Backgrounder: My Fair Lady Loves Jazz (1956)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
November 16, 2024
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Broadway musical scores didn't become fair game for small jazz groups until Lerner and Loewe's successful My Fair Lady score hit the stage in 1956. Of course, individual songs from theatrical shows were always played and recorded by dance bands dating back to the 1920s. But jazz interpretations of full Broadway scores didn't arrive until after the 12-inch pop LP arrived in 1955 and caught on with buyers.

One of the first and, in my opinion, one of the best My Fair Lady tributes was pianist Billy Taylor's My Fair Lady Loves Jazz. Recorded in January and February 1957 for ABC Paramount and arranged by Quincy Jones, the album featured a slightly different personnel over the course of the three recording sessions:

Here's the complete My Fair Lady Loves Jazz without ad interruptions...

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This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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Track Listing

Show Me; I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face; With a Little Bit of Luck; The Rain in Spain; Get Me to the Church on Time; Wouldn't It Be Loverly?; I Could Have Danced All Night; On the Street Where You Live.

Personnel

Billy Taylor

piano

Earl May

bass

Ed Thigpen

drums

Additional Instrumentation

Ernie Royal (tp), Don Elliott (tp,mellophone,vib,bgo), Jimmy Cleveland (tb), Jimmy Buffington (fhr), Don Butterfield (tu) (1,2,4,5 and 7) and Jay McAllister (tu) (3,6,8), Anthony Ortega (as,ts), Gerry Mulligan (bs) (1,4,5,7), Charlie Fowlkes (bs,b-cl-1) (1, 2,3,6 and 8), Al Casamenti (g); Quincy Jones (arr,cond).