The ABF Annual Student Recital (June 23, 2025)
From left to right: Judy Garland singing “Embraceable You” in the 1943 film Girl Crazy. She includes the verse; Kenny Barron in a jazz version; Ella Fitzgerald in an orchestral arrangement by Nelson Riddle; my own version as part of the ABIA Annual Student Recital .
This past Saturday was the Annual Student Recital for the Alexander & Buono International Academy, and I was asked by Mr. Cosmo to close out the program. I am always honored to be a part of this event, and pleased that it takes place during the time of my spring study visit to New York.
I chose to play the Earl Wild transcription of George Gershwin’s “Embraceable You” which is one of seven transcriptions written by Wild, and of which it is Number 4. The others are: “Liza”, “Somebody Loves Me”, “The Man I Love”, “Oh, Lady Be Good”, “I Got Rhythm”, and “Fascinatin' Rhythm.”
In order to study and prepare this work, I listened to any number of interpretations of the song, including the étude itself. Thanks to YouTube, there are dozens of videos of it, which include everything from jazz to orchestral versions.
Since the étude is based on a song with lyrics, I studied the lyrics—a lot. I wanted to make sure my interpretation took those into consideration as much as possible. As you can see from the videos above, people have approached the song from any number of vantage points, each person doing it in their own particular style. These are the lyrics:
Embrace me, my sweet embraceable you
Embrace me, you irreplaceable you.
Just one look at you my heart grew tipsy in me
You and you alone bring out the gypsy in me.
I love all the many charms about you
above all I want my arms about you.
Don't be a naughty baby...
come to papa come to papa do.
My sweet embraceable you...
I wanted to take advantage of the fact that many people know the lyrics, and therefore to make them reflect on the them as I combined with the melody, so as to think about the song in a new and very romantic way. I also felt that I wanted to take my time with it, in order for every part to be savored, so I used lots of rubato. My video of the étude at the recital is the one above.
I thank Mr. Cosmo and the Alexander & Buono International Academy for this opportunity to perform, and am very grateful for the chance to explore this wonderful piece.