CDs for Esther

 

Year after year, I burnt music CDs for Esther –for her birthday, Christmas, for the road trips we took where we’d listen to music CDs on the car CD player. It was one of our things.

.09 E & J St Basils 6-09.jpg

2009: Esther and Jeremy

Here are play lists for three consecutive CDs I gave Esther at Christmas, 2010, 2011 and 2012, labeled the way was hey were labeled on the original CDs.

Paul Simon, “You Can Call Me Al”

CHRISTMAS 2010 / FOR ESTHER MAMACITA HOTSTUFF

  1. PAUL SIMON/YOU CAN CALL ME AL
  2. SHIRLEY HORN/YESTERDAY
  3. PAOLO CONTE/PSICHE
  4. LEONARD COHEN/DANCE ME TO THE END OF LOVE
  5. JOAO GILBERTO/BESAME MUCHO
  6. GIL EVANS/REMEMBER
  7. LIONEL RICHIE/STUCK ON YOU
  8. DAVID EAKINS/GALILEO (CURTAIN MUSIC)
  9. EVA CASSIDY/OVER THE RAINBOW
  10. BOB SEGER/WE’VE GOT TONIGHT
  11. DINAH WASHINGTON/I COULD WRITE A BOOK
  12. STEVIE WONDER/JOY INSIDE MY TEARS
  13. MARY BLACK/SONG FOR IRELAND
  14. ELVIS COSTELLO/JACKSON, MONK & ROWE
  15. THE HILLTOPPERS/P. S. I LOVE YOU
  16. GARY DE MICHELE/BIOG NIGHT THEME

 

Antonio Carlos Jobim: “Children’s Games”

FOR ESTHER   / CHRISTMAS 2011

  1. ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM/CHILDREN’S GAMES
  2. SARAH VAUGHAN/EMBRACEABLE YOU
  3. FRANK SINATRA/IN THE WEE SMALL HOURS
  4. JAME IRA BLOOM/IN THE WEE SMALL HOURS
  5. CHARLES AZNAVOUR/APRES L’AMOUR
  6. SHIRLEY HORN/BEAUTIFUL LOVE
  7. JOSHUA RIFKIN/STOPTIME RAG
  8. JACQUES BREL/QUAND ON N’A QUE L’AMOUR
  9. HELEN MERRILL/YOUR EYES
  10. PAULA MORELENBAUM/VIVO SONHANDO
  11. BILL EVANS/PEACE PIECE
  12. LYLE LOVETT/CLOSING TIME

Keith Jarrett: “My Song”

SWEET ESTHER / CHRISTMAS MUSIC 1012

  1. BILL EVANS/WALTZ FOR DEBBY
  2. KEITH JARRETT/MY SONG
  3. MITCHELL FORMAN/WALTZ FOR DEBBY
  4. MICHEL LEGRAND/BEN WEBSTER/BLUE AND SENTIMENTAL
  5. BILL EVANS/ALICE IN WONDERLAND
  6. BOBO STENSON/DECEMBER
  7. GARY DE MICHELE/PASCAL’S WALTZ
  8. BOBO STENSON/DIE NACHTIGALL
  9. MITCHELL FORMAN/HOW MY HEART SINGS
  10. BILL EVANS/JIM HALL/DREAM GYPSY
  11. KEITH JARRETT/COUNTRY
  12. BOBO STENSON/GOLDEN RAIN
  13. BILL EVANS/ISRAEL
  14. TONY BENNETT/BILL EVANS/WALTZ FOR DEBBIE

Paolo Conte: “Aquaplano”

This one was for Esther’s birthday, in 2013:

  1. ESTHER/BUT BEAUTIFUL
  2. ESTHER/RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS
  3. PAOLO CONTE/AGUAPLANO
  4. CHAMBERS BROTHERS/PEOPLE GET READY
  5. CHAMBERS BROTHERS/UPTOWN
  6. CHAMBERS BROTHERS/I CAN’T STAND IT
  7. CHAMBERS BROTHERS/ALL STRUNG OUT OVER YOU
  8. CHAMBERS BROTHERS/IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR
  9. PROCOL HARUM/A WHITER SHADE OF PALE
  10. BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD/I AM A CHILD
  11. IKE AND TINA TURNER/PROUD MARY
  12. PAOLO CONTE/COME MI VUOI?
  13. PAOLO CONTE/ELISIR
  14. PAOLO CONTE/GELATO AL LIMON
  15. PAOLO CONTE/SOTTO LE STELLE CDEL JAZZ
  16. PAOLO CONTE/GLI IMPERMEABILI
  17. SOUTHLAND STINGERS/HELIOTROPE BOUQUET

Nancy Lamott: “Rhode Island Is Famous For You”  –I would never have known or appreciated Nancy Lamott without Esther)

In 2006, I burnt one specifically listing songs I thought she should consider singing:

  1. MAUREEN MCGOVERN: HOW DO YOU STOP
  2. JESSICA MOLESKEY: I’M JUST WILD ABOUT HARRY
  3. MAUREEN MCG: LUCKY TO BE ME
  4. DIANA KRALL: THE FRIM FRAM SAUCE
  5. DIANA KRALL: THE FOLKS ON THE HILL
  6. NANCY LAMOTT: YOU MUST HAVE BEEN A BEAUTIFUL BABY
  7. MAUREEN MCGOVERN: ORDINARY MIRACLES
  8. JIMMY SCOTT: TIME AFTER TIME
  9. KARIN ALLYSON: TOO YOUNG TO GO STEADY
  10. MARY BLACK: ADAM AT THE WINDOW
  11. MAUREEN MCG: LITTLE BOY LOST
  12. IBRAHIM FERRER AND OMARA PORTUONDO: SILENCIO (Esther and I sang along with this song)
  13. MAUREEN MCG: HOW ARE THINGS IN GLOCCA MORA?
  14. MICHAEL FEINSTEIN: SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME
  15. MAUREEN MCG: THE BOY NEXT DOOR
  16. MARY B: KATIE
  17. NANCY LAMOTT: RHODE ISLAND IS FAMOUS FOR YOU
  18. ROSEMARY CLOONEY: FOR ALL WE KNOW
  19. SUSANNAH MCCORKLE: THE WATERS OF MARCH
  20. ANDREA MARCOVICCI: GOODNIGHT NEW YORK

These weren’t the only artists whose songs I burnt onto CD for Esther or otherwise. A cursory look at the handful of CDs I kept, or she kept before she died, shows, among pop and jazz artists (excluding CDS of classics) the following artists:

A         KARIN ALLYSON     AZIMUTH     CHARLES AZNAVOUR    CHRIS ANDERSON     GENE AMMONS

B         ESTHER BENDIK & CARMEN CARAMONICA    MARY BLACK     THEO BLECKMANN & JULIA HULSMANN     JANE IRA BLOOM      THE BAND     BOBBY BLUE BLAND     PAUL BLEY     GARY BURTON     RUTH BROWN    RUBY BRAFF     BOOKER T AND THE MGS     JAMES BROWN     BRIGHT EYES    THE BEATLES     CONCHA BUIKA      BLOSSOM DEARIE      JACQUES BREL    BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD

C          EVA CASSIDY    ROSEMARY CLOONEY    LEONARD COHEN    ELVIS COSTELLO     PAOLO CONTE     BILL CHARLAP     HOAGY CARMICHAEL     BENNY CARTER     CHICK COREA    HANK CRAWFORD & JIMMY MCGRIFF     CHAMBERS BROTHERS

D         MILES DAVIS     THE DRIFTERS     GARY DE MICHELE

E         DAVID EAKINS     GIL EVANS    BILL EVANS      DUKE ELLINGTON

F         IBRAHIM FERRER     MICHAEL FEINSTEIN     TOMMY FLANAGAN    MITCHELL FORMAN

G         JOAO GILBERTO   RITA GARDNER AND KENNETH NELSON (THE FANTASTICKS)     RED GARLAND    GILBERTO GIL      NANCI GRIFFITH     STEPHANE GRAPPELLI       WOODY GUTHRIE     ROBERTO GOYENECHE      GOVT MULE

H         SHIRLEY HORN    THE HILLTOPPERS    EARL ‘FATHA’ HINES       JUDY HENSKE     SCREAMIN’ JAY HAWKINS     HUUN HUUR TUU      BILLIE HOLIDAY     BILL HENDERSON    ALBERTA HUNTER    ART HODES     DICK HYMAN     COLEMAN HAWKINS     CHARLIE HADEN

I           ABDULLAH IBRAHIM

J          ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM    KEITH JARRETT     QUINCY JONES     BILLY JOEL      ETTA JAMES     WAYLON JENNINGS     HANK JONES

K         DIANA KRALL    KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND     KISS      RAHSAN ROLAND KIRK      GUY KLUCEVSEK    KARIN KROG      LEE KONITZ     EMMA KIRKBY

L          NANCY LAMOTT     LYLE LOVETT     LUNASA     ABBEY LINCOLN     LORRAINE HUNT LIEBERSON     MIKE LIPSKI SLEEPY LABEEF

M        MAUREEN MCGOVERN     JESSICA MOLESKEY    ANDREA MARCOVICCI     BARRY MANILOW     SUSANNAH MCCORKLE     HELEN MERRILL   CHRISTY MOORE     VAN MORRISON     JAMIE MCCULLUM     PAT METHENY     TAJ MAHAL     MARIZA    NESTOR MARCONI     PAUL MOTIAN     JASON MORAN     BRAD MEHLDAU     ENRICO MORRICONE      PAULA MORELENBAUM     MICHEL LEGRAND

N         WILLIE NELSON

O         ANITA O’DAY     ANNE SOFIE VON OTTER     OREGON    JERRY ORBACH

P          OMARA PORTUONDO     ANN PEEBLES     ASTOR PIAZZOLLA     ENRICO PIERANUNZI     YAN PASCAL      PROCOL HARUM

R         LIONEL RICHIE   JOSHUA RIFKIN     ALDO ROMANO     DIANNE REEVES     LEON RUSSELL       DJANGO REINHARDT

S         BOBO STENSON     JIMMY SCOTT     PETE SEGER     PAUL SIMON    FRANK SINATRA     JIMMY SCOTT     CAROL SLOANE     ARTIE SHAW      PETE SEEGER      WILLIE THE LION SMITH     LUCIANA SOUZA     MONGO SANTAMARIA     BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN     BARBRA STREISAND     KAY STARR     TOMASZ STANKO     SOUTHLAND STINGERS

T          RALPH TOWNER      MEL TORME      IKE AND TUA TURNER

V          SARAH VAUGHAN

W        DIANA WASHINGTON    STEVIE WONDER    NORMA WINSTONE     FATS WALLER     BEN WEBSTER & OSCAR PETERSON FLORIAN WEBER     MARY WELLS     CASSANDRA WILSON     MARYLOU WILLIAMS

X         X

Z          TOM ZE

***

What, if anything, does all this show? I burnt a number of CDs of classical music, and a history of jazz piano, and one time, a whole CD of Willie, Waylon, and Pete Seeger, but basically, when I put together CDs for Esther, I wanted her to like listening to them, so I catered to her preferences. She was a singer. We didn’t agree on all the singers see listened to. Most notably, I never developed a liking for Barbra Streisand,  whom I saw as oversinging most of the time, but I realized she was an exceptional talent, who has excelled in her early musicals. I  just couldn’t take the schmaltz in her singing pop tunes. (But when we sang in our cabaret group, Just Friends, one of your songs together was “YouDon’t Give Me Flowers,” and we lifted that from  the Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond version. [which is really soupy but it works].)

The truth is that Esther liked singers who played to her own strengths. She had a beautiful clear voice but above it, layers of emotion, with no mediating. It was the same in her acting. The roles she played well she played because they resonated to her: she felt affinity with them and Esther was a high intensity,  high feeling person, actor and singer.

I was a high intensity singer too but from a different zone. Like everything else in my life, my emotions filtered through reason. That isn’t good or bad, It just is. But the result is that Esther sang more like Barbra Streisand or Maureen McGovern or Patti Lupone and I sang more from a Chet Baker or Tony Bennett zone. If I’d been a woman, I’d probably have emulated Norma Winstone –emotion locked inside vocal purity.

63 E & D in Fantasticks copy

[Here’s where we met, 1963, The Fantasticks, Matt and Luisa. Huntington Bay Theater, Bay Village, Cleveland. What a way to start!)

With Esther gone, I’ve lost something of ongoing importance to me: having a soulmate to whom you give, give, give and whom you are always trying to surprise with new combinations. Because she was there and I wanted to surprise her, I dug deep into my memory of all the music I had on store in i Tunes but now I don’t have that reason to dig any more.

I’ll miss that. Just as I miss  Esther with every atom of my soul.

I love you, Esth.

d/ aka The Big Bopper

18 Sardine pitcher.JPGThis is Esther’s last gift to me. She ordered it less than a month before she died because she wanted me to feel good and by then, the outlook for her wasn’t good.

 

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