''My Flame Burns Blue'' is the twenty-second album by

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

, released on

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

. It consists of recordings from the

North Sea Jazz Festival The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been held in Rotterdam. This is because the Statenhal where the festival w ...

in July 2004, made with

Steve Nieve Steve Nieve ( "naïve"; born Stephen John Nason, 21 February 1958) is an English musician and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Nieve has been a member of Elvis Costello's backing bands the Attractions, the Imposters and Madnes ...

and The

Metropole Orkest The Metropole Orkest (Metropole Orchestra) is a jazz and pop orchestra based in the Netherlands, and is the largest full-time ensemble of its kind in the world. A hybrid orchestra, it is a combination of jazz, big band and symphony orchestra. Com ...

conducted by

Vince Mendoza Vince Mendoza (born November 17, 1961) is an American composer, music arranger and conductor, and six-time Grammy Award winner. He debuted as a solo artist in 1989, and is known for his work conducting the Metropole Orkest and WDR Big Band Kö ...

. It peaked at No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Jazz albums chart and at No. 188 on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Content

In addition to items from Costello's back catalogue, the album presents songs written for different projects for various kinds of ensembles. The

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and ...

composition "Hora Decubitus" initially appeared on the album ''

Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus ''Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus'' is a studio album by the American jazz composer and bassist Charles Mingus which was released on January 9, 1964. Background Mingus collaborated with arranger/orchestrator Bob Hammer to score the music for ...

''. "Upon A Veil of Midnight Blue" would be recorded by the posthumous Charles Mingus Orchestra, initially written for

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

singer Charles Brown. "Speak Darkly My Angel" was written for

Anne Sofie von Otter Anne Sofie von Otter (born 9 May 1955) is a Swedish mezzo-soprano. Her repertoire encompasses lieder, operas, oratorios and also rock and pop songs. Early life Von Otter was born in Stockholm, Sweden. Her father was Göran von Otter, a Swe ...

and the

Brodsky Quartet The Brodsky Quartet is a British string quartet, formed in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, in 1972 as the "Cleveland Quartet". Only Ian Belton and Jacqueline Thomas remain as original members. In addition to performing classical music, and in par ...

, while "Put Away Forbidden Playthings" was his contribution to a concert commemorating the death of

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest E ...

.Costello, liners, passim. A version of "Almost Ideal Eyes" with the Attractions had been an outtake for ''

All This Useless Beauty ''All This Useless Beauty'' is the seventeenth studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released in 1996 by Warner Brothers. It peaked at number 28 on the UK album chart, and at No. 53 on the ''Billboard'' 200. It is his ...

''. With this album, Costello joined the ranks of songwriters adding lyrics to

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

instrumentals, a practice encompassing

classic pop Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

jazz standards Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list ...

, and

vocalese Vocalese is a style of jazz singing in which words are added to an instrumental soloist's improvisation. Definition Vocalese uses recognizable lyrics that are sung to pre-existing instrumental solos, as opposed to scat singing, which uses nonsen ...

. In addition to the Mingus tune, he drafted words for "

Blood Count A complete blood count (CBC), also known as a full blood count (FBC), is a set of medical laboratory tests that provide information about the cells in a person's blood. The CBC indicates the counts of white blood cells, red blood cells and pla ...

" by

Billy Strayhorn William Thomas Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967) was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger, who collaborated with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly three decades. His compositions include "Take ...

, appearing here as the title song "My Flame Burns Blue." The initial release included a bonus disc of an abridged version of his 2004 ballet score recording ''

Il Sogno ''Il Sogno'' is the 20th studio album by Elvis Costello, released in 2004 by Deutsche Grammophon. It is performed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. It peaked at No. ...

'', performed by the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

and conducted by

Michael Tilson Thomas Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944) is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy based in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of ...

Track listing

''All songs written by

unless otherwise indicated.'' # "Hora Decubitus" (

, Costello) – 5:46 # "Favourite Hour" – 3:58 # "That's How You Got Killed Before" (

Dave Bartholomew David Louis Bartholomew (December 24, 1918 – June 23, 2019) was an American musician, bandleader, composer, arranger, and record producer. He was prominent in the music of New Orleans throughout the second half of the 20th century. Originally ...

) – 4:14 # "Upon a Veil of Midnight Blue" – 5:12 # " Clubland" – 4:52 # "

Almost Blue ''Almost Blue'' is the sixth studio album by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, and his fifth with the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas (drummer), Pete Thomas (no relation). It was reco ...

" – 5:51 # "Speak Darkly, My Angel" – 3:59 # "Almost Ideal Eyes" – 4:16 # "Can You Be True?" – 3:57 # "Put Away Forbidden Playthings" – 4:22 # "Episode of Blonde" – 6:09 # "My Flame Burns Blue (

)" (

, Costello) – 5:14 # " Watching the Detectives" – 5:24 # "God Give Me Strength" (

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

, Costello) – 6:56

Personnel

– vocals *

– piano,

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usual ...

solo on "Almost Blue" *

– conductor ** Ruud Breuls – trumpet solo on "Hora Decubitus," "That's How You Got Killed Before," "Clubland," "Almost Blue," "Almost Ideal Eyes," "Episode of Blonde," "Watching the Detectives" ** Bart van Lier –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

solo on "Hora Decubitus," "That's How You Got Killed Before," "Watching the Detectives" ** Leo Janssen –

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

solo on "Hora Decubitus" ** Jos Beeren – tenor saxophone solo on "That's How You Got Killed Before" ** Marc Scholten –

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

solo on "My Flame Burns Blue" and " Watching the Detectives" ** Paul van der Feen –

soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, sop ...

solo on "Clubland" ** Peter Tiehuis – guitar solo on "Hora Decubitus" and "Episode of Blonde" ** Olof Groesz – cello solo on "Almost Blue"

Charts

References

{{Authority control Albums produced by Elvis Costello Albums arranged by Vince Mendoza Elvis Costello live albums 2006 live albums Deutsche Grammophon live albums