Love makes me treat you
The way that I do
Gee baby, ain't I good to you
The way that I do
Gee baby, ain't I good to you
Today's research was inspired by Marty Grosz's version of 'Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You', linked here.
'Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You' was written in 1929 (according to Wikipedia) by Andy Razaf and Don Redman and later popularized by the King Cole Trio in 1944. It has been covered ad infinitum since by artists like Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Jimmy Rushing, Ruth Brown, and the artist I'm interested in today: Marty Grosz.
Grosz is an American jazz guitarist, banjoist, and composer who was born in Berlin. He has a long history of creating and performing with a variety of artists. He studied at Columbia University in New York and started recording in 1950. He afterwards moved to Chicago for 20 years before returning to New York City. I became aware of his work because of the Fat Babies in Chicago, who still play weekly at the Green Mill. In exploring more of the local Chicago music (and the music of the Fat Babies in particular) I found the album ,Diga Diga Doo, Grosz recorded with the Fat Babies and James Dapogny, a Michigan based jazz pianist who still plays on Sundays in Ann Arbor. In looking into Grosz's music I found this version of 'Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You' off the album Ring Dem Bells.
From a dancer's perspective, this is a jazz song that I'll have a ballroomin' dance to (Slow Drag as well). The song has a languid and relaxed feeling throughout. In the notes I keep for the song I think of it as flowing, but with moments of tension and release. Opening with a couple bars of Grosz's guitar, it's an instrumental version. Since there is not a vocal line different instruments take turns with the melodic 'verse'. A muted trumpet carries much of the lyrical burden followed by a woodwind instrument-likely clarinet-and Marty Grosz on guitar. All of this is backed by brushes on the drums, a steady bass, and piano. As a DJ, I love this song as a slower number that still has consistent and ever present energy.
The musicians for this album:
Marty Grosz - Guitar, vocals
Jon-Erik Kellso - Trumpet
Scott Robinson - Clarinet, soprano sax, baritone sax
Martin Litton - piano
Greg Cohen - Bass
Chuck Riggs - Drums
Jon-Erik Kellso - Trumpet
Scott Robinson - Clarinet, soprano sax, baritone sax
Martin Litton - piano
Greg Cohen - Bass
Chuck Riggs - Drums
For the interested a few notable versions of the song are below, as well as Marty Grosz's:
Sources and Links
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