As a proper goodbye to the season (which is really more of an idea than anything), here is a classic: "Summer Song," from the musical The Real Ambassadors. The music was written by Dave Brubeck, one of my favorite jazz pianists, and the lyrics by his wife Iola. Perhaps most importantly, Louis Armstrong performs vocals on the song, which collaboration just sounds meant-to-be.
Though the musical was only performed once, in a pared-down set at the 1962 Monterey Jazz Festival, recordings of its soundtrack are still available, and its examination of themes like international- and race-relations is still achingly relevant, even over fifty years later. I think in particular of Michael Brown being shot in Ferguson, and of the greater underlying tensions that long-preceded the shooting, as well as the Russian-Ukrainian conflict that further complicated this summer with the shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. These events probably come to mind simply because they were two of the biggest news stories of the summer, and it's easy for me to think about them in a cerebral and abstract manner--after all, I don't have to face systematic and societal discrimination because of my skin color, or live in a war zone where my safety is perpetually endangered.
But that's all a much bigger, longer, complex conversation, one much beyond a single, simple song. Returning to the music, there's even a Real Ambassadors website with a synopsis and background in case you'd like to read more about it.
Anyhow, enough babbling. Here's "Summer Song:"
Monterey is ageless and not just for the music and personalities. We, individually, choose what we carry along from, say, a summer of note. And carry too, bits and pieces we dredge from history, whether we were part of it or not. It becomes our own.
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