Passport to Paradise Liner Notes
This album really was not even supposed to be. Anne, Danny and I went into the studio over a 5 day period to record two Ivory and Gold CDs and I also recorded a solo CD. By the time we were done 64 tracks later, we had enough good material for 4 full-length CDs! I originally conceived of this CD as being the receptacle of the left-overs but it programmed into the most cohesive of the lot in many ways. So, here you have tunes meant for other recordings saved from the digital wasteland! Ain’t technology grand?!?
An appropriate opener, Blue Skies describes aspects of temporal paradise such as nice weather and being in love. Anne displays her increasing adeptness at improvising and I display a willingness to sing in the wrong key to accommodate the soloist (singer, flute player, what’s the diff in this case…OUCH…Anne just swatted me and said, “You could have transposed it for yourself” and “Danny didn’t seem to mind”).
When Scott Joplin penned Weeping Willow he was still riding the wave of success from his biggest hit “The Maple Leaf Rag.” In Willow we hear a pastoral contentedness and Joplin strutting his stuff at the end. Note Danny’s “parade” drums throughout.
Danny brought us Passport to Paradise, which shows off ex-patriot saxophonist Sidney Bechet’s compositional talent at its Gallic best. This reflective tune allows Anne to focus on her beautiful tone. A note should be made of the harmonic journey taken during the bridge. For my ears, this tune stands up to Bechet’s more well-known ballad “Si Tu Vois Ma Mere” (see JACD1021). A fitting tune to provide the title for this CD!
The tune that set Irving Berlin’s career sky-rocketing was 1911’s Alexander’s Ragtime Band. Ragtime was being scored for bands during the first two decades of the 20th century (Sousa featured at least one rag per concert with his band). We try to capture the carefree sounds of the day, even though the tune as written does not have one beat of ragged rhythm!
Danny suggested Autumn Nocturne and provided a wonderful lead sheet with some nice harmonies courtesy of Midwestern trombonist Russ Phillips. The languid melody allows Anne to bring her gorgeous tone to the forefront.
This recording of In the Middle of a Kiss is my second in under a year (but first in the USA). I had never heard it until a trumpet player in the UK performed it. I was obsessed with this winning tune that long outlived the 1935 film that it was in, “College Scandal” (has anybody seen this?), starring Arline Judge, Kent Taylor and Wendy Barrie (has anybody heard of them?). Sam Coslow immortalizes one “Fuzzy Knight” for suggesting the title…no wonder this song faded into obscurity. It is one of my top 10 tunes, not only because it contains the rapturous line “we stumbled into Paradise.”
Next up is Joplin’s joyous Paragon Rag. By 1909, Joplin was settled in New York. The new sounds he was hearing in the Big Apple influenced his work. While the A section is firmly old-style Joplin, the B section takes us into the world of Novelty piano, the C section has a strumming left hand indicating guitar accompaniment and the final section brings us home in a sweeping melody. Such variety in this rag!
Cole Porter opted for simplicity in 1955’s Little One, sung by Bing Crosby to Grace Kelly’s character’s little sister in “High Society” (which also starred Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra). Porter wrote it simply for the subject, but couldn’t resist getting “Circe” into the lyrics, as only he could. Listen for another mention of paradise.
We push the envelope a bit in On Green Dolphin Street; what on earth is Ivory and Gold doing with a bop tune? It works, thanks to Danny’s intricate yet solid drumming and our fun tossing the rhythms back and forth. We finish with a “hang-on-to-your-hat” ending that left me breathless. Anne becomes a braver improviser daily!
I remember hearing Lonesome Road done by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band when I was about 10. The plaintive, simple chord progression and the dragging rhythm grabbed my attention and will probably never let go.
Sunset is an impromptu collaboration between Anne and Danny. Danny found a Native American hand-drum (or frame drum) on the wall of Jack Miller’s studio. Anne and he went in to just play around for a few minutes. The haunting result is what you’ll here on this track.
When Louis Armstrong recorded Handy’s blues rag Ole Miss Rag in the late 1950’s he forever altered the tune. We return to the original and include the lost middle section to keep the ragtime feel but loosen it up a bit to swing it into a jazz finale. Danny is such a rewarding partner to play hot music with. Sometimes I feel like we share one weird mind.
Our good friend Nan Bostick, grandniece of Charles N. Daniels (who used Neil Moret as a nom de plume), shares that lyricist Richard Whiting (that he was lyricist is the first interesting thing as he was usually the melodist) had been forced out of town by his wife, who said,”East or west, but you can’t stay here in Detroit, it’s a rut.” So, Whiting headed to NYC, met Moret, recycled one of Moret’s unpublished tunes and, with the help of the likes of Sophie Tucker and Walter Donaldson, had an overnight success! I added a tinge of Ted Lewis towards the end of the second vocal chorus as this song was one of his most enduring hits.
I have loved A Child is Born ever since I heard Oscar Peterson’s reflective, reverent rendering. The lilt of the waltz is tempered by the somber chord progression and simply hits home. We start by exploring the harmonic path for a couple of choruses, allowing the melody to creep in quietly as a lullaby. This is my favorite track on this CD.
My dear friend Bob Barta is unfairly talented; a gifted banjoist and singer, a technological wizard, and I recently discovered him to be a marvelous songwriter. His love letter to his wife Sherri, I’m in Heaven, has all the features of a bouncy 1930’s ballad while managing to be totally original. When we perform this one live, the crowd responds with unbridled enthusiasm. Thanks, Bob, for sharing your lovely tune and for being such a treasured friend.
Each Ivory and Gold recording has to have an operatic flute-feature! For this CD, Anne chose Bewitched from “Pal Joey.” We start out recitative-style and then our version builds to a climax worthy of any diva. I am particularly proud of this arrangement, from the key change to the surprise ending which Danny devised to Anne’s beautiful phrasing.
We wrap up this visit to paradise with a Dixieland favorite, After You’ve Gone, with the requisite double-time of the feel underneath the tune. It’s a rousing finale which we hope will entice you to start over and listen again. I speak for Anne, Danny and myself when I say that our “passport to paradise” is sharing our love for making music together with you. Thanks so much for all of the love and support you continue to show us. Without you, our passports would run out and this would be a very short trip. Enjoy!
Jeff Barnhart—April 22, 2008
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