Songs of Autumn

Ah, autumn, the fall. I like all of the seasons. There is joy enough to go around. But I confess it is the autumn which most touches me.

In my teaching life, in the early years, there was Hopkins "Spring and Fall" and Keats’s "Ode to Autumn." Later, I taught a course in American Nature Writers. I was profound in the classroom, of course, but it was really the woods that provoked reverie in members of the class.

When I was a kid, it was still legal to burn leaves–and roast marshmallows. There is no better smell than that fire, no better taste than those marshmallows.

But there is still a glory in the season.

 

In my present life, though, it is especially the songs which reach me. There are great songs you can play any time at all. Some you can play only at certain times–Winter Wonderland, for example, and many Christmas songs.

But Autumn has some of the greatest. Eddie sings Henry Nemo’s "‘Tis Autumn," first recorded by Nat "King" Cole. And we play the song made famous by Woody Herman and his sax section–"Early Autumn." Beautiful.

Last week-end Scott Barnum couldn't be with the band so Eddie asked Craig Dove to play bass.  We had a good crowd and a great night.

And the band played a tune I have loved all of my life--"September Song."  Only one week-end left for that one.

Route 66

Last Friday we played "Route 66" (full title: "Get Your Kicks on Route 66.") The song was composed in 1946 by Bobby Troup and recorded that same year–and made famous–by Nat "King" Cole.

I get kicks from "Route 66."I love the "drive" the song has, the way it moves along. Anyone who asks Eddie to play it will be doing me a favor. Like "Flying Home," it brings back a lot of memories and they become part of what I’m thinking when I solo.

When I was twelve, my parents took me and my brother Bernard to Purdue University to see a two-part program: Duke Ellington and his Orchestra and the Nat "King" Cole Trio. Yes, that was quite a night.

I still remember being transfixed by Ellington’s "Mood Indigo" And I saw Davenport’s own Louis Bellson, surely one of the greatest drummers of all time, play "Skin Deep." Bernard pointed out the fascination with which Ellington’s musicians watched their own drummer.

And Nat "King" Cole sang "Route 66." One does not forget that man.

The song showed up at the Blue Note a few years ago. My wife Jackie and I had been hoping for a long time to see Manhattan Transfer, and we finally caught up with them in New York. It was one of those lucky nights that brings a fringe benefit. They stopped the show because they had spotted a familiar face in their audience: George Benson, singer and guitarist. And they insisted that he join them for a very swinging rendition of "Route 66."

Here’s another great version of the tune performed by one of my favorites on the contemporary scene: Diana Krall. The guitarist who opens the tune is Russell Malone. Back when Eddie and Dallis had their Club Jazz going, Russell Malone played a concert at Kirkwood and then headed immediately to Eddie’s club on Mount Vernon Road to sit in with Eddie Piccard. I missed that night, but Eddie told me later that they "burned until four in the morning."

Some kicks!