[Monday Notes n.170] In the Wee Small Hours is a 1955 Frank Sinatra album, with arrangements by Nelson Riddle. This work anticipates the concept albums of the 1960s and 1970s. It is in fact not a simple collection of songs, but a coherent and well-structured work, dealing with themes such as the end of a…Continue readingIn the Wee Small Hours, a concept album by Frank Sinatra
Tag: orchestra
[Monday’s Notes No. 139] The Way We Were could be an ordinary song, instead it becomes something special thanks to a series of refinements in the way it was composed, arranged and sung. Barbra Streisand’s performance is also particularly poignant because the singer starred in the film for which the song was written.Continue readingBarbra Streisand, The Way We Were. How to write a good song
[Monday Notes no. 133] A Place For Lovers is a song written by Manuel De Sica as the soundtrack for the film Amanti directed in 1968 by his father Vittorio De Sica. This is not one of the great director’s masterpieces, while the music is definitely worth mentioning. I have therefore tried to analyse how…Continue readingAmanti, Ella FItzgerald sings Manuel De Sica’s A Place For Lovers
[Monday’s Notes No. 102] Michel Legrand was one of the greatest composers of French song. A composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist, thanks to his fantastic melodies and never trivial harmony his songs have also entered the jazz repertoire. Let’s listen to and analyze I Will Wait For You.Continue readingMichel Legrand, I Will Wait For You. A touch of France and a touch of jazz
[Monday Notes no. 21] Of all the possible nicknames for Frank Sinatra, The Voice is probably not the most appropriate. To be clear: his voice is warm and pleasant, but Frank’s greatness is not so much in his voice as in his ability to interpret songs as if he were singing them for the first…Continue readingFrank Sinatra, The Girl Next Door. The singer always tells a story.
[Monday Note No. 86] Claus Ogerman was a great arranger who made wonderful orchestral albums with Bill Evans, Antonio Carlos Jobim and many others. His collaboration with Wes Montgomery produced the 1966 album Tequila, from which we now hear Little Child (Daddy Dear).Continue readingClaus Ogerman & Wes Montgomery, Little Child Daddy Dear
[Monday Note No. 75] Valzer per un amore is a song by Fabrizio De André written on the Valzer campestre from the Suite Siciliana by Gino Marinuzzi, a Sicilian composer and conductor. The song was released as a single on the B-side of the more famous La canzone di Marinella and shows how interested De…Continue readingFabrizio De André, Valzer per un amore – Valzer campestre
[Monday Notes n.52] Armando Trovajoli was a great interpreter of the Italian school of film music. In his music he gathers ideas and suggestions from different musical genres: from string orchestra to rock, from South American music to jazz. Let’s analyze the main theme of the movie Le canard a l’orange.Continue readingArmando Trovajoli, Le canard a l’orange. The Italian School of Film Music