All of You – Cole Porter’s Last Major Contribution to the Jazz Repertoire
When I was young, going to see a movie was a big deal. Unlike the availability of films on TV as well as on DVDs, the Internet and even hand held devices as we have today, the local cinema was the only place to experience Hollywood’s latest motion picture. The characters looked larger than life on the giant screen; the color picture provided a marked contrast to the dull black and white images we viewed on our television at home, and the sound was staggering since we were use to hearing heard voices and music coming from small poor quality speakers.
Because these trips to the movies were infrequent during my childhood, they stood out in my mind. It’s interesting that two of the films that our family attended came to mind when I began preparing to write this post. One of them, which was and continues to be an important part of the American cultural experience, was The Wizard of Oz. In fact, I recorded and wrote about Over the Rainbow in my blog post nearly one year ago. There I pointed out the fact that this song’s universal appeal is the reason that I often use it to demonstrate a variety of arranging styles to prospective piano students (adults and/or children with their parents) when I meet with them for their free initial interview/consultation.
The other less well-known movie that our family attended featured Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in the 1957 film version of Cole Porter’s show, Silk Stockings. I can still remember watching this couple dancing effortlessly and gracefully across the screen. Since my mother knew, liked and could play many of the standards from the American Popular Songbook, it doesn’t surprise me to think that she not only wanted to see the film herself, but also wanted to introduce me to this wonderful musical repertoire. Needless to say, I certainly had no idea at the time that I’d be playing, recording and writing about All of You, the song which emanated from this Cole Porter score so many years later.
Whether played in a relaxed medium tempo arrangement, as a lyrical ballad, as a tasteful Bossa nova or as a cooking up-tempo swing tune, All of You is a standard that always works beautifully. The fact that its two-part form contains both repetition and variation while still following the customary 32 measure length certainly contributes to its stylistic versatility. Although it’s written in the key of Eb, Porter masterfully avoids presenting the ii-V-I chord progression of the tonic tonality (key of the song as identified by the key signature of 3 flats) until the final measures of the song. This is yet another example of Cole Porter’s compositional mastery!
Although All of You was not one of the Porter pieces that I learned early in my performing career, it seems to me that it came to my attention during my years of study at the New England Conservatory. This was around the same time that I encountered the song I Love You which I played and wrote about in last week’s blog post. In contrast to the available tracks that I found for the previous article, Rhapsody Music Service really came through this week with some terrific performances of All of You.
Perhaps my favorite recording from this play list is the solo piano version by John Hicks. Hicks passed away in 2006 at age 65 leaving a legacy of tremendous recordings. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, he certainly knew the value of getting musical instruction in that he studied at Berklee College of Music as well as at Juilliard. A much earlier but nonetheless significant recording is from the Miles Davis Quintet’s LP ‘Round About Midnight. Red Garland was at the keyboard for All of You and I couldn’t help but think of the impact of these artists on Wynton Marsalis and pianist Marcus Roberts.
One of my favorite albums by pianist Bill Evans is Conversations with Myself. The reason for this is that all of the selections feature piano performances created by mixing three separate tracks on which Evans plays alone. I find that listening to the way this pianist handles the keyboard in this setting to be truly inspirational. Even though the pianist’s recording of All of You is a terrific trio version, his extended solo piano introduction is quintessential Evans. I loved it!
Next week’s post will complete the current Cole Porter blog post series. After that, I’ll share some selections from the songs composed by several other great composers of standards. Watch for clues in the February 2nd post to see if you will be able to identify the next of my featured composers.
For now, remember that whether you want to learn to play All of You, another Cole Porter selection or something from one of your favorite Broadway shows, all of our piano instructors at the Ed Mascari Piano Studio are here to help you along your musical journey. If you live near our well-established Natick Studio location or close to our convenient centrally located Hudson Studio, you can learn to play the piano by taking lessons in a relaxed environment from teachers who are always patient and encouraging.
So take 20 seconds right now and contact us to find out more about piano lessons (and this also includes keyboard lessons too). We’ll show you how you or your son or daughter how you can get started. Remember, we’re here to help you Learn to Play the Music You Love!