Can Music Be Perfect? Vol. 109

We were listening to this one in the Subaru this weekend, on a CD (!) of Joni M's favorite tunes. Of course she has great taste. It's possible that I have listened to this recording of this song more times than any other. My mind anticipates every note, but my heart feels a little thrill every time. Rodgers's tune is undeniably great, and Hart's so-sad poetry is lurking, even in the absence of a singer. Miles's extreme blue notes – including the closing note on the what is it... quarter-tone sharp dominant? – are the "hook" here, but Red Garland's piano solo is the core of this masterpiece, meandering in melancholy before taking a wistful stroll through an English country garden, only to return to the somber close. Play it again!