There Will Never Be Another You

I think now's a good time to get back to some songs that have been sitting in my folder, waiting to be posted. Here's one that has been there for 2 years.

Listen to the song here
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Round Midnight

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! I feel like 2023 is sort of an "odd" number -- not just in the sense of not being divisible by 2, but rather "different" or "unexpected." Does that mean this is a good time to add a song by Thelonious Monk, a jazz pianist known for being distinctly unlike any others? I think it's the right time. Today I will be playing for you "Round Midnight," a jazz standard that Monk composed in the late 1930s or early 1940s, and published in 1943. I hope you like it!

Listen to the song here
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When I Fall in Love

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! To finish 2022, I'm playing a ballad called "When I Fall in Love," composed by Victor Young and Edward Heyman. This one has been around for 70 years now, but you might know it because of the famous version by Nat King Cole. I hope you like it!

Listen to the song here
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Emily

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a jazz standard called "Emily," composed by Johnny Mandel. This song was written for a film in 1964, but in the end it wasn't actually included. It became popular when the pianist Bill Evans recorded it a few years later. I hope you like listening to it!

Listen to the song here
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Sonnymoon for Two

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a little jazz standard which is called "Sonnymoon for Two." It was composed by the saxophonist Sonny Rollins, who took the opportunity to name this song after himself. Maybe he also wanted to say that it's better to be together than alone. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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Star Eyes

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a jazz standard called "Star Eyes." This song was made for a film that was released in 1943, but it was made popular among musicians when Charlie Parker recorded it several years later. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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Lullaby of Birdland

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a jazz song called "Lullaby of Birdland." This song was composed by George Shearing, who claimed to have written it in 10 minutes. However, he said that his prior experience was a contributor to his ability to write the song. Even though those years of experience weren't directly connected, they still played a part in his composition. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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Crazeology

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a jazz song called "Crazeology," which was composed by Benny Harris, but first recorded by Charlie Parker. Maybe there was a crazy idea that inspired this song, but we can't really know that now. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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Chega de Saudade (No More Blues)

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a bossa nova standard called "Chega de Saudade," or "No More Blues." It was composed by the famous musician Antonio Carlos Jobim, with the lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. Chega de Saudade is often referred to as the first bossa nova song to be recorded. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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The Chicken

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing what you might call a "modern jazz" tune by Pee Wee Ellis. It's called "The Chicken," and it was written in 2001 - that's 20 years ago now, but it's pretty new compared to the jazz songs that were written in the 1940s. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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Recordame

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a jazz song called "Recordame." This song, which was inspired by Latin music, was actually written by the saxophonist Joe Henderson when he was only 15. His song title came from the Spanish word "recuerdame," which means "remember me." That got me thinking about how recordings "remember" songs for us. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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Black Orpheus

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a jazz song called "Black Orpheus." This song was actually written for a movie of the same name, which was based on a story from ancient Greece about a character named Orpheus. The origins of stories and songs can go back farther than we think - perhaps as far as the original Orpheus went to rescue Eurydice, the love of his life.

You might think that you know where something came from or why it exists, but you could actually be forgetting about something. An issue is often more complicated than we think it is. Sometimes, we might even be missing information about its origins, and we have to admit that we can't know everything about it instead of making assumptions. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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Keep filling your teacup with music!
~Liya

Blues at Seven

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! For the first song of 2021, I'm playing a song that I composed called "Blues at Seven." The number could refer to 7:00, but it's also a reference to the rhythmic pattern of the song. Another thing I just noticed is that 21 is a multiple of 7, so this is the right year to post this song, too. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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Afternoon in Paris

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a jazz standard by John Lewis called "Afternoon in Paris." He actually recorded the album this song was on in Paris, so connecting the song to the city really was important to him. Although it was written in the 1950s, this song is still considered valuable to jazz musicians' repertoire today. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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Tis Autumn

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a jazz ballad called "'Tis Autumn." Composed by Henry Nemo, it reminded me of the leaves that fall on top of anything you find outside. When winter and then spring come, they're all gone. Could you find something underneath a pile of autumn leaves? I hope you like listening to this one!


Listen to the song here
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Desafinado

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a jazz song by Antonio Carlos Jobim called "Desafinado." (It might be better classified as a bossa nova, but since it is often played in an ensemble with improvisation, it could still be considered a jazz song.) According to the title of this song, it's actually meant to be played improperly. Does that mean I'm playing it incorrectly by playing it correctly? I'm not sure how to answer that one, but I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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A Minor Major

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a jazz song that I composed called "A Minor Major." (That's an indefinite article, not a key.) It has some chord patterns that you might not expect (but, of course, there's still minor and major ones). That's because I wrote the song differently than others, where I used the chords from an existing song. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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Joe's Avenue

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a jazz song called "Joe's Avenue." This one was composed by Wynton Kelly as part of his "Vee Jay Studio Recordings." While learning the song, I was also able to transcribe his solo, so that I could play it myself. It reminded me of the importance of learning from other musicians. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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St Louis Blues

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a song called "St. Louis Blues." Composed by W. C. Handy in 1914, this was one of the first blues songs to succeed in the realm of popular music. That makes it a bit different from the blues I posted last week. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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D Natural Blues

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a jazz song called "D Natural Blues." The composer of this song, Wes Montgomery, decided to write the song in D, because that would work better for him as a guitar player. Maybe learning about how a song was written can increase our perspective on different instruments. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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