[Dixielandjazz] The Nearness of You

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

Dear Graham:

we have very similar ears mate,

excellent choices,  and almost nothing Etta James ever did was bad.

And of course Nancy knows my personal fondness for the Blues.

Johnny Mathis also did fantastic versions of the song,

And Mel Torme's versions were of course Jazzically exquisit.

Bu then again I do like sounds other than straight Dixieland :))

Cheers,

Tom

-----Original Message-----
From: grahmartin at bigpond.com
To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
Sent: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 6:17 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] The Nearness of You

   Nancy said:

"[.... but it's so much easier to narrow it down by asking all of you 
for your
favourite recording of this tune. I'd prefer one that includes vocals 
since
lyrics don't get much more romantic than this. Still, the melody is a 
good one
for jazz instrumental, so include those suggestions, too.]"

Hi Nancy,

It is a great tune and I have been interested to see the 
recommendations. I have
a few, perhaps you have not heard:

1. By the fast developing young Aussie protégée of James Morrison - 
Emma Pask.
On the " Three Minds" three-CD set - the one called "Cool".

2. A somewhat bluesy version of the tune by Etta James, from her CD 
"Time After
Time".

3. A great instrumental by Woody Herman with a wonderful melody-based 
solo by
Bill Harris - Hey, I'm a trombone player!

4. Two instrumental versions by the Gerry Mulligan Quartet - one with 
Chet Baker
on trumpet and the later recording with Bob Brookmeyer on valve 
trombone (No
repeated nonsense about valve trombones PU-LEASE! The offenders know 
who.).
Superb but perhaps a bit too 'cool' for some.

5. My favourite vocal version is by Mel Torme from 1964 on the CD 
called "16
Most Requested Songs" - I don't know the original LP it came from. Mel 
also
recorded it in 1991, in a 'two-tune' medley of tunes, with Cleo Laine 
singing "I
May Be Wrong" over the top of his 'Nearness' lines. Rather clever!

The tune was first introduced by Glenn Miller.

I think the reason it is popular as an instrumental is that it has a 
nice
sequence - especially the chromatically descending chords over bars 5 
to 8.

||F / / / |Cm7 / F7sus / |Bb / / / |Bbdim7 / / / |Am / Ab7 / |Gm7 / C7 
/ |Am /
Ab7 / |Gm7 / C7 ||

There are other approaches to the progression.

And if you ever want to hear a jazz soloist resolving his solo lines 
perfectly
over this tune, you could do no better than the Charlie Parker version.

Plus Hoagy Carmichael just happens to be my favourite songwriter.

Each to his own - of course.

Best,

Grah

Graham Martin
COOCHIEMUDLO ISLAND
Queensland, AUSTRALIA

E-mail: grahmartin at bigpond.com
Website: http://tromjazz.netfirms.com/
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