The instrumental version of
A Something In A Summer's Day is very much as effective as
the song with Kirk's adaptation of Emily Dickensen's poetry. Though it can be played as a ballad, our recording is at a ballad tempo with a groove - sort of a very slow bossa or a bolero. This is a song that establishes a secondary key center before settling in the ultimate key; the first four measures of the A and C sections land on B minor, going to the tonic E minor in the fifth measure. This is particularly deceptive as the piano intro on this recording sets up B minor; the bass and drums only enter on the first E minor chord. The bridge modulates to A♭ major; this unusual key change is reflected in the lead sheet by a key signature change to cut down on accidentals.
The main melodic theme is transformed over the course of the song: beginning as an ascending line, the second A section adds upper neighboring notes, while the C section has largely the same notes in a more convoluted order. The form is a 37-measure AABC, with tags extending the second A and C sections to 10 measures, and the bridge to 9.
The lead sheet contains the melody lines of Kirk's intro and end figures as recorded, as well as a suggested melodic embellishment (also taken from the recording) in the tag ending.
"Further Explorations" was recorded at the legendary
Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs.
Instrumentalists need opportunities to express themselves, and beautiful ballads provide a perfect one. Jazzleadsheets.com's founder
Don Sickler had to try his hand at Kirk Nurock's
A Something In A Summer's Day, so he could provide other instrumentalists with an inspiring Minus You track.
A
Solo Piano performance by Kirk Nurock is also available. Here's a sample
clip.
Exclusive Minus You audio track CLIP This recording is essentially two choruses long. However, the second chorus skips the first A section and begins with the second A. The soloist has therefore two sections of the song (A2 and B) to improvise; these are written as D and E, with F being the out C section with a tag ending.
