That music professor for beyond, beyond, beyond postdoctoral studies, Jerry Sharell, invariably introduces me to new songs interpretated by Frank Sinatra, and now I cannot get enough of "Tangerine"! Learning more about the song, I read how the composer, Victor Schertzinger, also wrote one of the ultimate jazz standards, "I Remember You", with lyrics for both songs by none less than Johnny Mercer.

Lee Konitz recorded a famous instrumental version of "I Remember You" with Elvin Jones and Sonny Dallas, and I just found a ravishing vocal and instrumental treatment by Chet Baker, including the song's exotic intro, rarely heard.

Returning to "Tangerine", I've added a wowing rendition featuring Poncho Sanchez with Ilya Serov. I'm hearing Serov for the first time, and cannot believe how gifted a vocalist and trumpeter he is, truly magnificent, again because I've never heard of him before! Good to read we share Russian ancestry, as does Lee.

Lee Konitz has a poster of his favorite, Frank Sinatra, hanging in the kitchen. Lou Levy once told me he believed Sinatra to be not only the greatest jazz vocalist, an opinon shared by Konitz, Miles Davis, and myself among many others, but even the greatest jazz musician of all.

With music like this all around, its a wonder we ever get anything done!

- Michael Robinson, October 2019, Los Angeles

© 2019 Michael Robinson All rights reserved

Michael Robinson is a Los Angeles-based composer and writer (musicologist).