It’s hard to do vocal arrangements of songs based on instrumental hooks without sounding silly, so I don’t usually try. Finally, a nod to Andy’s greatest Christmas hit ends it with a smile.
2 times through with Calvin caressing it once, then the group playing around it the 2nd time treats it right. The song is so sublime that, to do one of our signature middle section departures would be overkill.
That vibe just landed on me while contemplating Moon River, and oo it make a me feel sooo nice. I love the samba/bossa nova feeling of Basia (and producer Danny White), and if I was forced to listen to only one record for the rest of my days, it would be one of hers. Of course, it needed to have an original approach to be worthy of the SUN Brothers or Rockapella. When you see Breakfast At Tiffany’s, you appreciate the simple way he finds the depth of feeling behind the song’s story. I love the lyrics of Cole Porter, Noel Coward, Lorenz Hart and others from the standards era, but Johnny Mercer managed to be just as clever and insightful, while doing so in the everyman vernacular of 20th century America. It’s the classic showcase for Andy’s beautiful and uniquely pleasing voice, and it is just a masterpiece marriage of Henry Mancini music and Johnny Mercer lyrics. The song for the rest of the year, however, has gotta be Moon River. If we’d been playing his theater in December, clearly one of those songs would’ve been ripe. Kay Thompson was a real trailblazer, and had a singular, remarkably varied career. It had “Most Wonderful Time…”, “Holiday Season”, a great “White Christmas” and “12 Days…” (a song I usually find really boring), and ended with “Kay Thompson’s Jingle Bells”. Side 1 of that album is one of the greatest sides of an album I know of. I grew up on that red Andy Williams Christmas album, and would start playing it in September every year. After playing Sammy’s Showroom (Sammy Davis Jr.) at Harrah’s in Reno, and dedicating an arrangement of Candyman, I thought it only fair we pay tribute to Andy Williams when playing his theater in Branson.
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