Ah, GREAT choice! One of the all-time great melodies, IMO; and one of the favorite vehicles for improvisation of jazz players. I didn't know this version by Harold Land, but I love it; thanks for sharing.
Besides being a beautiful and haunting melody, it is a favorite of jazz players due to the fact that its harmonic structure and progression is musically logical and relatively simple, so it lends itself very well to improvisation. If one listens carefully, one notices that after the C minor 7 chord in the opening measure there is no chord change for five measures (an eternity in jazz). When the opening (and very distinctive) opening motif is repeated eight measures later it is modulated up a minor third (Eb minor 7), the same thing happens: no harmonic change for five measures. Things then get a bit more complex harmonically until the end, but still in an extremely logical way. It is one of the first tunes that jazz students learn.
The tune was written by Polish composer Bronislaw Kaper who also penned "On Green Dolphin Street", another favorite of improvisers, for a film in the '50's starring Lana Turner (!!! Talk about great chord changes ;-), I don't remember the name of the film, but I do know that it was not a big hit. Bronislaw's score for that film was then reused for a film "Invitation"; the title of the tune.
I am a fan of performances of music, regardless of genre, by the composer him/herself. I think the reasons are obvious, although we may have personal preferences for versions by other artists. Here is the composer himself performing "Invitation":
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=v7F6_6kVtPQ&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dv7F6_6kVtPQIt's a beautiful performance which really conveys the haunting feeling of the tune; BTW, one of the reasons Land's version is so great. Land also captures a similarly haunting feeling with a very similar pacing; as opposed to the most commonly sited version, which while being equally beautiful is less atmospheric and relaxed than Kaper's, and is the version that put the tune "on the map":
http://vimeo.com/33852454As I mentioned, this tune is one of the first that jazz students learn, and saxophone geeks in particular consider the saxophone solo on this next, very different, version to be one of the very best recorded examples of saxophone virtuosity by the most emulated and transcribed post-Coltrane saxophone player (unfortunately, I am only aware of a link to the improvised solo, not the whole tune from guitarist Jack Wilkin's album):
http://harderbop.blogspot.com/2011/04/michael-brecker-invitation.htmlEnjoy!
