I was visiting the Smithsonian about 10 years ago (I'm not good at remembering exact dates) and came upon a Duke Ellington display. There were all kinds of wonderful photos and memorablia to look at and there was a Duke recording playing over and over. It was haunting.....and I loved it. There was a bench to sit on and I sat there for probably a 1/2 hour listening to this song, over and over. It made me weep. It was just piano - no lyrics. I knew I would never forget that melody.
Several years later I was listening to a cd by the amazing Tierney Sutton and she began the song with an a capella, "oooooh".....and with the first few notes, I knew it was Dukes song! I had only heard it at the Smithsonian and I had no idea what the name of it was.....and there was Tierney....singing it. The name of the song is, "Reflections". Next to "I Wanna Be Loved" by Shirley Horn, this recording is one of my all-time favorites. To hear the lyrics with Duke's
melody practically made me lose my mind. I haven't been able to find who wrote those lyrics....when I do, I will update this post.
For now.....all I can say is do yourself a favor and get Tierney's CD. It's called "Something Cool".
Here's a link from YouTube with Duke playing....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eaTmoPmJPU
No comments:
Post a Comment