This is the first cover I’m posting here. This tune is originally by the doo-wop group, The Inkspots. You can watch their original performance here.
It was because of a few odd coincidences that we decided to perform this tune. Nancy was invited by a mutual acquaintance to sing for Bruce Lundvall, a jazz industry legend who was the long-time president of Blue Note records. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2015. I went along to accompany Nancy, and we felt warmly greeted – Mr. Lundvall was very personable and kind. We performed in the same room, we were told, that Norah Jones had first sung for Lundvall a few years earlier, and it felt like one of those exciting New York experiences that fills you with the electricity of possibility.
It was Mr. Ludvall who mentioned this song to us. Later, we pieced together that he had been considering signing a vocalist out of Texas named Kat Edmonson, who – herself – did a version of “Whispering Grass,” and Ludvall was tickled by the inclusion of the tune that he knew from so many years ago. Edmonson’s version (listen to it here) emphasizes the supernatural and mystical nature of the tune, and we felt there was room to highlight its melodicism.
Nancy and I changed the standard 4/4 time to more of a 6/8 sway and I fiddled with some of the harmony. I wanted to play repeated notes and contrapuntal sorts of things the way that Fred Hersch sometimes does at the very top of the piano, which often makes for a pretty, bell-like tone.
In fact, Fred deserves even a bit more credit here. He came to the very first gig that our trio ever performed, which was at the Kitano jazz club in Midtown Manhattan. After the gig, Fred said that he enjoyed it, but that Lucas should add bass clarinet to his arsenal (at that time, he was only playing saxophone and regular clarinet). Inspired by Fred’s recommendation, Lucas started shedding the bass clarinet and now doubles on it regularly, not just in my group but in other projects (check out Jorn Swart’s Malnoia).
It’s the warmth of the bass clarinet paired with my upper register tinkling that make me really love this arrangement, and I think they complement the intimacy and purity of the lyric. Lastly, we reharmonized the last section to make the landing point a little bit later the form and emphasize the “magical” element in the text. I hope you enjoy!