Recently, I wrote about how lyricist Johnny Mercer was inspired to write the first of his train-themed songs I Thought About You while on a train trip to Chicago. Less than two years after this brief collaboration with composer Jimmy Van Heusen, Mercer met Chaim (aka Hyman) Arlook.
Who?
Oh yes, I meant the composer whose name we all recognize, Harold Arlen. Fortunately this encounter launched a long-time partnership between the two men. Their first song Blues in the Night was also the title of the 1941 film for which they wrote the entire score. Perhaps one of the reasons that this particular piece became so popular was that there was a unique interplay between the partners. As I pointed out in my Early Autumn blog post, Mercer preferred to have the complete composition in hand so that he could mull over the music at his own pace by himself. In the case of Blues in the Night, he brought several pages of work sheets to Harold Arlen.
Since Arlen had already sensed that he had created a something special, he was able to select the specific lyrics that he thought would work the best. And boy did they! The two were so excited that they wanted to play it for others. As an aside, I can tell you how much joy I feel when one of my students comes into one of his or her lessons and enthusiastically exclaims, “I composed a new piece this week!”
Anyway, Mercer had called his singer friend Margaret Whiting who as it turned out was having a dinner party that evening. As a result, not only was she their first audience, but Arlen and Mercer performed the song seven times for Whiting’s guests, Martha Raye (who was speechless), Mickey Rooney (who said, “That’s the greatest thing I’ve ever heard.”), Judy Garland (who said “Play it again.”) and Mel Torme` (who exclaimed, “I can’t believe it!”). As a matter of fact, one of my favorite recordings of Blues in the Night is the 1982 recording by Mel, pianist George Shearing and saxophonist Gerry Mulligan called The Classic Concert Live. It’s incredible!
Perhaps it’s particularly appropriate that Blues in the Night is the first song of my composer blog series featuring Harold Arlen, because Arlen had a unique ability among his composer peers. While the musical language of the standards found in the American Popular Songbook offers room for pianists to make use of rich and colorful chords (which many of my students find fascinating to learn), Arlen’s music added another dimension. This composer found a way to energize and enrich his songs with a blues feeling that has continued to inspire jazz musicians for more than eight decades.
As you will see and hear (from my solo piano recordings that always accompany these blog posts) in the several standards that I have selected for this series, Arlen’s blues feeling can vary in its prominence. You may want to revisit my Over the Rainbow post to see what I mean. Meanwhile, Blues in the Night brings the blues to the forefront. The first half of the song is actually composed of two sections that are each a 12-Bar Blues. The melody lines are different, but the chord progressions follow the blues form. This offers pianists the opportunity to use one of my favorite left hand accompaniment patterns: the shuffle bass. Many of my students find that they have fun using a shuffle bass pattern in their own song arrangements.
On this subject of the blues, I must share something with you about my personal piano playing preferences. I have played the 12-bar blues in many contexts from my earliest performing days and have taught it to many of my students for decades as well. However, listening to and playing the 12-bar blues is not something that I am passionate about playing. One notable exception to this came a few years ago when one of my students lent me a CD called Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack. Hearing Dr John play the 12-bar blues on this solo piano recording was transformational for me. His playing DOES inspire me, especially when I introduce the 12-bar blues to my students. Dr. John’s recording of Blues in the Night, as well as his performance of it on trumpeter Nicholas Payton‘s version, was also among my favorites on my Rhapsody Music playlist. But lest you think that I don’t like the blues, I do need to make an important distinction between the 12-bar blues form and a blues informed style of playing the standards.
Let me explain what I mean. It seems that every time I sit down at the keyboard to play a song for one of my students, she will ask me about my extra jazzy sounding notes. We have just spent time going over the standard that she is working on. Sometimes, I’ve written out the music so she can see how to apply the accompaniment patterns to the particular piece. However, even when I stick very closely to the notated score, I find myself adding bluesy grace notes to certain notes in the music. She, like so many other students, will want to know what the notes are, how I know when to use them and how she can add them to her own keyboard playing.
That’s when I explain the concept of using a blues informed style of playing the piano. I take the opportunity to write some 12-bar blues for my student and show her how she can start adding her own too. I also emphasize to the student the importance of both learning to play the 12-bar blues AND listening to recordings by performers who play the standards with more of blues inflection.
Perhaps you too would like to learn to play the 12-bar blues and/or discover how you can add bluesy grace notes to some of your songs as well. Maybe you would prefer to receive help and guidance with another style of music such as a show tune, a classical piece, a popular song or one of the hundreds of great standards from the American Popular Songbook.
Whether you are a beginner, someone returning to piano lessons after many years or would like to make a change of teachers, our patient and encouraging piano instructors can help and guide you along your musical journey. If you are a parent who wants to offer your son or daughter the opportunity to learn to use the keyboard to make music, all of our teachers will be delighted to welcome and help him or her enjoy learning how to play the piano.
Contact us today to find out all about taking piano lessons at the Ed Mascari Piano Studio. Both our Natick Studio and Hudson Studio locations are convenient and centrally located.
As always, our patient and enthusiastic piano instructors are happy and excited to help you learn to play the music you love!
