East of the Sun (and West of the Moon)

East of the Sun ( and West of the Moon ) is a song by Brooks Bowman from 1934, which has become the Jazz Standard.

Genesis

Bowman wrote this pop song while he was studying at Princeton University, where he worked on the production of the play Stags at Bay, in 1934 by the Princeton Triangle Club Vocal Ensemble at the student stage of the University in Princeton (New Jersey) was first performed. In addition to this song contained the play, which was also played twice in New York City before a packed hall, more songs Bowmans as Will Love Find a Way? and Love and a Dime.

Special features of the song

The text of East of the Sun can be seen as " an expression of romantic escapism" by Dietrich Schulz- Köhn: The loving couple builds a dream house of love, which is close to the sun of the day and the moon the post. The dream of this escape from reality sealed the confession of a love that will not die, but is maintained by the partners.

The carried forward in a slow tempo song is kept in G major and the song form ABAC; each stanza consists of 36 bars. In bars 7 and 8, the melody falls " alluring - tender " Alec Wilder from C to it. East of the Sun is considered to be "one of the most beautiful ballads of modern times. "

Reception

The first recording session is said to come from Hal Kemp and his Orchestra, the East of the Sun should have recorded on December 1, 1934 for Brunswick Records; However, the publication is not detectable. The song was recorded by Jack Teagarden, Tex Beneke, Tommy Dorsey (1940 with Frank Sinatra and the sentimentalists ) and Woody Herman. Although there were later recordings by large formations, such as 1961 by Francy Boland; but noticeable is the tendency, East of the Sun " in a sense set the default for combos: " Sarah Vaughan interpreted the song in 1944 with their Allstars, which included Dizzy Gillespie, Georgie Auld and Chuck Wayne. 1947 Lester Young played the piece at one of his Aladdin sessions a; 1949 was followed by George Shearing. In the 1950s, the song eventually became a popular jazz standard; so took him Sarah Vaughan on May 19, 1950 again, this time for Columbia Records at (Album Sarah Vaughan in Hi- Fi), accompanied by George thread well and his All-Stars, including, among others, and Miles Davis, Benny Green, Budd Johnson Tony Scott belonged. For her, released on Clef Records album Solitude Billie Holiday also took the song in April 1952. Singers like Carmen McRae (multiple), Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Shore, Margaret Whiting or followed.

Charlie Parker played the piece several times a, so in 1949 at the Royal Roast, 1950 with Strings and September 26, 1952 on his appearance at the legendary Rockland Palace Concert 1952 in favor of the Communist Party USA. More versions come from Stan Getz on his album West Coast Jazz ( 1955) and Louis Armstrong, who played it on his 1957 album I've Got the World on a String, as well as by Lee Wiley (1958 ) and Frank Sinatra (1961 ). To mention Furthermore, recordings of Dennis Budimir, Charles Lloyd, Red Norvo, Cal Tjader, Oscar Peterson, Jimmy Smith and Buddy Tate. The composer Henry Mancini took over in 1962 for his song Days of Wine and Roses, the harmonic progression of the piece. Under the title " Say goodnight " Inge Klaus wrote a German version of the song.

In 1980 a version of the trio of Jan Garbarek with John Abercrombie and Naná Vasconcelos ( Eventyr ); in the 1990s the title of Tony Bennett, Betty Carter (1996) and Diana Krall (1998, for her album When I Look in Your Eyes ) was recorded. In 2007, Joshua Redman also interpreted the song.