Tag Archives: The Nearness of You

Lee Konitz: Tranquility

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In November 1957, “Verve” label released “Tranquility”, album by Lee Konitz’s Quartet (14th Lee Konitz album overall). It was recorded in October 1957, in New York City.

Personnel:

  • Lee Konitz – alto saxophone
  • Billy Bauer – guitar
  • Henry Grimes – bass
  • Dave Bailey – drums

Track listing:

  1. Stephanie – Lee Konitz
  2. Memories of You – Eubie Blake, Andy Razaf
  3. People Will Say We’re in Love – Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II
  4. When You’re Smiling – Mark Fisher, Joe Goodwin, Larry Shay
  5. Sunday – Chester Conn, Benny Krueger, Ned Miller, Jule Styne
  6. Lennie Bird – Lennie Tristano
  7. The Nearness of You – Hoagy Carmichael, Ned Washington
  8. Jonquil – Werner Bauer

Eric Alexander: Up, Over & Out

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In August 1993, “Delmark” label released “Up, Over & Out”, the third Eric Alexander album.

Personnel:

  • Eric Alexander – tenor saxophone
  • Harold Mabern – piano
  • John Ore – bass
  • Joe Farnsworth – drums

Track listing:

  1. Up, Over & Out – Hank Mobley
  2. The Nearness of You – Hoagy Carmichael, Ned Washington
  3. Eronel – Thelonious Monk
  4. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered – Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers
  5. Flying Fish – Cecil Payne
  6. Blues for Mabe – Harold Mabern
  7. I Remember Clifford – Benny Golson
  8. Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are – Thelonious Monk

The Three Sounds: It Just Got To Be

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In June 1963, “Blue Note” label released “It Just Got to Be”, the tenth Three Sounds (The) album. It was recorded in December 1960, at “Van Gelder Studio” in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and was produced by Alfred Lion.

Personnel:

  • Gene Harris – piano
  • Andrew Simpkins – double bass
  • Bill Dowdy – drums
  • Rudy Van Gelder – recording
  • Reid Miles – design
  • Francis Wolff – photography
  • Les David – liner notes

Track listing:

All tracks by Gene Harris, except where noted.

  • One for Renee
  • Stella by Starlight – Ned Washington, Victor Young
  • It Just Got to Be
  • If I Were a Bell – Frank Loesser
  • Blue ‘n’ Boogie – Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Paparelli
  • The Nearness of You – Hoagy Carmichael, Ned Washington
  • Real Gene
  • South of the Border – Jimmy Kennedy, Michael Carr

Lou Donaldson: The Time Is Right

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In April 1960, “Blue Note” label released “The Time Is Right”, the eleventh Lou Donaldson album. It was recorded October – November 1959, at “Van Gelder Studio” in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and was produced by Alfred Lion.

Personnel:

  • Lou Donaldson – alto saxophone
  • Blue Mitchell – trumpet
  • Horace Parlan – piano
  • Laymon Jackson – bass
  • Sam Jones – bass
  • Dave Bailey – drums
  • Al Harewood – drums
  • Ray Barretto – congas
  • Rudy Van Gelder – recording, mastering
  • Reid Miles – design
  • Francis Wolff – photography
  • Ira Gitler – technical personnel

Track listing:

  1. Lou’s Blues – Lou Donaldson
  2. Be My Love – Nicholas Brodszky, Sammy Cahn
  3. Idaho – Jesse Stone
  4. The Nearness of You – Hoagy Camichael, Ned Washington
  5. Mack the Knife – Marc Blitzstein, Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill
  6. Crosstown Shuffle – Lou Donaldson
  7. Tangerine – Johnny Mercer, Victor Schertzinger

Etta James: Time After Time

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On May 9, 1996, “Private Music” label released “Time After Time”, the 20th Etta James album. It was recorded in 1995, at ”Conway Studios”, and was produced by John Snyder.

Personnel:

  • Etta James – vocal
  • Josh Sklair – guitar
  • Cedar Walton – piano, arrangements
  • John Clayton – bass
  • Paul Humphrey – drums
  • Donto Metto Jame – percussion
  • Eddie Harris – tenor saxophone
  • Herman Riley – tenor saxophone
  • Kraig Kilby – trombone
  • Ronnie Buttacavoli – flugelhorn
  • Patrick Karamian – engineer
  • Jay Newland – engineer, mastering
  • Joe Lopes – mastering
  • Lupe De Leon – executive producer

Track listing:

  1. Don’t Go to Strangers
  2. Teach Me Tonight
  3. Love Is Here to Stay
  4. The Nearness of You
  5. Time After Time
  6. My Funny Valentine
  7. Imagination
  8. Fool That I Am
  9. Willow Weep for Me
  10. Everybody’s Somebodys’ Fool
  11. Night and Day
  12. Someone to Watch Over Me

James Taylor: American Standard

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On February 28, 2020, “Fantasy” label released “American Standard”, the twentieth James Taylor studio album. It was recorded at “The Barn” in Washington, MA, “United Recording Studios” in Hollywood, “Capitol Studios” in Los Angeles, “Treasure Isle Studios” and “Blackbird Studios” in Nashville, TN, and was produced by Dave O’Donnell, John Pizzarelli and James Taylor. “American Standard” won “Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album” at the 63rd “Annual Grammy Awards”.

Personnel:

  • James Taylor – vocals, acoustic guitar
  • Kate Markowitz – vocals
  • Arnold McCuller – vocals
  • Caroline Taylor – vocals
  • John Pizzarelli – rhythm guitar
  • Michael Landau – lead guitar
  • Larry Goldings – piano, keyboards
  • Jimmy Johnson – bass
  • Viktor Krauss – double bass
  • Steve Gadd – drums
  • Luis Conte – percussion
  • Dorian Holley – vocals
  • Louis Marini, Jr. – saxophones, flute, clarinet
  • Walter Fowler – trumpets, flügelhorn
  • Andrea Zonn – vocals, violin
  • Stuart Duncan – violin
  • Jerry Douglas – dobro, engineer
  • Ted Jensen – mastering
  • Justin Shturtz – mastering assistant
  • Carrie Smith – art direction, design

Track listing:

  1. My Blue Heaven – Walter Donaldson, George A. Whiting
  2. Moon River – Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer
  3. Teach Me Tonight – Gene de Paul,, Sammy Cahn
  4. As Easy as Rolling Off a Log – M.K. Jerome, Jack Scholl
  5. Almost Like Being in Love – Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner
  6. Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat – Frank Loesser
  7. The Nearness of You – Hoagy Carmichael, Ned Washington
  8. You’ve Got to be carefully Taught – Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II
  9. God Bless the Child – Billie Holiday, Arthur Herzog Jr.
  10. Pennies from Heaven – Arthur Johnston, Johnny Burke
  11. My Heart Stood Still – Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart
  12. Ol’ Man River – Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II
  13.  It’s Only a Paper Moon – Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg, Billy Rose
  14. The Surrey with the Fringe on Top – Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II

Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong: Ella and Louis

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In October 1956, “Verve” label released “Ella and Louis”, a studio album by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, accompanied by the Oscar Peterson Quartet. It was recorded in August 1956, at “Capitol Studios” in Los Angeles, and was produced by Norman Granz.

Personnel:

  • Ella Fitzgerald– vocals
  • Louis Armstrong– vocals, trumpet
  • Oscar Peterson– piano
  • Herb Ellis– guitar
  • Ray Brown– bass
  • Buddy Rich– drums
  • Val Valentin – engineer
  • Phil Stern – photography

Track listing:

  1. Can’t We Be Friends? – Paul James, Kay Swift
  2. Isn’t This a Lovely Day? – Irving Berlin
  3. Moonlight in Vermont – John Blackburn, Karl Suessdorf
  4. They Can’t Take That Away from Me – Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin
  5. Under a Blanket of Blue – Jerry Livingston, Al J. Neiburg, Marty Symes
  6. Tenderly – Walter Gross, Jack Lawrence
  7. A Foggy Day – Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin
  8. Stars Fell on Alabama – Mitchell Parish, Frank Perkins
  9. Cheek to Cheek – Irving Berlin
  10. The Nearness of You – Hoagy Carmichael, Ned Washington
  11. April in Paris – Vernon Duke, Yip Harburg

Joshua Redman & Brad Mehldau: Nearness

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On September 9, 2016, “Nonesuch” label released “Nearness”, an album Joshua Redman and Brad Mehldau. It was recorded in 2011, at “Teatro Fernán Gómez” in Madrid, Spain, “Kultur Casino” in Bern, Switzerland, “De Oosterpoort” in Groningen, Netherlands, “Alte Oper” in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, “Tonhalle Düsseldorf” in Düsseldorf, Germany, “Kongsberg Church” in Kongsberg, Norway, and was produced by Joshua Redman and Brad Mehldau.

Personnel:

  • Joshua Redman– soprano and tenor saxophone
  • Brad Mehldau– piano

Personnel:

  1. Ornithology – Charlie Parker, Benny Harris
  2. Always August – Brad Mehldau
  3. In Walked Bud – Thelonious Monk
  4. Mehlsancholy Mode – Joshua Redman
  5. The Nearness of You – Hoagy Carmichael, Ned Washington
  6. Old West – Brad Mehldau

Roland Kirk: Triple Threat

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In July 1957, “King” label released “Triple Threat”, the debut Roland Kirk album. It was recorded in November 1956 in New York City.

Personnel:

  • Roland Kirk – tenor saxophone, manzello, flute, stritch
  • James Madison – piano
  • Carl Pruitt – bass
  • Henry Duncan – drums

Track listing:

All tracks by Roland Kirk except where noted.

  1. Roland’s Theme
  2. Slow Groove
  3. Stormy Weather – Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler
  4. The Nearness of You – Hoagy Carmichael, Ned Washington
  5. A La Carte
  6. Easy Living – Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin
  7. Triple Threat

Hoagy Carmichael

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On December 27, 1981, Hoagland Howard “Hoagy”  Carmichael  died aged 82. He was musician (piano), composer, singer, actor, and bandleader. Carmichael composed several hundred songs, including fifty that achieved hit record status. His best known songs are four among the most-recorded American songs of all time: “Stardust”, “Georgia on My Mind” (lyrics by Stuart Gorrell), “The Nearness of You”, and “Heart and Soul” (lyrics by Frank Loesser). His song “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening,” (lyrics by Johnny Mercer, won the “Academy Award for Best Original Song” in 1951. Carmichael’s songs were performed by many famous musicians including Sidney Arodin, Louis Armstrong, Fred Astaire, Bix Beiderbecke, Ray Charles, Bing Crosby, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Helen Forrest, Harry James, Spike Jones, Frank Loesser, Johnny Mercer, Glenn Miller, Dinah Shore, Jack Teagarden and Paul Whiteman.