The first George Gershwin song I remember learning was A Foggy Day when I was thirteen years old. At that time, I had no understanding of how prolific Gershwin was as a composer, how his music transcended genres, or how his influence had endured over the decades. All I knew was the magic of feeling one of his melodies unfolding through my fingers for the first time.

 

It was to be the start of a lifelong love of Gershwin’s music, which, over the years, has become woven into my own repertoire. I have long wished to explore his music further, and this project allowed me the opportunity to revisit his compositions and offer my own interpretations of his work.

The Man I Love is bookended by two of his most influential pieces: Summertime and I Got Rhythm. As with the rest of the recording, I tried to approach each song in a different and distinct way. With Summertime, my starting point was a love of Claude Debussy. Noticing a link between everyone’s favourite Gershwin composition and my favourite Debussy one, Rêverie, I married the two pieces together in a way that felt natural. My interpretation begins overtly classical in style, before returning to a more familiar jazz sound, explicitly influenced by master musicians Ron Carter, Bill Evans and John Coltrane.

The album ends with I Got Rhythm, another of Gershwin’s best-known tunes. Simple and catchy, it is a song that has spawned a countless number of contrafacts, falling under the umbrella term of rhythm changes. I myself have recorded three rhythm changes on previous albums. Perhaps this is why I felt compelled to go back to the source. Tracking down the original sheet music, I used this as the basis of my arrangement, albeit with a few twists: the interlude, the triadic voicings, the original key of D-flat, and the modulation. An Ahmad Jamal inspired bass line completes the interpretation.

 

The Man I Love is the second album I have recorded with Jeremy Brown and Joe Farnsworth. Their invaluable contribution to the music is noteworthy, and I thank them both for it. Special thanks also to Matt Fishwick, Ant Law, Josh Morrison, Craig McIntosh, Sue Edwards, Fiona Latchin, Gerry O’Riordan, Joe Dessauer, Abraham Latchin, Tom Bromley, Sarah Latchin, Kerry Nixon and George Woodger. Finally, this album is dedicated to my wife Brigid, whose endless help, support and encouragement make this all possible.

 

Gabriel