Spring Is Here

Spring is a time for renewal, rebirth, even resurrection. Streams swell from the extra runoff from melting winter snow, new plant growth "springs forth" and a whole bunch of Cinderellas try to punch their ticket to the big dance. 

Spring is also a metaphor for the start of better days, something we could all use in these uncertain times. So with that in mind I offer a set list of spring related songs.

Beginning with Appalachian Spring, Aaron Copland's massive Suite for Ballet (which actually has nothing to do with the season, rather taking its name from a line in Hart Crane's long poem, The Bridge) and finishing with a lovely rendition of Jobim's Waters of March by John Pizzarelli and Rosemary Clooney, the set includes a bit of everything and should be the perfect antidote for toxic bank assets and pontificating congressmen.

Except, as I put this list together I started to see another side of spring - one that wasn't all sunshine and lollypops. Sure love was in the air, but oftentimes for someone else. A perfect example is Rodgers & Hart's, Spring is Here, performed here achingly by Frank Sinatra.

During the Capitol years from 1954 to 1960, Sinatra and long time arranger-conductor Nelson Riddle virtually created the concept album with upbeat, swinging LPs like Swing Easy, Songs For Young Lovers, and Songs for Swinging Lovers. But while Sinatra is justly celebrated as the premiere interpreter of romantic ballads, I've always found solace in the darker torch songs on albums such as Wee Small Hours and Close To You. Perhaps because he battled depression for years, he had an innate understanding of the emotional wasteland caused by love gone astray.

In 1958 they recorded the groundbreaking, Sinatra Sings For Only The Lonely,  where they plumb the depths of lonliness and despair on 14 flawless tracks including Spring Is Here. Remember this is Sinatra, the ballsy street kid from Hoboken, the leader of the Rat Pack, the Chairman of the Board, allowing us an intimate window into his very vulnerable soul. Listen to the deep, amber tones he gets in the lower register. And then, there's the phrasing: holding onto a note here, moving quickly through the next line, letting the listener in on his heart's inner monologue. It's honest, brutal and magnificent!

You can download the entire set list by clicking on any of the songs below:

Spring 2009:

Appalachian Spring - Aaron Copland
April In Paris - Ella & Satchmo
April the 14th, Part 1 - Gillian Welch
Easter Parade - Dick Hyman
A Fine Spring Morning - Blossom Dearie
I'll Remember April - Charlie Parker
It Might As Well Be Spring - Blossom Dearie
Joy Spring - Clifford Brown
On Hearing The First Cuckoo in Spring - Frederich Delius
One Morning in May - James Taylor
Paris in the Spring - Michel Legrand
Some Other Spring - Billie Holiday
Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most - Ellis Marsalis
Spring Is Here - Frank Sinatra
Spring Song (V. Semernin) - Alexander Mosolov
There'll Be Another Spring - Dianne Reeves
They Say It's Spring - Blossom Dearie
Up Jumped Spring - Frank Morgan
A Velvet Affair - Mel Torme
The Four Seasons (Spring) - Vivaldi
Waters Of March - John Pizzarelli & Rosemary Clooney