I always find it interesting to compare different interpretations of the same song. This morning I started the day listening to Frank Sinatra singing "The Shadow of Your Smile" and ended up checking out different versions of the song that I had in my collection, and some more on YouTube.
Here is the song as originally included in the 1965 movie "The Sandpiper":
I have a version by Art Farmer. In the liner notes, Michael Cuscuna explains:
...the love theme from The Sandpiper, may have been a pop hit, but musicians loved to play on the ingenious changes that composer Johnny Mandel, a man with considerable jazz credentials, wrote. In the aforementioned Down Beat article, Farmer told Dan Morgenstern about choosing this tune for the quintet. "It's very good to have current tunes in the book. Nothing is more important than finding a current hit that you can bring something to. It is an exceptional tune. It's fun to play. It forms a link to the audience. If a group plays nothing but originals, and they haven't been recorded, there's no common ground between the group and the audience."
It is a song that has been covered by a wide range of artists.
So here are some "jazz" versions (and a few others):
There is even a version for us Audiophiles (by the great Scott Hamilton), but it is not terribly exciting:
I like this gently swinging version by Eddie Harris (with Cedar Walton on piano):
Erroll Garner is obviously having fun with it in his typical fashion:
Hampton Hawes displays his unique style in this version:
Enjoy, and let me know if you have any favorite versions to share.
Here is the song as originally included in the 1965 movie "The Sandpiper":
I have a version by Art Farmer. In the liner notes, Michael Cuscuna explains:
...the love theme from The Sandpiper, may have been a pop hit, but musicians loved to play on the ingenious changes that composer Johnny Mandel, a man with considerable jazz credentials, wrote. In the aforementioned Down Beat article, Farmer told Dan Morgenstern about choosing this tune for the quintet. "It's very good to have current tunes in the book. Nothing is more important than finding a current hit that you can bring something to. It is an exceptional tune. It's fun to play. It forms a link to the audience. If a group plays nothing but originals, and they haven't been recorded, there's no common ground between the group and the audience."
It is a song that has been covered by a wide range of artists.
So here are some "jazz" versions (and a few others):
There is even a version for us Audiophiles (by the great Scott Hamilton), but it is not terribly exciting:
I like this gently swinging version by Eddie Harris (with Cedar Walton on piano):
Erroll Garner is obviously having fun with it in his typical fashion:
Hampton Hawes displays his unique style in this version:
Enjoy, and let me know if you have any favorite versions to share.
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