Wistful, like summer departed.

Summer dies today. A monody for the occasion:

And now the purple dusk of twilight time
Steals across the meadows of my heart.
High up in the sky, the little stars climb,
Always reminding me that we're apart.

You wander down the lane and far away,
Leaving me a song that will not die.
Love is now the stardust of yesterday,
The music of the years gone by.

Sometimes I wonder why I spend
The lonely night dreaming of a song.
The melody haunts my reverie,
And I am once again with you,
When our love was new,
And each kiss an inspiration.
But that was long ago.
Now my consolation
Is in the stardust of a song.

Beside a garden wall,
When stars are bright,
You are in my arms.
The nightingale tells his fairy tale,
A paradise where roses bloom.
Though I dream in vain,
In my heart, it will remain,
My stardust melody,
The memory of love's refrain.

—"Stardust" was composed in 1927 by Hoagy Carmichael; two years later, Mitchell Parish added lyrics. In 2004, Carmichael's original recording of the song was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.

The great Lester Young on tenor saxophone, in 1954 —with Oscar Peterson, piano; Barney Kessel, guitar; Ray Brown, bass; J. C. Heard, drums.

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• On 22 September 2017, the midday sun will shine straight overhead at the equator, signaling, in the Northern Hemisphere, the end of summer but the beginning of autumn;; in the Southern Hemisphere, the reverse. On the day of the equinox, the sun rises due east and sets due west all over the world, with everyone worldwide receiving the same amount of day and night. More from the National Geographic.
• From the YouTube upload: Standard YouTube License
  

  It features footage of Lester Young from a 1944 film, Jammin' The Blues, by Gjon Mili. Lester Young is one of the three most influential and important tenor saxophone players of the 20th century...His lighter sound seemingly floated out of his sax, creating remarkable music that still sounds superb today. Recorded in 1952, the sessions that comprise 'With The Oscar Peterson Trio' found Young in outstanding form and spirits, and his playing reflects it. Lester's solos were coherent, powerful, deliberate, and haunting. They displayed a great emotional depth rarely found in recorded jazz; the joys and pains of Young's life were right there for the listener to hear. The Oscar Peterson Trio back up Young perfectly. Simply put, this was and always will be essential music.

  —Ron Saranich
  


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