I had no idea that there was an updated version of The Sound of Music on TV last night. I’ve seen the original film so many times it’s etched into memory. It’s a little kitschy for me, but any movie in which people are fleeing Nazis can’t be all bad. Besides, you get moments like these where everything just works out perfectly and your heart swells.
Here’s mine:
The version of this song I truly appreciate is John Coltrane’s cover, but it shares nothing in common with my version other than a basic melody and the fact that they were both recorded by black men in their 40s. I won’t pretend to know his motivation for transforming this treacly show tune into a jazz standard, but it’s an act of American genius, if I may wax jingoistic.
More Gaudy Patter 