Take Two Darn That Dream |
You know how it is. You go searching for something and come across something else that catches your eye. In this case it was a favourite tune and an always impressive band.
Jimmy Van Heusen and Eddie DeLange's Darn That Dream first appeared in 1939 and in 1940 was a hit for Benny Goodman with Mildred Bailey singing the words, but the band that caught my eye was Joan Chamorro's San Andreu Jazz Band from Barcelona, this time the band is playing with the WDR Big Band and the solo is taken by baritone sax player Alba Esteban:
Darn that dream
I dream each night
You say you love me and hold me tight
But when I awake and you're out of sight
Oh, darn that dream
Darn your lips and darn your eyes
They lift me high above the moonlit sky
Then I tumble out of paradise
Oh, darn that dream
When it appeared in 1939, Darn That Dream featured in a Broadway musical, Swingin’ the Dream. Based on Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, the show was not a success, it opened in November and closed in December after only thirteen performances. Among those who sang the number in the show were Louis Armstrong as Bottom, Maxine Sullivan (as Tatiana, Queen of the Pixies), Bill Bailey, Dorothy Dandridge, Vivian Dandridge, and Etta Jones, the latter three billing themselves as the Dandridge sisters (as three pixies).
Amongst the many recordings since 1939 there is a lovely version by Dexter Gordon and another by Paul Desmond but for our second 'take' I have chosen this superb vocal performance by New Zealand's Ella Dunbar-Wilcox filmed at the Orange Studios in Christchurch in December 2018 where she is accompanied by bassist Umar Zakaria's Trio. I particularly like the work of pianist Dominic Spiteri in this number:
Darn that one track mind of mine
It can't understand that you don't care
Just to change the mood I'm in
I'd welcome a nice old nightmare
Darn that dream and bless it too
Without that dream I never would have you
But it haunts me and it won't come true
Oh, darn that dream
Other pages you might find of interest :
© Sandy Brown Jazz 2022
Click HERE to join our mailing list