This is my take on the the Tommy Wolf jazz standard from 1955 (with lyrics by Fran Landesman), arranged for solo guitar and performed live as part of a set I did at a local venue. I first heard this on a Johnny Smith record, and immediately fell in love with it. Later, I heard other versions by Kenny Burrell and Joe Diorio, as well as by several vocalists, including Norah Jones (my favorite vocal version is the one by Betty Carter). After exploring the tune in various contexts, I found that my ears kept gravitating back toward the Kenny Burrell version, for which he modifies the first part of the original chord progression of Cmaj7 - Bbmaj by changing the second chord, Bbmaj7, to a Bb7. The single note change, an A to an Ab, opened up a world of possibilities for harmonizing the melody. It was reminiscent of a minor 4th chord in a major progression, or the major scale with a flatted 6th, which I explore in different ways here on the intro and the outro. Beyond that aspect, I stick pretty much to the standard chord progression as found in one of the Real Books.
I've played it live before, both solo and with a quartet. For this version I used a PRS S2 Studio with out-of-phase pickups into my Mad Professor pedal board and a Roland Jazz Chorus 120 (a backline amp at the venue). It was part of a forty minute set that included other tunes, and was recorded on a smart phone from the audience. Thanks, I hope you enjoy!
