I complained about the heat on Tuesday so this started off as an ironic commentary on the erratic New Orleans weather. It felt more like late summer than early autumn on election day,
A cold front is on the way so it may at long last be autumnal.
Early Autumn began life as a part of a larger piece of music composed by Ralph Burns and Woody Herman. Johnny Mercer added lyrics in 1952.
We begin with Anita O’Day not because it’s the earliest version but because I love that picture of her. What a hat. What a singer. What a broad.
Early Autumn is one of the standouts on Ella’s Johnny Mercer Songbook album.
A typically offbeat interpretation by one of the weirdest jazz artists of all-time, Sun Ra.
Patti LuPone is best known for playing Evita on Broadway. She’s got a helluva set of pipers be it early or late autumn.
What would a Friday Cocktail Hour be without jazz instrumental versions of the week’s tune? This time, Woody Herman followed by Stan Getz who played the sax solo on the Herman recording.
That’s all for this week. Kick your shoes off, pour yourself a boot and celebrate the beginning of the end of a long election season. It’s what Bogie, Betty, and Frank would want. Never argue with them
Check out sunrise spring time again someday. A perfect compliment to this. The interesting thing about sunrise is various ensembles is that they closely studied and intently rehearse classic big band charts. And I think you can hear that foundation here, the launch pad from which they launched rocket number nine.
Meanwhile in Chicago, we had a record 76 yesterday and a predicted 36 tomorrow.