"Airegin" is a jazz standard composed by Sonny Rollins in 1954. It was first recorded by the Miles Davis Quintet with Rollins on saxophone, and recorded again by Miles' Quintet in 1956 on their album Cookin'. It was also performed by Wes Montgomery on his album The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, along with Grant Green on his album Nigeria. A version with lyrics composed by Jon Hendricks appeared on the 1958 Lambert, Hendricks & Ross album The Swingers! and the 1985 Manhattan Transfer album Vocalese. It was also covered by Hubert Laws, featuring legendary session drummer Steve Gadd playing a very fast samba pattern behind Laws' piccolo. Maynard Ferguson recorded this composition twice: first, a version where he played an overdubbed three-way solo with himself on his 1964 album Color Him Wild, and second, on his 1977 release, New Vintage.
Its name is Nigeria spelled backwards.
It is considered a challenging number due to its fast tempo and complex changes.
Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott Yanow as "one of the all-time great tenor saxophonists". Getz went on to perform in bebop, cool jazz and third stream, but is perhaps best known for popularizing bossa nova, as in the worldwide hit single "The Girl from Ipanema" (1964).
Getz was born on February 2, 1927, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents were Ukrainian Jews who emigrated from the Kiev area in 1903. The family later moved to New York City for better employment opportunities. Getz worked hard in school, receiving straight As, and finished sixth grade close to the top of his class. Getz's major interest was in musical instruments, and he felt a need to play every instrument in sight. He played a number of them before his father bought him his first saxophone at the age of 13. Even though his father also got him a clarinet, Getz instantly fell in love with the saxophone and began practicing eight hours a day.
Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930 in New York City) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St. Thomas", "Oleo", "Doxy", and "Airegin", have become jazz standards.
Although Rollins was born in New York City, his parents were born in the United States Virgin Islands. Rollins received his first saxophone at age 13. He attended Benjamin Franklin High School in East Harlem. He said that a concert by Frank Sinatra there, accompanied by a plea for racial harmony, changed his life.
Rollins started as a pianist, changed to alto saxophone, and finally switched to tenor in 1946. During his high-school years, he played in a band with other future jazz legends Jackie McLean, Kenny Drew and Art Taylor. He was first recorded in 1949 with Babs Gonzales ( J. J. Johnson was the arranger of the group). In his recordings through 1954, he played with performers such as Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk.
Wait'll y'dig it on the map - Airegin
Spelled backwards
Really're closin' up the gap - Airegin
Gone fac'wards
Back long time ago they saw a ghost
Ghost made a boast
Soon that ghost was host
(Repeat first 8 bars)
Those losing their hue
They goofed 'n got the wrong view
First, things reverse, last is first!
Y' dig it!
Whatta' y' think o'that'n get a load a'
What I tell y'
What this place is no one knows it
There's no traces of the kind o'place it was
Before it got ";discovered"; by the kind o'
Cat that knows the earth belongs t'him
Back when the world was young
An' man was a living god
An' he walked this earthly sod
This was sod that god would trod on
Till one day a stranger landed
With a line o'jive
Laid it on the natives till he had 'em thinkin'
Maybe that they should really take five
An' he quickly stole the natives' soul
So he could control it
An' he took care of that missionary biz
Till the lan' was his
Never heard a story draggy as that
Tell th' truth I ain't never heard another
That exasperated more
What an exasperating narrative t'play
Upon the sensitive and kindly soul that I am
'Way back when I was crawlin' in m'crib
I was doin' all kinds o'thinkin'
Aw'ready I had figured out the 'cut of m'jib'
The kind o'soul that never liked t'tell 'r live a fib
A body who was steadily reachin' up
A min' always thinkin' on high-minded things
Whee! I was always one t'be free
Ain't never had a keeper why don't people
Learn t'git along t'gether stead o'
Meddlin' aroun' 'n fussin' with the fella nearest to 'em
Me, I'm the old fashioned kind
I was never good at follow-the-leader
Real real real real real real real
That's me, as real as a Yankee can be
That's me
Millions o' years ago
There was a Paleolithic age on Earth
An' the whole world was young
And full o'the vim of constant rebirth
Brontosauruses 'n dinosaurs 'n pterodactyls
Ever'where abounding that was the case
'N plus the millions o' mammoths here 'n there
An' in addition there were lots o'men everywhere
Who had no hi-tech and no intellect 'nary a speck
But in that spot
Where it was so lush, where it was so hot
Where many animal was roamin'
An' nature was kind, life was thrivin'
There livin' was actual an' the feelin' was natural
I'm tellin' the truth
What-a-benign livin' some livin'
All's forgiven come on home
Blew a truly unruly storm
That wrecked a boat in a climate warm
'N full o'ashy-colored cats all lookin'
White like ghosts
'N when the natives checked 'em out
It blew 'em away t'find that they resembled spirits
Long ago there was a legend
'Bout a spirit who would someday come
A look at these cats
'N y' could see they prob'ly had some
So they welcomed 'em with peace and love
And everything there's plenty of
'N soon the tables had turned to rigormortis
That's when the castaway had his say
Like a dog had his day they told the
People that they were spirits actual
Y'see how perfectly a fable c'n be
Incorporated into what a cat'll think is factual
What was an accident turns int' something
So unbelievably heaven-sent
Everybody falls for it
Right on down t' the militants
'N marchin' 'n the martyrs 'n the murder of Lumumba
Wait'll y'dig it on the map - Airegin
Spelled backwards
Really're closin' up the gap - Airegin
Gone fac'wards
Back long time ago they saw a ghost
Ghost made a boast
Soon that ghost was host
Wait'll y'dig it on the map - Airegin
Spelled backwards
Really're closin' up the gap - Airegin
Gone fac'wards
Those losing their hue
They goofed 'n got the wrong view
First, things reverse, last is first!
Y' dig it!