Origin:

Introduced in the Operetta The New Moon.

Style:

Almost always swung, it is taken at a wide variety of tempos.

Form:

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

Key:

Most commonly played in C minor.

Harmony/Overview:

The harmony of this composition is very functional, and along with the melody remains almost entirely diatonic. The tune has an almost modal-like quality with the entirety of the A sections taking place in the  relative minor, using a variety of turnaround to generate movement. The bridge modulates to the relative Major and inches upward with  passing diminished chords before another IImi7b5 - V7 resolves back to the relative minor for the final A section.

Recordings:

This song has been recorded over 400 times. It was first introduced in the 1928 Operetta The New Moon,  and the first recording would come from Nat Shilkret the same year. Artie Shaw was one of the first band leaders to see the potential of this tune in a jazz context, and soon enough it began to gain traction  as a popular vehicle for improvisation among other leading musicians of the day. It remains a widely popular standard in the repertoire that continues to be performed frequently.

JGC Top Picks:

John Coltrane, Coltrane "Live" at the Village Vanguard, 1961

Larry Young, Unity, 1965

John Scofield, John Scofield Live, 1977