Happy New Year - Feliz Año Nuevo!

I want to thank readers of the blog for your support and interest in Oscar Alemán and the contributions available here during the past ten years. The goal of the work presented at the blog has always been to publish research which may broaden our knowledge about and support the interest in factual information about Oscar Alemán in order to save his name and legacy from oblivion and spread the word to new generations of sincere followers. I do hope that this work initiated by the founder of the online Oscar Alemán discography and this blog, Hans Koert (1951-2014), has succeeded so far. And I also hope to continue the blog in the new year following the direction appointed so far. A Happy New Year 2017 to friends and followers of the blog!

Now, let's celebrate the New Year -  el Maestro will help you to find the right spirit, I am convinced

New Year's evening and night should be celebrated wearing your nicest clothing - ladies,take an advice from el Maestro

We will let a young, talented musician repeat the song in an updated version which I'm convinced el Mestro would have approved - enjoy this version of O vestido do bolero by Josh Turner and may your happiness increase in 2017!

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Jo

keepitswinging.domain@gmail.com

Night And Day - Noche Y Día

Original sheet music front (1932)

Night And Day is a popular song by Cole Porter. It was written for the 1932 musical play Gay Divorce. It is perhaps Porter's most popular contribution to the Great American Songbook and has been recorded by dozens of artists. Fred Astaire introduced Night And Day on stage, and his recording of the song with the Leo Reisman orchestra was a no.1 hit, topping the charts of the day for ten weeks. 

Original film poster (1934)

Fred Astaire performed Night And Day again in the 1934 film version of the show, renamed The Gay Divorcee, and it became one of his signature pieces.

Original film poster (1946)

Night And Day was so associated with Cole Porter, that when Hollywood first filmed his life story in 1946, the movie was entitled Night and Day.

The musical structure of Night and Day is unusual for a hit song of the 1930s. Most popular tunes then featured 32-bar choruses, divided into four 8-bar sections, usually with an AABA musical structure, the B section representing the bridge. Porter's song, on the other hand, has a chorus of 48 bars, divided into six sections of eight bars—ABABCB—with section C representing the bridge. (info above excerpted from Wikipedia, here ).

As mentioned, Night And Day has been recorded by numerous artists, both as an instrumental and with Porter's lyrics by various vocalists. I prefer various instrumental versions of the song, and one of my all time favorite instrumental recordings of Night And Day was recorded by Oscar Alemán y su Orquesta de Jazz for Odeon (Odeon 74265, mx 20199) as Noche Y Día on May 30, 1955. The guitar solo (- of 80 bars, partly with ensemble) belongs to one of Alemán's superior contributions, a marvellous interpretation of a romantic ballad played as a fox-trot in medium tempo artistically at the same high level as his version of Stardust (Polvo de estrellas) with the Quinteto de Swing from October 1944. - Enjoy Alemán's Night And Day/Noche Y Día here

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Jo

keepitswinging.domain@gmail.com