este azul já por aqui apareceu, mas hoje recordei-o, pela voz incomparável da grande ella.

My mama done tol' me when I was in pigtails


My mama done tol' me, "Hon,


A man's gonna sweet talk and give ya the big eye


But when the sweet talkin's done

A man is a two-face


A worrisome thing who'll leave ya to sing


The blues in the night"

Now the rain's a-fallin'


Hear the train's a callin', whooee


My mama done tol' me


Hear that lonesome whistle


Blowin' 'cross the trestle, whooee!

My mama done tol' me, a-whooee-ah-whooee


Ol' clickety-clack's a-echoin'


Back th' blues in the night


The evenin' breeze'll start the trees to cryin'


And the moon'll hide it's light


When you get the blues in the night

Take my word, the mockingbird'll sing


The saddest kind o' song


He knows things are wrong


And he's right

From Natchez to Mobile, from Memphis to St. Joe


Wherever the four winds blow


I been to some big towns an' heard me some big talk


But there is one thing I know

That a man's a two-face


A worrisome thing who'll leave ya to sing


The blues in the night

d e s c u b r a
a s
s e t e
d i f e r e n ç a s :

este velho standard data dos tempos iniciais da carreira de ella, com a orquestra de chick webb. 
ainda hoje mantém o mesmo optimismo – e nos faz querer dançar na rua.

a) ella

b) eles e elas 

My fur coat's sold


Oh Lord ain't it cold


But I'm not gonna holler


'cause I've still got a dollar


And when I get low


Oooh, I get high



My man walked out


Now you know that ain't right


Well he better watch out


If I meet him tonight


I said when I get low


Oooh, I get high



All this hard luck in this town has found me


Nobody knows what troubles are all around me



Oh, I'm all alone


With no one to pet me


My old rocking chair


Ain't never gonna get me


'cause when I get low


Oooh, I get high


When I get low

Oooh, I get high

d e s c u b r a
a s
s e t e
d i f e r e n ç a s :

george gershwin escreveu esta canção há setenta e sete anos para o musical “shall we dance”, em que astaire a canta para rogers. infelizmente morreu pouco tempo após o filme estrear, não tendo assistido à popularidade que foi ganhando, tornando-se num dos standards incontornáveis do chamado american songbook. no filme, ao contrário do habitual, ginger & fred não dançam na sequência da canção mas, nítida embora longíngua, tenho uma memória dos meus pais a dançarem ao som da cover de frank sinatra. e isso não me podem tirar.

a) ella + louis

b) jane + john

Our romance won't end on a sorrowful note

Though by tomorrow you're gone

The song has ended but as the songwriter wrote,

The melody lingers on.

They may take you from me,

I'll miss your fond caress

But though they take you from me,

I'll still possess...

The way you wear your hat

The way you sip your tea

The memory of all that

No, no they can't take that away from me

The way your smile just beams

The way you sing off key

The way you haunt my dreams

No, no they can't take that away from me

We may never never meet again, on that bumpy road to love

Still I'll always, always keep the memory of

The way you hold your knife

The way we danced till three

The way you changed my life

No, no they can't take that away from me

No, they can't take that away from me.

escrita em 1948, foi gravada por sarah vaughan no ano seguinte: tinha nascido mais um standard. 
foi reinterpretada por quase toda a gente do jazz, sendo célebre a gravação de ella fitzgerald em 1960, 
que wislawa szymborska escolheu para ser tocada no seu funeral - mas a minha preferida é a de miss vaughan ao vivo.

d e s c u b r a
a s
s e t e
d i f e r e n ç a s :

a) ella

b) sarah

i'm feeling mighty lonesome

haven't slept a wink

i walk the floor and watch the door

and in between i drink

black coffee

love's a hand-me-down brew

i'll never know a sunday

in this weekday room

i'm talking to the shadows

one o'clock to four

and lord, how slow the moments go

when all i do is pour

black coffee

since the blues caught my eye

i'm hanging out on monday

my sunday dream's too dry

now, a man is born to go a-loving

a woman's born to weep and fret

to stay at home and tend her oven

and drown her past regrets

in coffee and cigarettes

i'm moody all the morning

mourning all the night

and inbetween, it's nicotine

and not much hard to fight

black coffee

feeling low as the ground

it's driving me crazy

just waiting for my baby

to maybe come around

my nerves have gone to pieces

my hair is turning gray

all i do is drink black coffee

since my man's gone away

(…)

I know too well that I'm


Just wasting precious time


In thinking such a thing could be


That you could ever care for me

I'm sure you hate to hear


That I adore you, dear


But grant me just the same


I'm not entirely to blame for

You'd be so easy to love


So easy to idolize all others above


So worth the yearning for


So swell to keep every home fire burning for

We'd be so grand at the game


So carefree together


That it does seem a shame


That you can't see your future with me


'Cause you'd be oh, so easy to love

e cumpriu-se um solstício: o terceiro calhau, na sua elipse cósmica, 
aproximou-se o mais que podia do calor da estrela: chegou o verão



Summertime,
And the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high

Your daddy's rich
And your mamma's good lookin'
So hush little baby
Don't you cry

One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing
Then you'll spread your wings
And you'll take to the sky

But till that morning
There's a'nothing can harm you
With daddy and mamma 
Standing by

Summertime,
And the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high

Your daddy's rich
And your mamma's good lookin'
So hush little baby
Don't you cry 

daqui a quatro anos completará um século. miss fitzgerald nasceu na virginia rural e não teve de todo uma juventude fácil: pais separados, perda da mãe ainda adolescente, passagem por reformatórios e casas menos recomendáveis... mas nada disso importa agora: tornou-se, com o passar dos anos, na maior voz feminina do jazz, e depressa garantiu a imortalidade. a cantar os irmãos gershwin com a orquestra de nelson riddle atingiu uma perfeição nunca mais igualada. parabéns ella jane, que contes muitos!





From the Island of Manhattan to the Coast of Gold,
From North to South, from East to West,
You are the love I love the best.
You're the dream girl of the sweetest story ever told;
A dream I've sought both night and day
For years through all the U.S.A.
The star I've hitched my wagon to
Is very obviously you.

Of thee I sing, baby-
Summer, autumn, winter, spring, baby.
You're my silver lining, 
You're my sky of blue;
There's a love light shining
Just because of you.

Of thee I sing baby-
You have got that certain thing, baby!
Shining star and inspiration, 
Worthy of a mighty nation-
Of thee I sing!