Alright, here’s a jazz performance I bet you’ve never heard. This is a jazz standard first recorded by Nat King Cole in 1947 and released the following year. The song was written by a uniquely talented songwriter named eden ahbez (George McGrew).
eden has one of the most interesting stories I’ve read. He grew up in a place called the Brooklyn Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York, was later sent on an orphan train to Kansas, and was given the name George McGrew by his adoptive family. As a young man, he went to Kansas City, Missouri, and started performing as a dance band leader and pianist. He eventually made it to Los Angeles in the early 1940s, where he began playing at a raw food and health food store owned by Mr. and Mrs. Richter, who studied and followed Naturmensch and Lebensreform philosophy. These philosophies sought to reject advancements in industrialization and urbanization in favor of a back-to-nature lifestyle, which would later influence the hippie movement. George joined this group, whose followers were called “Nature Boys.” They ate only raw fruits and vegetables and grew long hair and beards. He then changed his name to eden ahbez in all lowercase letters, claiming that only the words “God” and “Infinity” were worthy of capitalization.
There are a few different stories about how Nat King Cole ended up with eden’s song, but the main one suggests that one night ahbez approached Nat King Cole’s manager backstage at the Lincoln Theater in LA and asked to show Cole his song. His request was denied, but ahbez didn’t give up and handed the sheet music to Cole’s valet driver, Otis Pollard. Otis sang the song to Cole, who loved it immediately. Cole quickly found success with it in his live shows and eventually needed to track down the writer before recording it. ahbez was finally found living under the first “L” on the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles.
ahbez continued to give songs to Cole and started working with other musicians and singers. He reportedly suggested to Burl Ives that he cover Ghost Riders in the Sky after hearing Stan Jones record one of his own songs. ahbez also wrote songs for Frankie Laine and Eartha Kitt, and even Sam Cooke recorded one of his songs.
Here’s an interesting ahbez quote: “I look crazy but I’m not. And the funny thing is that other people don’t look crazy, but they are.”
The version we’re listening to today is by an incredible jazz vocalist named Kurt Elling, who also has a unique backstory. Raised in Illinois, Kurt got into music because of his father, who was a music leader at a Lutheran church. Kurt sang and played music throughout his childhood and eventually attended divinity school, leaving one credit short of a degree to pursue a career as a jazz vocalist.
You’ll hear that Kurt is extremely skilled as a scat singer, with remarkable control over his voice and rapid, precise vocal runs. I’ve never heard anyone like him, and I probably never will. I have a vague memory of seeing him perform in a tiny underground jazz club many years ago.
My Listening Tips/Ideas: This is an extremely emotional performance and might be intense if you’re new to vocal jazz. Here’s a guide to help with the structure.
The entire jazz tune is repeated multiple times during this recording. The tune begins at the start and ends as the drums enter.
After singing the whole piece once, Kurt sings it again with more melodic variations. It’s not quite a solo, but he’s adding new ideas.
Next comes a piano solo through the whole tune.
Then it’s Kurt’s scat solo. Here, he experiments with notes, sounds, syllables, rhythms, and timbres.
He finishes with a full run-through of the tune with the original words and melody (mostly).
Listening to this kind of music is all about feeling—it’s the emotion that the musicians create together. It’s also about appreciating the skill it takes to have this much control. These artists are masters of their craft, exerting extreme control over every note.
Pianist: Laurence Hobgood
Drummer: Paul Wertico
Vocals: Kurt Elling
Hope you enjoy!
Song: “Nature Boy”
Artist: Kurt Elling
Album: The Messenger
Year: 1997
There was a boy
A very strange enchanted boy
They say he wandered very far
Very far
Over land and sea
A little shy
And sad of eye
But very wise was he
And then one day
One magic day he passed my way
And while we spoken of many things
Fools and kings
This he said to me
The greatest thing
You’ll ever learn
Is just to love
And be loved in return
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My name is Michael Sanchez and I’m an avid record collector and obscure song searcher. My goal is to post (hopefully) one song a day that’s been on my stereo/turntable frequently. If you don’t like the song… too bad 🙂 You can just wait for the next one. All the info I find is from wikipedia/youtube/interviews/news articles/personal stories I’ve heard/random googling. Sorry if there are any mistakes 🙂
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