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Jazz Standards - Poinciana

Writer's picture: Peter EdwardsPeter Edwards

Nat King Cole

From Youtube

Poinciana is a song to music by Nat Simon and lyrics by Buddy Bernier written in 1936. The tune is based on a Cuban folk tune La canción del árbol ("The song of the tree"). The poinciana tree itself, delonix regia, is a tree introduced to Cuba from Madagascar. Glenn Miller performed it in the late 1930s. Benny Carter and Bing Crosby both issued versions in 1944. It was widely popularised in the 1952 film Dreamboat and subsequently became a standard covered by artists including Johnny Mathis, Vic Damone, Keith Jarrett, Percy Faith, The Four Freshmen and Ahmad Jamal (as the first track on an eponymous album), and which featured again in the 1995 film The Bridges of Madison County. In 1978 disco duo Paradise Express recorded a version which made the top 20 on the disco charts.

Latin Groovy Version

Tabla and Piano version

70s Vocal chorus version - Smooth!

Ray Barretto - Latin - Changes the melody at the beginning- Reharmonisation


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