Instrumental Duet Guitar,Instrumental Duet,Voice - Level 4 - Digital Download
SKU: A0.923852
By George Shearing. By Hoagy Carmichael. Arranged by Steve William Lussing. Jazz. Score and parts. 5 pages. S. W. Lussing #3126013. Published by S. W. Lussing (A0.923852).
Many venerable songs were written in the age before computers and midi synthesizers. A musical score or lead sheet was intended to be interpreted for style and tempo, and while some of those interpretations may not necessarily have been wrong, quite often they weren't always what the author intended, but face it, it's just plain hard to write music exactly in the way that the song is intended to be sung. Enter the computer age, and the ability for performers to understand that the interval of a note is an absolute time interval which puts the natural rhythm, or beat, of a musical arrangement at about 25% faster than a beat per second, which is why I arrange music to be performed at ~ 80 BPM, which means, approximately 80 beats per minute. That is not etched in stone, but it does represent the comfort zone to which the performer should subscribe when singing or playing a song. Contemporary jazz singers are, in my opinion, therefore obligated to re-arrange the songs that they intend to record, to avoid the embarrassment of getting it wrong. It happens. Timing is of the essence. Many of those old jazz classics are well served with a rewrite for the contemporary artist.
The Nearness of You was written in 1938 by Hoagy Carmichael, with lyrics by Ned Washington, and was performed in the 1938 Paramount movie, Romance in the Dark, by Gladys Swarthout of the Metropolitan Opera. It has been recorded numerous times over the years, and it maintains its popularity today. The guitar chording for this arrangement is targeted toward the experienced and more advanced players, but I encourage the experienced intermediate level player to take up the challenge of learning to play this song. It will be a rewarding experience.
