We still have a few more weeks of cool mornings. In some places they follow still nights all summer long. Here in North Carolina, the summer is not that gentle. With the long days come heat, damp heat, penetrating heat, heat that makes your clothes stick to you. Heat you had forgotten about. Halting heat, the kind that makes your hair sit flat on your head and your breathing heavy. A walk to the car in this weather is much like darting through the rain. All your pores burst with sweat. The seconds feel like hours as you wait for your air conditioning to wind up. Even so, we spend more time with leisure, by bodies of water, in lounge chairs, in the sand, wearing the sun like a blanket, sipping from a sweaty cup, falling back to sleep. Ah, Summertime!

Rise up singing! Here are two inspiring versions of the George Gershwin classic. Ironing Board Sam’s comes from the Ironing Board Sam and the Sticks recording recorded with Sam’s faithful and loving French friends, Simon Arcache and Raphael Evrard.

The other, Guitar Gabriel plays a spooky rendition accompanied by Michael Parrish on piano and Mark Levinson on trumpet.