It's Easy to Remember (A Jazz Story Memory) - Live

That sweet expression, the smile you gave me
It's easy to remember, or is it?
A poetic jazz member
It's March, of 1963
In mid-morning, New Jersey
Two musicians drive through the snow bound, suburban landscape
On their way to a recording session

One, an intensely dedicated musical explorer
Has, of late, been studying the way singers breathe
And hopes he would hear Frank Sinatra on the radio
so he can consider one more notion before the session
The other, an experienced song stylist
Wonders whether he will ever hear his own voice over the airways
The two men met only last week and have only played a few pieces together

The singer sitting in informally at Club Manhattan
The singer is a little concerned that the band was gonna break
Into some of the wild stuff he's heard them play
But the band leader, the gentle and positive man
Will be going for something altogether different on this occasion
Something wholly sympathetic to the sound the singer has

The two were joking and smoking and
Talking about the songs they will record today
They carry no chats, and have made no formal musical arrangements
Or even had a real rehearsal
Everyone at the session will know the tunes already
Each man having performed them, in a hundred different countries
No one at the session will need to be told what to do or what to play

The band is so well acquainted that any move that need to be established
Will come naturally
As the cats in the car talk about what is to come
Over the car's radio comes Nat Cole singing 'Lush Life'
Now he who doesn't know all the words
Out of fun the singer joins in any way
And the two add one more tune to the said list

When they got to the studio, they end up recording it in one take
In fact, they do everything in one take
Almost the entire record except 'You are too beautiful'
Where they do a second take because of a dropped drum stick
In three or four hours they are done
Laughter, handshakes a long drive home

Just a year or so later, John Coltrane will go onto the highest artistic peaks
Leading the same band in the creation of 'Crescent' and 'A love supreme'
Arguably the defining works of his career
And among the most beloved and respected in the history of recorded music
Although Johnny Hartman will go on to make some great Ballard records after this one
Including some attempting to echo the magic of the one he makes with strings

Most go unnoticed upon their release
Broad fame will elude Hartman until well after this death
But we remember them both
We're Jazz people
And for us, it's easy