As a youth, he was recognized as an extraordinary talent and formed a traveling duo with Danny Polo, a musical prodigy on the clarinet and trumpet from nearby Clinton, Indiana. As a student at Garfield High School in Terre Haute, he played with several theater bands.
Thornhill entered the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music at age 16. That same year he and clarinetist Artie Shaw started their careers at the Golden Pheasant in Cleveland, Ohio with the Austin Wiley Orchestra. Thornhill and Shaw went to New York together in 1931.
Claude went to the West Coast in the late 1930s with the Bob Hope Radio Show, and arranged for Judy Garland in Babes in Arms.
In 1935, he played on sessions for Glenn Miller's first recordings under his own name, as Glenn Miller and His Orchestra. He played on Glenn Miller's composition "Solo Hop," which was released on Columbia Records.
After playing for Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, Ray Noble, Glenn Miller, and Billie Holiday, and arranging "Loch Lomond" and "Annie Laurie" for Maxine Sullivan, in 1939 he founded his Claude Thornhill Orchestra. Danny Polo was his lead clarinet player. Although the Thornhill band was originally a sophisticated dance band, it became known for its many superior jazz musicians and for Thornhill's and Gil Evans' innovative arrangements; its "Portrait of a Guinea Farm" has become a classic jazz recording.
The band played without vibrato so that the timbres of the instruments could be better appreciated, and Thornhill encouraged the musicians to develop cool-sounding tones. The band was popular with both musicians and the public; the Miles Davis Nonet was modeled in part on Thornhill's cool sound and use of unconventional instrumentation. The band's most successful records were "Snowfall," "A Sunday Kind of Love" and "Love for Love."
His most famous recording, "Snowfall," was released in 1941 as Columbia 36268. He released the song also as a V-Disc recording, as V-Disc 271A1.
Playing at the Paramount Theater in New York for $10,000 a week in 1942, Thornhill dropped everything to enlist in the US Navy to support the war effort. As chief musician, he played shows across the Pacific Theater with Jackie Cooper as his drummer and Dennis Day as his vocalist.
In 1946, he was discharged from the Navy. Then in April, he reformed his ensemble. He kept his same stylistic lines, but added some Bop lines to it. He got his old members of Danny Polo, Gerry Mulligan, and Barry Galbraith back together, but also added new members like Red Rodney, Lee Konitz, Joe Shulman and Bill Barber. Barber was a tuba player, who was considered as a "soft brass" player rather than a bass as to not interfere with (Joe) Shulman on the bass. Their creative and immaculately clean and delicate interpretation of Evans’s arrangement of Dizzy Gillespie’s fast bop theme "Anthropology" (1947) provides a particularly noteworthy example of Thornhill’s style, which influenced Miles Davis’s recordings in 1949 for Capitol and many musicians who followed .
In the mid 1950s, Thornhill was briefly Tony Bennett's musical director.
He offered his big band library to Gerry Mulligan when Gerry formed the Concert Jazz Band, but Gerry regretfully declined the gift, since his instrumentation was different. A large portion of his extensive library of music is currently held by Drury University in Springfield, Missouri.
After his discharge from the Navy he continued to perform with his orchestra until his death of a heart attack at 1:30 a.m., July 2, 1965, at his home in Caldwell, New Jersey. Claude was booked at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at the time, the engagement was kept in his honor with his music director in his place. He was survived by his wife, actress Ruth Thornhill, and his mother, Maude Thornhill (81 at the time), of Terre Haute, Indiana, still active at the time conducting choirs.
Claude Thornhill's compositions included the standard "Snowfall", "I Wish I Had You", recorded by Billie Holiday and Fats Waller, "Let's Go", "Shore Road", "Portrait Of A Guinea Farm", "Lodge Podge", "Rustle Of Spring", "It's Time For Us To Part", "It Was A Lover And His Lass", "The Little Red Man", "Memory Of An Island", and "Where Has My Little Dog Gone?"
In 1984, Claude Thornhill was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame.
Jeru
Claude Thornhill Lyrics
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Bring all of your fam'ly and I will bring mine
If I should bring my brothers, and you bring the others
Then I can sing a song like Jeru, just for you
Just for all the lovely people that you see in the road
We'll sing them a song in Jeruvian mode
If I can have a pref'rence, I'll even make ref'rence
Then if you'd be kind enough to tell me why you
write these extended bridges
can it be romance that always
haunts me in my reverie?
So why not come on over 'bout a quarter to eight
If you can come early I'll never be late
And now you're all invited, I hope you're delighted
To sing a little song like Jeru, just for you
just for me too
Gather around, tale to be told
Maybe it's new, maybe it's old, listen my friend
Blowin' away, doin' alright
Plain' all day, workin' all night, listen again
Movin' along, coverin' ground
Singin' the song, lovin' the sound, listen and then
blow together birds of a feather
Out playin' the blues and "I Got Rhythm"
All at once a moment came without a warning
Got so hot we had to cool it
Go for glory, tell you the story
Out payin' our dues until we found we were
assisting at an unexpected borning
'twas the birth of the Cool
So now I can tell you why I'm always
Trying to tell you, listen, come with me,
New York, and we're together in my reverie
So why don't you come over 'bout a quarter to two
Forget all the others, just me and just you
And while we're versifying
We'd better start trying
To write another song just for me
Just for you, one more Jeru
The lyrics to Claude Thornhill's song Jeru are an invitation for a gathering and an ode to the musical style of jazz musician Gerry Mulligan. The singer suggests bringing both their families together and singing a song in the style of Jeru, a track from Mulligan's album "Birth of the Cool." The singer acknowledges Mulligan's influence on their songwriting, asking if their love of extended bridges and romantic themes is because of Mulligan's impact on them.
The lyrics also reference the birth of cool jazz, a genre of jazz that emerged in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a response to the frenetic energy of bebop. The singer talks of "coverin' ground" and "lovin' the sound," alluding to the expansion and excitement of this new musical style.
Throughout the lyrics, there is a sense of community and togetherness, as the singer invites others to join them in celebrating music and friendship. The repetition of the phrase "just for you" emphasizes the personal nature of this gathering and the connection that music can create between people.
Line by Line Meaning
Why don't you come over 'bout a quarter to nine
Come to my place at around 8:45 PM
Bring all of your fam'ly and I will bring mine
Bring your family members along with you, I will bring mine too
If I should bring my brothers, and you bring the others
If I bring my brothers with me and you bring your other acquaintances
Then I can sing a song like Jeru, just for you
I can sing a song like Jeru only for you
Just for all the lovely people that you see in the road
For all the kind and beautiful people that you meet outside
We'll sing them a song in Jeruvian mode
We will sing a song in the style of Jeru
If I can have a pref'rence, I'll even make ref'rence
If I have a choice, I will definitely refer to it
To why you write a song like Jeru, just for you
To explain why I am writing a song like Jeru only for you
Then if you'd be kind enough to tell me why you
If you are generous to tell me why you
write these extended bridges
Write these long and interlude parts of the song
can it be romance that always
Is it because of love that always
haunts me in my reverie?
Comes to my mind in my daydreams?
So why not come on over 'bout a quarter to eight
Why don't you come to my place at 7:45 PM
If you can come early I'll never be late
If you come early, I won't be delayed
And now you're all invited, I hope you're delighted
You are all invited, I hope you are happy
To sing a little song like Jeru, just for you
To sing a short song like Jeru just for you
Gather around, tale to be told
Come close, I have a story to tell
Maybe it's new, maybe it's old, listen my friend
It could be new, it could be old, but do listen, my friend
Blowin' away, doin' alright
Playing music passionately, doing well
Plain' all day, workin' all night, listen again
Playing music all day, working all night, listen one more time
Movin' along, coverin' ground
Moving ahead, making progress
Singin' the song, lovin' the sound, listen and then
Singing the song and enjoying the sound, listen once more
blow together birds of a feather
Playing music together as a team
Out playin' the blues and "I Got Rhythm"
Playing the blues and popular melody - "I Got Rhythm"
All at once a moment came without a warning
Suddenly, a moment arrived without any prior notice
Got so hot we had to cool it
Got so exciting that we had to calm down
Go for glory, tell you the story
Let's go for victory, I will tell you the entire story
Out payin' our dues until we found we were
Working hard and tirelessly until we reached
assisting at an unexpected borning
Assisting at an unanticipated creation
'twas the birth of the Cool
It was the beginning of a new and cool era
So now I can tell you why I'm always
Now I can explain why I always
Trying to tell you, listen, come with me,
Trying to tell you and asking you to come with me,
New York, and we're together in my reverie
Come to New York and we will be together in my daydreams
So why don't you come over 'bout a quarter to two
Why don't you come to my place around 1:45 AM
Forget all the others, just me and just you
Ignore all others, only you and I
And while we're versifying
And while we are composing poetry
We'd better start trying
We should start attempting
To write another song just for me
To write one more song exclusively for me
Just for you, one more Jeru
Only for you, one more song like Jeru
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: GERRY MULLIGAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind