The first time I played Get Happy was appropriately enough for the first of six annual jazz worship services that I directed at the Hartford Street Presbyterian Church in Natick, MA. Although I had led jazz worship services as a solo pianist many churches and colleges before, this was this first time that I was able to include the talents of other performers. In addition to two terrific guest jazz musicians, Mike Monaghan-saxophone & flute and Barry Smith-string bass, I had the resources of our church Sanctuary Choir, a singing congregation and two wonderful vocalist soloists, Frima Perrine and Ralph Kerr.
One of the soloists selected Get Happy, and we included a swinging version of this standard at the service. Being resistant to bring a secular song into the sacred environment, Frima showed me the lyrics written by Ted Koehler (1894-1973) in his first collaboration with composer Harold Arlen (1905-1986). As a matter of fact, Get Happy (1929) was the first well-known song that the composer wrote under the name Harold Arlen (prior to that, as I mentioned in last week’s Blues in the Night blog post, he went under his birth name, Hyman Arluck). He and Koehler went on to combine their talents to create many great standards for the American Popular Songbook for more than a decade. Among these are I’ve Got the World on a String, Let’s Fall in Love and Stormy Weather which will be included in this Harold Arlen blog post series during the coming weeks.
As I prepared to share Get Happy with you for today’s article, I discovered that Koehler’s lyrics were inspired by the Get Happy phrase, which refers to the African-American Gospel Music tradition describing the charismatic experience of receiving the Holy Spirit during a church service. Ruth Etting first sang Get Happy in the 1930 show called The Nine-Fifteen Revue. However, Judy Garland‘s performance of this standard in her last MGM film Summer Stock more than twenty years later is why her name rather than Etting’s is affiliated with this song today.
Any of you who have children and grandchildren today have probably seen the types of cartoons that they watch on TV. Not only do the animated characters look very different, but the music is a marked contrast from what we heard in our younger days. When I listened to various versions of this standard, I couldn’t help but wonder if the style of Get Happy performances adopted by so many jazz musicians was influenced by the theme music for Warner Brothers’ Merrie Melodies cartoon series. Apparently the original 1932 “hot jazz” arrangement by Abe Lyman‘s Orchestra demonstrated this song’s inherent possibilities, and when combined with the influence of its ecstatic Get Happy Gospel tradition, Harold Arlen’s first hit became an important addition to the jazz standard repertoire.
During the years that I was performing as solo pianist at the Radisson Milford Hotel, I had the wonderful opportunity to get to know some high school jazz musicians who came to hear me play quite often. As I continue to find in working with my own piano students, these young instrumentalists also had a few things to teach me in the course of our relationship.
One such item was their introducing me to the work of jazz pianist 39 year-old Brad Mehldau (then in his early 30s). As is the case with quite a few of Mehldau’s piano-bass-drums trio arrangements of familiar songs, his recording of Get Happy includes an imaginative introduction which serves as an interlude between choruses of the tune. In addition to this, his version showcases his versatility and vibrant virtuosity.
Perhaps my favorite track from this wonderful group of musical Get Happy gems comes from a 2002 CD called I Wish I Knew by a Swiss jazz pianist named Silvano Bazan. His trio recording of today’s featured selection is a cooking mainstream jazz arrangement in a funky rhythm punctuated by percussion and filled with Bazan’s bluesy improvisations. This style certainly reminded me of pianist Monty Alexander’s way of playing.
Hopefully, after hearing my solo piano recordings of Get Happy and Blues in the Night (as well as last February’s Over the Rainbow recording) that accompany the first two Harold Arlen composer series of blog posts, you’ll become as impressed as I am with the breadth and depth of the musical work of this wonderful American Popular Songbook composer. There’s plenty more to come during the next few weeks. So stay tuned.
In the meantime, remember that you can learn to how play these songs or any one of the hundreds of great standards from the American Popular Songbook with the help of an experienced piano instructor. Perhaps you would like to play another style of music such as a show tune, a classical piece, a popular song or the theme from one of your favorite movies?
Whether you’re a parent who wants to offer your son or daughter the opportunity to learn to use the keyboard to make music or an adult beginner or someone who wants to get back to taking piano lessons after many years, all of the patient and encouraging piano teachers at the Ed Mascari Piano Studio will be delighted to welcome and help you or your son or daughter learn to play the piano.
We accept students anytime during the year. In fact, our 2010 Summer Session is a great way for you to get started. Our unique Summer Piano Lesson program is designed to provide you with maximum scheduling flexibility. You can schedule the number, times and dates of your lesson appointments around your vacation, camp, family and other leisure activities.
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As always, our patient and enthusiastic piano instructors are happy and excited to help you learn to play the music you love!
