Tea For Two (Youmans / Caesar) played by Walt Smith of the Storyville All Stars

Tea For Two (Youmans / Caesar) played by Walt Smith of the Storyville All Stars

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"Tea for Two" is a song from the 1925 musical No, No, Nanette with music by Vincent Youmans and lyrics by Irving Caesar. It is a duet sung by Nanette and Tom in Act II as they imagine their future.

The song contains abrupt key changes between A-flat major and C-major. The song also consists mostly of dotted eighth and quarter notes. Alec Wilder described these features as being uncharacteristic of a great theatrical song but acknowledged the song's great success regardless.

The story may be apocryphal, but Irving Caesar indicated on Steve Allen's radio show that the lyrics were intended to be temporary. Hoyt Axton later did much the same thing with the "Jeremiah was a bullfrog" part of "Joy to the World".

"Tea for Two" became a jazz standard and was recorded by numerous bands and instrumentalists. One famous interpretation of the song is Tommy Dorsey's cha-cha-cha version, top ten in 1958, re-popularized in 2005 by adverts for McVitie's biscuits. Another notable recording was made by Art Tatum in 1939. Pianist Thelonious Monk knew the song well, reharmonizing the song and recording it with a bebop-style melody in 1952 with the name "Skippy" and returning to the original melody with a charming arrangement for his 1963 album Criss Cross. It was also used, with altered lyrics as the theme tune for BBC sitcom Next of Kin (1995-7). Anita O'Day's rendition of the song at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival was considered one of its highlights.

In October 1927, the conductor Nikolai Malko challenged Dmitri Shostakovich to do an arrangement of a piece in 45 minutes. His "Tea for Two" arrangement, Opus 16, was first performed on 25 November 1928. It was incorporated into Tahiti Trot from his ballet The Golden Age first performed in 1929.

The Storyville Allstars are:

Walt Smith (clarinet / leader)
Dave Fimister (cornet)
Frank Rossiter (trombone)
Iain Mathieon (keyboards)
John Whyte (guitar)
Calum McKenzie (double bass)
Andy James (drums)

and of course, Dundee's first Lady of Jazz Yvonne Robb on vocals!

Category:

Music

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