I believe everyone should have their comfort music: music you reach for when in a melancholic mood, when having a difficult day, or just when you need a way to decompress. Mine is Ella Fitzgerald. Sometimes, driving back from late gigs, I love listening to Ella and Louis, their joyfulness like a happy passenger in my car. This week, feeling a bit introspective, I was listening to this beautiful ballad by Tommy Wolf called “Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most”, from Ella’s 1961 album Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie!. This song captures the shadow side of spring: the discomfort and melancholy you can experience while everything around you seems to bloom and embrace life. It felt appropriate for the time of year, and I just love this melody. I sat down to learn it, listening to various versions (I love this Bill Charlap version), and settling on this calm, subtly reharmonized piano arrangement.

I hope you enjoy my take on “Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most”, and maybe it can be a little comfort music for you too.