Jazz masterpieces: a selection of the best romantic compositions about love
Jazz... In fact, the genre knows many romantic songs, from the powerful ballads of Billie Holiday to the timeless hits of Ella Fitzgerald! It's fair to say that jazz is the eternal expression of the deepest feelings people can feel... Yes, in contemporary music in all its various forms, love songs also dominate: some as confessions of crazy affection, others as wistful reflections of lost or unrequited love... But it is jazz works that are full of incredible potential and sincerity! At times it seems as if one could dissolve in these songs... Less words, more to the point: today we will remember the most powerful jazz love songs that are sure to be worth listening to today, so many decades later... Let's begin.
Ella Fitzgerald - "Let's Do It
"The birds do it / The bees do it / Even educated nerds do it / Let's do it / Let's fall in love..." - so sang the delightful Ella Fitzgerald in the Cole Porter song she recorded especially for her Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook. Filled with interesting wordplay and witty ambiguities, this piece was written by Porter back in 1928 for a musical called Paris.
The song was later sung by a host of musicians, from Bing Crosby to Alanis Morrisette to Joan Jett! However, few have sung it better than Ella Fitzgerald...
Billie Holiday - "Love Is Here To Stay"
No other singer has ever been able to convey emotion as sincerely as Billie Holiday... Drawing on her own bitter experiences, she brought an incredible mood to her tenderly rocking rendition of "Love Is Here To Stay"... By the way: we can hear Ben Webster on tenor saxophone in this performance, which was recorded in 1957, just two years before Holiday's untimely death at the age of 44...
Michael Brecker - "The Nearness Of You"
This jazz maestro from Pennsylvania was endowed from birth with distinctive musical ability... It helped him embellish a terrific tune by Hoagy Carmichael and Ned Washington, which was written back in the 1930s.
"It is not the pale moon that thrills and delights me,
Oh, no, it's just intimacy with you..."
Angel Eyes by Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day was one of the few jazz singers who could make any box-office track sound supremely soulful and excellent... In "Angel Eyes," a song flooded with juicy strings and swirling harps, O'Day describes the hypnotic effect of a former lover's eyes...
"Angel Eyes" is a very sad ballad written by Matt Dennis and Earl Brent in 1946. In addition to Anita O'Day, the song has served as inspiration for many other famous artists (Frank Sinatra and Sting among them).
Roy Hargrove - "A Time For Love"
Hargrove needs no words to convey the song's romantic moods: his trumpet is as convincing and expressive as the human voice in this nocturnal ballad written by Johnny Mandel and Paul Francis Webster. The presence of a lush orchestral accompaniment adds a deeper radiance to his performance...
Oscar Peterson - "My One And Only Love"
Duke Ellington himself proclaimed this Canadian musician the "Maharajah of keyboards"! And his mastery of the piano is immediately apparent in his virtuoso performance of the popular song "My One And Only Love"...
Many famous singers, from Sinatra to Rod Stewart, have sung the tune, but Peterson shows that you don't have to be a vocalist to express the true romantic essence of this piece...
Lester Young - "I Can't Give You Anything But Love"
And this is a husky yet carefree interpretation of a 1952 recording from Lester Young, one of the biggest figures of the swing era.
Ben Webster - "When I Fall In Love"
Although he had a big, husky, masculine tone and could make his instrument literally roar, Ben Webster proved himself a sensitive interpreter of slow ballads... This love song is firmly associated with Nat King Cole: he recorded it in 1956, and a year later it became a hit in Britain, reaching number two on the national chart! But Webster's version, with its minimalist accompaniment, is quickly remembered, emphasizing his soulful approach to jazz...
Blossom Deery - "You For Me"
A New York pianist and singer whose voice has always been distinctly subtle and gentle, Blossom Deery has revealed the seductive side of Bob Hames' melody...
Stan Getz and Gary Burton - "Little Girl Blue (Quiet Now: Body And Soul)
Saxophonist Getz and vibraphonist Burton joined forces to create a soft duet version of the song that Nina Simon made her own in 1958.
There's nothing more seductive in jazz than Getz playing in a gentle, romantic manner, weaving silky phrases that make the heart sing... Burton is the perfect accompanist, playing soft shimmering chords to Getz's airy outpourings. Love has never sounded as good as in "Little Girl Blue (Quiet Now: Body And Soul)"...
