From the Broadway show "Showboat" is Jerome Kern's classic tune, "Nobody Else But Me". I first started playing this tune while I was a student at the Juilliard School, specifically while teaching at Juilliard's summer jazz camps in Utah and Florida. We used it as a piece to perform for the students during the opening night of the camp, and I've kept it in my regular repertoire ever since.
Some favorite versions for me come from two quite different sources. First, Kenny Dorham's album "Showboat" and also the version from the great Brad Mehldau. Of the popular American Songbook composers, I've always found Jerome Kern's compositions quite interesting. He didn't let conventional song forms or harmonic movements limit his imagination. He tends to be able to find interesting ways to take simple ideas to unfamiliar and fresh places!
Chris Ziemba and I recorded this as part of our August 2016 digital release - "Live in Memphis" on Outside in Music (www.outsideinmusic.com) - from a live in studio concert at Young Avenue Sound in Memphis, Tennessee.
We hope you enjoy! Please leave us your thoughts in the comments section, and share with your communities!
See you next time -
Nick