Poinciana

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The song is named after the flame tree Delonix regia , which is also called (Royal) Poinciana in English .

Poinciana is a ballad by Nat Simon with a text by Buddy Bernier from 1936 that has become a jazz standard. The actual title of the song is Poinciana (Song of the Tree) .

Features of the song

Bernier's text refers to the flame tree and its erotic effect: “Poinciana, your branches speak to me of love. ... Poinciana, somehow I feel the heat of the jungle, a sharp rhythm grows in me. ”Nat Simon's melody is based on a Cuban son , La canción del árbol . It is a number in G major laid out at a moderate tempo with a "delightful melody due to the unconventional major-minor connections."

Impact history

"The song left almost untraceable traces in the early history of jazz repertoire": Glenn Miller performed the song in the late 1930s; In 1939 Radio WOR broadcast its version. Even Harry James had the song in the early 1940s in the repertoire, as Jerry Wald , Jimmy Dorsey , Georgie Auld , Duke Ellington and Eddie Brunner . Benny Carter recorded his version of Poinciana in 1943; it was published in 1944, as was that of Bing Crosby . Even George Shearing (1948), Reinhold Svensson (1949), Johannes Fehring (1949) and Erroll Garner (1950) took Poinciana on. Charlie Parker quoted the song in an Ornithology recording that he made in 1950. In 1952, the comedy film Dream Boat helped introduce the song to a wider audience. Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker interpreted Poinciana in early 1953 . Also, Red Callender (1951) and Lennie Niehaus (with Hampton Hawes , 1956) recognized the qualities of the ballad and they took on. In 1954 Martial Solal recorded his version in Paris; The recording that his piano colleague Ahmad Jamal made the following year in a trio with guitarist Ray Crawford and bassist Israel Crosby became more famous. Jamal made his “worn version, memorable with finely accentuated rhythmic details and distinctive block chords ”. A later version on his live album At the Pershing: But Not for Me (1958) stayed on the Billboard charts for two years .

Since the bossa boom, Poinciana has been underlaid with a Latin groove "as an early example of Pan-American synthesis" , as demonstrated by Les Baxter and McCoy Tyner in 1998 . Ted Gioia particularly points out combo interpretations by Shelly Manne (1959), Sonny Rollins (with George Cables , 1972) and Keith Jarrett (1999). Hans-Jürgen Schaal also refers to the versions by Barney Wilen (1988), Tony Williams (1991), Dave Liebman (1993) or Gary Burton (1996). Despite “the melody line that is difficult to sing”, vocal groups like The Four Freshmen or Manhattan Transfer also took on the song, but also female singers like Monica Hatch or Joan Bender. Tom Lord recorded 310 recordings in the field of jazz.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entry at jazzstandards.com
  2. ↑ a b c d e f H.J. Schaal Jazz-Standards , p. 396f.
  3. ↑ Ted Gioia The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire Oxford University Press 2012, p. 337
  4. ↑ chord progressions
  5. ↑ a b c Tom Lord: The Jazz Discography (online, August 25, 2013)
  6. ↑ a b c d e f Ted Gioia The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire Oxford University Press 2012, p. 338
  7. ↑ Casanova unwillingly / Dream Boat (IMDb)