Mr. Kicks.  Always a big fan of Oscar Brown’s music, I initially envisioned recording this more in Oscar’s vein – faster, edgier.  But Robert heard a slower tempo, and a smoother approach which better suits me and creates an interesting contrast to the lyrics.  Joe La Barbera on the “bongo jazz” sections is one of my favorite elements of the recording. 

 

You Make Me Feel So Young.  I heard a very good trio perform this song recently at the 1905 Club in Portland.  It stuck with me, a memory of a very fun night.  So I asked Robert to arrange it.  His arrangement makes a song composed in 1946 sound fresh. It certainly describes how music makes me feel. 

 

Strange Meadowlark/Skylark.  I was attracted to the unusual melody line of this Dave Brubeck composition, which mimics the sound of a meadowlark he heard as a child.  Having grown up in the country, I heard them as well.  I love his wife Iola’s lyric.  It seemed natural to pair it with a ballad I have been performing and loving for many years, one of my favorites – Johnny Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael’s Skylark.

 

Hello Love.  A song I found online while going down a rabbit hole.  It is an unusual song and has a very interesting, almost odd lyric – “I know some day you’ll be returning up above.”  To me this means that once you love somebody, regardless of whether or not they are here,  you carry that love with you, you carry their voice with you.  A very dear friend said to me once, “When I’m gone, if you ever need anything or have any problems you need help with, just ask me for advice.  I’ll help you.” 

 

Dream.  Love this beautiful melody and sentiment and I could think of no better horn player to realize it than Robert Kyle.  

 

I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm.  I’ve loved this song ever since I heard a Mildred Bailey recording.  Chris Dawson is a master of stride piano, so I wanted to give him a chance to shine on a stride arrangement.

 

 Early in the Morning.  I found this art song by Ned Rorem while digging around the internet looking for material.  I’ve always found Ned Rorem to be a very interesting man.  I could think of no better person to arrange it than Josh Nelson.  Josh asked me to pinpoint why I like the song, and for me it is the Robert Hillyer lyric: “I was 20, and a lover, and in paradise to stay…”  It takes me back to the first big solo trip I took as a young man, to New Orleans, and sitting under the trees at a  sidewalk coffee shop in the French Quarter in the early, quiet morning.  Josh’s arrangement brilliantly highlights that memory.

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I’ll See You in My Dreams.  I love a pedal to the metal swinger.  Fun to perform, and for me, fun to hear.  Chuck Berghofer’s rock solid bass keeps it right in the pocket.  

 

Sometimes.   This song was brought to my attention by the author James Gavin who felt it suited me.  It is a sweet ballad that was written as a poem by Felice Mancini to her father Henry.  He was so touched by it that he wrote music for it.  Being Henry Mancini, it ended up on a Carpenter’s album.  As I’ve “grown up” I’ve found a new closeness with my family, a source of comfort and happiness.  Family is important.  It took me a while to figure that out.  This is my first recording accompanying myself on piano.