The Ruby Vignettes are the beautiful brainchild of my sister, Geene Rees. After years of gathering information about our maternal grand aunt, Ruby Adams, actress, singer, dancer in the early 1900s of San Francisco, Geene has put together episodes telling about Ruby's life.
Geene chose a Vox site as the means of sharing her story about Auntie with family and friends. With Geene reading, some sound effects, and music the episodes take on the quality of old time radio. Each episode has challenged us to convey atmosphere and drama. You can listen to the vignettes at: www.rubyadams.vox.com.
Because Geene needed musical background, I recorded some piano pieces. What resulted was a collection that listeners found pleasant and haunting. Most of the original soundtracks were done on our old family piano, a Starr. Recently we purchased another piano and re-recorded much of the music. We hope you enjoy these songs.
Stairway to the Stars, written by Mitchell Parish, Matt Maneck and Frank Signorelli, first appeared in 1935 and is still considered by many to be one of the finest jazz standards. As background music to The Slide its lovely melody expresses much of the excitement and enthusiasm surrounding the characters in this vignette.
It Could Happen to You by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Husen was written in 1944 and was introduced in the musical comedy film, All the Angels Sing. It has remained a popular standard ever since. Its words and melody are particularly poignant when reflecting on Ruby's relationship with John Davis, their courtship, the accident, and finally their marriage.
These Foolish Things was written by Harry Link, Holt Marvel, and Jack Strachey in 1936 for a London revue Spread It Around. Various vocal and jazz arrangements have been recorded of it throughout the years. This song was included as the final song on my CD, To Ruby.
Speak Low was written in 1943 by Ogden Nash and Kurt Weill for the musical production, One Touch of Venus. Its intricate rhythm changes and Latin flavor seem appropriate for a visit to the races in the Ruby Vignette, Agua Caliente. Even the poignant lyrics of Ogden Nash seem made for this episode.
Torn Curtain is the background music for the Ruby Vignette, The Butterfly. It was first written in the early 40s by our dad, Walt Rees, together with our uncle, Lloyd Allen, but the score was never found. My dad played the melody for my sister, Geene, some time ago and together they wrote lyrics. With the lyrics as a guide Geene was able to recall the melody, asking me to help her use it in the Ruby Vignettes. I finally saw how that could happen and composed this arrangement for A Butterfly.
Ruby, composed in 1953 by Heinz Roemheld and Mitchell Parish was a popular song for over 20 years. Our family always associated it with our aunt, Ruby Adams, a singer, dancer, and actress during the early years of the 20th century. When my sister began writing about Ruby's life in the Ruby Vignettes we immediately thought of adding the song, Ruby, into the story. My sister requests a piano player to play this song for her in the first episode, The Cirque Room.
In the final episode of the Ruby Vignettes, Ruby appears to my sister in a dream. A collection of some of the music from the vignettes provides the musical background.
Bill was written by Jerome Kern with original words by P. G. Wodehouse in 1918. This song later appeared in Show Boat with words rewritten by Oscas Hammerstein II. Many years ago while watching the movie Show Boat together, my grandmother confided in me that her sister, Ruby, sang this song very successfully on the San Francisco stage. When Geene was looking for music to use in the Ruby Vignette, Techau Tavern, she decided that Bill would be the perfect song to dazzle the unsuspecting Coffee Dan.
The Nearness of You was written in 1938 by Hoagy Carmichael with lyrics by Ned Washington. The biggest selling 1938 version of it was recorded by Glenn Miller, but it has remained popular throughout the years with recent recording by Diana Krall and Norah Jones. Although not part of the original sound track for the Ruby Vignettes there were many times during the story when this song would have been appropriate.
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Geene Rees said:
[c’est top]Jude you did a wonderful job on this! read more
on TORN CURTAIN, Rees and Allen (1940), arranged by J. Cunningham -
on THE NEARNESS OF YOU