“Yellow Days” (1968) Bobby Hackett

“Yellow Days”

Composed by Alvaro Carrillo Alarcon.

Recorded by Bobby Hackett for Project 3 in December of 1968 in New York.

Bobby Hackett, cornet; Don Forestieri, piano; Tito Russo, bass; Joe Brancato, drums.

The story:

Robert Leo Hackett (1915-1976), was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island. Hackett began his career as a musician in New England in the early 1930s. At that time, he played guitar, violin and cornet. By 1937, he had moved to New York and began what would be a varied career in music that stretched over the next forty years. He was featured in the famous 1938 Benny Goodman Carnegie Hall concert playing “I’m Coming Virginia,” as a tribute to Bix Beiderbecke. He started his big band career as the leader of a short-lived ensemble in 1939. Although this band produced some good music (a link to one of his excellent recordings with that band can be found at endnote 1), it was not successful commercially, and its failure left Hackett in substantial debt. (At right: Bobby Hackett in 1939.)

In order to begin clearing his debts, Hackett joined the highly successful “entertaining” band of Horace Heidt in September of 1939, and remained until June of 1940. He was hired in late June of 1940 to play the cornet solos on the soundtrack of the Paramount film Second Chorus. That film featured Artie Shaw’s band, and starred  Fred Astaire and Paulette Goddard. In November of 1940, He returned to Heidt for several months. Although he led a band in Boston in the spring of 1941, dental surgery put an end to that venture. He joined Glenn Miller in July of 1941, and remained until Miller broke up his band in late September of 1942. (Hackett’s most famous recording with Miller, “A String of Pearls,” can be accessed at endnote 2.)

Hackett then did studio work in New York on staff at NBC from October 1942 until November 1943. A bit of free-lancing followed, then he joined Glen Gray’s Casa Loma band in October of 1944. He remained, with a few absences, until late September 1946, when he joined the staff at ABC in New York. He remained in that position for over a decade, while almost continuously playing outside gigs at jazz clubs in New York. (Above left: three desperados from Glenn Miller’s band – 1942: L-R: John Best, Hackett and Skip Martin.)

By the middle 1950s, Hackett was a full-time free-lance in New York, and he found employment in many different parts of the pop music and jazz worlds for the remainder of his life. One of the most lucrative of these gigs was as featured cornet soloist on nine Jackie Gleason mood music LPs during the years 1952 to 1967. He also had a highly rewarding musical partnership with the singer Tony Bennett in the 1960s. (An example of their work together can be found at endnote 3.)

Late in his career, Hackett switched from cornet to trumpet.

Hackett was a favorite of many musicians and jazz journalists, none more than Whitney Balliett, who for many years wrote insightful pieces about jazz musicians for The New Yorker magazine. Balliett’s writing about Bobby Hackett appeared in that magazine on August 4, 1972. Subsequently, that article, and many others by Balliett about jazz musicians and singers, were gathered and published in various compendia of Balliett’s writings as books. I will quote from that New Yorker article to provide readers with an excellent, well-written summary of Hackett the man and musician:

“Bobby Hackett is a maze of paradoxes. His mood-music recordings …made with Jackie Gleason can be heard daily as piped-in music in supermarkets across the land (perhaps so in 1972, but rarely these days-MZ), but very few people know whom they are hearing. He is possibly the most respected trumpet player in the business, but recently has taken jobs where he could find them – playing with a tuba and banjo band, with a trio led by a society pianist, in a club owned by his cousin, to say nothing of intermittent, wearying trips to Japan, Canada, Italy and Australia. He is a tiny man (five feet four and a half, a hundred and twenty-five pounds; an admirer recently said he looks like the groom on a wedding cake) who achieves a baronial, walk-in sound. He has been celebrated for years by his adherents as a successor to Bix Beiderbecke, but his passion is for Louis Armstrong. (One of the most) famous solos he ever played on a recording is his exquisite twelve-bar statement on cornet on “A String of Pearls.” (A link to that recording is at endnote 3.) (Above right: mid-1940s – Bobby Hackett with his source of inspiration – Louis Armstrong.)

His flat hair and narrow eyes and miniature hawk features give him a furtive 1920s appearance, but he is the gentlest and most vulnerable of men. …He is the most assured and relaxed-sounding of trumpeters, but he practices a couple of hours each day. He is a born-and-bred city slicker who lives in the woods of Cape Cod. His (playing) style is deceptive. He is a lyrical, even emotional performer, yet his (jazz) solos have an almost mathematical logic. His friend, (composer) Alec Wilder has said of (his playing): ‘Hackett is a master of distillation and understatement. (What he plays is played with) …the fewest number of notes, and each one is essential. He has never fallen into the ‘etude’ fashion, chasing his tail with neurotic arpeggiations. Nor has he felt the need to flex his musical muscles by means of hysterical high notes.(4)  He is both a poet and an essayist. He is never aggressive or noisy; rather he is tender and witty. I have never heard him play a phrase I would prefer otherwise.’ When he plays the melody, it sounds verbatim, but close examination of the placement and choice of notes reveals improvisation of the most subtle order.” (Above left: Bobby Hackett in the mid-1960s.)

The music:

“La mentira (Se te olvida),” known in English as “Yellow Days,” is a bolero (5) written by the Mexican composer Alvaro Carrillo Alarcon in 1965. Alan Bernstein wrote an English lyric for the melody. A notable recording of the song was done by Frank Sinatra with Duke Ellington in December of 1967 in an arrangement by Billy May. 

This performance of “Yellow Days” begins with a lovely, brief introduction played by pianist Don Forestieri. His piano notes seem to waft through the air, setting the mood. Bobby Hackett then plays, actually exalts, the main melody on open cornet for sixteen bars. His sound is warm, his phrasing langourous. He then plays the secondary bridge melody for eight bars before returning to play the the third tract of the main melody. The bassist Tito Russo and the drummer Joe Brancato support Hackett with soft bossa nova rhythms. The piano accompaniments Hackett gets from Don Forestieri are both subtle and provocative.

The second chorus begins with Forestieri improvising in impressionistic fashion on the bridge. Hackett then returns for one last pass at the melody, then after the cadence, he plays a soft distillation of the melody as a finale.

This is a great example of a master musician applying his unique talents to enhance a beautiful melody.

The recording presented with this post was digitally remastered by Mike Zirpolo.

Notes and links:

(1) here is a link to Bobby Hackett’s recording of “Embraceable You”: https://swingandbeyond.com/2018/07/31/mannie-kleins-birthday-party-1933-and-bobby-hacketts-embraceable-you-1939/

(2) Here is a link to Glenn Miller’s recording of “A String of Pearls,” which includes a fine cornet solo by Bobby Hackett: https://swingandbeyond.com/2016/10/20/a-miller-memory-or-how-would-you-ever-have-anything-signed-by-such-a-great-bandleader/

(3) Here is a link to a wonderful Hackett collaboration with singer Tony Bennett: https://swingandbeyond.com/2021/11/09/ill-be-around-1963-tony-bennett-with-bobby-hackett/

(4) Once, when Bobby Hackett was selling a trumpet, he placed an ad in a music magazine that read: For sale, trumpet (make and model), upper register unused.

(5) What is a bolero? A romantic ballad, it is characterized by acoustic guitars, often set against lush orchestration. Its slow tempo lends itself to intimate, passionate performances. The accompanying dance style features graceful, flowing movements, typically performed by couples in close embrace.

Regional variations: In Spain, the form evolved in 3/4 time, from dance styles derived from the contradanza and sevillana. In Cuba, boleros were written in the 2/4 time signature. Cuban bolero incorporates elements from Spanish and other Latin music, as well as African influences. Notably, Cuban bolero also is known for its sophisticated, romantic lyrics, slow tempo and guitar accompaniment.

From the troubador tradition: In Cuba, bolero arose from the trova tradition. Trovadores were the Cuban version of the Spanish trovadores. In Cuba, these wandering minstrels traveled throughout Cuba’s Oriente (eastern) region, notably Santiago de Cuba, sustaining themselves by serenading and strumming guitars.

The golden age: Boleros became a significant part of the soundtrack and cultural landscape of Mexican cinema, often reflecting themes of love, passion and romance. In the late 1920s, the bolero became the soundtrack of modern, urban Mexico, when it was embraced by musicians in the capital city, most famously Agustín Lara, a pianist who composed many classic boleros, including “Despues,” “Mujer,” “Para Siempre,” “Piensa en Mi” and “María Bonita” (composed for his wife, Mexican film superstar Maria Felix). See:https://cso.org/experience/article/23164/the-basics-of-the-bolero-from-its-birth-in-cu