A new look at Jerome Kern Classics

Dennis Keene, conductor
Voices of Ascension

The voices of Ascension sing new choral arrangements of favorite Kern songs – in styles ranging from swinging Broadway (“I Won’t Dance”; “Can’t Help Singing”) to a timeless classical tone (“All The Things You Are”; “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”). Dennis Keene’s talented singers are accompanied variously by orchestra, harp, and string quartet, leading to some surprising moments such as a solo oboe emerging from the orchestra in a poignant “Long Ago and Far Away.” There is also the beautiful a cappella singing listeners have come to expect from Voices of Ascension – as in the rich 8-part version of “All The Things You Are.” “The music on this recording has special sentimental value to me, because one of the first two composers I ever studied was Jerome Kern (the other was Bach). Like most children with a strong response to music, I could hardly wait to start lessons on my instrument of choice, which happened to be the organ. At the age of seven, I began lessons with an organist whose career was mostly in the movie industry. I wanted to study a Bach piece I’d found, but he insisted on the Jerome Kern Album, thinking Bach too difficult. So my first assignment was Smoke Gets in Your Eyes which, along with All the Things You Are, is still my favorite song. Each week, I’d learn a new song and soon the whole collection was ‘in my repertory.’ At the same time I was secretly learning Bach pieces by myself. And so both composers – the American and the German – have been a part of me ever since I was a child. As it turned out, virtually all of the Voices of Ascension had similar experiences. I wasn’t the only one who grew up loving Kern. Although these songs were written originally for shows, over the decades they have been performed by musicians of all sorts – pop, jazz, classical; and that’s because the songs are such great music – they speak to all musicians. What we discovered in preparing this recording was how wonderfully these songs work with a classical chorus. The refinement and seriousness of purpose which we are accustomed to giving to Palestrina and Bach seem totally natural for Kern. In a sense, taking the songs away from the ‘greasepaint and footlights’ of a Broadway theatre has shown to us more clearly than ever what genuinely great music these songs are.”

Dennis Keene

program
CAN I FORGET YOU, arr. James Bassi – words by Oscar Hammerstein II from High, Wide and Handsome, 1937
ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE, arr. Dennis Keene – words by Oscar Hammerstein II from Very Warm for May, 1939
I WON’T DANCE, arr. Bassi – words by Oscar Hammerstein II, Dorothy Fields from Roberta, 1935
DON’T EVER LEAVE ME!, arr. Bassi – words by Oscar Hammerstein II from Sweet Adeline, 1929
PICK YOURSELF UP, arr. Donald Fraser – words by Dorothy Fields from Swing Time, 1936
MAKE BELIEVE, arr. Fraser – words by Oscar Hammerstein II from Show Boat, 1927
WHY WAS I BORN?, arr. Bassi – words by Oscar Hammerstein II from Sweet Adeline, 1929
A FINE ROMANCE, arr. Fraser – words by Dorothy Fields from Swing Time, 1936
CAN’T HELP SINGING, arr. Bassi – words by E. Y. Harburg, from Can’t Help Singing, 1944
THEY DIDN’T BELIEVE ME, arr. Fraser - words by Herbert Reynolds, from The Girl from Utah, 1914
THE SONG IS YOU, arr. Bassi – words by Oscar Hammerstein II, from Music in the Air, 1932
LONG AGO (AND FAR AWAY), arr. Fraser - words by Ira Gershwin, from Cover Girl, 1944
I’M OLD FASHIONED, arr. Bassi – words by Johnny Mercer, from You Were Never Lovelier, 1942
YOU COULDN’T BE CUTER, arr. Fraser - words by Dorothy Fields, from Joy of Living, 1938
THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT, arr. Fraser - words by Dorothy Fields, from Swing Time, 1936
OL’ MAN RIVER – words by Oscar Hammerstein II, from Show Boat, 1927
SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES, arr. Fraser - words by Otto Harbach, from Roberta, 1933
YESTERDAYS, arr. Bassi – words by Otto Harbach, from Roberta, 1933
DON’T EVER LEAVE ME!, arr. Bassi - words by Oscar Hammerstein II, from Sweet Adeline, 1929

Choral and Instrumental arrangements by James Bassi, Donald Fraser and Dennis Keene