Tuesday, February 28, 2017

I Only Have Eyes For You


The song "I Only Have Eyes For You" may have been written by Harry Warren and Al Dublin in 1934, but it still retains its beauty in the present day. 



The popular romantic jazz song or standard, has been covered by many artists since the day that it was introduced to the world in the film Dames, including recently at a celebration of music concert at Brooklyn's Medgar Evers College by the Medgar Evers College Jazz Ensemble which is directed by Professror Roman Mitchell and features a plethora of the colleges students and graduates. 

This rendition is directed by the scholar and also features Mitchell on trumpet, Stephanie Jeannot on vocals, Steven Lawrence on piano, and Nathaniel Manning on drums. 



Monday, February 13, 2017

Why Adele's Mishap While Covering George Michael's Tune Made Me Happy

Were you like me last night, bounded by emotion while watching the Grammy Awards last night?

Somehow the monumental force of love creeped in and I felt this synchronicity with the screen. I will admit that I am probably with Kanye West’s ideas of who deserves the trophy and usually do not watch the award show at all for that simple reason. But I felt that there were many moments that were beautiful beyond reckoning.

Adele swept up a few ideas that I loved. The biggest night of music started with a performance by Adele and she enchanted the crowd by simply singing without all the theatrics proving that she is a real singer and does not need much more than her voice to be in harmony with the people in her surroundings.  They felt what she had to give because she really sang her song with pure emotion and meant every word.

But I found immeasurable comfort in who she is as an individual when she started to sing her tribute to George Michael. As she sang the cover of George Michael’s “Fast Love,” she realized she messed up by singing in the wrong key. She stopped the band, recognized her mistake before the more than a million viewers and started the song over to do the job that she was supposed to do.

We live our lives in recurring rhythms. We get up, try and then if we fail, we are hit with snowballs of commentaries about it that isn’t entirely fair but true. It is not normal for us to see someone humble enough to admit, hey, I’m not doing this thing right. Can we try it again? And then she tried it again and nailed it.  She decided not to feel vulnerable and alone in her mistake on stage. She carved into her ego for another opportunity and got out of the heat that she felt that she was in. Many of us watching stared in disbelief. I felt a tinge of sadness for her though I also felt like getting out of my seat and dancing like a jitterbugger at Duke’s Place thinking of how she commanded the moments to follow. She showed herself as human and that is what made the show for me.


Speaking of dancing like a jitterbugger, maybe you are interested in getting into the jazz dance experience. Check out this cool video of dancing and The Harlem Swing Dance Society grooving to jazz sounds by the JNote Band. https://youtu.be/0DMMHXwhylY


If you understand the moves that these dancers are doing, this is what it felt as an individual who steps up to the plate and sometimes fouls out felt like. Adele proved that there is nothing wrong with taking a second chance at hitting a home run. The difference is, she did on the wildest night of music. This song was about the wildest joints in town during the jazz era when Duke Ellington was feeding up chocks full of dreams.