Songs from " Jamaica"-Last Arlen Hit Show: In 1957, Arlen and E.Y/Harburg collaborated on a West Indian themed show with a commanding role for lovely Lena Horne. The songs were attractive, as were the costumes and staging but the story was a confusing mixture of folk themes and social commentary on the atomic bomb and urbanism. Based on the box office appeal of Lena Horne, the show ran for over 500 performances. Arlen himself felt that the calypso rhythm was rather limited but several songs managed to escape the limitations of that musical style." Ain't it de Truth" sung by Lena Horne was actually written but not used in the film Cabin In The Sky. It was recorded in 1941 by Lena Horne.
LINK http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOM13I_FkmA
Ossie Davis, a fine character actor, sings " Little Biscuit" a sweet love song with simple folk expressions with an attractive Caribbean lilt.
LINK DAVIS AND hORNE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3WnJy35wIw
On the same link as " Little Biscuit: there is an extraordinary song sung by Lena Horne. " "Cocoanut Sweet" . As Jenness & Velsey positively praised " It's images of love are put in naturalistic terms, here mostly botanical " poetically evoking images like " Honey dew new, Jasmine and cherry an 'juniper berry-that's you." The songs' unusual construction is based on 4 distinct sections, each comprised of 8 bars, quite distinctive in tone and mood. Jenness & Velsey conclude their lengthy analysis by saying " Cocoanut Sweet" is a stunning song. It illustrates a gift Arlen had beyond the other great composer--development by variation. " Arlen would usually start with just a few simple notes " And then spin them out into longer or slightly different or more extensive patterns or introducing brief local rhythmic changes. With Arlen,the materials are inventive in all their manifestations, so that one gets both the feeling of recursiveness ( familiarity) and that of growth."
The song immediately follows " Little Biscuit" on the link above.
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