Why this tune?
I’m preparing for a solo piano gig on Sept. 29, and plan to include this week’s tune
“Imagination” in my set list. It’s one of my favorite ballads, written by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke in 1940 for Glenn Miller’s swing band. I first heard it in the early 1990s,
performed by the Israeli singer Achinoam Nini (Noa).
The beautiful melody and concise lyrics have inspired hundreds of recordings by artists from many traditions. It was a swing and jazz hit in 1940 for Miller, Tommy Dorsey and Ella Fitzgerald Miki Howard released a hit R&B version in 1986. Even Bob Dylan recorded a cover version!
Those lyrics are deceptively simple, a finely-crafted construction that tells a complex story
of desire and self-doubt with very few words. I’ll leave out the melody on the 29th, but I do
play “Imagination” often as a vocal with singer Barbara Papendorp.
Tunes On Tuesday Reel
Check it out!
Glenn Miller, 1940
Miki Howard
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 