My Funny Valentine - Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart (arr. Heitmeyer)

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Description

Jazz Standards for the Classical Guitar - Steven Saulls, Classical Guitarist

About the music and composer...

"My Funny Valentine" is a show tune from the 1937 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart coming of age musical Babes in Arms in which it was introduced by teenaged star Mitzi Green. The song became a popular jazz standard, appearing on over 1300 albums performed by over 600 artists. One of them was Chet Baker, for whom it became his signature song. In 2015, it was announced that the Gerry Mulligan quartet featuring Chet Baker's version of the song was inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry for the song's "cultural, artistic and/or historical significance to American society and the nation’s audio legacy". Mulligan also recorded the song with his Concert Jazz Band in 1960.

Babes in Arms opened at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway, in New York City on April 14, 1937, and ran for 289 performances. In the original play, a character named Billie Smith (played by Mitzi Green) sings the song to Valentine "Val" La Mar (played by Ray Heatherton). The character's name was changed to match the lyric of this song.

In the song, Billie describes Valentine's characteristics in unflattering and derogatory terms (at one point Billie describes Valentine's looks as "laughable", in keeping with the title), but ultimately affirms that he makes her smile and that she doesn't want him to change. The description of Valentine was consistent with Lorenz Hart's own insecurities and belief that he was too short and ugly to be loved. (The lyrics are sufficiently gender-neutral to allow the song to be sung about a person of any gender, and a large proportion of cover versions of the song hae been by men describing a hypothetical woman.)

The song first hit the charts in 1945, performed by Hal McIntyre with vocals by Ruth Gaylor. It only appeared for one week and hit No. 16. (Wikipedia)

About the performer...

Steven began studying the guitar at age nine and has attended some of the finest music schools in the world including the Berklee College of Music (Boston), and the Mozarteum (Salzburg, Austria). He holds both a Bachelor of Arts degree from Western Washington University (1980) and a Master of Music degree from the University of Arizona (1982).

Over the past 40 years, Steven has performed hundreds of concerts throughout the United States, Central & South America and Europe. His debut recordings ‘Espressivo’ and ‘Steven Saulls Plays Works by Ponce, Torroba & Bach’ have received wide acclaim both nationally and internationally. In addition to solo concerts, he has performed over 200 chamber works including guitar concerti (with orchestra) by Vivaldi, Ponce and Rodrigo.

About the recording...

Recorded at The Steven Saulls Guitar Studio, Sahuarita, Arizona 2022/Guitar handcrafted by Martin Blackwell.

Copyright© 2023 Steven Saulls, Sahuarita, Arizona

For additional information please contact Steven Saulls at sdsaulls@gmail.com