Style:

Swing, taken at a wide variety of tempos.

Form:

A-A-B-A (32 Bars) [8-8-8-8]

Key:

Most commonly played in Eb Major.

Harmony/Overview:

The  harmony of this composition is functional. The A sections begin on VImi  before a II - V in the 2nd bar leads to the common progression of IMaj7 - IV7 - IIImi7b5 - VI7. A final II - V then returns back to the tonic;  it is very common for this particular II - V to be treated as minor. Towards the end of the second time through the A section a minor II - V  is used to set up IIImi where the first half of the bridge takes place. The B section begins on IIImi before a II - V of VMaj7 leads to a IImi7 in the home key, and a final minor II - V of the relative minor  concludes the section.

Recordings:

This song has been recorded over 250 times to date. It was first recorded by Mary Healy in 1940 with Orchestra under the direction of Perry Botkin.  Many of the leading artists of the day also recorded the tune from the likes of Charlie Barnet, Jimmy Dorsey, Dinah Shore, and Mel Tormé to name a few. A decade later the tune also enjoyed another boost of success with a rendition by Frank Sinatra being featured in the 1952  film noir drama Clash by Night.  It slowly started making its way into the repertoire of jazz  instrumentalists, and dozens of recordings were made spanning from the 1950's onwards. John Coltrane's seminal recording from Lush Life has been highly influential on the way generations of musicians have  approached the tune since, and as a result it is often taken at up tempos as opposed a ballad, which is the way it was initially conceived  in.

JGC Top Picks:

John Coltrane, Lush Life, 1957

Adam Rogers, Sight, 2009

George Garzone, 3 Nights In LA, 2019