Over the Rainbow/Simple Gifts (Piano/Cello Cover) - ThePianoGuys
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Story behind the song:
Jon Schmidt and
Steven Sharp Nelson were booked for a
Piano Guys show in
Hawaii. How could we resist filming our next video in the land of
Aloha -- beautiful beaches, green mountains, and fresh pineapple?? We went to our Founders and Facebook fans to ask what song they wanted us to play there. "
Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was the nearly-unanimous response. But you know how we are
... we couldn't "just" do this tune by itself...so in the studio we found a made-in-heaven matchup in the timeless melody from the
Shaker Hymn "
Simple Gifts" written in the 1800's (also used by
Aaron Copland in his
Ballet "
Appalachian Spring"). We feel it's an especially appropriate mash-up because of our profound love and respect for the
Hawaiian culture -- a people who are so good at finding happiness in simplicity. As you probably could hear we borrowed a lot of ideas from Iz's version which has become the stuff of legend. This arrangement is, in part, a tribute to him.
Getting a piano onto a sandy beach and then onto a big hill in a famous ranch within the SAME day (we only had 8 hours to film) was no small feat. The only thing harder would be to be predict
Hawaiian weather, which ended up being our biggest challenge.
"We had a little extra help on this one. My mother, Lynne Sanders
Nelson -- a main source of my inspiration for pursuing music -- passed away early in life from the effects of a brain tumor. She was an incredibly-gifted musician and taught me to play music passionately rather than just playing 'notes' on a page. 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' was one of her favorite songs. We finished this arrangement on what would have been her 70th birthday.
Somehow she helped. I miss her so very much, but when I play songs like this I feel like I get to be with her again. This song is dedicated to her."
-Steven
Sharp Nelson
Thank you so much to the
Kualoa Ranch who bent over backwards last-minute for us and provided us such a beautiful place to shoot.
Visit their site at http://www.kualoa.com -- when you visit Hawaii be sure to stop by and take a tour -- its where dozens of huge blockbluster movies/tv shows have been filmed.
This song is dedicated to
Lynne Sanders Nelson,
The Hill Family,
J. Mueller, & the people of Hawaii
Filming locations:
Beach
Scene:
Pounders Beach,
North Shore, Oahu Hawaii
Finale:
Kualoa Ranch, North Shore, Oahu Hawaii (This is the place to go for sightseeing on Oahu!)
Toll
Free: (800) 231-7321
Tour Desk: (
808) 237-7321
http://www.kualoa.com
MANY THANKS to Garrin Mascarenas and
BRIO TECHNOLOGIES for helping out with this shoot and for running the sound at our live shows! http://www.briotechnologies.com - You are awesome!
Credits:
Over the Rainbow music written by
Harold E. Arlen in
1939 for the movie "
Wizard of Oz" -- originally performed by
Judy Garland
Published by
EMI Feist Catalog,
Inc.
Inspired, in part, by
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's cover
Simple Gifts written by
Joseph Brackett in
1848
Arrangement produced by
Al van der Beek & Steven Sharp Nelson
Arrangement written by Jon Schmidt, Al van der Beek & Steven Sharp Nelson
Video produced by
Paul Anderson and Tel
Stewart
Piano: Jon Schmidt
Electric/
Acoustic Cellos: Steven Sharp Nelson
Vocals: Al van der Beek
Percussion: Steven Sharp Nelson & Al van der Beek
Recorded, mixed & mastered by Al van der Beek at
TPG Studio