”The Man I Love” started out as an up-tempo dance number but was slowed down to become one of the greatest ballads in the Gershwin canon. It was featured in three different George and Ira Gershwin shows in the 1920s and rejected from all three in tryouts. Eventually it became a success as an independent song. This weekend I’ll show just how versatile this song is and why it rose to the top of the Great American Songbook.
Erroll was one of the most important jazz pianists and songwriters of the Fifties, a truly wonderful era for jazz. In this 1957 recording, a full 9 minute set, he starts it off slowly, but then he really swings!