreams" was composed by Isham Jones, with lyrics by Gus Kahn, and published in 1924.
It was recorded on December 4th of that year, by Isham Jones conducting Ray Miller's Orchestra.
Released on Brunswick Records, it charted for 16 weeks during 1925, spending seven weeks at Number 1 in the US.
Pat Boone
La Bouche Manouche Featuring Irene Serra
Vic Damone
Doris Day
Ella Fitzgerald
1 - 18 of 18 Posts
Diana Krall
Peggy Lee
Tony Martin
Anita O'Day
The Pied Pipers - June Hutton - 1948
Note: The Pied Pipers with June Hutton are featured on the "Very Best of Johnny Mercer" recording because they backed Mercer on a number of sides - This isn't one of them...
The Pipers had twelve charted hit singles on Capitol, including "Dream" and ending with "My Happiness".
They also continued a relationship with Frank Sinatra, doing several tours with him starting in 1945 and becoming a regular on his radio program from 1945 to 1947.
Consideration for "Other" - the original 1924 version conducted by Isham Jones -
The Pipers had twelve charted hit singles on Capitol, including "Dream" and ending with "My Happiness".
They also continued a relationship with Frank Sinatra, doing several tours with him starting in 1945 and becoming a regular on his radio program from 1945 to 1947.
Consideration for "Other" - the original 1924 version conducted by Isham Jones -
Great choice. I'll give my take on all of these versions and I'll even vote. But first, I have to note that this is a "Fox Trot" song, as it plainly says on that gorgeous 1920s sheet music cover. These were popular in the 1920s and were mainly instrumental numbers, typically for swing band, with a single 16-bar vocal solo or "refrain" near the end sung in the old lyrical ballad style. My favorite other than this one is Bye-Bye Blues of 1925 by Fred Hamm and Dave Bennett, a must for a future sing-off. It is fascinating how these Fox Trot songs were transformed and adapted in later decades, and sometimes turned into much bigger hits than they were in their original form.
Pat Boone: A famous balladeer with a honeyed voice, but the ridiculous Country & Western tinged arrangement with the whistling does him in. Yee haw.
La Bouche Manouche Feat. Irene Serra: Well, this is a treat. Fabulous Django Reinhardt / Stephan Grapelli style backing band. Those guys are great, if not quite on the level of the originals. And Irene Serra has the sense of rhythm that's needed.
Vic Damone: Here is that original late 40s / early 50s swing ballad style we get from Doris Day and June Hutton, but years later stretched past its useful limit, far too slow, with an awkwardly updated arrangement featuring some Disney movie-style atmospherics. Still, Damone has that wonderful velvety baritone voice.
Doris Day: If you like the late 40s / early 50s big band swing ballad style, here is Doris Day at her best. June Hutton is here too, and I also like Dinah Shore in this style. You have to buy into the slower tempo characteristic of this approach, especially slow here. A different style on the dance floor for you and your special someone.
Ella Fitzgerald: This is early Ella from the 1940s, with more sound behind her with Louis Armstrong's band than she later had with the small groups led by her husband, the great bassist Ray Brown. Still, they don't get in her way, and there is always that free and natural phrasing that puts her ahead of June Hutton, and far ahead of Diana Krall.
Diana Krall imo is a huge talent, especially as a pianist, working in the 50s-60s jazz style. However, I have never warmed to her singing here or elsewhere, despite her wonderful low, throaty "tessitura" (as the Opera Experts call it). It's as if the phrasing doesn't come to her naturally but has to be carefully calculated.
With Peggy Lee the song is in full-on 40s swing style. Well done, but it lacks the wistful mood that I like to see brought out of a song like this.
Tony Martin - A classic traditional baritone balladeer with updated elements in the arrangement, and of course the modern (late 40s) expansion in the vocal part from the original 1920s 16-bar refrain. Good, but a bit of an odd combination of styles.
Anita O'Day - The female late 50s jazzy Frank Sinatra, with a bit of Billie Holiday thrown in. It works, especially with that superb brass chorus behind her, but again, doesn't draw everything I want from the song.
The Pied Pipers - June Hutton Similar approach as Tony Martin, but she is more true to the 1940s vocal style, so extra points for her.
Bouche Manouche and Ella.
Pat Boone: A famous balladeer with a honeyed voice, but the ridiculous Country & Western tinged arrangement with the whistling does him in. Yee haw.
La Bouche Manouche Feat. Irene Serra: Well, this is a treat. Fabulous Django Reinhardt / Stephan Grapelli style backing band. Those guys are great, if not quite on the level of the originals. And Irene Serra has the sense of rhythm that's needed.
Vic Damone: Here is that original late 40s / early 50s swing ballad style we get from Doris Day and June Hutton, but years later stretched past its useful limit, far too slow, with an awkwardly updated arrangement featuring some Disney movie-style atmospherics. Still, Damone has that wonderful velvety baritone voice.
Doris Day: If you like the late 40s / early 50s big band swing ballad style, here is Doris Day at her best. June Hutton is here too, and I also like Dinah Shore in this style. You have to buy into the slower tempo characteristic of this approach, especially slow here. A different style on the dance floor for you and your special someone.
Ella Fitzgerald: This is early Ella from the 1940s, with more sound behind her with Louis Armstrong's band than she later had with the small groups led by her husband, the great bassist Ray Brown. Still, they don't get in her way, and there is always that free and natural phrasing that puts her ahead of June Hutton, and far ahead of Diana Krall.
Diana Krall imo is a huge talent, especially as a pianist, working in the 50s-60s jazz style. However, I have never warmed to her singing here or elsewhere, despite her wonderful low, throaty "tessitura" (as the Opera Experts call it). It's as if the phrasing doesn't come to her naturally but has to be carefully calculated.
With Peggy Lee the song is in full-on 40s swing style. Well done, but it lacks the wistful mood that I like to see brought out of a song like this.
Tony Martin - A classic traditional baritone balladeer with updated elements in the arrangement, and of course the modern (late 40s) expansion in the vocal part from the original 1920s 16-bar refrain. Good, but a bit of an odd combination of styles.
Anita O'Day - The female late 50s jazzy Frank Sinatra, with a bit of Billie Holiday thrown in. It works, especially with that superb brass chorus behind her, but again, doesn't draw everything I want from the song.
The Pied Pipers - June Hutton Similar approach as Tony Martin, but she is more true to the 1940s vocal style, so extra points for her.
Bouche Manouche and Ella.
Same here - Bouche Manouche and Ella.
Well-written thoughtful analysis - My compliments! - Cheers, mate!Great choice. I'll give my take on all of these versions and I'll even vote. But first, I have to note that this is a "Fox Trot" song, as it plainly says on that gorgeous 1920s sheet music cover. These were popular in the 1920s and were mainly instrumental numbers, typically for swing band, with a single 16-bar vocal solo or "refrain" near the end sung in the old lyrical ballad style. My favorite other than this one is Bye-Bye Blues of 1925 by Fred Hamm and Dave Bennett, a must for a future sing-off. It is fascinating how these Fox Trot songs were transformed and adapted in later decades, and sometimes turned into much bigger hits than they were in their original form.
Pat Boone: A famous balladeer with a honeyed voice, but the ridiculous Country & Western tinged arrangement with the whistling does him in. Yee haw.
La Bouche Manouche Feat. Irene Serra: Well, this is a treat. Fabulous Django Reinhardt / Stephan Grapelli style backing band. Those guys are great, if not quite on the level of the originals. And Irene Serra has the sense of rhythm that's needed.
Vic Damone: Here is that original late 40s / early 50s swing ballad style we get from Doris Day and June Hutton, but years later stretched past its useful limit, far too slow, with an awkwardly updated arrangement featuring some Disney movie-style atmospherics. Still, Damone has that wonderful velvety baritone voice.
Doris Day: If you like the late 40s / early 50s big band swing ballad style, here is Doris Day at her best. June Hutton is here too, and I also like Dinah Shore in this style. You have to buy into the slower tempo characteristic of this approach, especially slow here. A different style on the dance floor for you and your special someone.
Ella Fitzgerald: This is early Ella from the 1940s, with more sound behind her with Louis Armstrong's band than she later had with the small groups led by her husband, the great bassist Ray Brown. Still, they don't get in her way, and there is always that free and natural phrasing that puts her ahead of June Hutton, and far ahead of Diana Krall.
Diana Krall imo is a huge talent, especially as a pianist, working in the 50s-60s jazz style. However, I have never warmed to her singing here or elsewhere, despite her wonderful low, throaty "tessitura" (as the Opera Experts call it). It's as if the phrasing doesn't come to her naturally but has to be carefully calculated.
With Peggy Lee the song is in full-on 40s swing style. Well done, but it lacks the wistful mood that I like to see brought out of a song like this.
Tony Martin - A classic traditional baritone balladeer with updated elements in the arrangement, and of course the modern (late 40s) expansion in the vocal part from the original 1920s 16-bar refrain. Good, but a bit of an odd combination of styles.
Anita O'Day - The female late 50s jazzy Frank Sinatra, with a bit of Billie Holiday thrown in. It works, especially with that superb brass chorus behind her, but again, doesn't draw everything I want from the song.
The Pied Pipers - June Hutton Similar approach as Tony Martin, but she is more true to the 1940s vocal style, so extra points for her.
Bouche Manouche and Ella.
I love the handsome Pat Boone’s voice, but the arrangement seems very odd for the song.
La Bouche Manoushe’s introduction goes on too long, and sounds like it should’ve been a ukulele. The girl sings nicely once she gets a chance, but the accompanying instruments dominate too much.
Vic Damone’s honeyed voice seems ideal for the words of this song, but the tempo is too slow, but it sets the mood and, again, the arrangement steals the attention. If this is for slow dancing, give us some kind of a beat. Unless it’s for just sliding around with your arms around your beloved. I liked Damone’s hummning.
The starting chorus in Doris Day’s version is what I remember for this song. Doris handles the slow tempo superbly. The beat is right for dancing.
Ah, Ella! She takes off with this song in that lovely voice and pulls us a long, but I’m not sure I like the jazzy tempo, or the band instead of her.
The arrangement for Diana Krall is too much. Also, don’t like the peppy tempo. It doesn’t fit the lyric.
I generally like Peggy Lee, but as with other versions, the uptempo is at odds with the words.
Never heard of Tony Martin, but his seductive tone drew me in, and I can see us dancing as well as just listening. The chorus helps with the atmosphere. I like the harp effect, too.
I don’t care for Anita O’Day’s version, give us the song, not the band. I like her voice, though.
I think the Jane Hutton version is what I remember of this song - my parents must’ve had a recording of it. So this is the one for me. The second vote goes to Tony Martin.
La Bouche Manoushe’s introduction goes on too long, and sounds like it should’ve been a ukulele. The girl sings nicely once she gets a chance, but the accompanying instruments dominate too much.
Vic Damone’s honeyed voice seems ideal for the words of this song, but the tempo is too slow, but it sets the mood and, again, the arrangement steals the attention. If this is for slow dancing, give us some kind of a beat. Unless it’s for just sliding around with your arms around your beloved. I liked Damone’s hummning.
The starting chorus in Doris Day’s version is what I remember for this song. Doris handles the slow tempo superbly. The beat is right for dancing.
Ah, Ella! She takes off with this song in that lovely voice and pulls us a long, but I’m not sure I like the jazzy tempo, or the band instead of her.
The arrangement for Diana Krall is too much. Also, don’t like the peppy tempo. It doesn’t fit the lyric.
I generally like Peggy Lee, but as with other versions, the uptempo is at odds with the words.
Never heard of Tony Martin, but his seductive tone drew me in, and I can see us dancing as well as just listening. The chorus helps with the atmosphere. I like the harp effect, too.
I don’t care for Anita O’Day’s version, give us the song, not the band. I like her voice, though.
I think the Jane Hutton version is what I remember of this song - my parents must’ve had a recording of it. So this is the one for me. The second vote goes to Tony Martin.
Really nice review, MAS - Cheers!Never heard of Tony Martin, but his seductive tone drew me in, and I can see us dancing as well as just listening. The chorus helps with the atmosphere. I like the harp effect, too.
I think the Jane Hutton version is what I remember of this song - my parents must’ve had a recording of it. So this is the one for me. The second vote goes to Tony Martin.
Alvin Morris (December 25, 1913 – July 27, 2012), known professionally as Tony Martin, was an American actor and popular singer.
His career spanned over seven decades, and he scored dozens of hits between the late-1930s and mid-1950s with songs such as "Walk Hand in Hand", "I Love Paris", "Stranger in Paradise" and "I Get Ideas".
He was married to actress and dancer Cyd Charisse for 60 years, from 1948 until her death in 2008.
He was a featured vocalist on the George Burns and Gracie Allen radio program. On the show Allen playfully flirted with Tony, often threatening to fire him. Allen would say things like, "Oh, Tony, you look so tired, why don't you rest your lips on mine?"
After the war, Martin signed with Mercury Records, then a small independent label run out of Chicago, Illinois. He cut 25 records in 1946 and 1947 for Mercury, including a 1946 recording of "To Each His Own," which became a million-seller. It was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.
He continued to appear in film musicals during the 1940s and 1950s. His rendition of "Lover Come Back to Me" with Joan Weldon in Deep in My Heart – based on the music of Sigmund Romberg and starring José Ferrer - was one of the highlights of that film. He also starred as Gaylord Ravenal in the Show Boat segment from the 1946 film Till the Clouds Roll By.
In 1958, he became the highest paid performer in Las Vegas, signing a five-year deal at the Desert Inn, earning $25,000 a week.
Note: 25,000 USD (1958) is roughly equivalent to about 235,000 in today's dollars...For a 40 week residency, that would come out to 9,400.000 a year - Not too shabby - Had no idea the dude was that popular - Learn something new every day...
And just after I say that I've known all the songs, I come across one I don't believe I've ever heard. So I can't say going in what I'm looking for.
I probably should have started with Isham Jones' version, but I listened to it last. To be honest, I can't really appreciate that type of arrangement. The closest I get are those Joan Morris/William Bolcolm arrangements - and sure enough they recorded it, but I can't find it on YouTube.
Anyway on a first pass, I favored the light swing arrangements.
That eliminates Pat Boone. Not thrilled with his voice either.
I enjoyed La Bouche Manouche/Irene Serra a lot. Like swing with a twist.
Vic Damone was turgid. Oddly the lyrics of the song are torchy, but the melody doesn't work as a ballad.
This is the first time I enjoyed Doris Day's voice, but the arrangement, the back-up singers, and the the tempo rule it out. Trivia - Day played Mrs. Gus Kahn in the film I'll See You in My Dreams.
Ella is - well - Ella. Love the voice. I have mixed feelings about the arrangements. A trumpet is not needed. Maybe a muted one. But overall I liked it.
Diana Krall seems pretty interested in quoting other songs on the piano. And I don't like her phrasing.
I did like Peggy Lee's phrasing. And her voice. The jazz arrangement wasn't all that interesting but it didn't distract.
Tony Martin - turgid. When it's sung this slowly, the cliched nature of the lyrics becomes evident. There isn't a single line in this song that matches, A cigarette that bears a lipstick's traces," in provoking a response.
Anita O'Day's version had the proper elements, but they never grabbed me.
I liked the Pied Pipers' version, but not as much as the other Pied Pipers track. Too slow.
In the end - Peggy and La Bouche.
I probably should have started with Isham Jones' version, but I listened to it last. To be honest, I can't really appreciate that type of arrangement. The closest I get are those Joan Morris/William Bolcolm arrangements - and sure enough they recorded it, but I can't find it on YouTube.
Anyway on a first pass, I favored the light swing arrangements.
That eliminates Pat Boone. Not thrilled with his voice either.
I enjoyed La Bouche Manouche/Irene Serra a lot. Like swing with a twist.
Vic Damone was turgid. Oddly the lyrics of the song are torchy, but the melody doesn't work as a ballad.
This is the first time I enjoyed Doris Day's voice, but the arrangement, the back-up singers, and the the tempo rule it out. Trivia - Day played Mrs. Gus Kahn in the film I'll See You in My Dreams.
Ella is - well - Ella. Love the voice. I have mixed feelings about the arrangements. A trumpet is not needed. Maybe a muted one. But overall I liked it.
Diana Krall seems pretty interested in quoting other songs on the piano. And I don't like her phrasing.
I did like Peggy Lee's phrasing. And her voice. The jazz arrangement wasn't all that interesting but it didn't distract.
Tony Martin - turgid. When it's sung this slowly, the cliched nature of the lyrics becomes evident. There isn't a single line in this song that matches, A cigarette that bears a lipstick's traces," in provoking a response.
Anita O'Day's version had the proper elements, but they never grabbed me.
I liked the Pied Pipers' version, but not as much as the other Pied Pipers track. Too slow.
In the end - Peggy and La Bouche.
Sorry you're not a fan of the Foxtrot version. Maybe you would like this classic one, Don't Tell a Lie About Me, Dear, here featuring the phenomenal Woody Herman as bandleader and clarinet soloist. (It also was a big hit for the Inkspots.) Alas, not on youtube, apparently. Of course, Stravinsky wrote his Ebony Concerto for Herman.And just after I say that I've known all the songs, I come across one I don't believe I've ever heard. So I can't say going in what I'm looking for.
I probably should have started with Isham Jones' version, but I listened to it last. To be honest, I can't really appreciate that type of arrangement. The closest I get are those Joan Morris/William Bolcolm arrangements - and sure enough they recorded it, but I can't find it on YouTube.
Anyway on a first pass, I favored the light swing arrangements.
That eliminates Pat Boone. Not thrilled with his voice either.
I enjoyed La Bouche Manouche/Irene Serra a lot. Like swing with a twist.
Vic Damone was turgid. Oddly the lyrics of the song are torchy, but the melody doesn't work as a ballad.
This is the first time I enjoyed Doris Day's voice, but the arrangement, the back-up singers, and the the tempo rule it out. Trivia - Day played Mrs. Gus Kahn in the film I'll See You in My Dreams.
Ella is - well - Ella. Love the voice. I have mixed feelings about the arrangements. A trumpet is not needed. Maybe a muted one. But overall I liked it.
Diana Krall seems pretty interested in quoting other songs on the piano. And I don't like her phrasing.
I did like Peggy Lee's phrasing. And her voice. The jazz arrangement wasn't all that interesting but it didn't distract.
Tony Martin - turgid. When it's sung this slowly, the cliched nature of the lyrics becomes evident. There isn't a single line in this song that matches, A cigarette that bears a lipstick's traces," in provoking a response.
Anita O'Day's version had the proper elements, but they never grabbed me.
I liked the Pied Pipers' version, but not as much as the other Pied Pipers track. Too slow.
In the end - Peggy and La Bouche.
Don't Tell A Lie About Me, Dear
And as I mentioned above, the original 1925 Fred Hamm version of Bye-Bye Blues was in this format, before it went through many transformations, including a great version by Les Paul and Mary Ford.
Since I mentioned Morris and Bolcom, let me respond with my favorite recording of theirs (actually a duo with Max Morath). I have several other recordings of "Till the Clouds Roll By," including one from 1917, but this version is simply one of my favorite recordings of all time. Music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by P.G. Wodehouse. It stands with "Fire and Rain" and "Harvest Moon" in its ability to choke me up.
To my knowledge, the album was never released on CD. I burnt a copy of my cassette onto a CD-R and later ripped the CD-R.
To my knowledge, the album was never released on CD. I burnt a copy of my cassette onto a CD-R and later ripped the CD-R.
Thanks, great song. How it wasn't transferred to digital I can't imagine. Of course, most popular songs from the 1920s or earlier, including I'll See You In My Dreams, would first have appeared as sheet music with a simple piano part. (My pianist grandfather had piles of it.) William Bolcom is an ace composer himself and wouldn't simply play the sheet music, but nevertheless those Morris and Bolcom voice and piano recordings have a pleasing authenticity to them.Since I mentioned Morris and Bolcom, let me respond with my favorite recording of theirs (actually a duo with Max Morath). I have several other recordings of "Till the Clouds Roll By," including one from 1917, but this version is simply one of my favorite recordings of all time. Music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by P.G. Wodehouse. It stands with "Fire and Rain" and "Harvest Moon" in its ability to choke me up.
To my knowledge, the album was never released on CD. I burnt a copy of my cassette onto a CD-R and later ripped the CD-R.
Most important of the lyrics - The ones that capture the true intent of the song that is meant to be conveyed...
"Someone took you out of my arms,
Still I feel the thrill of your charms,
Lips that once were mine,
Tender eyes that shine,
They will light my way tonight,
I'll See You In My Dreams."
This is a song about the worst of all heartbreaks - the one in which the person you love was lost to someone else...
and it's a song that's meant to be danced to - slow danced - holding someone in your arms - even if that "someone" is an amiable easy-going cat that's willing to (temporarily) allow you to hold her and dance around the room as if she were Ginger Rogers and you were Fred Astaire - But in my case, it was my amiable easy-going wife "Mrs. Shaughnessy" that was willing to (temporarily) allow me to hold her and dance around the room... Sometimes the cats dance, other times they don't...
Second factor used in judging along with how "danceable:" it is - Mrs. Shaughnessy likes to sing along with the tune while we dance - She has a lovely voice - She's a lyric soprano - Sounds pretty great, eh? - Unfortunately, Mrs. Shaughnessy rarely, if ever, actually knows the lyrics to the tune, doesn't even care that she doesn't, and what's even worse - She prefers the lyrics that she makes up to the ones that were actually written for the tune... Which can either be rather oddly endearing...
1st vote goes to - La Bouche Manouche - required some really fancy footwork - great swing arrangement - Vocals were en pointe - it can be difficult to emote at that kind of tempo but Irene Serra's phrasing was such that she was able to capture that sense of wanting to once again experience that love even if it's only for those brief elusive moments which appear in dreams - She's brilliant - a natural talent - wide tonal colour palette - extended grayscale with both depth and breadth - coupled with wide bands of both shades (hue with black) and tints (hue with white added)...
2nd vote goes to - The Pied Pipers - The most "danceable" of all the tunes presented here - Perfect balance of technique and phrasing - "Someone took you out of my arms" - You can hear a wide range of emotions expressed in this version - The arrangement was superbly done - Multiple voices blending into one alternating with June Hutton coming into sharper vocal focus - "Still I feel the thrill of your charms" - Mrs. Shaughnessy was flawless - would have been known as the "fifth Pied Piper"...
3rd place - Vic Damone - Vocal technique and musical phrasing are without question - The tempo was just too slow - I totally understood the "humming" in the middle of the song - He was re-creating the sound that many people make when they're dancing - They kind of half-sing half-hum the tune - A more consistent rhythm could have pushed either of the two vote getters out of contention - Great set of pipes...
4th place - Tie between Doris Day and Tony Martin - Note: both contestants were only one point away from Vic Damone in third place - Doris Day came closer than Tony Martin to toppling Damone but she came up just short as she didn't quite play the heartbreak angle nearly as well as it should or could have been played - It's as if Doris Day didn't quite understand that the relationship was actually over - That she somehow thought that once he got this out of his system, he would be back... He probably would come back at some point - probably when his new flame threw him out because he kept stealing money from her purse so that he could drink himself into a stupor and he didn't have a place to stay and he decided that it was better to come crawling back to Doris Day rather than sleeping behind her garage in the pouring rain... and she would take him back.... Tony Martin - solid technique paired with an innate sense of phrasing - Something was missing though - He didn't quite sound "devastated" by the loss - Kind of "easy come, easy go" attitude... He probably went to work the next day and asked his secretary out for dinner later that night... Dinner and dancing... and drinks - Southern Comfort Manhattans on the rocks - two cherries... Yeah... just like that... I should write reviews for Gramophone...
5th Place - Pat Boone - Good tone - terrific voice - relatively straight-forward phrasing but his was a surprisingly heartfelt rendition - With a different arrangement, I could see him having the pipes to be considerably more competitive...
6th Place - Ella Fitzgerald - She got "sixes" across the board - voice, performance, and production - out of pure respect for her accomplishments - This wasn't her finest moment but she did what she could with what she was given - which wasn't much - and thus, if nothing else, she acquitted herself honourably...
7th Place - Peggy Lee and Anita O'Day - Neither one is particularly gifted in regards to technique - both have tonal colour palettes that are the narrowest of any of the competitors here - or in most of the other contests - Peggy Lee at least makes an effort to sound as if she's singing words that are meant to actually mean something other than being a random string of words strung together in a meaningless sentence... Anita O'Day - this is at least her sixth appearance in these competitions - and I write the same critique over and over and over - She doesn't sing "words" - She sings "notes" - It may make for great jazz vocals but interpretively, she falls far short of even the lowest of the mid-tier vocalists...
8th Place - Diana Krall - the arrangements are unfailingly interesting - the piano playing is superb - Musically, she can do it all - Her vocals? - Her choices - the decisions that she makes - on what to emphasize - what to accent - what to stress - always leaves me puzzled - I'll just assume that the fault lies with me - I just can't seem to hear her "voice"...either that or English isn't her first (or even second) language...
"Someone took you out of my arms,
Still I feel the thrill of your charms,
Lips that once were mine,
Tender eyes that shine,
They will light my way tonight,
I'll See You In My Dreams."
This is a song about the worst of all heartbreaks - the one in which the person you love was lost to someone else...
and it's a song that's meant to be danced to - slow danced - holding someone in your arms - even if that "someone" is an amiable easy-going cat that's willing to (temporarily) allow you to hold her and dance around the room as if she were Ginger Rogers and you were Fred Astaire - But in my case, it was my amiable easy-going wife "Mrs. Shaughnessy" that was willing to (temporarily) allow me to hold her and dance around the room... Sometimes the cats dance, other times they don't...
Second factor used in judging along with how "danceable:" it is - Mrs. Shaughnessy likes to sing along with the tune while we dance - She has a lovely voice - She's a lyric soprano - Sounds pretty great, eh? - Unfortunately, Mrs. Shaughnessy rarely, if ever, actually knows the lyrics to the tune, doesn't even care that she doesn't, and what's even worse - She prefers the lyrics that she makes up to the ones that were actually written for the tune... Which can either be rather oddly endearing...
Vocals - Performance - Production - = Total Points
| Pat Boone | 8 | 6 | 6 | = 20 | |
| La Bouche Manouche | 8 | 7 | 8 | = 24 | |
| Vic Damone | 8 | 7 | 7 | = 22 | |
| Doris Day | 7 | 7 | 7 | = 21 | |
| Ella Fitzgerald | 6 | 6 | 6 | = 18 | |
| Diana Krall | 5 | 5 | 5 | = 15 | |
| Peggy Lee | 6 | 5 | 5 | = 16 | |
| Tony Martin | 8 | 7 | 6 | = 21 | |
| Anita O'Day | 5 | 6 | 5 | = 16 | |
| The Pied Pipers | 8 | 8 | 8 | = 24 |
1st vote goes to - La Bouche Manouche - required some really fancy footwork - great swing arrangement - Vocals were en pointe - it can be difficult to emote at that kind of tempo but Irene Serra's phrasing was such that she was able to capture that sense of wanting to once again experience that love even if it's only for those brief elusive moments which appear in dreams - She's brilliant - a natural talent - wide tonal colour palette - extended grayscale with both depth and breadth - coupled with wide bands of both shades (hue with black) and tints (hue with white added)...
2nd vote goes to - The Pied Pipers - The most "danceable" of all the tunes presented here - Perfect balance of technique and phrasing - "Someone took you out of my arms" - You can hear a wide range of emotions expressed in this version - The arrangement was superbly done - Multiple voices blending into one alternating with June Hutton coming into sharper vocal focus - "Still I feel the thrill of your charms" - Mrs. Shaughnessy was flawless - would have been known as the "fifth Pied Piper"...
3rd place - Vic Damone - Vocal technique and musical phrasing are without question - The tempo was just too slow - I totally understood the "humming" in the middle of the song - He was re-creating the sound that many people make when they're dancing - They kind of half-sing half-hum the tune - A more consistent rhythm could have pushed either of the two vote getters out of contention - Great set of pipes...
4th place - Tie between Doris Day and Tony Martin - Note: both contestants were only one point away from Vic Damone in third place - Doris Day came closer than Tony Martin to toppling Damone but she came up just short as she didn't quite play the heartbreak angle nearly as well as it should or could have been played - It's as if Doris Day didn't quite understand that the relationship was actually over - That she somehow thought that once he got this out of his system, he would be back... He probably would come back at some point - probably when his new flame threw him out because he kept stealing money from her purse so that he could drink himself into a stupor and he didn't have a place to stay and he decided that it was better to come crawling back to Doris Day rather than sleeping behind her garage in the pouring rain... and she would take him back.... Tony Martin - solid technique paired with an innate sense of phrasing - Something was missing though - He didn't quite sound "devastated" by the loss - Kind of "easy come, easy go" attitude... He probably went to work the next day and asked his secretary out for dinner later that night... Dinner and dancing... and drinks - Southern Comfort Manhattans on the rocks - two cherries... Yeah... just like that... I should write reviews for Gramophone...
5th Place - Pat Boone - Good tone - terrific voice - relatively straight-forward phrasing but his was a surprisingly heartfelt rendition - With a different arrangement, I could see him having the pipes to be considerably more competitive...
6th Place - Ella Fitzgerald - She got "sixes" across the board - voice, performance, and production - out of pure respect for her accomplishments - This wasn't her finest moment but she did what she could with what she was given - which wasn't much - and thus, if nothing else, she acquitted herself honourably...
7th Place - Peggy Lee and Anita O'Day - Neither one is particularly gifted in regards to technique - both have tonal colour palettes that are the narrowest of any of the competitors here - or in most of the other contests - Peggy Lee at least makes an effort to sound as if she's singing words that are meant to actually mean something other than being a random string of words strung together in a meaningless sentence... Anita O'Day - this is at least her sixth appearance in these competitions - and I write the same critique over and over and over - She doesn't sing "words" - She sings "notes" - It may make for great jazz vocals but interpretively, she falls far short of even the lowest of the mid-tier vocalists...
8th Place - Diana Krall - the arrangements are unfailingly interesting - the piano playing is superb - Musically, she can do it all - Her vocals? - Her choices - the decisions that she makes - on what to emphasize - what to accent - what to stress - always leaves me puzzled - I'll just assume that the fault lies with me - I just can't seem to hear her "voice"...either that or English isn't her first (or even second) language...
Very fine and entertaining analysis. As for Diana Krall, much as I respect her talent, I don't think the fault lies with you. Her particular style of singing, and I hear a similar style with other contemporary jazz vocalists, just sounds unnatural and mechanical to me. In my opinion, Tierney Sutton, another of these contemporary jazz vocalists, pulls off this modern style more successfully. And there are others. But I'm not suggesting you start including Ms. Sutton in these sing-offs. I think she would be only slightly more popular with the crowd here than Ms. Krall.[ .... ]
8th Place - Diana Krall - the arrangements are unfailingly interesting - the piano playing is superb - Musically, she can do it all - Her vocals? - Her choices - the decisions that she makes - on what to emphasize - what to accent - what to stress - always leaves me puzzled - I'll just assume that the fault lies with me - I just can't seem to hear her "voice"...either that or English isn't her first (or even second) language...
This is the new release from La Bouche Manouche which was released on May 5th - This tune appears on a bonus EP which is free.
They also have a YouTube page with additional videos - I love these tunes - She can really swing...
They also have a YouTube page with additional videos - I love these tunes - She can really swing...
La Bouche Manouche do a version of "Body and Soul" - I'm going to add that tune to the Sing-off competitions - We can easily get two full contests with 10 contestants each.
We need to work through some of the Part Two's that are stacked up but once we make some headway - "Body and Soul" will indeed make an appearance.
This is Irene Serra's home page - There is a link for merchandise - I ordered her two CD's - one of which is autographed - Whenever you get a chance to support someone who's genuinely talented - never pass up the opportunity - It will come back to you ten-fold.
This is how she describes herself - " I am a self-proclaimed sassy girl that loves singing old jazz tunes, drinking G&T’s and dancing the night away in the swingiest jazz joints!"
Cheers!
We need to work through some of the Part Two's that are stacked up but once we make some headway - "Body and Soul" will indeed make an appearance.
This is Irene Serra's home page - There is a link for merchandise - I ordered her two CD's - one of which is autographed - Whenever you get a chance to support someone who's genuinely talented - never pass up the opportunity - It will come back to you ten-fold.
This is how she describes herself - " I am a self-proclaimed sassy girl that loves singing old jazz tunes, drinking G&T’s and dancing the night away in the swingiest jazz joints!"
Cheers!
I was actually wondering if he played the sheet music. I don't have the sheet music for that song, but I played some Rodgers and Hart songs, for which I do have the vocal/piano sheet music - from a collection I bought maybe 30 years ago. I don't know if it's the original, but it wasn't what he played. However, if you check out some of their available recordings - e.g. the Berlin album available on Tidal, he did keep his arrangements quite simple.Thanks, great song. How it wasn't transferred to digital I can't imagine. Of course, most popular songs from the 1920s or earlier, including I'll See You In My Dreams, would first have appeared as sheet music with a simple piano part. (My pianist grandfather had piles of it.) William Bolcom is an ace composer himself and wouldn't simply play the sheet music, but nevertheless those Morris and Bolcom voice and piano recordings have a pleasing authenticity to them.
Also Shaughnessy - what about the Kahn/Isham standard "The One I Love (Belongs to Somebody Else)"?
Consider it done - 35 plus contests and I've finally found a way to get Sheena Easton into the line-up -I was actually wondering if he played the sheet music. I don't have the sheet music for that song, but I played some Rodgers and Hart songs, for which I do have the vocal/piano sheet music - from a collection I bought maybe 30 years ago. I don't know if it's the original, but it wasn't what he played. However, if you check out some of their available recordings - e.g. the Berlin album available on Tidal, he did keep his arrangements quite simple.
Also Shaughnessy - what about the Kahn/Isham standard "The One I Love (Belongs to Somebody Else)"?
Cheers!
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