He played on over 250 recordings and released more than two dozen albums as a soloist, and was highly respected by his fellow trombonists. Green's trombone sound was especially noted for its warm, mellow tone, even in the higher registers where he was more fluent than most trombonists. His technique was considered flawless by many in the music industry and has appeared in major jazz festivals, motion pictures, concert halls, nightclubs, radio, television and the White House. He was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in 1995.
Born in Mobile, Alabama, Green was taught the piano as a child by his mother, jazz and popular tunes from the beginning. He picked up the trombone, which both older brothers played, when he was about 12. Although he listened to such trombone greats as Tommy Dorsey, J. C. Higginbotham, Jack Jenney, Jack Teagarden and Trummy Young he has said that he was more influenced by the styles of Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, and Lester Young. Urbie's trombone style was also influenced by vocalists such as Perry Como, and the vocal style of Louis Armstrong.
Green's father died when he was 15 and Urbie went straight into professional music, first joining the Tommy Reynolds Band in California before moving on to stints with Bob Strong, Jan Savitt, and Frankie Carle. Green also played with The Auburn Knights Orchestra, a college big band based in Auburn, Alabama while attending Auburn High School.
In 1947, Green joined Gene Krupa's band and quickly moved up to Woody Herman's third "Thundering Herd" big band in 1950 to play with his brother, Jack. His soaring ballad style was featured on such solos as Hoagy Carmichael's "Skylark", and provided a contrast to Herman's previous First Herd rough-and-ready trombone star, Bill Harris. In 1953 he moved to New York City, quickly establishing himself as the premier trombonist in the booming recording industry and in 1954 he was voted the "New Star" trombonist in the International Critics Poll from Down Beat magazine. His style was not as blues-influenced as others, in that he was among the few players who commanded the high tessitura favored by Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, and Jack Jenney with an agility that was not shown by these previous trombonists in their recordings. Some of his solos provided the highlights on one-hit wonder albums from Verve Records, such as that of organist Walter Wanderly, as well as established artists like Herbie Mann.
He recorded with virtually all of the major jazz musicians of the 1950s and 1960s and led his own groups while also joining tours as a featured performer, including a three-month tour leading the Benny Goodman Orchestra and fronting the Tommy Dorsey orchestra after Dorsey's death in 1956.
He collaborated with innovative producer Enoch Light for the Command and Project 3 labels, producing what are probably his most notable recordings, such as the two-volume sets The Persuasive Trombone of Urbie Green and 21 Trombones. Furthermore, he was sideman and soloist on the album project "'s Continental" by Ray Conniff and his orchestra & chorus (1961).
The 1980s and beyond saw a slowing down of Urbie Green's recording career. Both albums recorded by him during this period are live, straight jazz works; Just Friends, and Sea Jam Blues.
He spent his later life with his second wife Kathy, a jazz singer, at their home in the Poconos region of Pennsylvania. The couple have two children, Jesse and Casey. Jesse is a jazz pianist and lives nearby, while Casey is a TV / Film Director / Producer in Los Angeles, California. Urbie's first wife was Darlein Dietz and they had two children, Urban Clifford Green Jr. and James Preston Green. Urban has a daughter, Gretchen Alexandra Pöelker-Green, who lives in Sea Cliff, New York. James lives in Tallahassee, Florida, and has a son named Vincent.
In 1995 he was elected into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. Urbie Green continued playing live at the Delaware Water Gap Celebration of the Arts (COTA) Festival every September into the last years of his life, just miles down the road from his home.
Green's obituary was published in the Pocono Record.
Discography
As leader
1953 New Faces, New Sounds (Blue Note)
1954 Urbie Green Septet (Blue Note)
1954 Urbie Green and His Band (Vanguard)
1954 A Cool Yuletide (X)
1955 Blues and Other Shades of Green (ABC-Paramount)
1955 The Melodic Tones of Urbie Green (Bethlehem)
1955 East Coast Jazz, Volume 6 (Bethlehem)
1955 The Lyrical Language of Urbie Green (Bethlehem)
1955 The Melodic Tones of Urbie Green (Vanguard)
1955 Blues and Other Shades of Green (Paramount)
1956 All About Urbie Green and His Big Band (ABC-Paramount)
1957 Urbie Green Octet / Slidin' Swing (Jazztone)
1957 Let's Face the Music and Dance (RCA)
1958 Best of New Broadway Show Hits (RCA)
1960 The Persuasive Trombone of Urbie Green (Command)
1961 The Persuasive Trombone of Urbie Green Volume 2 (Command)
1963 Urbie Green and His 6-Tet. (Command)
1967 21 Trombones (Project 3)
1971 Green Power (Project 3)
1972 Bein' Green (Project 3)
1973 Old Time Modern (RCA) (recorded in 1954)
1973 21 Trombones Volume 2 (Project 3)
1974 Urbie Green's Big Beautiful Band (Project 3)
1976 The Fox (CTI)
1977 Señor Blues (CTI)
1978 Live at Rick's Cafe American (Flying Fish)
1981 Just Friends (EJ)
1995 Sea Jam Blues (Chiaroscuro)
As sideman
With Manny Albam
The Drum Suite (RCA Victor, 1956) with Ernie Wilkins
Jazz Goes to the Movies (Impulse!, 1963)
With Steve Allen
Jazz for Tonight (Coral, 1955)
With Trigger Alpert
Trigger Happy! (Riverside, 1956)
With The Count Basie Orchestra
This Time by Basie! (Reprise, 1963)
Ella and Basie! (Verve, 1963)
Basie Land (Verve, 1964)
With Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown '65 (Mainstream, 1965)
With Ray Bryant
Madison Time (Columbia, 1960)
With Kenny Burrell
Blues - The Common Ground (Verve, 1968)
Night Song (Verve, 1969)
With Ron Carter
Parade (Milestone, 1979)
With Buck Clayton
The Huckle-Buck and Robbins' Nest (Columbia, 1954)
How Hi the Fi (Columbia, 1954)
Jumpin' at the Woodside (Columbia, 1955)
All the Cats Join In (Columbia 1956)
With Al Cohn
Son of Drum Suite (RCA Victor, 1960)
With Ray Conniff
's Continental (Columbia, 1961)
With Paul Desmond
Summertime (A&M/CTI, 1968)
With Bill Evans
Symbiosis (MPS, 1974)
With Gil Evans
Into the Hot (Impulse!, 1961)
With Art Farmer
Listen to Art Farmer and the Orchestra (Mercury, 1962)
With Maynard Ferguson
The Blues Roar (Mainstream, 1965)
With Aretha Franklin
Soul '69 (Atlantic, 1969)
With Dizzy Gillespie
Gillespiana (Verve, 1960)
Perceptions (Verve, 1961)
With Johnny Griffin
White Gardenia (Riverside, 1961)
With Coleman Hawkins
The Hawk in Hi Fi (RCA Victor, 1956)
Wrapped Tight (Impulse!, 1965)
With Billie Holiday
Lady in Satin (Columbia, 1958)
With Bobby Hutcherson
Conception: The Gift of Love (Columbia, 1979)
With Milt Jackson
Ray Brown / Milt Jackson with Ray Brown (Verve, 1965)
With Antonio Carlos Jobim
Wave (CTI, 1967)
Stone Flower (CTI, 1970)
With J. J. Johnson
J.J.'s Broadway (Verve, 1963)
With Quincy Jones
The Birth of a Band! (Mercury, 1959)
The Great Wide World of Quincy Jones (Mercury, 1959)
Quincy Jones Explores the Music of Henry Mancini (Mercury, 1964)
Quincy Plays for Pussycats (Mercury, 1959-65 [1965])
With Irene Kral
SteveIreneo! (United Artists, 1959)
With Mundell Lowe
Themes from Mr. Lucky, the Untouchables and Other TV Action Jazz (RCA Camden, 1960)
Satan in High Heels (soundtrack) (Charlie Parker, 1961)
With Herbie Mann
Sultry Serenade (Riverside, 1957)
Salute to the Flute (Epic, 1957)
With Carmen McRae
Something to Swing About (Kapp, 1959)
With Gil Mellé
Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow (Blue Note, 1953)
With Blue Mitchell
Smooth as the Wind (Riverside, 1961)
With Wes Montgomery
Movin' Wes (Verve, 1964)
With Mark Murphy
Rah! (Riverside, 1961)
With Oliver Nelson
Impressions of Phaedra (United Artists Jazz, 1962)
The Spirit of '67 with Pee Wee Russell (Impulse!, 1967)
With Joe Newman
I'm Still Swinging (RCA Victor, 1955)
Salute to Satch (RCA Victor, 1956)
With Chico O'Farrill
Nine Flags (Impulse!, 1966)
With Glenn Osser
In My Merry Oldsmobile (DaJon, 1964)
With Henri Rene
Compulsion to Swing (RCA Victor, 1959)
With Lalo Schifrin
New Fantasy (Verve, 1964)
The Dissection and Reconstruction of Music From the Past as Performed By the Inmates of Lalo Schifrin's Demented Ensemble as a Tribute to the Memory of the Marquis De Sade (Verve, 1966)
Towering Toccata (CTI, 1976)
With Shirley Scott
Great Scott!! (Impulse!, 1964)
With Frank Sinatra
L.A. Is My Lady (Qwest, 1984)
With Jimmy Smith
Bashin': The Unpredictable Jimmy Smith (Verve, 1962)
The Cat (Verve, 1964)
With Sonny Stitt
The Matadors Meet the Bull (Roulette, 1965)
I Keep Comin' Back! (Roulette, 1966)
With Stanley Turrentine
Nightwings (Fantasy, 1977)
With Walter Wanderley
Rain Forest (Verve, 1966)
With Dinah Washington
The Swingin' Miss "D" (EmArcy, 1956)
With Joe Wilder
The Pretty Sound (Columbia, 1959)
With Kai Winding
More Brass (Verve, 1966)
Dirty Dog (Verve, 1966)
With Steve Lawrence
Swingin' West
Another Star
Urbie Green Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
La la la la la la lala la
La la la la la la lala la
La la la la la la lala la
For you
There might be another star
But through my eyes the light of you it's all I see
For you
But all my heart can hear is your melody
So long ago my heart without demanding
Informed me that no other love could do
But listen did I not though understanding
Fell in love with one
Who would break my heart in two
For you
Love might bring a toast of wine
But which each sparkle know the best for you I pray
For you
Love might be for you to find
But I will celebrate our love of yesterday
So long ago my heart without demanding
Informed me that no other love could do
But listen did I not though understanding
Fell in love with one
Who would break my heart in two
For you
There might be another star
But through my eyes the light of you it's all I see
For you
There might be another song
But in my heart your melody will stay with me
The lyrics of Urbie Green’s song “Another Star” are a declaration of love towards someone whom the singer deeply cares for. The song is about two people in love, and how their relationship is unique, genuine, and priceless. Through the lyrics, the singer emphasizes that although there might be another star or song, their love will remain as it is, special and irreplaceable.
The first verse suggests that for others, there might be other stars or songs, but the singer cannot see beyond the light and melody of his love interest. Their bond is so strong that nothing else can compare. The second verse talks about how the singer’s heart knew from the beginning that his love for this person was exceptional and that he could not love anyone else the same way. Sadly, the singer realized that even though he understood this, he still fell for someone who broke his heart.
The refrain repeats the idea that although there might be other stars or songs, the singer's love interest is unique, and their love will always be cherished. The last verse reaffirms that the singer will always celebrate and remember their love, even if it is in the past.
In conclusion, Urbie Green’s song “Another Star” is a heartfelt expression of the singer's love and adoration towards someone special. It speaks of the uniqueness of love and how cherished it will always be.
Line by Line Meaning
La la la la la la lala la
The melody of the song begins with a soothing sound repeated several times.
For you
There might be another star
But through my eyes the light of you it's all I see
The singer guarantees their love for the listener, explaining that for them, their partner is the brightest and most important thing in their world.
For you
There might be another song
But all my heart can hear is your melody
The singer is content with listening to their lover's voice and melody, as it is the only one that truly resonates with their heart.
So long ago my heart without demanding
Informed me that no other love could do
But listen did I not though understanding
Fell in love with one
Who would break my heart in two
The artist reflects on their previous experiences with love and how their heart knew that no one else could compare to their current partner. Despite this, they fell in love with someone who ultimately caused them great pain and heartbreak.
For you
Love might bring a toast of wine
But which each sparkle know the best for you I pray
The artist wishes the best for their loved one and hopes that every moment of happiness that love brings is cherished and celebrated.
For you
Love might be for you to find
But I will celebrate our love of yesterday
Even if their lover were to find love elsewhere, the singer will remain content with the love they have shared in the past and will continue to celebrate it.
But in my heart your melody will stay with me
Regardless of whatever happens in the future, the memory and the sound of their lover's melody will remain with the singer forever.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: STEVIE WONDER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind