Body and Soul (5:10)

“Body and Soul” is a popular song and jazz standard written in 1930 with music by Johnny Green. Louis Armstrong was the first jazz musician to record “Body and Soul” in October 1930, and it went on to become one of the most recorded jazz standards in history.

James Moody

James Moody was an American jazz saxophone and flute player and very occasional vocalist, playing predominantly in the bebop and hard bop styles. “Body and Soul” is considered a challenging piece to solo over; however, the unusual nature of the chords provides a lot of improvisational freedom which Moody certainly takes advantage of in this rendition.

Eddie Jefferson, James Moody and Vocalese.

Vocalese is a style of jazz singing in which words are added to an instrumental soloist’s improvisation [slightly different than a contrafact, which is a musical composition (no lyrics) consisting of a new melody overlaid on a familiar harmonic structure, see related post below]. Vocalese uses recognizable lyrics that are sung to pre-existing instrumental solos, as opposed to scat singing, which uses nonsense words in solos. Anyway, Eddie Jefferson was captivated by James Moody’s talent and put lyrics to one of James Moody’s solos to “Body and Soul”.

How this current recording came to be. This story began many years ago when I lived in Hartford, CT working as an intern and had a jazz DJ for a housemate who turned me on to an Eddie Jefferson record (yeah, way before streaming!) I had never heard anything like it and I guess I thought Jefferson’s version was pretty cool. I recorded it (on a cassette tape) and over many trips back and forth from the hospital, I gradually learned to sing his version a capella.

Many (and I do mean many) years passed. A few months ago I remembered this song and wondered if I could figure out the melody on the piano. It took a little while, but the words helped me figure out the notes of the melody, and the melody helped me fill in some of the words. Anyway, here it is for your listening pleasure.

About this recording: For context, I first play the original melody very straight with no singing (I certainly don’t want to compete with Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, or Frank Sinatra). As usual, I let the Clavinova’s sampled sound of the Yamaha CFX Concert Grand ‘sing’ for me. Then I play Moody’s improvisation (which he first performed on the tenor sax) with Jefferson’s lyrics added karaoke style. If you would like to hear me sing his vocals, post it in the comments and if there is enough interest, I will try to record my vocal version for you.

Interesting Fact. “Body and Soul” was recorded as a duet by Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse in 2011. It was the final recording made by Winehouse before her death at the age of 27. It made Bennett, at age 85, the oldest living artist to chart on the Hot 100.

Enjoy,

Dr. Weiss

Dedicated to Todd

PS Link to James Moody recording on Apple Music: