It seems to me that the 1958 hit record by The Platters was the only version of Jerome Kern’s beautiful classic Smoke Gets in Your Eyes that played in my mind for many years. The Platters’ singing style was defined as Doo wop. You can see the influence of this genre every time you catch one of those late night paid program advertisements of music collections for sale. You may have also noticed Doo wop’s influence on many high school and college a cappella vocal groups.
I feel fortunate to have personally seen, heard, met and even spoken with some of the great performers of music from the American Popular Songbook. Let me roll back the clock to 1972 for a minute. Here I was a young keyboard player working as full-time professional musician six nights a week. As you can imagine, I was wide-eyed and enthusiastic. One of our gigs was at a club called Yesterdays in Kenmore Square in Boston. On our breaks, we’d go next door to the large lounge where we’d watch the show bands perform. One time, we saw Herb Reed and the Platters. Boy was I impressed! Five stylishly dressed soulful singers backed by an ensemble of seven musicians singing none other than Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.
Despite this encounter, I have never been overly excited by the Platters’ rendition of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes. So when I heard pianist Keith Jarrett’s trio recording nearly 20 years later, I began to appreciate the beauty of this Jerome Kern classic. As I mentioned in my recent All the Things You Are post, Kern’s compositional writing favored a more classical style. As a result, it’s no surprise to discover that Smoke Gets in Your Eyes was written with lyricist/librettist Otto Harbach (1873-1963) for their 1933 operetta Roberta.
As many of my piano students will tell you, uncovering and often adjusting chord patterns in standards, as well as in classical pieces from Chopin to Clementi, (though keeping these as written) along with identifying the ii-Vii-V-I chord progressions and is an important aspect of my teaching. As a result, discovering that Smoke Gets in Your Eyes actually modulates (changes key signature) from Eb Major (3 flats) to B Major (5 sharps) and back was quite a revelation. If you are like many piano students, you may find it challenging to remember how to figure out the key of a piece. My students, young and old, continue to find this hand-out on how to identify the key of a song helpful.
The great thing is that the music of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes moves seamlessly from the verses (Key of Eb) to the bridge (Key of B) and back without a hitch. After being continuously inspired by listening to Keith Jarrett’s beautiful ballad rendition for many years, I have been blown away by the number and variety of other interpretations that I found on Rhapsody Music.
Here are but a few of the highlights among the four hours’ worth of tracks. Pianist Thelonious Monk’s solo version echoes his famous solo Ruby My Dear. Drummer Philly Joe Jones sets the song in an up tempo frame and boy does his ensemble swing. Pianist Bob James (you may remember his popular theme song from the TV show Taxi) teams up with drummer Harvey Mason for a tasty medium tempo track offering. As you probably know by now, my performing experience includes a decade of playing the Hammond B-3 organ. Having been inspired by the instrument since I was 16, the sound and style always catches my attention. So when I heard British guitarist Jim Mullen’s group, The Organ Trio, performing a smoking version of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, I was thrilled.
Needless to say, a picture (or a performance in this case) is worth a thousand words. So you may want to make up your own playlist and start listening for yourself. Jerome Kern may not have liked such “out of context” renditions, but his musical legacy has provided us with many treasures that might have otherwise disappeared. If you’d like to learn how to play your own version of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, another Jerome Kern standard, a selection from the American Popular Songbook, or another one of your favorite songs, summer is a great time to sit down at your keyboard while life moves at a slower pace.
As you finalize your plans for traveling, family visits, vacations, summer camp, concert going and even educational activities, remember that the Ed Mascari Piano Studio’s unique 2010 Summer Piano Lesson program can keep you connected with your piano keyboard as well. Rather than returning to lessons in the fall and spending the entire month of September refreshing your knowledge and skills, you can get the best of both worlds. You’ll be able to select the number, times and dates of your lesson appointments during July and August
Whether you are an adult beginner, the parent of a high school student who wants to make a change of piano teachers, an adult piano student who wants to return to taking piano lessons after a long hiatus or the parent of a young child who just got her first keyboard, taking piano lessons at one of the Ed Mascari Piano Studio’s two convenient locations the Natick, MA Piano Studio and the Hudson, MA Piano Studio is the best way to for you to get started.
Contact us today to find out all about taking piano lessons at the Ed Mascari Piano Studio. Our piano instructors are always delighted to help you learn to play the music you love!
