Sunshower

Music: Kenny Barron, Lyrics: Janice Jarrett

“Each day begins, we’re never sure if we will have sunshowers or the rain. Like rain to dusty drying each, the sun relieves the cold with beads of warmth.” These lyrics were first recorded by the legendary Jay Clayton with Byron Morris’s Unity. Years later, I discovered that the song traveled the world on its own when both Wendy Fopeano (Denver) and Jane Irving (Australia) contacted me about putting it on their next albums. The subtle chords and lift of the melody lend themselves to a bright bossa. Kenny Barron’s instrumental versions are well worth finding. The words emerged as a kind of tribute to the gifts of the sun. From the bridge: “We bathe in sun, the sky and I,…We bask in sun, the earth and I” and finally “We wait for light, the night and I.” (The clip is from the CD “Blue Nights & Sunshower.” The arrangement for 5 singers will be here soon as well.)