Event Details (U.S. National Park Service)

★

Special Event

Fee:

Free.

Dates & Times

Date:

Sunday, February 14, 2021

Time:

2:00 PM

Duration:

1 hour

Type of Event

Performance

Virtual/Digital

Description

Ranger Sessions: Ranger Jon and Chloe Feoranzo

"Havana/ My Funny Valentine"

The Ranger Sessions are an ongoing series that is hosted by Ranger Jon Beebe and showcases a New Orleans musician to share their musical stylings and stories.

Chloe Feoranzo is a 28-year-old clarinet and saxophonist who has been performing professionally since the age of 15. She grew up playing in youth orchestras, musical pits, along with swing, traditional jazz bands and guest artist at festivals of the Southern California area. She completed a three year tour with Pokey LaFarge. The band toured many countries and appeared on various shows like, The Late Show with David Letterman, Prairie Home Companion and the Grand Ole Opry. She now resides in New Orleans, LA as a freelance musician, full-time member of Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band and has been touring part-time with Postmodern Jukebox and Asleep At The Wheel.

Their are many great songs to choose from for marking Valentine’s Day but the standard that most immediately comes to my mind is an obvious choice, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s “My Funny Valentine.” Written for their 1937 Broadway musical Babes in Arms, the piece was overshadowed on Broadway (and in the film version starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland) by “Where or When,” “I Wish I Were in Love Again,” and “The Lady is a Tramp,” and was not made a definitive Jazz standard until Frank Sinatra’s recording of it in 1953. It was eventually recorded by more than 600 artists on countless albums, and became synonymous with Chet Baker, who recorded it over 100 times.

Will Friedwald, author of Stardust Melodies: The Biography of Twelve of America’s Most Popular Songs writes, “What makes the whole [song] so remarkable is the happy/sad nature of the lyric, brilliantly mirroring the major/minor nature of the music. It’s a love song, but far from those ‘I love you and everything’s rosy’ tunes so popular in the twenties (vis-a-vis Iriving Berlin’s ‘Blue Skies’). It’s vaguely optimistic, but it couldn’t be described as upbeat. Still, it’s far from a downer or a torch song like ‘Body and Soul.’ The sheet music instructs pianists to play the somewhat peppier verse ‘moderato,’ while the refrain should be rendered ‘slowly, with much expression.’ In truth, it is neither glad or unhappy.”

Whether the song makes you happy, sad, or indifferent, I think that we can all agree that Chloe hits a Home Run with her beautiful playing on this classic Jazz standard. Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

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