Once in a while a musician comes along with impecca… Read Full Bio ↴Beegie Adair Bio
Once in a while a musician comes along with impeccable technique, deep understanding of the jazz repertoire, an innate tendency to swing and the rare ability to communicate the heart and soul of a tune to listeners. That musician is Beegie Adair.
About her music Adair says, “Falling in love with jazz is like falling in love with a person, except with jazz you never get over it.” About Beegie (say B-G) Adair, what do others say?
Jazz great Helen Merrill salutes her “inventive jazz sense, her wonderful sense of time and improvised melody.”
Christopher Louden of Jazz Times magazine says Adair is “an accomplished artist with a delicate touch.”
The Los Angeles Times calls her music “Elegant.”
Entertainment News writes, “Beegie Adair is one of the finest piano players in the world.”
Intrigued? So are thousands of jazz fans, who agree with critics about Adair’s sophisticated and listenable jazz performances, and who have made her recordings among the biggest sellers in the jazz world.
Citing George Shearing, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson and Erroll Garner among her influences, Adair has recorded 24 CDs, ranging from Cole Porter standards to Frank Sinatra classics to romantic World War II ballads. Her 6-CD Centennial Composers Collection of tunes by Rodgers, Gershwin, Kern, Ellington, Carmichael and Berlin became an instant collectible classic when it was released in 2002.
Kentucky born and raised, Adair lives and records in Nashville – something of a surprise to people who associate the city solely with country music. In fact Nashville lives up to its “Music City” nickname by hosting a vibrant jazz scene, in which she has been a leading light for decades. A sought-after studio musician in her early days there, Adair accompanied such legendary performers as Chet Atkins, Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash – and also worked with Lucille Ball, Dinah Shore, Mama Cass Elliott and Peggy Lee.
Her guests on Improvised Thoughts, Beegie’s radio talk/music show on the local NPR affiliate, included such greats as Tony Bennett, Joe Williams, Marian McPartland, Benny Golson and Helen Merrill. She has guested on McPartland’s Piano Jazz show and has performed with Nat Adderley, Bill Watrous, Lew Tabackin, Terry Clarke, Urbie Green and Jim Ferguson, among many others.
When she’s not in the studio or appearing in clubs and concert halls around the country, Adair wears a variety of hats, from adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University to teacher and mentor at the Nashville Jazz Workshop. Recently she co-wrote and scored an innovative theatrical production, Betsy, which in April 2006 premiered off-Broadway in New York.
She has recorded eight projects for Village Square Records in Nashville; her most recent CDs are Sentimental Journey, a popular collection of World War II-era songs, and a solo piano recording, Quiet Romance.
She performs solo and with the Beegie Adair Trio, whose members include drummer Chris Brown, a veteran of the Maynard Ferguson ensemble, and bassist Roger Spencer, who has played with the Les Brown Band, Ray Conniff, the Page Cavanaugh Trio and Pete Jolly. They are, she says, “my main guys. They’re so tuned into the way I visualize music that it’s effortless to play with them.”
In clubs and concert venues from Los Angeles to New York, Beegie and her “main guys” win kudos from audiences and critics alike who appreciate her unique take on classic jazz. She fell in love with the music a long time ago, and indeed she’s never gotten over it -- a love affair the jazz world is much the better for.
How Deep Is The Ocean
Beegie Adair Lyrics
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I'll tell you no lie
How deep is the ocean?
How high is the sky?
How many times a day do I think of you?
How many roses are sprinkled with dew?
To be where you are?
How far is the journey
From here to a star?
And if I ever lost you, how much would I cry?
How deep is the ocean?
How high is the sky?
How far would I travel
To be where you are?
How far is the journey
From here to a star?
And if I ever lost you, how much would I cry?
How deep is the ocean?
How high is the sky?
How high is the sky?
In Beegie Adair's song How Deep Is The Ocean, the singer reflects on the depth of their love for someone else. The lyrics are filled with questions that emphasize just how much the singer cares for the other person. The first two lines echo the classic rhetorical question, "how deep is the ocean?" which perfectly captures the vastness of their love. The second stanza speaks to the singer's constant thoughts of the other person, even going so far as to ask how many roses are sprinkled with dew, showcasing the intensity of their affection.
The third stanza shifts the focus to the distance between the singer and the other person, including a rhetorical inquiry about the distance of the star from earth, demonstrating that the distance means nothing in the face of their deep love. The final stanza introduces a possibility of loss, with the singer questioning just how much they would cry if they lost the other person. These lyrics give insight into the singer's vulnerable emotions and demonstrate the power of love to reach across even the greatest distances and withstand the strongest of losses.
Line by Line Meaning
How much do I love you?
Inquiring about the extent and intensity of my love for you.
I'll tell you no lie
Assuring honesty in my answer to your inquiry.
How deep is the ocean?
Comparing the depth of my love for you to the vast and endless depth of the ocean.
How high is the sky?
Comparing the intensity of my love for you to the vast and limitless height of the sky.
How many times a day do I think of you?
Posing the question of how frequently you cross my mind each day.
How many roses are sprinkled with dew?
Drawing a comparison of the frequency of dew on roses to how often I think of you.
How far would I travel
Inquiring about the distance I would be willing to travel.
To be where you are?
Clarifying that the purpose of my travel would be to be with you.
How far is the journey
Asking about the distance between my current location and a celestial body, emphasizing my willingness to travel great distances.
From here to a star?
Further emphasizing the immense distance I would be willing to travel.
And if I ever lost you, how much would I cry?
Asking about the extent of my potential emotional pain in the event of losing you.
How deep is the ocean?
Reiterating the comparison of my love for you to the vast depth of the ocean.
How high is the sky?
Reiterating the comparison of my love for you to the limitless height of the sky.
How far would I travel
Again posing the question of how far I would be willing to travel.
To be where you are?
Again emphasizing that the sole purpose of my travel would be to be with you.
How far is the journey
Reiterating the question about the distance between my current location and a celestial body.
From here to a star?
Again emphasizing my willingness to travel vast distances.
How high is the sky?
Repeating the comparison of my love for you to the height of the sky.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Songtrust Ave
Written by: Irving Berlin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind