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.
Where Or When
Beegie Adair Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We looked at each other in the same way then
But I can't remember where or when
The clothes you're wearing are the clothes you wore
The smile you are smiling you were smiling then
But I can't remember where or when
Seem to be happening again
And so it seems that we have met before
And laughed before, and loved before
But who knows where or when
"Where or When" is a classic popular song that explores the idea of meeting someone new and feeling a sense of familiarity and deja vu. The lyrics suggest that the two individuals have met before, but they can't quite place where or when. The song is full of nostalgia and longing, as the singer wonders if they have loved and laughed together before. The first verse sets the scene, with the two individuals standing and talking in a way that feels familiar, but they can't quite place why. The second verse continues this theme, with the singer recognizing the clothes and smile of their companion, but still uncertain about where they've seen these things before. The final verse brings the song to a close, with the singer realizing that it's impossible to know for sure if they've met and loved before.
Line by Line Meaning
It seems we stood and talked like this before
It feels like we have met before and had this exact conversation before
We looked at each other in the same way then
We gazed at each other with the same gaze as we do now
But I can't remember where or when
However, I cannot recall the time or place where we met, despite everything being familiar about you
The clothes you're wearing are the clothes you wore
You're wearing the same outfit you wore when we last met
The smile you are smiling you were smiling then
The smile you're wearing now is the one same smile you wore back then
But I can't remember where or when
Though everything about you is familiar, I cannot recall the place or time where we met
Some things that happened for the first time
Certain experiences that initially felt new
Seem to be happening again
Seem to be reoccurring
And so it seems that we have met before
It seems we have already had encounters before
And laughed before, and loved before
We shared laughter and love in our past encounters
But who knows where or when
But neither you nor I know the exact time and place where we met
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind