There's no such thing as pre-war charm, except in the movies. Pre-war means the Great Depression, when one in four U.S. adults was out of work and misery was spread thin. During the 1930s, to boost the optimism of glum movie-goers, Hollywood created a Gothamized world in which most film characters were largely untouched by the stock-market crash or bank runs. Rather, they strolled palatial homes in smoking jackets, managed the help and ate large English breakfasts. In other words, pre-war charm was a celluloid mystique misted by the strains of songbook soundtracks. Musicals, especially, were rich in sentimental songs by the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and other composers of the era.
Raymond De Felitta understands the romance of this world better than most. He's a superb director (Bottom of the Ninth, Madoff, Rob the Mob, City Island, 'Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris, The Thing About My Folks, Two Family House, Cafe Society among others) and, it turns out, an equally excellent jazz pianist. To prove the point, he has just released a terrific jazz album of songbook standards called Pre-War Charm.
Raymond has been playing piano since he was 6. "We had a player piano and I’d play James P. Johnson and Fats Waller (above) piano rolls, putting my hands on the keys to see how they worked. As a result, stride piano was my first style—I thought it was the way everyone played piano. I played through my childhood, stopped and got back into it in my 20s."
On My Heart Belongs to Daddy, Mine, Blue and Sentimental, Deep in a Dream, Out of Nowhere, What's New?, Then I'll Be Tired of You and The Way You Look Tonight, Raymond is backed by Mike Alvidrez on bass and Paul Kreibich on drums.
On Drop Me Off in Harlem, Stars Fell on Alabama and Deep Purple, Raymond is backed by the wonderful Alex Budman on clarinet and tenor saxophone, and Paul Kreibich on drums.
And on I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling and You Go to My Head, Raymond plays solo piano. And what a solo piano!
Because Raymond grew up in Hollywood (his father was writer-director Frank De Felitta) and knows how the silver screen's magic tricks work, his playing has authenticity and smarts. As I listened repeatedly to his album, I thought of William Powell and Carole Lombard, Mary Astor, "Cuddles" Sakall, Sidney Greenstreet, Edward Everett Horton (above), Margaret Dumont, Sig Ruman, ZaSu Pitts, Monty Woolley, Kitty Carlisle, Raymond Walburn and Roland Young. These erudite types inhabited 1930s movies in which people with white grand pianos and penthouses threw parties for guests who dropped by after the theater, tossed furs and topcoats into a pile and sang and wise-cracked until dawn. Raymond plays piano with these pre-war actors in his heart and fingertips. What make the music so great is that his heart beats for the movie reality, the Gothamized New York of studio lots. As a result, the music is much more convincing, delightfully delicate and a celebration of a world created by brilliant movie studio minds and performers just when America needed them most.
I wish I played piano like Raymond, and you will too. Elegant and masterful, as if tinkling on a keyboard illuminated by a yellow moon and New York's skyline in silhouette behind him. Pre-war charm was a thing, even if it existed solely in dark movie theaters. After all, it got us through an economic wipe-out followed by the horrors of World War II. In Raymond's hands, the songs are played as they should be heard.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Raymond De Felitta's Pre-War Charm here or here.
The album also is available at Spotify.
JazzWax clips: Here's Mine...
Here's Blue and Sentimental...
And here's Raymond solo on You Go to My Head...
