I Fall in Love Too Easily

Back in college, I discovered jazz. I'm not talking today's light variety that has become almost a classical form, I'm talking the funky stuff that made the Beats tick and turned a generation of hip cats into urban legends. Parker. Davis. Basie. Ellington.

It started in the basements of Westwood on weekends when some friends would rip and bring the brass over strings. The kind of house party you might see in an art house film worth seeing. Of course, this sounds more romantic than it probably was, but it was delicious all the same. I can thank Marcel for that.

We met at a bonfire the first few weeks at UCLA and kind of stayed connected since. Even distance and time could not keep us separated; I still remember the random Sunday brunch in NYC that reconnected us after several years, mutual acquaintances bringing us fatefully together until I saw him just strumming his guitar in the back. Things like that happen in NYC, but those stories are for another day.

I suppose these reflections should make it no surprise when I just stumbled upon a track that Marcel laid down in Germany earlier this year called "I Fall in Love Too Easily". This standard, crooned by Chet Baker, indelibly marked my first year in college, the whole collection of Chet Baker pieces that seemed so right for the romantic in me. Appropriate to thread the needle on jazz, Marcel, connections, standards, all so neatly. On YouTube at that. Thanks, Marcel - this made my day.

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