Cooler today. For a moment, my coworkers and I considered eating lunch outside. But the wind that hit our faces as we stepped out of the building soon died down, allowing the parking lot to reclaim its convection oven status. Oh, well.
Remember yesterday, when I said there were two perfect renditions of “Summertime?” You got one yesterday. One of these two is the other, although both are stunners.
[audio:mdavis_summertime.mp3]
Miles Davis – “Summertime” – from Porgy & Bess, recorded in collaboration with Gil Evans in 1958. A friend of mine used to say something profound about this album. I think it was either that it was the only record to make her cry … or that if you don’t cry when you hear it, then you’re just not human. My faulty memory aside, she’s right either way.
[audio:akidjo_summertime.mp3]
Angelique Kidjo – “Summertime” – from a compilation of jazz standards recorded “as a tribute to the Free Spirit of Paris in the ’50s.” Huh. Whatever. The CD is called Jazz A Saint Germain. The first track is this one. And they could put any kind of pompous sub-title they want on the cover, because nothing can follow it. Of all the covers you’ve heard this week, this one is the most profoundly original.
