Conversation Part 10

Oh, God!

You know how, it's so hard to play and sing

For me, it's not easy

And then, even though I've been doin' it

All these years, I still-

Sometimes, it's a breeze, and

But most of the time, it's awfully hard

To coordinate your hands, and your mouth, and your brain

All goin' in one time, you know

And have it come out like a, like a

Piece of silk, or a piece of cake, or something

Well, that's how you started, Carmen

Wasn't it? Didn't you (yeah!)

Didn't you start doin' it at Minton's yet?

I did it once and- but, you know, it's been in my

My biography, or whatever that crap is they give out

I didn't play, I played there what?

I don't even remember, was it, was a week?

Or two, but that was the only time, you know

The next time I worked at Minton's

I worked as, uh, I had made records, and

Tony Scott had a band, he was very, very kind to me, Tony

And got, uh, Teddy Hill, who was running Minton's at that time

To let me come in, to learn how to be a stand-up singer

'Cause I had been sittin' down at the piano for

You know, five or six years playing

See, now, then were you glad to get away from the piano?

Was it sort of liberating, or did you feel- (oh, I loved it!)

I, I never wanted to play piano, that

You know, I liked to play

I mean, what I mean is I didn't want to make it a career

You know, I really wanted to sing

That was my primary thing from the beginning

And I've, I've found out, that one time of my life, that

Bein' able to play was really helpin' me

Because I got a job doin' that

And doin' that, I did that for about for about five and a half years

Really helped me when I stood up to sing

You know, I knew just what I-

I didn't know what to do with my hands, I wanted to cut them off

But I'm speakin' about vocally, and

I knew what to do, you know, so

I've always felt that a singer is so at the mercy of the piano player

That it, isn't that a kind of a scary experience sometimes?

Not if you get a good piano player like you, for instance

I mean, if you don't, say, say just for once, you don't get one

Well, I don't play then, I don't play, I don't wanna play

I mean, can you just go, go ahead-

I don't wanna sing, and I don't wanna play

I don't wanna even, I don't wanna even be there

No, I just wanted if you had any wise words for, for

(Oh yes! I tell them to get up) for singers

And I sit down, and I play and accompany it myself

That's the, that's the wise word I have

I'll tell you that's, well, that's great, that's-

Do you know know how that saved me?

As much as I tell you that I really p- which I do

I do prefer to sing than play and sing

I'd rather have somebody kind of-

But that have saved my life many, many, many times

So it's, you know, it's okay

Listen, Marian! (I'm listening)

We're all, we've been friends for a long time, right? (Yes?)

Would you do something for me, play something for me

That I like very much, that we don't hear enough of these days?

I'd like to, I hope it's something I know

Oh, I'm sure! I know everybody knows this song

It's written by Gershwin, and it's called 'Embraceable You'

I love that tune, and I'd love to hear your version of it

You know, it's funny, that's, that's a tune I never play

I'm just glad you thought of that

'Cause maybe, I haven't played it in so long

And I could think of something nice to do with it

Okay