The song of the day for Tuesday, March 16, 2021, is “Isn’t It Romantic.”
About This Song
“Isn’t It Romantic” was written by Richard Rodgers and Larry Hart for the 1932 movie Love Me Tonight, starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald. The song has proved to be one of their most popular and has been and still is widely recorded by artists including Chet Baker, Peggy Lee, Mel Tormé, Ella Fitzgerald, and The Bill Evans Trio. In his book American Popular Song, Alec Wilder calls “Isn’t It Romantic” a “perfect song.”
About This Version
Tony Bennett recorded “Isn’t It Romantic” with The Ruby Braff/George Barnes Quartet for the 1976 album Tony Bennett Sings 10 Rodgers & Hart Songs.
I’ve always found the composition of this quartet both highly unusual and absolutely perfect for Tony’s take on these Rodgers and Hart songs. The quartet features Braff on cornet, George Barnes and Wayne Wright on guitar, and John Guiffrida on bass. Without drums or piano, the sound evokes a lovely period sound for songs written in the 1930s but without being dated.
We’re also celebrating the birth anniversary of Ruby (born Reuben) Braff on March 16, 1927. Braff had a distinguished career playing trumpet and cornet starting in 1954. He died in 2003.
“Isn’t It Romantic,” as well as Tony Bennett Sings the Rodgers & Hart Songbook, is available from Apple Music.