You may be wondering why I’m putting up an old Cole Porter pop tune from 1928 up my website. If you’ve seen Woody Allen’s glorious flick, “Midnight in Paris,” you know why, but if you haven’t, then a bit of explanation is needed. In the film, a time traveling novelist played by Owen Wilson stumbles back in time somehow, ends up at a hot 20s jazz party in Paris, and finds Cole Porter himself performing the song in an intimate setting. Not “intimate” like an orgy, though maybe one broke out later after Owen left, it’s hard to tell. Anyway, it’s hilarious, but more importantly, the song is simply one of the best ever. This version from Ella Fitzgerald is my favorite, which says something because this song was performed by everyone from Frank Sinatra and Louie Armstrong to Diana Ross and Joan Jett. I’ve taken it upon myself to learn this song on guitar this past week, and its damn hard because of all the jazz chords that require real finger gymnastics. However, with some real determination, and some real creative chord interpretation, I managed to plunk it down pretty well after a few days. Here is the link I used to learn, and if you want to play along with Ella, put a capo on the 3rd fret. Trust me, you’ll like this one guitar players….and uh…lovers of music.
