Carnival in Flanders closed after only six performances but generated a top jazz standard composition in “Here’s That Rainy Day,” - Jeremy Wilson

Rank 100 Music Jimmy Van Heusen Lyrics Johnny Burke   Dolores Gray introduced “Here’s That Rainy Day” in the Broadway musical, Carnival in Flanders, which opened on September 8, 1953, at the New Century Theatre.     More on Dolores Gray   Carnival in Flanders was based on the 1935, French film comedy La Kermesse Heroique, which had won several Best Foreign Film awards. Despite the success of the source material, a score by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke, and a cast that boasted John Raitt, the production struggled to establish itself. Veteran film director Preston Sturges was hired to salvage the play three weeks before its Broadway debut, but the last-minute rescue attempt was not enough, and the show closed after only six performances. Carnival in Flanders, for all its brevity, left its impression on Broadway. The Van Heusen/Burke score generated a top jazz standard composition in “Here’s That Rainy Day,” and Raitt’s co-star, Dolores Gray, won a Tony Award for Leading Actress in a Musical, a standing record for the shortest-lived, Tony-Award-winning role!     More on Jimmy Van Heusen       More on Johnny Burke

More information on this tune... Alec Wilder American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950 Oxford University Press; Reprint edition Hardcover: 576 pages (Author/composer Wilder analyzes the music in his definitive book on American popular song.) - Jeremy Wilson

This section suggests definitive or otherwise significant recordings that will help jazz students get acquainted with “Here's That Rainy Day.” These recordings have been selected from the Jazz History and CD Recommendations sections.

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As addressed in the “History Notes,” Frank Sinatra’s status as a jazz artist is open to some debate. However, his interpretation of “Here’s That Rainy Day” (No One Cares) is certainly definitive and is a wonderful jumping-off point for anyone seeking to learn the tune. The intimate nature of the tune has lent itself well through the years to correspondingly intimate performances. As such it is not surprising that two of the definitive recordings of the tune are introspective solo performances by pianist Bill Evans (Alone) and guitarist Joe Pass (Virtuoso (20 Bit Mastering)).

Noah Baerman - Jazz Pianist and Educator

John Barrett Jr. aptly described “Here’s That Rainy Day” as “a gentle yawn, the sun rising on a sad feeling.” It is a ballad about lost love, about love turning to a cold, rainy day. With a relaxed tempo and a feeling of melancholy, the lyrics and music support each other in creating the mood. That is not to say that it is a simple song. Alec Wilder, in his book American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950, comments that “Here’s That Rainy Day” is “a very difficult song” with a complex bass line. He characterizes it as “powerful,” “affecting,” and with “great weight and authority.” The song is an excellent example of the sophistication that became acceptable in popular songs in the 1940’s.

Jazz musicians appreciate the elegance of “Here’s That Rainy Day” with its surprising melodies and harmonies. The song’s flexibility has allowed it to be recorded hundreds of times as a ballad, a swing number, and even an up-tempo, bossa nova tune. -JW

Musical analysis of “Here’s That Rainy Day”
Original Key	F major
Form	A -B -A -C
Tonality	Primarily major
Movement	The “A” sections are slow; upward arpeggios with embellished top note. “B” and “C” sections tend to leap down and arpeggiate upwards.
Comments (assumed background)
Van Heusen’s original harmonic progression over section “A” corresponds to what jazz musicians often call a “Lady Bird” or “Half Nelson” progression -I -bIIIma7 -bVIma7 (in the original, Fmaj7 - Ab maj7 -Dbmaj7), with one chord per measure. Some players perform this starting in the parallel minor and then follow a descending bass line. In the original key, this is: Fm7 -C7/E -Ebm6 -Dm7(b5) -Dbmaj7. This is not necessarily an improvement over the original; however, it is a bone of contention between the more rabid players. In either case, the Dbmaj7 skips down two minor thirds to ii7 (Bbm7 to Gm7), proceeding to V7 -I. “B” starts on a iv, actually functioning as a ii7 of the new temporary key of Ab. This drops to Gm7(b5) (after an embellishing pass through its own subdominant iv, Dbmaj7), which is the ii7 of the original I key of F major. The second time, going into the “C” section, Fmaj7 is followed by Bbmaj7- a very nice twist. Bbmaj7 (IV) goes to ii7 -V7 -I, which is followed by a surprise II7, delaying the final ii7 -V7 -I resolution.
K. J. McElrath - Musicologist for JazzStandards.com

The controversy continues over whether Frank Sinatra was a jazz singer or not. Certainly his early years in the orchestras of jazz musicians Harry James and Tommy Dorsey (and later work with Count Basie) would lead one to believe that they considered his style was more swinging than some of his colleagues.

And it is also known that Sinatra was widely admired and listened to by jazz musicians, and that he may be the one to receive credit for making “Here’s That Rainy Day” into a standard. His 1959 Capitol recording of the tune, arranged by Gordon Jenkins, is a beautiful and timeless rendering of the number.

Chris Tyle - Jazz Musician and Historian

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Frank Sinatra No One Cares Capitol 94519

“Here's That Rainy Day” was included in these films:

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• Carnival in Flanders (1953, Dolores Gray)

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