TT 417: "Summer Night"

the old song by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, also as reconceived by Chick Corea

The original 1935 sheet music to “Summer Night” is not common. Mike Kanan recently unearthed the paper and I read through it on video:

The song is quite dramatic, even operatic. Most of Harry Warren’s other well-known songs are nowhere near as sophisticated, although many are wonderful on their own terms, including "I Only Have Eyes for You," "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby," "Jeepers Creepers," "The Gold Diggers' Song (We're in the Money)," "That's Amore," "There Will Never Be Another You," "The More I See You," "At Last," and "Chattanooga Choo Choo."

The earliest jazz version of “Summer Night” to have currency today is the gorgeous ballad reading by Miles Davis on Quiet Nights, quartet with Victor Feldman, Ron Carter, and Frank Butler. Duple tempo is replaced with a slow 3/4, and the functionality of bar seven (the melody is on pitch G) is completely different than the original: Warren writes E-flat, the unblemished relative major, which on the Davis recording is reharmonized as an A-flat major seventh.

Bill Evans is the obvious influence. Feldman had learned his Evans perfectly, and Evans was also playing many waltzes.

A completely different version of “Summer Night” is on Stan Getz’s The Master with Albert Dailey, Clint Houston and Billy Hart. After the romantic intro, the tempo picks up and it becomes a tough swinger.

Getz frequently programmed this charismatic arrangement with his ‘70’s working bands; it’s turned up on the Getz archival release A Moment in Time and other places. Although not credited on any LP jacket, this arrangement of “Summer Night” is by Chick Corea.

Getz had worked extensively with the pianist and recorded several Corea tunes on Sweet Rain and Captain Marvel. Corea was long rumored to be the force behind the Getz “Summer Night,” but it was only recently that I learned there’s an unreleased bootleg tape of Corea playing this very arrangement trio with Herbie Mickman on bass and Steve Schaeffer on drums. They were accompanying Sarah Vaughan at the Starlight Lounge at the Riviera Hotel in Los Vegas in 1968, and “Summer Night” was something they would play alone before Vaughan joined them for the rest of the set. The trio used Corea’s tape recorder and it was made with Vaughan’s permission. Schaeffer remembers Corea bringing “Summer Night” to the trio. (Thanks to Mark Stryker for this information.)

In Corea’s hands, the Ab major seventh in bar seven persists from the Miles Davis record, and the form is extended with two different pedal points.

Getz phrases the melody reasonably freely, so I’m making some guesses, but the original Corea chart probably looked something like this:

I can’t really say which one I like better, the Warren original or the Corea adaptation. They are both great.

As July eases into August, enjoy your summer nights….

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Footnotes:

— The “hard bop meets modal” style of Corea’s adaptation of “Summer Night” shares affinities with the arrangement of Kurt Weill’s “This is New” on Corea’s first album Tones for Joan’s Bones.

— On the same Vegas tape with Vaughan, the trio also plays the Corea amplification of “This is New.” I hope this tape becomes available for commercial purchase someday, 1960’s Chick is my favorite Chick. I’m also curious to hear him accompany Sarah Vaughan!

— John Coltrane’s pedal point treatment of Jerry Brainin’s “The Night Has a Thousand Eyes” was undoubtedly an influence on the Corea versions of “Summer Night” and “This is New.”

— The Corea arrangement of “Summer Night” had some currency with musicians in that era; it was recorded by Richie Beirach and others. Trumpeter Chris Kase had a chart we used on a Kase gig at Cornelia Street Cafe some 25 years ago.

— Eventually, Jim Hall/Ron Carter and Keith Jarrett would also record “Summer Night” but in 3/4, closer to the Miles Davis record.

— When Corea himself finally recorded “Summer Night” in the ‘80’s for official release with Miroslav Vitous and Roy Haynes or the Akoustic Band, it had evolved to being in 3/4 like Miles, but faster, while still sporting the same double pedal point extension heard with Getz.

— Stan Getz used Chick Corea as a resource to stay current. The Master also includes a tune by signature ECM artist Ralph Towner, “Raven’s Wood,” first recorded by Towner with Glen Moore in 1973. It’s a nice piece and the Getz band plays it in high style. Indeed, Stan’s solo on “Raven’s Wood” — in this modal, even eighth-note context — strongly reminds me of a modern tenor hero like Joshua Redman or Mark Turner. It is truly impressive how much Getz kept up with the times; it is impossible to imagine Johnny Griffin or Zoot Sims playing Chick Corea or Ralph Towner tunes. (Even the Corea arrangement of “Summer Night” might be a stretch for most musicians of Getz’s generation.)

— Albert Dailey died too young at the age of 45. I really like Dailey’s playing on The Master, especially on “Lover Man” (which includes a solo piano cadenza) and “Invitation.” The Getz/Dailey duo album, Poetry, is also a good listen.