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The Nearness Of You (Helen Merrill Album)
''The Nearness of You'' is the fifth studio album by Helen Merrill. It includes performances of standards from two sessions with completely different lineups of accompanying musicians. The later session from February 21, 1958, features very notable jazz performers such as pianist Bill Evans and bassist Oscar Pettiford. Track listing # "Bye Bye Blackbird" (Mort Dixon, Al Henderson) – 2:57 # "When the Sun Comes Out" (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) – 4:47 # " I Remember You" (Johnny Mercer, Victor Schertzinger) – 2:11 # " Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise" (Oscar Hammerstein II, Sigmund Romberg) – 3:19 # "Dearly Beloved" (Jerome Kern, Mercer) – 2:07 # " Summertime" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, DuBose Heyward) – 3:28 # " All of You" (Cole Porter) – 3:33 # "I See Your Face Before Me" (Howard Dietz, Arthur Schwartz) – 2:39 # "Let Me Love You" (Harlan Howard) – 2:48 # "The Nearness of You" (Hoagy Carmichael, Ned Washington) – 4:06 # "This Time the Dream's on Me" (Arlen, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helen Merrill
Helen Merrill (born Jelena Ana Milcetic; July 21, 1930) is an American jazz vocalist. Her first album, the eponymous 1954 recording ''Helen Merrill'' (with Clifford Brown), was an immediate success and associated her with the first generation of bebop jazz musicians. After an active 1950s and 1960s, Merrill spent time recording and touring in Europe and Japan, falling into obscurity in the United States. In the 1980s and '90s, she was under contract with Verve and her performances in America revived her profile. Known for her emotional, sensual vocal performances, her career continues in its sixth decade with concerts and recordings. Early life and career Jelena Ana Milcetic was born in New York to Croatian immigrant parents. She began singing in jazz clubs in the Bronx in 1944 when she was fourteen. By the time she was sixteen, Merrill had taken up music full-time. In 1952, Merrill made her recording debut when she was asked to sing "A Cigarette For Company" with Earl Hines; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victor Schertzinger
Victor L. Schertzinger (April 8, 1888 – October 26, 1941) was an American composer, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. His films include ''Paramount on Parade'' (co-director, 1930 in film, 1930), ''Something to Sing About (1937 film), Something to Sing About'' (1937 in film, 1937) with James Cagney, and the first two "Road" pictures ''Road to Singapore'' (1940 in film, 1940) and ''Road to Zanzibar'' (1941 in film, 1941). His two best-known songs are "I Remember You (1941 song), I Remember You" and "Tangerine (1941 song), Tangerine", both with lyrics by Johnny Mercer and both featured in Schertzinger's final film, ''The Fleet's In'' (1942 in film, 1942). Life and career Schertzinger was born in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, the child of musical parents of Pennsylvania Dutch descent, and attracted attention as a violin Child prodigy, prodigy at the age of four. As a child of eight, he appeared as a violinist with several orchestras, including the Victor Herbert Orchest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Schwartz
Arthur Schwartz (November 25, 1900 – September 3, 1984) was an American composer and film producer, widely noted for his songwriting collaborations with Howard Dietz. Biography Early life Schwartz was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on November 25, 1900. He taught himself to play the harmonica and piano as a child, and began playing for silent films at age 14. He earned a B.A. in English at New York University and an M.A. in Architecture at Columbia. Forced by his father, an attorney, to study law, Schwartz graduated from NYU Law School with a Doctorate in Jurisprudence and was admitted to the bar in 1924. Career While studying law, he supported himself by teaching English in the New York school system. He also worked on songwriting concurrently with his studies and published his first song ("Baltimore, Md., You're the Only Doctor for Me", with lyrics by Eli Dawson) by 1923. Acquaintances such as Lorenz Hart and George Gershwin encouraged him to stick with composing. He att ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howard Dietz
Howard Dietz (September 8, 1896 – July 30, 1983) was an American publicist, lyricist, and librettist, best remembered for his songwriting collaboration with Arthur Schwartz. Biography Dietz was born in New York City. He attended Columbia College and then studied journalism at Columbia University. He also served as publicist/director of advertising for Goldwyn Pictures and later MGM and is often credited with creating Leo the Lion, its lion mascot, and choosing their slogan '' Ars Gratia Artis''. In 1942, he was made MGM's Vice President in Charge of Publicity. He held that position until his retirement in 1957. He began a long association with composer Arthur Schwartz, when they teamed up for the Broadway revue ''The Little Show'' in 1929. They would continue to work on and off over the next 30 or so years. Dietz served in the US Navy in World War I and became editor of their magazine, ''Navy Life''. During World War II, he assisted the U.S. Treasury Department with the public ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I See Your Face Before Me
I See Your Face Before Me is a popular song composed by Arthur Schwartz, with lyrics by Howard Dietz. It was introduced by Evelyn Laye and Adele Dixon in the 1937 Broadway musical '' Between the Devil''. Two recordings of the song made the charts shortly after the show's debut: Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians reached number 12,. and Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra made it to number 13. Johnny Hartman's 1980 recording was part of the soundtrack for the 1995 film, ''The Bridges of Madison County''. Hartman's recording accompanies a key scene where the characters Robert and Francesca dance and kiss for the first time. The song was also the first composition that Nelson Riddle wrote an arrangement for, in 1938. Riddle would later arrange "I See Your Face Before Me" for Frank Sinatra's 1955 album, ''In the Wee Small Hours''. Other notable recordings *Mildred Bailey - recorded January 10, 1938 for Vocalion Records (catalog No.3931). *Mary Martin - included in the album ''Mary Mar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, Porter defied his grandfather's wishes for him to practice law and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn to musical theatre. After a slow start, he began to achieve success in the 1920s, and by the 1930s he was one of the major songwriters for the Broadway musical stage. Unlike many successful Broadway composers, Porter wrote the lyrics as well as the music for his songs. After a serious horseback riding accident in 1937, Porter was left disabled and in constant pain, but he continued to work. His shows of the early 1940s did not contain the lasting hits of his best work of the 1920s and 1930s, but in 1948 he made a triumphant comeback with his most successful musical, ''Kiss Me, Kate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
All Of You (Cole Porter Song)
"All of You" is a popular song written by Cole Porter and published in 1954. It was introduced by Don Ameche in the Broadway musical '' Silk Stockings'' and featured in the film version as well, when it was sung by Fred Astaire. Notable recordings * Ahmad Jamal – for the album ''Ahmad Jamal Plays'' (1955) * Kenny Burrell – for the album ''Kenny Burrell'' (1957) * Anita O'Day - included on her album ''Anita O'Day Swings Cole Porter with Billy May'' (1959) * Annie Ross – for her album '' Annie Ross Sings a Song with Mulligan!'' (1959) * Bill Evans – featured the song on his live 1961 album ''Sunday at the Village Vanguard'' * Billie Holiday - on the album ''Last Recording'' (1959) * Bobby Darin (1963) - included on the compilation album ''The Swinging Side of Bobby Darin'' (2005). * Denny Zeitlin - on his album ''Wishing on the Moon'' (2018) * Ella Fitzgerald - on her album ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book'' (1956) * Karrin Allyson - on her album '' Collage ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 20th century. With George, he wrote more than a dozen Broadway shows, featuring songs such as "I Got Rhythm", "Embraceable You", " The Man I Love" and " Someone to Watch Over Me". He was also responsible, along with DuBose Heyward, for the libretto to George's opera ''Porgy and Bess''. The success the Gershwin brothers had with their collaborative works has often overshadowed the creative role that Ira played. His mastery of songwriting continued after George's early death in 1937. Ira wrote additional hit songs with composers Jerome Kern, Kurt Weill, Harry Warren and Harold Arlen. His critically acclaimed 1959 book ''Lyrics on Several Occasions'', an amalgam of autobiography and annotated anthology, is an important source for studying t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ''Rhapsody in Blue'' (1924) and ''An American in Paris'' (1928), the songs " Swanee" (1919) and "Fascinating Rhythm" (1924), the jazz standards "Embraceable You" (1928) and "I Got Rhythm" (1930), and the opera ''Porgy and Bess'' (1935), which included the hit " Summertime". Gershwin studied piano under Charles Hambitzer and composition with Rubin Goldmark, Henry Cowell, and Joseph Brody. He began his career as a song plugger but soon started composing Broadway theater works with his brother Ira Gershwin and with Buddy DeSylva. He moved to Paris, intending to study with Nadia Boulanger, but she refused him, afraid that rigorous classical study would ruin his jazz-influenced style; Maurice Ravel voiced similar objections when Gershwin inq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Summertime (George Gershwin Song)
"Summertime" is an aria composed in 1934 by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera ''Porgy and Bess''. The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward, the author of the novel '' Porgy'' on which the opera was based, and Ira Gershwin. The song soon became a popular and much-recorded jazz standard, described as "without doubt ... one of the finest songs the composer ever wrote ... Gershwin's highly evocative writing brilliantly mixes elements of jazz and the song styles of blacks in the southeast United States from the early twentieth century". Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim characterized Heyward's lyrics for "Summertime" and "My Man's Gone Now" as "the best lyrics in the musical theater". ''Porgy and Bess'' Gershwin began composing the song in December 1933, attempting to create his own spiritual in the style of the African American folk music of the period. Gershwin had completed setting DuBose Heyward's poem to music by February 1934, and spent the next 20 months completing a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as " Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", " A Fine Romance", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "The Song Is You", "All the Things You Are", "The Way You Look Tonight" and "Long Ago (and Far Away)". He collaborated with many of the leading librettists and lyricists of his era, including George Grossmith Jr., Guy Bolton, P. G. Wodehouse, Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, Dorothy Fields, Johnny Mercer, Ira Gershwin and Yip Harburg. A native New Yorker, Kern created dozens of Broadway musicals and Hollywood films in a career that lasted for more than four decades. His musical innovations, such as 4/4 dance rhythms and the employment of syncopation and jazz progressions, built on, rather than rejec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
