Jazz, blues and nostalgia, by Sjaak Roodenburg; Hoagy Carmichael (1899-1981)
Stardust in The Palace. It started out as a fast composition, but when the tempo dropped and lyrics were written, ‘Star Dust’ quickly grew to be a classic. Hoagy Carmichael was trained as a lawyer, but after the success of his composition ‘Star Dust’ he followed in his mother’s footsteps, who was a cinema pianist.
He was introduced to Paul Whiteman’s band by Bix Beiderbecke, after which it was only a small step to Hollywood. Here he had a shining career as a songwriter, singer, pianist and even as an actor.
Although he wrote some excellent touching songs like ‘I get along without you very well’, he became most famous for his songs with a pleasantly languid atmosphere: ‘Lazy Bones’, ‘In the cool, cool, cool of the evening’, ‘Rockin’ Chair’, ‘Memphis in June’ and ‘Two Sleepy People’.
In short, an hour of treasure hunting through Hoagy Carmichael’s (1899-1981) oeuvre. Starring Ella Fitzgerald (‘Star Dust Bossa Nova’), Ray Charles & Count Basie (‘Georgia on my mind’) Paul Robeson, Rosemary Clooney, Bette Middler, Bix Beiderbecke (‘Riverboat Shuffle’), Louis Armstrong, Sue Raney (‘Heart and soul’) and Dick Haymes (‘Skylark’).