Hear musical tribute to Hoagy Carmichael
Duke Ellington called him “America’s greatest songwriter.” Not only could Hoagy Carmichael write music, he could also write lyrics when he trusted himself to do it. Writer Stephen Pedersen said it best: “Any musician who can come up with a line like ‘?a hot night, sweet with the death of summer?” while explaining how he came to write his most famous song, “Stardust” didn’t need to worry.”
At the Cumberland County Playhouse, June 24 at 2:30 p.m. and June 25 at 7:30 p.m., you’ll have the opportunity to relive (or learn for the first time) what made Hoagy Carmichael great. His command of jazz which stretched from the 1930’s through the 1960’s and his songs that singers from the 30’s through today, make new every time they sing them.
When he was just a teen Hoagy trained with African American pianist Reginald DuValle, who taught him about hot ragtime and the emerging style of jazz. Hoagy became, in his own words, “a jazz maniac.” With his natural talent and drive, he then ran with all the greats: Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, the Dorsey brothers, clarinetist Benny Goodman, trombonist Jack Teagarden, Perry Como, Mildred Bailey and many, many more, including a hopeful lyricist out of Savannah, Ga., named Johnny Mercer. After a long career on the road and in New York, Hoagy landed in Hollywood, where, as he put it, “the rainbow hits the ground for composers.”
During the two performance at the Playhouse you’ll get a chance to hear his music in solos, duets, and trios with three of the best: Vocalist Cindy Church, pianist Joe Sealy, and bassist George Koller. It is clear that these three Canadians are in love with the songs of Hoagy Carmichael and will show you in ways you’ll never forget.
“Like the jazzmen they are, Sealy and Koller draw every ear,” said Pedersen, “with original turns and twists that give a flirtations dimension which emphasizes romance over desire. Cindy Church’s voice is womanly, purely pitched, and richly resonant. It is girlish, too, and warm? a voice that sounds like a mother to a child, a best friend to a sweetheart, and child to a father, combining something loving with something loveable and something innocent,” he said.
“These three feel the nearness of Hoagy Carmichael and make it possible for you to hear it and feel it, too,” said Buster Irvin, concert administrator at the Playhouse. “Why bring Nearness to the Playhouse? When you think of music of the 30s, 40s and 50s, one of the greatest pop composers of eras of music was Hoagy Carmichael. Our audience just got to hear the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and My Way: A Tribute to Frank Sinatra, so how could we leave Hoagy Carmichael out? This concert, The Nearness of You: A Musical Tribute to Hoagy Carmichael will remind you of the days when you could always go to an excellent “Piano Bar” and listen to great music in an intimate atmosphere. This is an afternoon and an evening of Hoagy’s incredible music and stories about him too – the lawyer, the stock broker, the songwriter, musician, Broadway songwriter, as well as TV and movie star,” said Irvin. “But on that Thursday and Friday, it is his music and the renditions given by Cindy Church, Joe Sealy, and George Koller that will enchant your heart and mind. These are two short spaces of time that only come along once a while,” said Irvin. “Who knows when you’ll ever hear it like this again?” he said.
Tickets for both performances are available by calling the Playhouse box office at 931-484-5000.