I've decided to do a series of posts throughout the next few weeks and months about my favorite jazz musicians, performances, and recordings. What better place to begin than where it all started for me?
In 1960, John Coltrane recorded with his quartet an entire album of standards by Rogers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, and the Gershwins. I first heard Coltrane's landmark interpretation of "My Favorite Things" probably in the late 80s or early 90s. I had only a passing familiarity with The Sound of Music at the time, so I fortunately didn't know Julie Andrews' version initially. That's likely a good thing, given this biting lyric I first heard in 1994:
" 'My Favourite Things ' are playing
Again and again
But it's by Julie Andrews
And not by John Coltrane"
- Elvis Costello, "This is Hell"
(Maybe I just need to be liquored up and/or in the right crowd to enjoy her version. )
"My Favorite Things" was successful commercially and critically in its day. Gorgeous and hypnotic, hinting at the Eastern influences and direction Coltrane as well as many other jazz artists would take throughout that decade and beyond, this recording opened many ears. 30 or so years later, I was another lucky listener.
2 comments:
I used those lines from This Is Hell as my signature on Costello-L for a long time. My Favorite Things was one of my first Coltrane albums. The Sound of Music Original Broadway Cast LP was on constant repeat play one summer in our house, the one with Mary Martin not Julie Andrews.
Try to find Andrew White performing in DC sometime. He played on some early Weather Report sides and transcribed most of Coltrane's solos. He is a human monster.
Thanks for the recommendation, Woody! Good to see you around these parts!
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