The title track from Chicago’s Night & Day: Big Band is beautiful piece, sung with so much passion by Jason Scheff that you’d think he wrote it.
Cole Porter’s best-known original was written for the 1930s-era musical Gay Divorce, which was later made into the film The Gay Divorcee. Fred Astaire then scored a No. 1 hit with “Night and Day,” staying atop the charts for 10 weeks and opening the door for remakes by many other musicians.
A ballad with lyrics full of feeling and emotion, “Night and Day” is dedicated to a life-long romance, detailing a couple who’ll love each other forever. Each line is so descriptive that they create a scene, as if from a short video.
Chicago updates the track with a jungle feel with the drumming. Then the song goes mid tempo with a smooth-jazz approach and a vibe made to relax people. The horns are very loud and present. The bass is in sync with the rest of the music. The drumming is very powerful.
One complaint: I generally like that the song boasts different sound effects because that adds to the island-inspired atmosphere, but the frogs become really annoying. (They make me think if that late-’90s Budweiser commercial.) I understand why they were included, to mimic the tropical environment, but this particular effect goes a bit overboard.
Nevertheless, “Night and Day” is a deeply involving track, powered along by lyrics written with love and emotion. Chicago did an amazing job with once again recreating the sound of the original Cole Porter song, but at the same time making it remarkably different by giving the session a Caribbean vibe. The effect is even more romantic than before.
