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“…Bassist Scott
Colley and drummer Dennis Mackrel
join [Charlap] as he rides atop
the rhythm section and then dives
into the thick of it.” |
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- Jon Luthro
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Jean Sargent introduced “Alone
Together” in the Broadway musical,
Flying Colors, while Clifton
Webb and Tamara Geva danced.
Flying Colors opened at the
Imperial Theater on September 15,
1932, produced by Max Gordon and
directed by Howard Dietz. The reviews
were mixed, and it ran for 188 performances.
The Harms sheet music from that
era lists “Alone Together” as the
top song, followed by “A Shine on
Your Shoes,” “Smokin’ Reefers,”
“Louisiana Hayride,” and “A Rainy
Day.”
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Regarding “Smokin’ Reefers,”
one may wonder what a tribute to
marijuana is doing in a Dietz/Schwartz
musical. The song includes the phrase,
“the stuff that dreams are made
of.” Marijuana was not illegal in
most states at that time and was
probably a subject of great interest
due to its popularity with jazz
musicians and the ongoing effort
to ban it at the federal level.
The government finally succeeded
in passing the Marijuana Tax Act
of 1937, with the state of Louisiana
leading the way in these efforts.
Another song from this musical,
“Louisiana Hayride,” is purportedly
a phrase meaning political corruption.
“Alone Together” moved onto the
recording charts in late 1932, rising
to ninth place with Leo Reisman
and His Orchestra (Frank Luther,
vocal), a group which
Jerome Kern called “the String
Quartet of Dance Bands.”
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Howard Dietz and Arthur
Schwartz were extremely prolific,
writing over two hundred songs each.
Of their many dozen collaborations,
“Alone Together” is the most enduring
and most often recorded.
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Described as “haunting,” “remarkable,” “urbane,”
“sensual,” and “a gem,” its brooding minor-key reflects
the novel lyrical contradiction of “alone” and “together”
as well as the conditional nature of the lovers’
strength. The lovers are portrayed as interdependent,
clinging individuals who, despite a deep love, feel
strong only as a pair in seclusion. -JW
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Musical analysis of
“Alone Together”
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| Original
Key |
D minor |
| Form |
A – A – B
– A |
| Tonality |
Primarily
minor |
| Movement |
This tune
is primarily step-wise, interspersed with
skips no larger than a third. “A” rises
and falls in a graceful arc, while “B” uses
a sequential descending pattern from the
song’s upper range; long, sustained notes. |
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Comments
(assumed
background)
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This Dietz/Schwartz ballad has the same
dark, romantic ambience and slow-moving,
graceful melodic lines as their other well-known
work, “Dancing
In the Dark,” but the tunes are very
different in harmonic construction. This
tune has a simple I – V7(b9) – I progression
for the first eight measures, until the
V becomes minor, turning into a ii of iv
as the piece changes key temporarily (A7
– D7 – Gm in the original). This new key
soon drops a minor third, however, leading
into an unusual, but pleasing, harmonic
sequence with a descending inner voice that
makes it work from a voice-leading standpoint.
In the original key, this is (from measure
9): Esus4 – E7 | Gm7 – C7 | Fmaj7 – Bbmaj7
|A7| Dmaj7|. On a keyboard, it will be noted
how the suspended 4th of the initial E chord
begins a line that descends in an exotic
mode–one note change per chord change, this
is A – G# - F – E – D –C#. “A” also ends
on the “picardy third,” a parallel major
chord. “B” changes key to G minor by way
of the dominant turning minor and thus into
a ii7 of the new key (actually a iim7(b5)
in which the b5 becomes the b9 of the new
V7 chord – in this case, D7). The fifth
of the new key of G minor drops a half step,
turning it into yet another ii7 of the chord
one step below (in the original F major.)
Since the melody note is A here – the third
degree of the key of the moment – a smooth
common tone modulation is easily created
by raising 5 and lowering 1 a half step.
Because few melody notes land on chord extensions,
jazz players have added many exotic harmonies
and used different chord substitutions to
this piece over the years.
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K. J. McElrath - Musicologist for JazzStandards.com
Check out K. J. McElrath's book of Jazz Standards Guide Tone Lines at his web site (www.bardicle.com). |
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I’ve probably played “Alone Together” for the last
time, but the last time I played it, I forgot entirely
about those extra bars tacked onto the A sections--the
major-minor thing. It’s one of those tunes that
fascinated me for a long time and then suddenly
I lost interest. Maybe I just thought I liked it.
Looking back, I don’t think I ever did!
Jessica
Williams, jazz pianist
www.jessicawilliams.com
Are you a
published Vocalist or Instrumentalist?
Add a comment and we'll credit you with a link
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“Alone Together”
was included in these films:
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Click on a CD for more details
at Amazon.com
Pepper Adams
Conjuration: Live at Fat Tuesday’s Session
1994, Reservoir 113
Original recording, 1983
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| Joining the baritone saxophonist
on this lazy version of the song are Kenny
Wheeler on trumpet and flugelhorn; Hank
Jones, piano; Clint Huston, bass; and Louis
Hayes on drums. |
Kendra Shank
Reflections
2000, Jazz Focus
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| This creative version by vocalist
Shank is enhanced by pianist Frank Kimbrough,
drummer Tony Moreno, and former Gerry Mulligan
sideman, bassist Dean Johnson. |
Jessica Williams
Live at Yoshi’s
2004, MAXJAZZ
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| Pianist Williams throws some amusing
quotes into this mid-tempo reading of the
song. She’s in the company of bassist Ray
Drummond and drummer Victor Lewis. |
Bill Charlap Trio
Souvenir
1995, Criss Cross 1108
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| Charlap introduces the song with
a short solo before bassist Scott Colley
and drummer Dennis Mackrel join him as he
rides atop the rhythm section and then dives
into the thick of it. |
Kirk Lightsey Quartet
Everything Is Changed
1995, Sunnyside1020
Original recording, 1986
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| Pianist Lightsey takes “Alone Together”
uptempo with Jerry Gonzalez flitting around
the melody on muted trumpet for the first
chorus. Santi Debriano on bass and Eddie
Gladden on drums have a dialogue under Lightsey’s
second chorus improvisation. |
Steve Kuhn
Looking Back
1991, Concord4446
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| Drummer Lewis Nash drives the up-tempo
version of this song, but pianist Kuhn is
well up to the whipping Nash gives it and
positively sparkles with inventiveness.
David Finck on bass completes this fine
trio. |
Von Freeman
Never Let Me Go
1994, Steeplechase
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| Chicago tenorman Von Freeman takes
this song at a relaxed tempo, yet still
finds something exciting to say at every
turn with Jodie Christian (piano), Eddie
De Haas (bass), and Wilbur Campbell (drums).
A nod to Steeplechase for the fine mastering. |
Lynn Arriale
Eyes Have It
1994, DMP 502
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| The meditative pianist digs in with
bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Steve Davis
to come up with a deeply unified sound. |
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The late Artie Shaw had impeccable musical taste.
He was an obsessive perfectionist, and his clarinet
playing and the bands he led performed exceptional,
quality music. Many of the tunes he selected for
his big bands of the 1930s and 40s became standards
years after he recorded them.
Shaw was the premier jazz musician to record
“Alone Together.” The first reading was with his
standard “reeds, brass, rhythm” band in 1939. He
recorded it again in 1940 with a group including
strings and with a different arrangement. Although
both versions lean towards the smooth, instrumental,
dance band style of that era, it’s Shaw’s brief
clarinet expositions that reveal the improvisational
potential of the song.
Chris Tyle - Jazz Musician and Historian
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| This section shows the jazz standards
written by the same writing team. Click on a name
to see all of a writer's jazz standards.
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Additional information on “Alone Together” may be found in:
2 paragraphs including the following types of information: lyric analysis.
1 page including the following types of information: music analysis.
6 pages including the following types of information: history and music analysis.
1 paragraph including the following types of information: summary.
Includes the following types of information: song lyrics.
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