Jeff Cascaro

Jeff Cascaro with the hr-Bigband – world-class musicians getting together on an album dedicated to Harold Arlen (1905 to 1986), one of the most prominent Great American Songbook composers. Among the classics he wrote are “Over the Rainbow”, “Stormy Weather”, “It’s Only a Paper Moon”, “Let’s Fall In Love” and “One For My Baby”, the words for which were penned by famous lyricists and authors such as Johnny Mercer, Truman Capote, E.Y. Harburg and Ted Koehler. Famous interpretations of his songs have been done by Ella Fitzgerald, Nat ‘King’ Cole, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday and Judy Garland, to name just a few. Arlen’s compositions, subtly blending blues and American folk, are still a source of inspiration to musicians from a wide range of genres today, particularly in the field of jazz.

“I love his distinctive and unusual melody lines”, admits Jeff Cascaro who has dedicated his current album ‘Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home’ to Arlen: “What I really like about his songs is the recurring bluesy feeling that pervades the compositions.” From an early age, Harold Arlen had been fascinated by blues and congregational singing in African-American churches. It wasn’t long before the son of a Jewish cantor, who received his early vocal training in his father’s choir, turned to jazz. At the beginning of his career as a composer, he wrote a number of chorus lines, among others for the Cotton Club, which gave him first-hand experience with African-American singers. Thereafter, he increasingly integrated these vocal styles into his compositions. Among his friends were musicians such as Cab Calloway und Ethel Waters. Lena Horne called Harold Arlen “the blackest white man she had ever met”.

Jeff Cascaro und die hr-Bigband. Dieses Treffen der Spitzenklasse gilt einem der bedeutendsten Komponisten des Great American Songbook: Harold Arlen (1905-1986). Er schrieb Klassiker wie „Over The Rainbow“, „Stormy Weather“, „It’s Only A Papermoon“, „Let’s Fall In Love“ oder “One For My Baby“, zu denen Größen wie Johnny Mercer, Truman Capote, E.Y. Harburg und Ted Koehler die Texte beisteuerten. Ella Fitzgerald, Nat ‚King’ Cole, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Judy Garland und viele andere Stars sangen einzigartige Interpretationen. Bis heute inspirieren Arlens Kompositionen Musiker unterschiedlicher Stilrichtungen. Besonders Jazzmusiker spricht die subtile Verknüpfung von Blues und amerikanischem Folk immer wieder an.

„Mich begeistern seine ungewöhnlichen und charaktervollen Melodiebögen“, bekennt Jeff Cascaro und erklärt, warum er ihm sein aktuelles Album „Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home“ widmet: „Was ich an Arlen´s Songs so liebe, ist, dass mir ständig der Blues über den Weg läuft.” Der Blues und der liturgische Gesang schwarzer Gemeinden faszinierten Harold Arlen schon früh. Der Sohn eines jüdischen Kantors, in dessen Chor er als Kind seine Stimme schulte, begeisterte sich zeitig für Jazz. Zu Beginn seiner Komponistenlaufbahn schrieb er eine Reihe Revuen u.a. für den Cotton Club, was ihn eng mit den Gesangsstilen schwarzer Sänger vertraut machte, die er zunehmend in seine Kompositionen einbaute. Zu seinen Freunden zählten Musiker wie Cab Calloway und Ethel Waters. Lena Horne nannte Harold Arlen „the blackest white man she had ever met“.