From time to time someone suggests to me that I am gypsy-like. That might explain why being a touring musician appeals to me: the exploring life of a wandering troubadour, a minstrel, at times court jester. An ancient trade right up there with prostitution.
“Somewhere there’s music
How faint the tune
Somewhere there’s heaven
How high the moon”
One tour took me to witness the solar eclipse of 2024. Reecently news of another total eclipse had the internet all a-twitter, but unless you were in Greenland, there was little to see and in Canada you wouldn’t have noticed the negligible dimming.
“There is no moon above
When love is far away too
‘Til it comes true
That you love me as I love you”
My eclipse set list included the dramatic standard, “How High the Moon.” The song was first featured in the 1940 Broadway revue Two for the Show, and the earliest recorded hit version was by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra that same year. Swing music was immensely popular during the war, so The Les Paul Trio recorded an upbeat version to bolster troops’ morale.
Les Paul and partner Mary Ford would record it again in 1951 in their apartment studio in the New York borough of Queens. The innovative Paul tracked multiple layers of guitar for lead, rhythm and bass lines, and even percussion with muted strings.
Then they recorded Ford’s vocals. Working during the night, they placed a blanket over her head funneling her singing toward the microphone to avoid waking the neighbours. The final recording featured 12 guitar parts and 12 vocal parts all done as quietly as possible.
The neighbours still complained, but the unappreciated work would go on to command nine weeks at #1, induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and inclusion on the list of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum of the Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.
Not bad for a clandestine apartment recording session.
“Somewhere there’s music
How near, how far
Somewhere there’s heaven
It’s where you are”
Ella Fitzgerald also had success with How High The Moon, her recording also receiving Grammy Hall of Fame recognition for its “qualitative or historical significance.”, characteristics I enjoy when learning the classics.
It’s fun to listen to the varied covers of How High The Moon from Louis Armstrong’s bass player Arvell Shaw, to Jeff Beck’s peppy finger-style rock, Chuck Berry’s blistering jazz piano, Django Reinhart’s gypsy jazz, Ella Fitzgerald’s scat improvisations, even Gloria Gaynor’s disco variation.
But my personal favourite is still Benny Goodman’s original fox trot with sultry vocalist Helen Forrest, featuring a sonorous horn theme intro and easy pace. I prefer the song to be contemplative, as though looking to the heavens for company for my gypsy heart.
“The darkest night would shine
If you would come to me soon
Until you will, how still my heart
How high the moon”
