There was a fellow named Jefferson who Would tear it up with the band A vocalizin’ phenomenon who they used to call the Main Man He would think like a sage, sing like a horn And there on the stage somethin’ special was born He would swing, “dit n’ doo dat” He was The Cat. He sang with Moody in ‘57 He put a lyric to bop When little Benny came down from Heaven He put it over the top Jazz was hot in the East, cool in the West But his vocalese it was simply the best Because man, couldn’t he scat He was The Cat. Eddie was hip but wise as an old man Takin’ that trip to celebrate Coleman Lettin’ it rip on “Body and Soul” man And oh what he’d do, the poetry flew A founding father was Jefferson but He never got the acclaim We’re here to tell you that he’s the one that Put vocalese in the game He would dig sittin’ in, blowin’ the hit And then he would spin out a story to fit He was some acrobat He was The Cat. There was a time when there was jazz cookin’ up on every corner Everybody would sit and listen as they blew Tellin’ stories they knew in each his own way Tellin’ the news, bop to blues Set the moods any way they’d want to Innovation was always there Electrifyin’ the air everywhere you’d be, Let me tell ya All around you’d hear the sound of life abounding free Comin’ out of a horn, bein’ born a new way Never knew what you’d hear First we heard from The Bean Then the word on the scene was so choice: Eddie Jefferson’s voice, what a beautiful noise Master of a lyric and what an inventor Singin’ with the spirit of jazz at the center Anyone who’d hear it knew that he was a mentor Enter for the love the sound You found the rhythm town where you can marry vocabulary To every melody that you hear For when Eddie would sing, the story was king He’d talk about a thing, then be sockin it like the swing of a bat He sang it like that! He would embrace his lyrical zen to Tickle those phrases like he was meant to Take us to places nobody’d been to An Everest climb, the cleverest kind! When Charlie Parker and Moody played it There was a hush in the crowd And then when Eddie would elevate it The jazz community bowed He’d evoke what we heard on the soloin’ rides And make every word tell a story besides And we’re all tippin’ our hat! He Was The Cat. - Music and Lyrics by Ginny Carr, © 2012

Take me away with you, lover of mine. Any old day will do, any place is fine. Find us a paradise we can explore. It would be very nice even if I've been before. Whether old or new I'll adore the view Even more with you. Take me away. Show me the open road, fly me afar. Show me a king's abode in Scotland or in Zanzibar. Maybe St. Thomas, love... The tropical moon Will make us a promise of fantasy beneath a dune. Sweep me off my feet To the isle of Crete And don't be discreet! Take me away. Let's unwind and let's get away and never react To all the things that we've left undone. I wouldn't mind if we jet today, matter o' fact. Let me know when we go, my bag's already packed! Take me away with you somewhere sublime Just for a day or two, or maybe for the rest of time. Sip a bit of grape On a windy cape, Baby let's escape! Take me away. Let's unwind and let's get away and never look back To all the cares that we had before. I wouldn't mind if we jet today, matter o' fact. Let me know when we go, my bag's already packed! What do ya say we go pitch us a tent? Rent us a bungalow or rumble through the Orient? Watch the moonlight beam On a mountain stream. Well, a girl can dream. Take me away! - Music and Lyrics by Ginny Carr, © 2014

So you're gone. The sun will still keep shining Though you're gone, There'll be a silver lining. Life goes on. So you're gone. No reconciliations, Moving on. That beckoning vacation's Proving long overdue. I'll be long over you. Though you're gone, I won't even know you're gone. With zing and with pep I'll greet the new day. The spring in my step will give me away. I can't do a thing but accept the old "Come what may." No worse for the wear not finding you there, I nearly don't care about why you'd go, Goodbye. And so... you're gone. No tears will find my pillow. You're gone. But here's a sign it's still, oh, very wrong: My heart won't let you go even though I know, I know it's so.... You're gone. - Music and Lyrics by Ginny Carr, © 2014