What tune is it that sounds like these two?

[Zeldar]

Not long ago I asked a similar question in ID a song: based on two examples of a similar soundand got quite a few ideas and spinoffs.

This time it’s the song from an AT&T commercial that has me sure I’ve heard that melody somewhere else. The song is Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory by Bricusse and Newley, and the part I’m curious about starts at :45 in this clip.

The closest I’ve come to locating that other tune is in Dave Grusin - Condor ! starting (after all those 70’s sounds) at :41.

What else sounds like that?

[freekalette]

I know the commercial you mean, and the song I always think of is “Why do Birds Suddenly Appear” originally by Karen Carpenter. (But I hear the version from Mirrormask, which has more of a dreamy quality.) I don’t suppose that’s helpful, is it?

[GuanoLad]

I hope it’s not this.

[Zeldar]

@freekalette

I know the commercial you mean, and the song I always think of is “Why do Birds Suddenly Appear” originally by Karen Carpenter. (But I hear the version from Mirrormask, which has more of a dreamy quality.) I don’t suppose that’s helpful, is it?

I believe the title for that is “Close to You” and I do hear similarities. Thanks, but that’s not the one I keep trying to identify.

@GuanoLad

I hope it’s not this.

Nope.

[Ostrya]

Some of the melody reminds me of Candy Man also featured in the original Wonka movie. (This one is the Sammy Davis Jr version)

[Zeldar]

In the process of “doodling” (humming/whistling) the theme for my wife it suddenly hit me what I was trying to remember. The only YouTube clip I can find is of less than stellar quality, but if you skip up to 2:50 to avoid the long spoken and musical intros, the tune of Kenny Burrell - Theme From Monterey by Gerald Wilson kicks in and I’m close to certain this is what I was hearing in my mind’s ear.

If you know of a better version of it, please link to it. Otherwise, this thread’s quest is over for me.

[Zeldar]

Although the sound clips are very short, the write-up for Gerald Wilson Theme For Monterey CD has the same tune played four different ways and this quote mentions five in all:

In 1997, bandleader/arranger Gerald Wilson was commissioned by the Monterey Jazz Festival to write an original piece to be performed at that year’s festival. Wilson’s goal was to compose a melody that the audience would leave the venue singing to themselves. He succeeded by casting his “Theme for Monterey” in five different styles, with his big band interpreting the theme in a variety of moods – as a ballad, a Latin romp, a medium-tempo piece and a shouting conclusion.

The thing that bugs me about the melody is that I have never owned that album. I must have either heard it on the radio or just stumbled across that YouTube clip. But it’s weird to me how much Wilson’s objective (“to compose a melody that the audience would leave the venue singing to themselves”) was accomplished in my case.

Also note:

THEME FOR MONTEREY was nominated for a 1999 Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance. “Romance” was nominated for a 1999 Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition.