Conversations at the Piano

When I was a kid, my mother used to repeat the phrase “April showers will bring May flowers” until it became part of my vernacular. There is a poetic element to this phrase offering hope to the sometimes warm-sometimes cold / sometimes rainy-sometimes sunny April weather in the Northeast. In fact we had azalea bushes in the front of our house, and sometime in early May they blossomed. Gorgeous pink flowers appeared suddenly. No sooner had they appeared, it seemed, they disappeared. It was the definition of spring in all its splendor. Put this together with May being a busy season for weddings (I played many receptions when I performed as a keyboard player in commercial music groups), and you can see why One Morning in May is the perfect selection to feature in today’s article.

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When I began preparing this Hoagy Carmichael series, I knew that Up a Lazy River would be included. This tune, along with some of the composer’s other songs, presented me with an arranging challenge. All I could remember about Up a Lazy River was listening to my mother sit at the piano and sing the tune (or dare I say “belt it out”) in a cabaret style with a stride accompaniment. I can still see the black and white parchment-like paper sheet music (no fancy colors and shiny paper like today’s songbooks) that I used to play the song myself on rare occasions. Not that I didn’t like Up a Lazy River, but as a pianist and jazz affectionato, recreating a somewhat nostalgic rendition of today’s featured selection would simply NOT do.

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When it comes to today’s featured selection, Stardust, I would have to say that the word nostalgia comes to mind. I guess I’ve always thought of the song is one associated with crooners the kind of singers you would think of from those old scratchy 78 records. The funny thing is though, that some of the recordings I’ve enjoyed tend to be at a more medium tempo. Having spent a good 35 years as a professional pianist and keyboard player, Stardust was one of those songs that I often played whether for dancing Back in the G.B. gig days when we played for dancing at weddings and other occasions. Then later as a solo pianist, especially when I was at the Sheraton Milford hotel, the atmosphere of those eating in the restaurant seemed to warrant my popular medley of Stardust, September Song and I Can’t Get Started to create just that special romantic atmosphere for couples enjoying a leisurely dinner.

So it may surprise you to know that when I looked up Stardust on the Internet, I discovered that Hoagy Carmichael first wrote this song as an instrumental back in 1927. It’s funny that Mr. Carmichael was at an old hotel in upstate New York and it was their old upright piano and became the vehicle for his composition. Back in my early career, I spent a couple of summers working up in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York. I’ll never forget the time that I was busy practicing on you guessed it an old upright piano and was so committed to that that I neglected my ” bandleader – as – social director” role at the hotel. On Saturday night when the owner put on his tuxedo and became the not so eloquent MC, he promptly announced “we didn’t have a shuffleboard torment this week, because a certain somebody (pointing to me) had to practice the piano.” In keeping with this rather humorous situation, my group was often referred to as Ed Mascari and the Boys. When I read about Hoagy’s first recording of Stardust, this no longer surprises me, because the LP of the song was by Hoagy Carmichael and His Pals (the Dorsey Brothers were the pals – can you believe that?).

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Over the years, quite a few prospective piano students have come in for their initial interview/consultation and have told me that they had no piano training in the past. However, more often than not, someone will tell me how much they enjoyed playing duets with a friend, a sibling or parent. Can you guess what they played? None other than today’s featured selection, Heart and Soul, by Hoagy Carmichael. Needless to say, many of these enthusiasts had no idea what song they were actually planning. Just for the fun of it, take a look at some examples of how people play this long-time favorite duet on YouTube.

Now that you are completely aware of today’s very special standard, I’d like to tell you a little bit more about the piece and its composer. Hoagy Carmichael (1899 – 1981) was a songwriter, a pianist, a singer, an actor and believe it or not, a lawyer. His full name was Howard Hoagland “Hoagy” Carmichael and among his many compositions there are four of them that are among the most recorded songs of all-time.  Heart and Soul is one of these hits. Published in 1938, this standard features lyrics by Frank Loesser (1910 – 1969).

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