RACHELLE FERRELL / “My Funny Valentine”

The song is seventy years old and has been recorded over a thousand times, not to mention performed in more than ten Hollywood movies. This is easily one of America’s most popular ballads. Composed by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Lorenz Hart, “My Funny Valentine” first appeared on April 14, 1937 in the Broadway musical, Babes in Arms. Originally it was sung by the female character Billie Smith to her romantic interest, male character Valentine “Val” LeMar but in 1952 it became a big hit for jazz trumpeter, just turned vocalist, Chet Baker. Baker omitted the gender-specific first verse and thereby set the standard for most subsequent performances. Over the years “My Funny Valentine” has been a major vehicle for both vocalists and instrumentalists in jazz. Miles Davis’ February 12, 1964 recording from the album My Funny Valentine Miles Davis In Concert is critically regarded as the definitive jazz version. Here are ten renditions that cover a gamut of jazz approaches. Carmen McRae. One of the all-time masters at interpreting song lyrics, Carmen has a deep voice that is lightened by her hipness and humor. I particularly enjoy her minimalist phrasing and the way she shades a note in subtle ways that are very, very effective without being showy or melodramatic. This is from Live - Montreux July 22nd, 1982. Eddie Harris. It’s almost as if Eddie re-composed the song. Although we can hear the references to the melody, Mr. Harris never plays it straight. On the one hand, Eddie Harris plays homage to the titan of tenor saxophone tenderness, Lester ‘Prez’ Young with a lyrical reading of the song and on the other hand indicates the musical revolution inspired by Coltrane. The 1967 album is aptly titled  Tender Storm. Sarah Vaughan. Sassy! This version is from her 1991 Live in Japan (Vol. 1) recording. By then many of her vocal innovations and stylistic achievements had become so routine they were almost clichés. It’s note worthy that on these recordings she held in check her tendency to over-sing that marred a number of her later recordings. Here we can hear some of what the hipsters of the forties so devoutly adored. Chet Baker & Gerry Mulligan. Chet does not sing on this version recorded in 1987, which is 35 years after their pairing for the famous hit recording. This Carnegie Hall Concert recording was in the duo’s twilight years but it is a strong version that avoids the stale, by-the-numbers rote playing that plagues numerous nostalgic attempts at re-capturing youthful achievements. Bassist Ron Carter has a major role in shaping this version. Rachelle Ferrell. This is from her First Instrument release. An incredible performance; she sings both softly and in the upper register. Here is the intimacy of new love atremble in both anticipation and anxiety—anticipating the sublimity of love-making and anxious that there might be rejection of the heart that is offered. There is an aura of unashamed vulnerability and profound innocence glowing in this rendition—Rachelle sings with the sincerity, wonder and, yes, tender eagerness of a heart that has yet to be broken. Johnny Hartman. The smoothest baritone in the world. A warm pillow on a chilly night. The assurance of an experienced hand guiding a neophyte to the upper reaches of bliss. This is from For Trane, a 1972 Japanese recording featuring trumpeter Terumasa Hino. Etta James. The high priestess of raunchiness had her mellow moments, this is not one of them. What she does here is deploy her band on a groove mission with a hard R&B vamp over which she wrestles the lyrics and melody into shape. This is some dominatrix shit. And that at the end they throw in an Al Green riff to further widen the gap between the song as usually performed and the song as it was reshaped in Etta’s fleshy grip. This is from a DVD appropriately entitled Burning Down the House. Miles Davis. The gold standard. Period. This is from My Funny Valentine, a Civil Rights benefit concert for which Davis volunteered his band (some maintain without notifying them afore hand that they were donating their wages). This is Miles’ most accomplished post-Trane / pre-Wayne (Shorter) recording. That’s George Coleman turning in a sterling tenor sax solo. The rhythm section is the incomparable Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams on drums. Eve Cornelious. Another top-shelf selection from her I Feel Like Some Jazz Today recording. Once again she is using Miles as a template. I really, really like the intelligent way she adds lyrics (e.g. catch that reference to Romare Bearden). Chip Crawford’s trio is equally up to the task of employing the middle period Miles instrumental approach. Beautiful. Dianne Reeves. This is from her debut solo recording and is now available on her The Palo Alto Sessions compilation of from her first two releases. This is the cut that first attracted me to Dianne Reeves. You can hear that early on she had found her stylistic voice. Although the backing is influenced by fusion, her vocal work is clearly jazz-oriented. Enjoy these ten versions of “My Funny Valentine,” one of the most enduring of American love songs. —Kalamu ya Salaam           Too much drama          I have to be honest and say that I couldn't make it through all ten of these versions. Nearly all of these are jazz performances of a pop song. Meaning, they are deep in improvisation and (to my ears) overly-dramatic instrumental or vocal showiness. Interestingly, the version Kalamu chose to feature is the one that struck me as being the most subdued and "pop-like," and therefore, most interesting for me. Most of these performers treat "My Funny Valentine" as a jumping off point to embellish, interpret and improvise on. But meanwhile, I'm listening to the words, trying to get into the vibe of the story. It's almost impossible to do that while listening to someone draaaaaaaaw out a single word so long that it doesn't even sound like a word anymore. What I'm really complaining about isn't what these artists are doing with "My Funny Valentine"; I'm actually complaining about a certain style of performance. Anyway, of the instrumental versions Miles would be my pick, but then that's kind of cheating because I already know it well. I love Miles' slurred phrasing on the opening verse and of course I like almost everything Tony, Ron and Herbie do. I'm not going to give up on the rest of the instrumental versions just yet, but as for these vocal versions, man, I'm done! Too much drama. —Mtume ya Salaam    

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 13th, 2007 at 11:46 pm and is filed under Cover. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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