The story of the tunes on Transition Point

 

1. Beautiful Friendship - While researching the copyright on this tune I called up one of the composers, Donald Kahn. Somehow I found the number for him and called. I thought I would get a disconnected number. But a lady picked up the phone, Donald's wife. It turns out Mr. Kahn had passed away some years ago. But she proceeded to tell me the story of how the tune had been written. Stanley Styne had written the music for the tune and came over to drop off the musical schetch of the tune. Donald quickly penned the lyric telling this great story.

 

2. Sweet Lorraine - This tune, made famous by Nat King Cole, has always been one of my favorites. The 1940 recording by Nat Cole is the most famous although it has been recorded by many others. He changes the lyric in the second verse probably due to the anti-miscegenation laws on the books in this country at the time. It was written as "A pair of eyes that are bluer than the summer skies". He sings it as "A pair of eyes that are brighter than the summer skies". Hopefully the world has changed for the better since that time.

 

3. Devil May Care - This Bob Dorough tune has this great sense of irreverence which immediately drew me to it. Lyric by Terrell Kirk.

 

4. Rhode Island Is Famous For You - I was introduced to this tune by my Canadian friend Ken Hatch. We stopped at his house on the way back from BC Swing Camp. He said, knowing that I was from Rhode Island, "You've got to hear this tune". It was the Blossom Dearie version and was immediately attracted to it for its silly humour. It was written by Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz for the 1948 musical review "Inside USA", a post-war patriotic affair. It closed in 1949 after 399 performances.

 

5. Estate - Joao Gilberto performed this on his "LIve at Montreaux" recording.  The tune is penned by Bruno Martino and has an atypical bossa lyric written in Italian by Bruno Brighetti. The dark and haunting melody tells a tale of lost love and the memory of a failed affair.

 

6. East of the Sun - Penned by Brooks Bowman we did this tune with minimal instrumentation. John Miller on acoustic guitar, Jay Thomas on soprano saxiphone and Jeff Busch on percussion. This tune moves along with a lively swing rhythm.

 

7. No Pressure - Written for their musical "Alligator Circus" by my friends Vann Cantin and Ray Wood, this tune emotes the steamy heat of Louisiana and how that seeps into the music the region.

 

8. J'attendrai - We rendered this Django Reinhardt standard with the traditional gypsy jazz instrumentation it deserved. Neil Andersson on guitar serves up a lovely rubato introduction to this tune. Sung in French, Neil's solo with Julian Smedley on violin and David Lange on accordion make this tune cook.

 

9. Senor Blues - This Horace Silver Latin compostion in 6/8 paints of a tune of a lady's man who never hangs around very long.

 

10. Blue Reverie - Tom McFarland was a blues man who performed in Seattle in the 70s and 80s. Bassist Bruce Cannavaro and I were sitting around his piano in Port Townsend running tunes when he pulled this one out of the hat. I loved the tune right away. It tells the tale of lost years. I'm sure many of us can find some of those in our lives. I could relate.

 

11. Summer Night - My guitar mentor John Miller said, after a lesson, "You've got to hear this tune!" He put on "Summer Night" as sung by Rebecca Kilgore of Portland. What a great rendition! It quickly became one of my signature tunes. The tune was written by one of my favorite composers, Harry Warren, who was born Salvatore Antonio Guaragna. 

 

12. I Just Found Out About Love - Composed by Harolds Adamson and McHugh this tune has great verve. I first heard it on the Shirley Horn record "You Won't Forget Me". Here I am joined by my friend Katie Peterson on backup vocals.