When you see him
The words of Bill Hegner. The melody is by Jack Canning
Tell him things are slow
There’s a reason and he’s sure to know
But on second thought, forget it
Just tell him I said hello
Drawn from (shades of Jung in the titling however serendipitously) Memories, Dreams, Reflections reviewed above.
This sax, bass, drums instrumental inspired me to listen to the song a bit more at the weekend.
I ended up making a jazz side of Linda Ronstadt playlist for instance – as Ronstadt did a great version of the song.
But it’s Betty Carter’s version I like most. Takes me back: I heard Carter a few times over the years, in some Belfast and Warsaw clubs, and interviewed her once over the phone for a piece that ran in a Soho magazine called Jazz Express in the 1990s. The piece, I’ve long since destroyed my copy, came out OK. She was tough but easy enough to talk to after a cold opening. Luckily I was prepared. The big fear when doing phone interviews is that the other person puts the phone down on you and so it becomes a waste of time.
Carter has inspired so many singers and instrumentalists. I wonder what version Glover was thinking of if any when she was learning the song – maybe she just took it from the sheet music and didn’t want to hear any version so she couldn’t be influenced too much.
Turning to what Glover does to my ears, it’s quite Sonny Rollins-like here eg in a sort of situation akin to the way Newk did Meredith Wilson’s ‘Till There Was You’. Takes your breath away that classic, huh.
The song itself in terms of the lyrics I think of as a wishful thinking second chance song that despite appearances is very unsentimental. Because champ you can’t see it and you-chump-you it’s over. “Tell him I said hello” is just something to say like a dear john. She’s already long since got her coat and done a bunk. For good. It’s all sweet little lies to soften the blow the message that the protagonist is sending via her friend. Glover conveys the tristesse of the situation wordlessly very well indeed and the bass lines work their charms in the underpinning.
MORE FROM MARLBANK
- TUBE’S, GRAZ, AUSTRIA – Upcoming acts include Seamus Blake, Eleonora Strino and Tim Armacost
- Knats, A Great Day in Newcastle, Fontana ***
- Lorikeet, Woven, Babel ***1/2
- Jarrod Lawson, Just Let it, Dome ***1/2
- Wynton Marsalis and Vince Giordano, The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong, Blue Engine **** recommended
