Tag: vocal

Brenda Russell | Piano In The Dark

“Piano In The Dark” was the first single released from Brenda Russell‘s 1988 album Get Here. The track earned Russell two Grammy nominations in 1989, including one for Song Of The Year, and went on to be her biggest hit, peaking at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. When asked about the genesis of the song in an interview, Russell said:

“Piano In The Dark” was a wonderful experience. I had two co-writers on that song. Scott Cutler and Jeffrey Hall. And they had sent me this music. And I’m a person that collects song titles. You know, if I hear a good title, like talking to a friend or whatever, I’ll write it down. I keep a little song title book. I always think that in every title there’s a song somewhere, and you’ve just got to thin it out. So when they sent me this music, I thought, Whoa, it’s so haunting and beautiful, I love that. And I was flipping through my title book and I just thought, piano in the dark, I wonder if that would go with that music I heard. That’s as easy as that happened. I had that title and I thought, Hmmm, maybe that’ll work.

…[the song is] about this woman. Her lover plays piano. And she wants to leave him, because she’s really kind of bored. But every time she does that, he sits down and starts playing. And it sucks her right back in. She’s so in love with the way he plays. And he plays in the dark, theoretically. It’s not that literal, necessarily. But that’s what keeps her to him, basically, is his music. And I just found that was an interesting story to write about.”

The verses are set in F minor, and Russell modulates seamlessly to the parallel major for the choruses at 1:03, 2:06, and 2:59.

Mariah Carey | Always Be My Baby

The fourth single released from Mariah Carey’s fifth studio album, Daydream, “Always Be My Baby” was the most played song on the radio in 1996, and the first single to debut at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 list. The lyrics describes the lingering attachment the singer retains towards her former lover, even as they both go their separate ways. The track is one of Carey’s most successful, reaching Triple Platinum status with well over 2 million sales.

The key change is at 3:01. Many thanks to MotD fan Rob Penttinen for this submission!

I Know Where I’ve Been (from “Hairspray”)

There’s a road 
We’ve been travelin’ 
Lost so many on the way 
But the riches 
Will be plenty 
Worth the price we 
Had to pay 

There’s a dream 
In the future 
There’s a struggle 
We have yet to win 
And there’s pride 
In my heart 
‘Cause i know 
Where I’m going 
And I know where I’ve been 

From Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman’s 2002 Broadway musical Hairspray, set in 1962 Baltimore and highlighting themes of racial prejudice and discrimination, these lyrics seem more relevant, urgent, and necessary today than ever. Just this week, the show’s creators announced that going forward, all productions of the show will be required to cast the show to accurately reflect the race of the characters as they were written. The Tony-winning score incorporates elements of rock & roll and rhythm & blues. Hairspray is widely performed in schools and other theaters across the country today. In reflecting on the genesis of this song in particular, Marc Shaiman said:

This was … inspired by a scene late in the [1988] movie that takes place on the black side of town. It never dawned on us that a torrent of protest would follow us from almost everyone involved with the show. ‘It’s too sad … It’s too preachy. … It doesn’t belong. … Tracy should sing the eleven o’clock number.’ We simply didn’t want our show to be yet another show-biz version of a civil rights story where the black characters are just background. And what could be more Tracy Turnblad-like than to give the ‘eleven o’clock number’ to the black family at the heart of the struggle? Luckily … the audiences embraced this moment, which enriches the happy ending to follow, and it is our proudest achievement of the entire experience of writing Hairspray.”

Performed here by Jennifer Hudson, who portrayed Motormouth Maybelle in the 2016 NBC Live broadcast of the show. Key change at 3:17.

Committed | Lift Every Voice

Ending our week with some much-needed uplift: A cappella quintet Committed, according to its site, “solidified their sound while at school at Oakwood University in Huntsville, AL…The group had the amazing opportunity to be featured on the second season of NBC’s hit singing competition The Sing Off and emerged as the season two champions.”

NPR’s Performance Today details the history of today’s feature, also known as the black national anthem: “Poet James Weldon Johnson’s ‘Lift Every Voice’ was written in 1900 for a Lincoln birthday celebration at the segregated Stanton School in Johnson’s native Jacksonville, Florida. The song became immensely popular and was passed on among students throughout the South. About 20 years later, the NAACP adopted it as the ‘Negro National Hymn.'” The tune has seen prominent covers by Melba Moore (backed up by Stephanie Jackson, Freddie Jackson, Anita Baker, Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Jeffrey Osborne, and Howard Hewett), Bebe and Cece Winans, Take 6, The Clark Sisters, Rene Marie, and Beyonce.

In this 2015 version, Committed starts in Eb major with simple textures; a wordless bridge emerges at 2:25, building in intensity. There’s a whole-step modulation at 2:42 as the verse returns, adding a few piquant re-harmonizations and some spectacularly broad voicings.

God Save the City (from “Dementos”)

In the late 1970’s, Robert I. Rubinsky (conceiver/lyricist) and Marc Shaiman (composer) wrote a musical called DEMENTOS that looked compassionately at the NYC street scene, the homeless, and the marginalized. The finale was a song called “God Save The City.”

Video designer Eric Marciano has created this moving video accompanying Jenifer Lewis’ striking vocal, with background vocals by Capathia Jenkins, Shayna Steele, Jason Paige, and Billy Porter, from a live recording of an AIDS benefit in NYC in 1995. Now, it’s a message of gratitude to those on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, the tireless workers around the world doing their best to help us through. Key changes at 2:02 and 2:18.

Ben Bram + Quartet | Smile

Written by comedian Charlie Chaplin for his film Modern Times (1936), lyrics were added to “Smile” in 1954. The tune has been covered by many artists, including Nat “King” Cole and Sammy Davis Jr. Perhaps the most iconic of these performances was by Judy Garland on the Ed Sullivan Show (1965).

According to his website, arranger Ben Bram is “a two-time Grammy Award winning vocal arranger, producer, and engineer” who has worked with a capella powerhouse Pentatonix, and productions including “Pitch Perfect, The Sing-Off, and Glee, providing expertise as an arranger, coach, vocal producer, on-set music director, and studio vocalist.”

Here, Bram and his SATB a cappella quartet present his stunning arrangement of Chaplin’s classic tune. Unexpected 3/4 sections take center stage at 1:34 – 1:50 and 3:15 – 3:40 and a beautiful modulation hits at 1:48. But the stars of this performance are the often super-close voicings, the effortless passing of the melody from part to part, and the quartet’s gorgeous blend and balance.

Jacob Collier | Hallelujah

I have posted Jacob Collier singing a different arrangement of this same song here before, but I came across this rendition today, filmed a few days ago, and it is so transcendent that I have to share it again. As Collier says before he begins, “It starts in C Major, but we’ll see where it ends up,” making it particularly fitting for this page.

Andrea Bocelli | Con Te Partirò

James Corden kicked off #HomeFest on The Late Late Show last night, with Andrea Bocelli as one of the featured performers singing “Con Te Partirò.” Originally released in 1995 on Bocelli’s second studio album, the track has gone on to become one of the best-selling singles of all time and is considered his signature song. Key change at 4:40.