Happy Holidays, Jazz Lovers! I’m so glad to be back, and I’m so glad you are here. I haven’t been posting regularly, as I’ve been busy with life and focused on my podcast, though it is my intention to get back to posting here weekly.
We find ourselves in late December here, and the Holidays are here. This season, I’ve noticed I really feel a mix of emotions, and I sense I’m not alone in that, so I thought I would write about them. Going into the Holidays, I felt excited, hopeful, glad to spend time with loved ones. Then, I had a death in my family: my beloved Aunt died on December 14th, just a week ago today. Her death was sudden and unexpected. This is compounded by the end of another dear relationship that I’ve come to hold dear. Another loss. Since then, I’ve experienced waves of emotions at various times: sadness, gratitude, shock, anger, acceptance, and numbness. Then, I find myself feeling deep gratitude that my Aunt was even in my life at all. I will have a memory of her come to me, and then I smile and laugh at this, followed by tears. And then I marvel at how wild life is, how I am in control of so very little, at how even being alive and having a healthy body is a supreme gift from God. It’s like even though my heart is broken, the deep joy of being alive under-girds all. The totality of this is inside my heart, as it continuing into expansiveness. Just being present with it all is sometimes overwhelming, though mostly I see it all as beautiful. “Joyous free in flame and life,” as Billie Holiday sang in “Yesterdays.”
This left me pondering how to honor all my feelings this Holiday Season, and yet also nurture the joy that is the true nature of my soul (and yours too). You may have lost someone, you may be missing someone, or you might be longing for someone. Or, you might be happy, boisterous, covetous, frustrated, or peaceful. All of these experiences are welcome. Ram Daas, the spiritual teacher, talked about how when someone dies, though their physical body is no longer present, the love we felt for the person, and them for us, shall remain with us. Love is the true nature of the soul.
“…The way you and I love each other, I just believe that love transcends death.”
-Ram Daas, “Being Ram Daas”
So this week, I chose 3 very different versions of the 1937 Gershwin tune “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” which essentially embodies this message, that even though someone may no longer be physically in our lives, the memories and love that remain will never leave us. Give them a go, and let me know what thoughts, feelings and memories came up for you as you listened.
- “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” Errol Garner, “The Complete Concert By The Sea,” 1955. Elegant, warm, soulful, and live, this entire album is excellent.
2. “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” Billie Holiday, 1957. This version is simply perfect.
3. “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” Lester Young, “Lester Swings,” 1958. A gentle, pensive Lester, transmitting his states of reverie, yearning, and ache.
I will be back with a post for Christmas and the first day of Hannukah. Leave me a comment or feel free to email me at: [email protected]! May Jazz Therapy Soothe Your Soul.