Download Instrumental     “Harlem Nocturne” is one of the more famous saxophone instrumentals of the 20th century.  It was written by American composer Earle Hagen, who was best known for writing the theme songs for television shows.  His credentials include The Dick Van Dyke Show, Mod Squad, and That Girl.  He co-wrote the theme to The Andy Griffith Show and was the guy who did the actual whistling.  You remember that one, don’t you?  I use “Andy” as the ringtone on my cell phone – that’s how old I am.

Anyway, the jazz standard “Harlem Nocturne” came about when Hagen was commissioned to write the theme music for Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer.  That particular TV series  starred Darren McGavin as the gritty, hard-boiled detective who fought crime when he wasn’t “chasing skirts” (Stacy Keach later played the role).  The setting was dark and brooding, which was a perfect pairing with the haunting sound of the saxophone melody introducing the show.  It’s been recorded a thousand times, but by far the best is the version by Gato Barbieri – talk about haunting!  There are also lyrics for this tune, so all you singers out there take notice.  Use these backups, mute the sax track, and go for it.

My all-time favorite rendition of this song was by a great friend of mine named Arnie Kole.  I first met Arnie in Ft. Lauderdale at a bank-opening celebration.  A talent agency needed “greeters” who looked like certain celebrities.  Arnie and I  had been hired and just happened to get on the same elevator.  It’s extremely rare for me to like anybody immediately, but Arnie was a different breed.  I could tell he was playing Gabe Kaplan (Mr. Kotter) cause the resemblance was obvious.  He asked me who I was supposed to be (not a good sign) and I said, “David Cassidy”.  He looked at me for a long moment and finally said, “Okay”.  It was just a few nights later that he walked into a Boca Raton club I was working, carrying a saxophone.  He walked up to the piano, handed me some sheet music, and asked, “Can you play this, Mr. Cassidy?” (cute).   Well, yeah… I mean you’re waving the music in my face.   Long story short, he ended up onstage and blew us all away with “Harlem Nocturne”.  From that moment on, we were comrades-in-arms.

Arnie and I got along so well because we were musicians, of course, but we also had the same philosophy of life.  You know how they say good friends laugh and cry together, sharing the good times with the bad.  Neither of us believed in the crying part.  We could laugh our way through anything and found ways to make everything fun.  Arnie and I went our separate ways several years ago, but still kept in touch.  Sadly, I heard recently that he passed away and I will never completely get over his death.  Life isn’t quite as much fun as it used to be.  I’m crying now, ol’ buddy.

  Download   You should always hum this tune as you board an airplane – it will ease your mind and calm your nerves.  It’s like singing the “Love Boat Theme” just before you set off on a cruise.  Puts you in the right mood for your next adventure.  Singers without a band,  this one is well worth working up for your repertoire.

Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn wrote several tunes for Sinatra, but “Come Fly With Me” was by far the most popular.  It came at a time when  America was in the process of picking up the pieces from World War II – looking for the good life after years of horror and frustration.  This song touted a “good times” philosophy that was so badly needed at that time in our history.  And who better to bring it on than Sinatra?  The country was changing, and Frank was doing his part to help it along.

My Yamaha is ideally suited for arranging Big Band tunes.  The trumpets are crisp and sharp, and the trombone voicing is deep and not the least bit “muddy”. However,  I like the sound of an entire saxophone section playing underneath the melody, but it was such a hassle – dedicating 3 or possibly 4 tracks to different horns (alto, tenor, and baritone) and having to play each part separately. But while mixing this piece, I discovered (well, whad’ya know) something called a SAX SECTION.  It dumps all the saxophones together and it only has to be played once!  Who knew?  Not me.  I’ve never been one to read directions, much to Karen’s chagrin.  Life is so much better now.

The sax section comes in prominently at about the halfway point of the song.  Wait for it… there!  See how it tucks in so nicely under the melody line.  So cool.

  Download Instrumental   This song is the epitome of big band – been working on it for two weeks. You can’t perform this just anywhere. If you’re a single performer, it’ll look too much like karaoke and cheapen your presentation. You have to use this as a big production number in an actual show to be effective. Nevertheless (another good song), it should be on your menu to trot out when needed.

Tony Bennett aligned himself with the city of San Francisco (he left his heart there, you know).  And when you think of Frank Sinatra (which I seldom do, but it happens), New York City immediately comes to mind.  In truth, Liza Minnelli was the first to sing “New York, New York” in a musical of the same name in 1977.  It was actually pretty awful… Liza’s typical quivery-voiced, Broadway-esque bilge.  The following year, Sinatra started performing it in his Radio City Music Hall concerts and it soon became his signature tune.

The song is best understood from the perspective of an entertainer who leaves a small town in hopes of making it in the big city.  Instead of worrying and fretting about the difficulties he will face, our boy (or girl) embraces the challenge, knowing full well that “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere”.  It’s a song of inspiration and all about beating the odds.  Must be the reason it’s played every year before the horses run at the Belmont Stakes.  And why it’s played at the end of a winning game at Yankee Stadium – they play Liza’s version when they lose.  Most appropriate…

[Backup Tracks on the Jazz/Swing List]

  Download    “I’d like to get you on a slow boat to China” was a well-known phrase among poker players, referring to a person who has lost steadily and mightily.  But Frank Loesser, the composer of this wonderful piece, turned that phrase into a romantic song, placing the title in the mainstream of catch-phrases in 1947.

It’s been recorded every way imaginable by almost everybody:  Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby did it way too fast – Liza Minnelli thought it should be so slow the orchestra went to sleep – Bette Midler’s version?  Too bouncy and cute – Renee Olstead had a nice jazzy arrangement but please leave out the obnoxious backup vocals, Renee –  Jimmy Buffett gave it a shot and it was just right…. but then I’m a little prejudiced.

Imagine you’re at the helm of your 40-foot Hatteras and heading out of New Orleans for a leisurely coastline cruise (imagination is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?).  You’re humming a parody under your breath: “I’d like to get you – on a slow boat to Destin”.  This arrangement is how I would feel the song as I slip by Biloxi –   happy, carefree and unfettered by those pesky backup singers.  Life is good.

[Jazz/Swing List]

  Download Instrumental    Everybody loves you when things are going swimmingly. You’ve got plenty of money that you don’t mind throwing around for the benefit of your “friends”. But let any of that change for the worse and those friends abandon you like rats on a sinking ship.  That’s the message behind the song “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out”.  It’s a tune about having the world at your feet one day, and the next day being “down and out”.

It was written in 1923 by Jimmy Cox at the height of the so-called “roaring twenties” – a time of prosperity and devil-may-care attitudes.  Oddly enough, the song wasn’t recorded and released until October of 1929 by Bessie Smith – just days before the stock market crash that caused ‘The Great Depression”.  How apropos is that?

I call this one a “smile production” number because if you perform this song, you’re going to make a production out of it and it’s gonna make people smile and nod their heads approvingly.  You may have lulled your crowd into knowing what song you’re going to do next during the first two sets – a definite faux pas.  Two fast ones then a slow one, then two fast ones.  It’s a trap we all fall into.  But start your third set with this baby and make it a production – Bette Midler style – and you’ll have your audience wondering what in the world you’re going to do next.  Now you can go back to one slow, two fast, etc.

Here’s the arrangement:  you’ll sing the first two verses (piano part), let the clarinet take a solo, then come back in for the finale (when in this instrumental the trumpet takes over).  Make it fun and unexpected.  Keep your crowd in suspense.  Then come back in your 4th set and do a polka (just kidding).

[Jazz/Swing List]