Critic Alex Henderson writes, "Though he was never an innovator, Quebec had a big, breathy sound that was distinctive and easily recognizable, and he was quite consistent when it came to came to down-home blues, sexy ballads, and up-tempo aggression."
An accomplished dancer and pianist, he switched to tenor sax as his primary instrument in his early 20s, and quickly earned a reputation as a promising player. His recording career started in 1940, with the Barons of Rhythm.
Later on, he recorded or performed with Frankie Newton, Hot Lips Page, Roy Eldridge, Trummy Young, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Carter and Coleman Hawkins. Between 1944 and 1951, he worked intermittently with Cab Calloway. He recorded for Blue Note records in this era, and also served as a talent scout for the label (helping pianists Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell come to wider attention) and, due to his exceptional sight reading skills, was an uncredited impromptu arranger for many Blue Note sessions.
Due in part to struggles with drug addiction (but also due to the fading popularity of big band music), Quebec recorded only sporadically during the 1950s, though he still performed regularly. He kept abreast on new developments in jazz, and his later playing incorportated elements of hard bop and soul jazz.
In 1959 he began a what amounted to a comeback with a series of albums on the Blue Note label. Blue Note executive Alfred Lion was always fond of Quebec's music, but was unsure how audiences would respond to the saxophonist after a decade of low visibility. In the mid-to-late 1950s, Blue Note issued a series of Quebec singles for the juke box market; audinences responded well, leading to a number of warmly-received albums.
Quebec's comeback was cut short by his death from lung cancer.
Influenced by Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster but definitely his own person, Ike Quebec was one of the finest swing-oriented tenor saxman of the 1940s and '50s. Though he was never an innovator, Quebec had a big, breathy sound that was distinctive and easily recognizable, and he was quite consistent when it came to came to down-home blues, sexy ballads, and up-tempo aggression. Originally a pianist, Quebec switched to tenor in the early '40s and showed that he had made the right decision on excellent 78s for Blue Note and Savoy (including his hit "Blue Harlem"). As a sideman, he worked with Benny Carter, Kenny Clarke, Roy Eldridge, and Cab Calloway. In the late '40s, the saxman did a bit of freelancing behind the scenes as a Blue Note A&R man and brought Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell to the label. Drug problems kept Quebec from recording for most of the 1950s, but he made a triumphant comeback in the early '60s and was once again recording for Blue Note and doing freelance A&R for the company. Quebec was playing as authoritatively as ever well into 1962, giving no indication that he was suffering from lung cancer, which claimed his life at the age of 44 in 1963. ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi
For All We Know
Ike Quebec Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We may never meet again
Before we go
Make this moment live again
We won't say goodbye
Until the last minute
I'll hold out my hand
And my heart will be in it
For all we know
This might only be a dream
We come and we go
Like the ripples, like the ripples in the stream
So baby, love me, love me tonight
Tomorrow was made for some
Oh, but tomorrow
But tomorrow may never, never come
For all we know
Yes, tomorrow may never, never come
For all we know
The song "For All We Know" by Ike Quebec is a melancholic love ballad that speaks of the fleeting nature of life and love. The opening lines of the song, "For all we know, we may never meet again before we go, make this moment live again" emphasizes the transience of life and how every moment we have with those we cherish needs to be cherished and live to the fullest. The song speaks to the fact that we cannot predict what will happen in life, hence the need to hold on tightly to the people in our lives and cherish every moment.
The line "We come and we go like the ripples, like the ripples in the stream" is a metaphor that human life is like a ripple in a stream, coming and going without any control over the direction of our lives. The vulnerability of the human state is captured in the line "This might only be a dream" which shows how we cannot take anything for granted, and we need to hold onto the moment right now, for in reality, it might just be a dream.
The song ends with the lines "Yes, tomorrow may never, never come for all we know," which further emphasizes the point that we should not put off love and happiness until tomorrow, for we do not know what tomorrow will hold. "For All We Know" is a beautiful reminder that we should embrace every moment and every person in our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
For all we know
We don't have all the information about the future, so we must live in the present
We may never meet again
We can't predict the future, so we should cherish the time we have now
Before we go
Before we leave this moment or this life, let's make the most of it
Make this moment live again
Let's relive this moment and make it memorable
We won't say goodbye
We don't want to leave this moment or each other
Until the last minute
We want to hold onto each other until the very end
I'll hold out my hand
I want to hold onto you and share this moment together
And my heart will be in it
My love and emotions are invested in this moment with you
This might only be a dream
This moment or our love may be fleeting, so we must make the most of it
We come and we go
We move through life quickly, like a stream with ripples
Like the ripples, like the ripples in the stream
Our lives are like ripples in a stream, quickly passing by
So baby, love me, love me tonight
Let's live in this moment and cherish our love right now
Tomorrow was made for some
Some people will have a future to look forward to
But tomorrow may never, never come
We can't predict the future, so we should cherish this moment and this love now
Yes, tomorrow may never, never come
We shouldn't take our time or love for granted, as the future is uncertain
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: J Fred Coots, Samuel M Lewis
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind