Tag Archives: music

I sing “My Satin Doll” as “My Latin Doll”— and I’ll tell you why.


(Anyone who wants to skip to the singing can jump to 2:30.)

You may have heard the jazz standard “My Satin Doll” written by Johnny Mercer, Duke Ellington, and Billy Strayhorn. Well, I learned that song when I was in high school and I attended the Fullerton Jazz Festival music contest— singing contest. It was adjudicated, and we got to go up there are do our stuff and get some feedback from the adjudicators. Well, I remember when I learned that song it just struck me as a little odd, like why would you call her your satin doll, and why would she speak Latin?

Well, a few years went by, and Continue reading

Singing & Signing "Some Children See Him"

I sing this Christmas song and simultaneously express it in signs from ASL (American Sign Language). I purposely adapted some of the hand-shapes to create sign-rhymes. While no song that is simultaneously sung and signed is truly ASL, I do hope that I have created something here that can be enjoyed by both hearing and deaf people. I also believe that people of all faiths can appreciate the hope that each newborn child brings: that he or she may help to heal this world.

Singing "Your Mother And Mine" to Mom on Mother’s Day

I called my mom on Mother’s Day and sang her this song from Peter Pan that she used to sing to me when tucking me in at night. I tried to subtitle, but I couldn’t figure it out. The lyrics are:

The angel voice that bids you goodnight
Kisses your cheek, whispers ‘sleep tight’
Your mother and mine
Your mother and mine

The helping hand that guides you along
Whether you’re right, whether you’re wrong
Your mother and mine
Your mother and mine

What makes mothers all that they are?
Might as well ask what makes a star

Ask your heart to tell you her worth
Your heart must say heaven and earth
Another word for divine
Your mother and mine
Your mother and mine

Me Singing "You Make Me Feel So Young"

Here are the lyrics to this 1946 popular song by Mack Gordon:

You make me feel so young.
You make me feel so “Spring has sprung”,
And every time I see you grin
I’m such a happy individual.

The moment that you speak
I want to go and play hide-and-seek.
I want to go and bounce the moon
Just like a toy balloon.

You and I are just like a couple of tots
Runnin’ across the meadow
Pickin’ up lots of forget-me-nots.

You make me feel so young.
You make me feel there are songs to be sung,
Bells to be rung, wonderful fling to be flung.
And even when I’m old and gray
I’m gonna feel the way I do today
‘Cause you – you make me feel so young.

You make me feel so young.
You make me feel so young.
Ooo – you make me feel so young.

Paul McCartney and The Police — do you have to be old to understand? ;-)

Well, here I am in Starbucks at the age of 40, telling the 20-something cashier how excited I am that my partner and I are going to see The Police in concert next Monday night– when I find myself having to explain to the young lady who The Police were. ;-( Nevermind telling her that The Police was the band Sting was in before he went solo; that would be like telling her that Paul McCartney is the guy who used to be the lead singer of The Beatles! (Who’s Sting? Who were The Beatles? Oh dear!)

Seriously, though, once I told her that The Police brought the world such indelible hits as Roxanne, Every Breath You Take, Message in a Bottle, and Wrapped Around Your Finger, she got it. And if you have the chance to discover — or rediscover — The Police, I highly recommend it! It may be the closest you’ll ever come to a reunion of The Beatles until you go to heaven, if there is such a place. And if there is, I count on attending live concerts of The Beatles and The Police on a regular basis. ;-)

The Arts Are in My Blood

Okay, maybe I’m bragging a little, but I would like to tell you something about my family and their involvement in the performing and visual arts.

  • My grandmother on my mother’s side was a singer who performed in vaudeville. She toured the Orpheum circuit as Linda Preston with comedian Gene Sheldon. If you have an Orpheum theatre in your town, chances are she performed there! She was also a member of SAG under the name Audrey Arent, and she did a Mitchum deodorant commercial and appeared as an extra in the movies King Kong (1976), Network, and The Turning Point.
  • My grandfather on my mother’s side was Johnny Drake of The Modernaires– yes, Glenn Miller’s Modernaires who appeared in The Glenn Miller Story.
  • My grandmother on my father’s side, Helene Greene, was an interior designer and an award-winning painter.
  • My grandfather on my father’s side, Ernest Greene, played trumpet and harmonica in jazz bands as a young man.
  • My mother, Jonni Greene, sang in musicals throughout high school and junior college. She has sung in choruses of one form or another since I was 10.
  • My father, Andrew Greene, took some painting a sculpting courses and supported a friend in teaching and promoting her art classes.

I am grateful to my family for passing down their tradition of performing and visual arts, and for encouraging me in my artistic endeavors.

Singing Experiences

  • Started taking weekly singing lessons from mezzo soprano Dianna Ruggiero from July 2003, and I’ve been delighted with the results.
  • Sang as a member and soloist with the Shir Hadash Choir at Congregation Dor Hadash 1999–2000, 2003.
  • Sang for nine holiday seasons with Janet Hammer’s Full Measure Carolers from 1993–2003.
  • Recorded vocals for Voices of American History Volume II: American Revolution—The Journey Toward Independence, Creative Partners, 2002.
  • Sang at Piano Zinc in Paris, November 1, 1997.
  • Performed a solo cabaret concert at A Better Worlde Galleria, June 9, 1996.
  • Sang in choruses of San Diego Comic Opera’s productions of Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado, 1993, 1994.
  • Sang with the Gay Men’s Chorus of San Diego, 1993.
  • Sang in choruses of SGI-USA (an international Buddhist world peace organization), 1978–1990.
  • Continue reading