Style:

Swing, often played at very fast tempos.

Form:

A-A-B-A (64 Bars) [16-16-16-16]

Key:

F Major

Harmony/Overview:

The harmony of this composition is functional. The A sections begin in the relative minor before arriving at I7 in the 5th bar. The common  progression of bVmi7b5 - IVmi is then used to set up a III - VI - II - V which then arrives at the tonic. The bridge begins in Eb Major cycles  through a I - VI - II - V before changing keys once again to C Major. The melody which revolves primarily around quarter notes and half notes  makes this piece well suited to up tempo treatments.

Recordings:

This  song has been recorded over 520 times to date. June Knight and Charles Walters first introduced it in Cole Porter's Broadway Musical Jubilee in  1935, and Richard Himber and his Ritz-Carlton Orchestra would be the  first to record the piece in the studio that same year. One of Porter's most cherished compositions, it has found favor among vocalists and  instrumentalists alike with recordings being made by the likes of  Coleman Hawkins, Django Reinhardt, and Sidney Bechet, as well as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Tony Bennet. It continues to be performed  frequently to this day, and is an especially popular jam session number which is prone to be taken at blistering speeds.

JGC Top Picks:

Bud Powell, New York, February 1951

Alexander Claffy, Standards: What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?, 2018

Pasquale Grasso, Solo Standards, Vol. 1, 2019