★The famous waltz "Bluesette" composed by guitarist and harmonica player Toots Thielemans, who is famous as the Harmonica Uncle. ★Toots Thielemans is a jazz harmonica player, whistler and guitarist from Brussels, Belgium, and composed the famous jazz waltz "Bluesette" (#^.^#) He is also a Belgian aristocrat with the title of Baron Thielemans (#^.^#)
★This is the famous Latin jazz song "MAMBO INN" composed by Mario Bouza. ★Mario Bouza is the man who built the foundation of Latin jazz and coined the term "Afro-Cuban". Born in Havana in 1911, he moved to New York in 1930 and was a member of Machito's band, praised as the founder of New York salsa. The masterpiece "MAMBO INN" is a classic Afro-Cuban jazz song, and is a representative work of Mario Bouza, who is nicknamed "the magician" for his outstanding arranging sense. (^O^)/ ★Famous performances by jazz guitarists Grant Green, Ronnie Jordan, and George Benson. I used my favorite George Benson's version as a reference (*^_^*)
"Autumn Leaves" (1945, J. Cosma) was originally a chanson song called "Les Feuilles mortes". It was sung by Yves Montand and used as an insert song in the 1946 French film "Les Portes de la Nuit" directed by Marcel Carné, and Jacques Prévert, who also worked on the screenplay for the film, wrote new lyrics for it.
It was brought to the United States in 1949, and released as "Autumn Leaves" with English lyrics. Miles Davis and Cannonball Adderley are also famous for their performances.
★The English lyrics were written by Johnny Mercer, who worked with Henry Mancini on songs such as "Moon River" and "Days of Wine and Roses".
★There aren't many other jazz guitarists playing on the album. I don't know why, but have you ever listened to records or CDs featuring Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, George Benson, or Pat Martino? I can only remember three: Joe Pass, Barney Kessel, and Jim Hall.
★"Caravan" was written in 1935 by Duke Ellington and Juan Tizol, a trombonist in his band. It was a big hit with the Ventures, a famous electric guitar band, but Caravan is also popular with big bands and combo jazz. With its distinctive, intense beat, it can be said to be a representative song of Afro-Cuban jazz.
★"Yesterday Once More" is a single released by the Carpenters in 1973, with lyrics by John Bettis and music by Richard Carpenter (#^.^#) It's a nostalgic song that I loved when I was young, and it's one of my favorite songs among the Carpenters' works (*^_^*)
★歌詞、概要（抜粋） 夢ならばどれほどよかったでしょう・・・ ・・・戻らない幸せがあることを教えてくれた・・・ あの日の悲しみさえ・・・あの日の苦しみさえ・・・ 胸に残り離れない苦いレモンの匂い・・・切り分けた果実の片方のように ・・・今でもあなたは私の光 ★"Lemon" written by Kenshi Yonezu was the theme song for the TBS Friday drama "Unnatural" that began on Friday, January 12, 2018.
★Lyrics, summary (excerpt) How wonderful it would have been if it had been a dream... ...It taught me that there is happiness that never comes back... Even the sadness of that day...Even the pain of that day... The bitter smell of lemon lingers in my heart and never leaves...Like one half of a cut fruit... Even now you are my light
★"Arigato" was written by Mizuno Yoshiki, a member of the trio "Ikimonogakari" at the time, and composed by him. The chord progression of this song is like a jazz standard, so I thought it would be easy to turn it into jazz, so I tried to do it without changing the feel too much (*^_^*) ★歌詞の概要 ”ありがとう”って伝えたくて・・・信じたこの道を・・・いつからか 二人の夢に・・・ 思いあうことに幸せを・・・あなたと見つけて行けたら・・・ 喜びも悲しみも分かち合えるように・・”愛してる”って伝えたくて・・・信じた道を・・・ この道をゆっくりと歩いていこう
★昔から好きだったTVのCMでも良く見ていた、ビリージョエルの "TheStranger" （知らない人）”ストレンジャー”は、ビリージョエルが1977年に発売されたアルバム ”TheStranger”に収録されている曲で、”素顔のままで”Just The Way You Are” ”ムーヴィン・アウトも同アルバムに入っています(^^♪ ★口笛の部分ははうまく出来ないので、していません(*^_^*)
★歌詞(概要)抜粋★Lyrics (summary) excerpt
★Well, we all have a face That we hide away forever , And we take them out and show ourselves When everyone has gone ,Some are satin some are steel , Some are silk and some are leather, They're the faces of the stranger But we love to try them on・・・』 『まぁ、私達はみんな別の"顔"を持っている、ずっと隠している顔を 誰にも見られていない時だけ、出して見せる、サテンで作られた顔もあれば、鋼鉄の顔にシルクやレザーでできた顔 どれも見覚えのない顔だけど、私達はみんな、その「顔」をつけたがる・・・』
★Don’t be afraid to try again Everyone goes south every now and then・・・ もう一度挑戦することを恐れないで、誰もが時々失敗します・・・
★Well, we all fall in love , But we disregard the danger ,Though we share so many secrets There are some we never tell , Why were you so surprised that you never saw the stranger? Did you ever let your lover see the stranger in yourself? 『私達は皆、恋に落ちる、 危険も顧みずに、秘密を分かち合っているつもりでも 絶対言えない事がある、君は随分驚いているね？"別の顔"(ストレンジャー) なんて見た事ないって？恋人に見せた事は無いの？ 君の中にある"別の顔"を・・・』
★今回はカルロス・サンタナのアルバム ”スーパー・ナチュラル”に収録されている曲ですが、 ご存知の方も多いと思います、元々の曲はM.マッサーが作曲した プロボクシング元ヘビー級世界チャンピオンだった ”モハメッド・アリ”の自伝を基にした 本人主演(!!)の映画「The Greatest」の挿入歌 ”I Always Knew I Had It In Me" (M. Masser)です(^^♪
