American songwriter and jazz pianist Cy Coleman could not fairly be up there with the Gershwins and Porters by way of his worldwide fame. However a few of his songs are, and a take a look at his admirable repertoire underlines how broadly he’s been coated, by a number of the all-time greats.
That is the person who, aside from the rest, co-wrote two traditional Frank Sinatra songs, “Witchcraft” and “The Best Is Yet To Come.” Like many others in Coleman’s songbook, they have been interpreted by numerous artists, and nonetheless are as we speak. He was born Seymour Kaufman in New York on June 14, 1929, and was a toddler prodigy, giving piano recitals in world-famous venues similar to Carnegie Corridor earlier than he was even ten years outdated. He went on to steer his personal trio, however quickly the world of standard music was calling him as a composer.
“Witchcraft,” for which Cy wrote the music with lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, was ceaselessly related to Sinatra from the second he launched it as a Capitol single in 1957. He recorded it twice extra, in 1963 after which as an “electronic” two-hander with Anita Baker on Frank’s massively profitable Duets venture of 1993. Within the 1960 TV particular that noticed Sinatra welcome Elvis residence from the military, Presley even carried out it.
“The Best Is Yet To Come,” for which Coleman once more collaborated with Leigh, was recorded not solely by Sinatra however by Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, Peggy Lee, and others, with newer variations by Michael Bublé, Lisa Stansfield, and Diane Schuur. By the use of one other distinction, it was additionally the final track Sinatra ever carried out in live performance, in Palm Springs on February 22, 1995.
There are a minimum of two extra Coleman co-writes it’s possible you’ll properly know, with out essentially realizing they’re his. “Big Spender” is, after all, intently related to Shirley Bassey however has been recorded by many, together with in a memorable model by Peggy Lee. “If My Friends Could See Me Now” was initially within the 1966 Broadway hit Candy Charity and sung within the 1969 film model by Shirley MacLaine. That track is typical of the flexibility of Cy’s songwriting, cropping up in lots of variations by everybody from Pearl Bailey to Lena Zavaroni, Dusty Springfield to the Three Levels, and even surviving a disco studying by Linda Clifford.
Coleman wrote the music for a lot of different musicals, together with Wildcat, Little Me and Barnum. He gained consecutive Tony Awards for Finest Rating, for Metropolis Of Angels and Will Rogers’ Follies, and his work attracted different such greats as Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole. He died on November 18, 2004 in New York, however Cy Coleman lives on in track.
