Just in time for Cupid’s favorite holiday, Onyx Collective has released a stripped-down rendition of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s “My Funny Valentine.� Check out the cover above, which also features vocals by Nick Hakim.
The song is the first single off the NYC jazz group’s upcoming album Manhattan Special: Onyx Collective Plays Rodgers & Hart / Rodgers & Hammerstein which is comprised entirely of reimaginations of songs from the influential songwriting duos. No release date has been set for the collection.
“Within each of these songs lives a conversation within a conversation,� said the group. “An ongoing collaboration that over time has left just enough room for our interpretation. The music having been written for the theatre, carried a naturally dramatic tone that after meditating on the lyrics and melodies, we realized could still be seen from multiple perspectives.�
“My Funny Valentine� appears in the score to Babes in Arms, which originally opened on Broadway in 1937 and became a popular 1939 film starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. The musical also includes the songs “Where or When,� “Johnny One-Note,� “The Lady is a Tramp,� and “I Wish I Were in Love Again.�
A 1999 New York City Center Encores! production, directed by Kathleen Marshall, starred A Chorus Line Tony winner Donna McKechnie and Grand Horizons scene-stealer Priscilla Lopez.
Listen to the recording on digital streaming platforms .
