![]() ![]() Fun fact, Valerie Simpson later sang background vocals on Simon’s solo album Still Crazy After All These Years, and Jones later did string arrangements for Simon’s album There Goes Rhymin’ Simon. Quincy Jones and singer Valerie Simpson, of Ashford and Simpson fame, with Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” That comes from Quincy Jones’s 1970 album Gula Matari. Here are the New York Voices with “Baby Driver,” on Afterglow They kick off the album with this track from Bridge Over Troubled Water. In 1998, the jazz vocal group released an album called The Songs Of Paul Simon, featuring jazz interpretations of songs from Simon’s entire career, both with Art Garfunkel and solo. Let’s hear two songs from that album now as recorded by jazz artists. ![]() As a duo, Simon and Garfunkel went out on top, and inspired dozens of other artists over the years to cover their songs. ![]() They recorded one more album in 1970, their ambitious, diverse, and hugely commercially and critically successful album Bridge Over Troubled Water. Both of those songs were originally recorded by Simon and Garfunkel in 1966.Īfter Simon and Garfunkel found more success on their 1968 album Bookends and their work in the film The Graduate, the famously splintered relationship between Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel came to the fore. Karrin Allyson in 2011 off of her album Round Midnight with the Paul Simon song “April Come She Will.” Before that, we heard Rachel Caswell and bassist Jeremy Allen in 2015 off of the album All I Know with the Paul Simon song “Feelin’ Groovy” aka “The 59th Street Bridge Song. But let’s hear a few songs from these albums as performed by jazz musicians.įirst up, this is singer Rachel Caswell and bassist Jeremy Allen in 2015 with the 1966 Simon and Garfunkel song “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)” on Afterglow. Many of the songs from these albums, including “Homeward Bound,” “I Am A Rock,” and “Scarborough Fair” have become folk music classics. But their newfound success caused them to record again, and they quickly put together two new albums in 1966. Simon had moved to England and Garfunkel was taking classes at Columbia in New York. When “The Sound of Silence” initially became an underground hit in 1965, the duo Simon and Garfunkel was basically broken up. Both of those songs were featured in the 1967 mega-hit film The Graduate, which likely helped put them into the repertoires of these jazz and pop icons. Before that, Carmen McRae with Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence,” from her 1968 album called The Sound of Silence. Robinson” from Frank Sinatra and arranger Don Costa from the 1969 album My Way. Here is Carmen McRae in 1968 with Paul Simon’s “The Sound of Silence,” on Afterglow.Ī swinging version of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Mrs. In 1968, she made “The Sound of Silence” the centerpiece and title track of her latest album, turning into a soulful jazz strut. One of the first jazz singers to perform a Simon and Garfunkel tune was Carmen McRae. In the background right now we’re hearing jazz saxophonist Paul Desmond performing Simon and Garfunkel’s “America,” from a 1969 recording he made of all Simon and Garfunkel tunes. Although they were primarily recording folk music, artists in pop, rock, R&B, and even jazz music began to perform their songs as soon as the late 1960s. Simon’s melodic gifts were recognized by musicians almost immediately when the duo Simon and Garfunkel first became famous in 1965 when their song “The Sound of Silence” became an underground radio hit. On this show, we’re exploring jazz interpretations of Paul Simon. ![]() In this recording, you heard drummer Mark McLean transforming that original iconic drum part by Steve Gadd into something a little more Afro-Cuban. Singer Sophie Milman from her 2009 album Take Love Easy with the 1975 Paul Simon tune “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover,” originally off of his album Still Crazy After All These Years. It’s The Paul Simon Jazz Songbook, coming up next on Afterglow And then later, we’ll hear jazz interpretations of some of Simon’s solo songs from the 1970s and beyond. First, we’ll hear some jazz artists tackle the music of his 1960s duo Simon and Garfunkel, including a few artists who recorded their songs in the 1960s, like Frank Sinatra and Carmen McRae. This week, I’m going to take a dive into the Paul Simon songbook, and explore some vocal jazz interpretations of his music. Songwriter Paul Simon has been delighting us with melodies for over 50 years now. Welcome to Afterglow, I’m your host, Mark Chilla. ![]()
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