“Who’s wonderful? Who’s marvelous?”
Easily answered: Marty Grosz, guitar and arrangements; Duke Heitger, trumpet; Dan Barrett, trombone; Scott Robinson, Dan Block, reeds; Rossano Sportiello, piano; Jon Burr, string bass; Pete Siers, drums. Recorded on September 22, 2012, at Jazz at Chautauqua.
In addition to the sprightly songs, please notice Marty’s swinging arrangements: his assortments of horns, the idiomatic riffs and backgrounds, the way his performances are anything but ensemble – solos – ensemble in formulaic ways. (Chuck Folds wrote somewhere that Vic Dickenson loved to play MISS ANNABELLE LEE: a pity Vic never got to record his huge repertoire for generations to come. I hear it as a slow drag . . . )
MISS ANNABELLE LEE:
MY SIN:
(Some impatient viewer is sure to comment on YouTube that the music doesn’t begin until two minutes and two seconds have elapsed. I write these words as a public service.)
And some audio-visual aids for those, who, like me, find these songs captivating — impossible to forget once heard.
Visual (Cupid takes aim at a flapper; the final S of the title falls to the ground):
And again (in what I believe is a later copy of the sheet music):
For those who want to hear contemporaneous performances — by one of the most winsome singers ever — here is Miss Annette Hanshaw.
MISS ANNABELLE LEE:
MY SIN:
(Incidentally, the latter song might be the precursor to the 1931 GUILTY — one of several songs that compare romantic infatuation to a moral or criminal offense. Draw your own conclusions.)
May your happiness increase!
