Listen & tracks
4 of 41 tracks have a preview · 14 works · 73:59
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1 Send in the Clowns Stephen Sondheim 7:00
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2 On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever) Burton Lane 2:51
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3 Tammy Jay Livingston 5:48
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4 Bess, You Is My Woman / I Loves You Porgy George Gershwin 9:40
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5 Someone to Watch Over Me George Gershwin 4:50
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6 Night and Day Cole Porter 3:38
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7 The Summer Knows Michel Legrand 5:09
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8 Somewhere / One Hand, One Heart Leonard Bernstein 7:13
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9 Younger than Springtime Richard Rodgers 3:25
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10 A Time for Us Nino Rota 4:46
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11 Alfie Burt Bacharach 7:48
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12 Sunrise, Sunset Jerry Bock 4:59
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13 Black Orpheus (Manhã de Carnaval) Luiz Bonfá 3:51
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14 My Favourite Things Richard Rodgers 3:01
Arranged and conducted by Graeme Lyall, the programme pairs a jazz trio with string orchestra and guest soloists in fresh takes on stage and screen standards.
Gian Slater and Eddie Perfect share the vocal features. Instrumental turns cover trumpet, flugelhorn, clarinet, saxophone, French horn, marimba and recorder, with a guest appearance by Genevieve Lacey.
The sessions were recorded at Move Records Studio between April 2011 and March 2012. The CD was launched at the Melbourne Recital Centre on 18 July 2013.
In the artist’s words
Another memorable and fantastic experience – what great music-making is all about! What talent in the one studio, and all under the direction of the genius of Graeme Lyall’s arrangements and conducting. No one in the world writes better for strings, or for any other instrument for that matter. (It is no surprise that Sammy Davis Jnr. tried to entice Lyall to go with him back to the USA. But fortunately for us, he stayed!)
And what a collection of soloists that has been put together: Eddie Perfect, Gian Slater, David Griffiths, John Hoffman, Gianni Marinucci, Genevieve Lacey, and Sergei Golovko, with a rhythm section of Tamara Murphy and the remarkable David Jones, with a pianist whose name temporarily escapes me!
The project’s creator Peter Marks and I chose the pieces and he even played the French horn on a track or two! Each piece is a classic in its own way, and without exception all are endowed with glorious melodies; pieces from Gershwin’s wonderful Porgy and Bess, standards including “On a Clear Day”, beautiful tunes including “Tammy”, Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns”, “Sunrise, Sunset” from Fiddler on the Roof to name but a few.
The string orchestra was made up of a collection of some of Melbourne’s (no, Australia’s) finest players. We were all very happy and excited to be there and part of this wonderful project. Imagine as you listen. The experience was serious musically but fun as well and all at the great studio at Move, and with sympathetic engineer – Martin Wright – who happens to be the founder/director of Move, somebody who knew very well what we were up to.
The project would not have happened had it not been for the passion and enthusiasm of Peter Marks. Thanks to him, from start to finish it was a joy for all concerned. Importantly, I think this came across in the end product.
Memorable all around. We hope you enjoy the results.
Happy listening
Following on from the success of the 2010 album The Very Thought of You featuring a jazz trio under the direction of Tony Gould, French horn virtuoso Barry Tuckwell and the Strings of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, I was keen to explore other combinations, using jazz trio and strings as the foundation. Bringing together diverse instrumentalists and vocalists in unique arrangements of songs from the Great American Songbook in addition to other notable tunes would be a perfect place to start.
Of course, bringing together a group of master musicians from different parts of Australia, co-ordinating diaries and making sure that it all came together in the recording studio was, you may say, something of a logistical challenge! As fate would have it, it was meant to be as it all came together quite seamlessly and beautifully.
Seasons of Love features a great diversity of instruments as well as vocalists on many of the tracks, all performed by leading musicians, many of whom have worked together over many years.
As you sit back and enjoy you will hear not only many familiar tracks but ones that have been arranged in unique ways by one of Australia’s (if not the world’s) leading arrangers, Graeme Lyall. Graeme’s arrangements for this album combine beautiful, rich and contrasting sounds which explore the qualities of each instrument whilst remaining faithful to the original line. Whether this is for voice, trumpet, clarinet, flugelhorn, French horn, sax, marimba, recorder or voice, there is something unique and inviting about every arrangement produced under the watchful eye (and pen) and soundful ear of Graeme.
In bringing together many of Australia’s finest jazz and classical musicians there is always a possibility that the two styles won’t necessarily sit as comfortable bedfellows. In this case nothing can be further from the truth with the results demonstrating how easily and seamlessly the musicians featured on this album can be transported from one style to another.
With vocalists Eddie Perfect and Gian Slater we had a rare and very special blend of vocal talents and styles. Add to this our jazz trio, under the legendary and magical musicianship of Tony Gould, Tamara Murphy on bass and award-winning, multi-faceted drummer and percussionist David Jones and the stage was set for an unforgettable experience. Then add legendary, inspiring and incredibly versatile players including John Hoffman on flugelhorn, David Griffiths on clarinet, Gianni Marinucci on trumpet, Graeme Lyall on sax, and I even get to play the French horn on a few tracks. There is even a guest appearance on one track from world-renowned recorder virtuoso Genevieve Lacey – listen out for this magical arrangement of an old favourite. And of course, equally importantly, our string orchestra put together by Marco van Pagee and led by Miwako Abe.
To everyone who participated in or was involved with the production of this special album, including master sound engineer Martin Wright and his team at Move Records, a very big thank you for making what started out as a handwritten wish list of tunes come to life.
All that’s left for you to do is sit back and enjoy every track on this CD – today and for many years to come!
Artists
Graeme Lyall
saxophone
Graeme Lyall is widely regarded as one of the greatest jazz saxophone players and arrangers Australia has produced. He performs, writes, arranges and teaches, and is Artistic Director of the WA Youth Jazz Orchestra and musical director of its Composers Ensemble.
David Jones
drums
David Jones is one of the most innovative and musical drummers in the world. He has toured nationally and internationally, performing and recording across rock, pop, jazz, classical, ambient, world music, cabaret, theatre, television and improvised works.
Tony Gould
piano
Pianist and composer Tony Gould is one of Australia’s most respected musicians. His career has spanned jazz and other improvisatory forms as well as traditional and contemporary classical, and for decades he has stood at the forefront of music education in Australia.
Burt Bacharach
composer
With a hit-single track record spanning four decades, Burt Bacharach became one of the most important composers of popular music in the 20th century, almost equal to such classic tunesmiths as George Gershwin or Irving Berlin.
Leonard Bernstein
composer
Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990) was an American composer, conductor and pianist whose Broadway scores, concert works and tireless advocacy reshaped how wide audiences meet classical music.
Luiz Bonfá
composer
Luiz Bonfá wrote the melodies that still define Black Orpheus, above all Manhã de Carnaval, and forged a bold, lyrical Brazilian guitar voice that bridged samba-canção and bossa nova.
Ray Evans
composer
Ray Evans was an American lyricist whose film and popular songs include Mona Lisa, Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be), the Christmas standard Silver Bells, and Tammy.
Ira Gershwin
composer
Ira Gershwin wrote the words that made twentieth-century American song unforgettable: sly, tender, and built to swing. His lyrics for George Gershwin and others still give singers and jazz ensembles their sharpest material.
George Gershwin
composer
George Gershwin (September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose music spanned popular song, Broadway and the classical concert hall, leaving melodies that remain widely known.
Oscar Hammerstein II
composer
Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the words that made the American musical a story-first art: books and lyrics for Show Boat, Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music, songs built for character, courage and lasting melody.
Jay Livingston
composer
Jay Livingston (1915–2001) was an American popular-song and film composer. His Oscar-winning melodies, including Mona Lisa, Que Sera, Sera and Silver Bells, became lasting standards of mid-century Hollywood songwriting.
Cole Porter
composer
Cole Porter wrote both the tunes and the words: urbane, sharp-edged songs built for the stage and still at home in the jazz room. From Night and Day to You're the Top, I Get a Kick Out of You and I Concentrate on You, his catalogue keeps singers circling back.
Richard Rodgers
composer
Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) was an American composer of musical theatre whose songs became standards of the twentieth-century stage and screen. Over five decades he wrote more than nine hundred songs and dozens of Broadway musicals.
Stephen Sondheim
composer
Stephen Sondheim wrote music and lyrics that pushed the American musical into darker, more ambivalent territory. His songs move with intricate craft: sharp rhymes, restless harmony, and melodies that catch at regret, wit and longing.
Marilyn Bergman
composer
Marilyn Bergman (1928–2022) was an American lyricist whose songs for film, television and the stage earned Oscars, Emmys and Grammys, and a place in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Alan Bergman
composer
Alan Bergman (1925–2025) was an American lyricist and songwriter. His work for film and popular song includes the standard You Must Believe in Spring.
Jerry Bock
composer
Hal David
composer
Hal David (1921–2012) was an American lyricist whose words became enduring standards of popular song. His work reached the hit parade, film and the stage across the 1960s and early 1970s.
Sheldon Harnick
composer
Burton Lane
composer
Michel Legrand
composer
Michel Legrand (1932–2019) was a French composer, arranger, conductor, jazz pianist and singer, known for more than two hundred film and television scores and many songs that entered the standard repertoire.
Alan Jay Lerner
composer
The lyrics of Alan Jay Lerner, written chiefly with Frederick Loewe, shaped some of the most durable songs in musical theatre. My Fair Lady, Brigadoon, Camelot, Gigi and Paint Your Wagon still circulate as standards far beyond the stage.
Antônio Maria
composer
Antônio Maria wrote the lyrics that made Luiz Bonfá's Manhã de Carnaval a global standard. The song's carnival dawn of longing, later sung in English as A Day in the Life of a Fool, anchors Black Orpheus and endless jazz readings.
Nino Rota
composer
Digital booklet
Digital booklet Notes, texts and credits — read online or download the PDF Download the PDFPerformers
- Graeme Lyall · saxophone · tracks 3, 11 and 13
- David Jones · drums · all except tracks 5 and 10
- Tony Gould · piano
- Imogen Manins · cello · tracks 4 and 8
- Tamara Murphy · bass · all except tracks 5 and 10
- Eddie Perfect · vocals · tracks 4, 8, 9 and 12
- Gian Slater · vocals · all except tracks 3, 5, 6, 9, 10 and 13
- Miwako Abe · violin · track 12
- Marco van Pagee · viola · track 12
- Genevieve Lacey · recorder · track 14
- David Griffiths · clarinet · tracks 1, 4, 8, 12 and 14
- John Hoffman · flugelhorn · tracks 3, 4, 7, 9 and 13
- Gianni Marinucci · trumpet · tracks 2 and 6
- Peter Marks · french horn · tracks 1, 7 and 8
- Sergei Golovko · marimba · tracks 7 and 14
Technical credits
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Producer
Martin Wright
Peter Marks
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Recording Engineer
Blake Stickland
Vaughan McAlley
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Editing Engineer
Blake Stickland
Vaughan McAlley
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Mastering Engineer
Martin Wright
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Venue
Move Records Studio
Details
- List price
- $25.00 AUD
- Total playing time
- 73 minutes 59 seconds
- Release date
- 7 Jun 2013
- Category
- Jazz
- Genres
- Jazz & Improvised, Stage & Screen
- Musical work copyright
- © 2013 Move Records
- Sound recording copyright
- ℗ 2013 Move Records
- Catalogue
- MD 3365
- EAN
- 9314574336528
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