Broadway, 1920s to now

Broadway through the years

These are songs first written for stage musicals and revues, mostly on Broadway with a few from London and Berlin, followed through the decades as jazz players take them up. The oldest date from 1924, in musicals such as Lady, Be Good! and No, No, Nanette, and the newest from The Sound of Music in 1959. Dance bands, singers and players carry the songs out of the theater, and later players keep coming back to them. Each decade below tells part of that story through records of the songs listed after it, and every song has its own page for listening.

Through the years

1920s
The songs start on stage. The Gershwins write Oh, Lady Be Good! for the musical Lady, Be Good! in 1924, Gertrude Lawrence introduces Someone to Watch Over Me in Oh, Kay! and records it weeks later, and Weill and Brecht add Mack the Knife to The Threepenny Opera in Berlin in 1928. Fats Waller writes Ain't Misbehavin' for the revue Connie's Hot Chocolates, and Louis Armstrong plays it in the show and records it in 1929.
Gertrude Lawrence Someone to Watch Over Me · 1926 Frank Crumit 'S Wonderful · 1927 Harald Paulsen with the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm Ensemble Mack the Knife · 1928 Fats Waller Ain't Misbehavin' · 1929 Louis Armstrong Ain't Misbehavin' · 1929 Ruth Etting More Than You Know · 1929
1930s
Swing bands and singers take songs straight from the shows. Ethel Merman, who sang I Get a Kick Out of You in Anything Goes, records it in 1934, and Ethel Waters and Duke Ellington's orchestra record Stormy Weather from the Cotton Club Parade. Benny Goodman's band records songs from Too Many Girls and Swingin' the Dream, and Billie Holiday sings Summertime like a blues within a year of Porgy and Bess.
Ruth Etting Exactly Like You · 1930 Louis Armstrong Exactly Like You · 1930 Red Nichols I Got Rhythm · 1930 Louis Armstrong & His Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra Memories of You · 1930 James P. Johnson What Is This Thing Called Love · 1930 Fred Astaire with Leo Reisman Night and Day · 1932 Ethel Waters with orchestra Don't Blame Me · 1933 Paul Whiteman Smoke Gets in Your Eyes · 1933
31 more
Ethel Waters Stormy Weather · 1933 Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra Stormy Weather · 1933 Art Tatum Tea for Two · 1933 Richard Himber and His Orchestra, vocal by Joey Nash Autumn in New York · 1934 Fats Waller and His Rhythm Honeysuckle Rose · 1934 Ethel Merman with Johnny Green I Get a Kick Out of You · 1934 Benny Goodman Blue Skies · 1935 Stéphane Grappelly and His Hot Four I Got Rhythm · 1935 Benny Goodman Sometimes I'm Happy · 1935 Billie Holiday with Teddy Wilson Easy to Love · 1936 Benny Goodman Trio Exactly Like You · 1936 Benny Goodman Trio More Than You Know · 1936 Jones-Smith Incorporated Oh, Lady Be Good! · 1936 Billie Holiday Summertime · 1936 Quintette du Hot Club de France Ain't Misbehavin' · 1937 Count Basie Exactly Like You · 1937 Quintette du Hot Club de France Exactly Like You · 1937 Count Basie Honeysuckle Rose · 1937 Bunny Berigan I Can't Get Started · 1937 Fats Waller Tea for Two · 1937 Billie Holiday I Can't Get Started · 1938 Slim & Slam Oh, Lady Be Good! · 1938 Walter Huston September Song · 1938 Benny Goodman This Can't Be Love · 1938 Artie Shaw Alone Together · 1939 Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, vocal by Mildred Bailey Darn That Dream · 1939 Benny Goodman I Didn't Know What Time It Was · 1939 Count Basie's Kansas City Seven I Got Rhythm · 1939 Artie Shaw Lover, Come Back to Me · 1939 Benny Goodman Sextet Memories of You · 1939 Sidney Bechet Quintet Summertime · 1939
1940s
Bebop players take up show songs and write new tunes over them. Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker record All the Things You Are, and Parker's septet records Ornithology over How High the Moon in 1946. Thelonious Monk records April in Paris in 1947, and George Shearing's trio records Have You Met Miss Jones. Singers stay close to the stage: Margaret Whiting records Come Rain or Come Shine six weeks before St. Louis Woman opens.
Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, vocal by Frank Sinatra East of the Sun (and West of the Moon) · 1940 Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, vocal by Helen Forrest How High the Moon · 1940 Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, vocal by Ivie Anderson I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good) · 1941 Lena Horne Stormy Weather · 1941 Lester Young Quartet Sometimes I'm Happy · 1943 Mary Martin and Kenny Baker, Maurice Abravanel conducting Speak Low · 1943 The King Cole Trio Don't Blame Me · 1944 Billie Holiday and Eddie Heywood Embraceable You · 1944
31 more
Art Tatum Trio Honeysuckle Rose · 1944 Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter I Love You · 1944 Billie Holiday and the Eddie Heywood Trio Lover, Come Back to Me · 1944 Billie Holiday and the Eddie Heywood Trio On the Sunny Side of the Street · 1944 Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra with the Sentimentalists On the Sunny Side of the Street · 1944 Dizzy Gillespie Sextet with Charlie Parker All the Things You Are · 1945 Don Byas Quintet How High the Moon · 1945 Dizzy Gillespie Sextet I Can't Get Started · 1945 Don Byas and Slam Stewart I Got Rhythm · 1945 Don Byas Quartet Smoke Gets in Your Eyes · 1945 Frank Sinatra with Axel Stordahl Someone to Watch Over Me · 1945 Billie Holiday What Is This Thing Called Love · 1945 Dizzy Gillespie What Is This Thing Called Love · 1945 Margaret Whiting Come Rain or Come Shine · 1946 Charlie Parker Septet How High the Moon · 1946 The Nat "King" Cole Trio I Got Rhythm · 1946 Charlie Parker with Jazz at the Philharmonic Oh, Lady Be Good! · 1946 Django Reinhardt with Hubert Rostaing On the Sunny Side of the Street · 1946 Charlie Parker Quintet All the Things You Are · 1947 Thelonious Monk Trio April in Paris · 1947 Charlie Parker Don't Blame Me · 1947 Lester Young East of the Sun (and West of the Moon) · 1947 Charlie Parker Quintet Embraceable You · 1947 George Shearing Have You Met Miss Jones · 1947 Ella Fitzgerald with Bob Haggart Oh, Lady Be Good! · 1947 Charlie Parker with Jimmy Carroll's orchestra April in Paris · 1949 Charlie Parker with Strings I Didn't Know What Time It Was · 1949 Erroll Garner Trio On the Sunny Side of the Street · 1949 Erroll Garner September Song · 1949 Charlie Parker with Strings Summertime · 1949 The Dave Brubeck Trio Tea for Two · 1949
1950s
Show songs become everyday material for jazz players. Ella Fitzgerald records Song Book albums of Cole Porter and of Rodgers and Hart in 1956 and of Gershwin in 1959, and Charlie Parker plays Easy to Love with strings. Marc Blitzstein's English words for Mack the Knife, written for a 1954 New York production, are the basis for Louis Armstrong's 1955 record and Bobby Darin's of 1958. The Sound of Music opens in November 1959.
Sarah Vaughan Ain't Misbehavin' · 1950 Bud Powell Trio April in Paris · 1950 Ella Fitzgerald with Ellis Larkins at the Piano But Not for Me · 1950 Miles Davis Nonet, vocal by Kenny Hagood Darn That Dream · 1950 Sarah Vaughan with George Treadwell East of the Sun (and West of the Moon) · 1950 Charlie Parker with Strings East of the Sun (and West of the Moon) · 1950 Charlie Parker with Joe Lippman's orchestra Easy to Love · 1950 Oscar Peterson and Ray Brown Easy to Love · 1950
192 more
Red Norvo Trio Have You Met Miss Jones · 1950 Bud Powell Trio Sometimes I'm Happy · 1950 Bud Powell Trio Tea for Two · 1950 Bud Powell Yesterdays · 1950 Zoot Sims Quartet East of the Sun (and West of the Moon) · 1951 Les Paul and Mary Ford How High the Moon · 1951 Bud Powell Just One of Those Things · 1951 Oscar Peterson Trio Love for Sale · 1951 Lee Konitz Sextet featuring Miles Davis Yesterdays · 1951 Dizzy Gillespie Quintet Ain't Misbehavin' · 1952 Billie Holiday Autumn in New York · 1952 Charlie Parker with Joe Lippman's Orchestra Autumn in New York · 1952 Dizzy Gillespie Quintet Blue Skies · 1952 Oscar Peterson Trio Blue Skies · 1952 Billie Holiday East of the Sun (and West of the Moon) · 1952 Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio I Can't Get Started · 1952 Oscar Peterson Trio I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good) · 1952 Oscar Peterson Trio I Love You · 1952 Oscar Peterson Quartet Just One of Those Things · 1952 The Dave Brubeck Quartet Just One of Those Things · 1952 Oscar Peterson Trio Oh, Lady Be Good! · 1952 Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio On the Sunny Side of the Street · 1952 Fred Astaire 'S Wonderful · 1952 Sidney Bechet with Claude Luter et son orchestre September Song · 1952 Johnny Smith Quintet featuring Stan Getz Sometimes I'm Happy · 1952 Billie Holiday Stormy Weather · 1952 Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio Tea for Two · 1952 Billie Holiday These Foolish Things · 1952 Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio These Foolish Things · 1952 Art Pepper Quartet These Foolish Things · 1952 Billie Holiday Yesterdays · 1952 Gerry Mulligan Quartet Darn That Dream · 1953 Kenny Dorham Quintet Darn That Dream · 1953 Chet Baker Quartet Easy to Love · 1953 Dizzy Gillespie / Stan Getz Sextet Exactly Like You · 1953 Art Tatum Have You Met Miss Jones · 1953 Stan Getz Quintet Have You Met Miss Jones · 1953 Gerry Mulligan Quartet I Can't Get Started · 1953 Frank Sinatra I Get a Kick Out of You · 1953 Frank Sinatra Little Girl Blue · 1953 Kenny Drew Trio Lover, Come Back to Me · 1953 Frank Sinatra My Funny Valentine · 1953 Gerry Mulligan Quartet My Funny Valentine · 1953 Dizzy Gillespie Sextet 'S Wonderful · 1953 Oscar Peterson Trio Smoke Gets in Your Eyes · 1953 Dizzy Gillespie and His Operatic Strings Stormy Weather · 1953 Lee Konitz with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet These Foolish Things · 1953 Oscar Peterson Trio This Can't Be Love · 1953 Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown April in Paris · 1954 Chet Baker Quartet But Not for Me · 1954 Miles Davis But Not for Me · 1954 The Oscar Peterson Trio Don't Blame Me · 1954 Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown Sextet Embraceable You · 1954 Charlie Parker Quintet I Get a Kick Out of You · 1954 Clifford Brown - Max Roach Quintet I Get a Kick Out of You · 1954 Frank Sinatra Just One of Those Things · 1954 Charlie Parker Love for Sale · 1954 Dinah Washington with Clifford Brown and Max Roach Lover, Come Back to Me · 1954 Sonny Rollins More Than You Know · 1954 Chet Baker My Funny Valentine · 1954 Art Tatum, Benny Carter and Louis Bellson 'S Wonderful · 1954 Helen Merrill with Clifford Brown 'S Wonderful · 1954 Thelonious Monk Quintet Smoke Gets in Your Eyes · 1954 June Christy Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise · 1954 The Dave Brubeck Quartet Sometimes I'm Happy · 1954 Dizzy Gillespie and Roy Eldridge Sometimes I'm Happy · 1954 Anita O'Day The Man I Love · 1954 Miles Davis All Stars The Man I Love · 1954 Clifford Brown & Max Roach Quintet These Foolish Things · 1954 The Lionel Hampton Quartet This Can't Be Love · 1954 Count Basie April in Paris · 1955 Erroll Garner Trio April in Paris · 1955 Stan Getz East of the Sun (and West of the Moon) · 1955 Louis Armstrong Honeysuckle Rose · 1955 Anita O'Day Honeysuckle Rose · 1955 Bud Powell Trio How High the Moon · 1955 Thelonious Monk Trio I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good) · 1955 The Hampton Hawes Trio I Got Rhythm · 1955 The Dave Brubeck Quartet Little Girl Blue · 1955 Wes Montgomery Love for Sale · 1955 Louis Armstrong Mack the Knife · 1955 Clifford Brown with Strings Memories of You · 1955 Dinah Washington More Than You Know · 1955 Clifford Brown with Strings Smoke Gets in Your Eyes · 1955 The Modern Jazz Quartet Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise · 1955 Chet Baker Someone to Watch Over Me · 1955 Carmen McRae Sometimes I'm Happy · 1955 Tal Farlow Tea for Two · 1955 Hampton Hawes Trio These Foolish Things · 1955 Chet Baker Quartet These Foolish Things · 1955 Art Tatum, Lionel Hampton and Buddy Rich What Is This Thing Called Love · 1955 Clifford Brown with Strings Yesterdays · 1955 Art Tatum and Ben Webster All the Things You Are · 1956 Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong April in Paris · 1956 Zoot Sims with Bob Brookmeyer Blue Skies · 1956 Kenny Burrell But Not for Me · 1956 Ella Fitzgerald with Buddy Bregman Easy to Love · 1956 Ella Fitzgerald Have You Met Miss Jones · 1956 Chet Baker and Crew I Can't Get Started · 1956 Lester Young and the Jazz Giants I Didn't Know What Time It Was · 1956 The Bud Powell Trio I Didn't Know What Time It Was · 1956 Ella Fitzgerald I Get a Kick Out of You · 1956 Bill Evans I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good) · 1956 Bill Evans Trio I Love You · 1956 Ella Fitzgerald Just One of Those Things · 1956 Sonny Criss Quintet Just One of Those Things · 1956 The Red Garland Trio Little Girl Blue · 1956 Ella Fitzgerald Little Girl Blue · 1956 Ella Fitzgerald Love for Sale · 1956 Sonny Criss Love for Sale · 1956 Sonny Rollins Quartet Mack the Knife · 1956 Thelonious Monk Memories of You · 1956 Sonny Criss Quintet More Than You Know · 1956 Ella Fitzgerald My Romance · 1956 The Red Garland Trio My Romance · 1956 Frank Sinatra with Nelson Riddle Night and Day · 1956 Ella Fitzgerald with Buddy Bregman Night and Day · 1956 Art Tatum – Ben Webster Quartet Night and Day · 1956 Sarah Vaughan with Hal Mooney September Song · 1956 Billie Holiday Speak Low · 1956 Bill Evans Trio Speak Low · 1956 Roland Kirk Quartet Stormy Weather · 1956 Sonny Criss Quartet The Man I Love · 1956 Ella Fitzgerald with Buddy Bregman This Can't Be Love · 1956 Clifford Brown and Max Roach Quintet What Is This Thing Called Love · 1956 Steve Lacy Alone Together · 1957 Thelonious Monk April in Paris · 1957 Frank Sinatra, arranged and conducted by Billy May Autumn in New York · 1957 The Red Garland Trio But Not for Me · 1957 Bud Powell Don't Blame Me · 1957 Sarah Vaughan Honeysuckle Rose · 1957 Sonny Rollins Trio I Can't Get Started · 1957 Billie Holiday I Didn't Know What Time It Was · 1957 Sonny Clark Trio I Didn't Know What Time It Was · 1957 Louis Armstrong with Oscar Peterson I Get a Kick Out of You · 1957 John Coltrane Trio I Love You · 1957 Nina Simone Little Girl Blue · 1957 Charles Mingus Sextet Memories of You · 1957 Ella Fitzgerald More Than You Know · 1957 Stan Getz and J.J. Johnson My Funny Valentine · 1957 Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins and Sonny Stitt On the Sunny Side of the Street · 1957 Sarah Vaughan with the Count Basie Orchestra Smoke Gets in Your Eyes · 1957 Sonny Rollins Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise · 1957 Sonny Clark Trio Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise · 1957 Sonny Clark Sextet Speak Low · 1957 Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald Summertime · 1957 Sarah Vaughan The Man I Love · 1957 Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan This Can't Be Love · 1957 Zoot Sims-Bob Brookmeyer Octet Ain't Misbehavin' · 1958 Chet Baker Alone Together · 1958 Sonny Rollins Alone Together · 1958 Stan Getz and Chet Baker Autumn in New York · 1958 The Ahmad Jamal Trio Autumn in New York · 1958 Ella Fitzgerald Blue Skies · 1958 Ahmad Jamal Trio But Not for Me · 1958 Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers Come Rain or Come Shine · 1958 Art Farmer Quintet Darn That Dream · 1958 The Red Garland Trio plus Ray Barretto on conga Exactly Like You · 1958 Chet Baker Sextet How High the Moon · 1958 Cannonball Adderley Sextet with Bill Russo Orchestra I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good) · 1958 Art Farmer Quintet I Love You · 1958 Hampton Hawes Quartet I Love You · 1958 Cannonball Adderley Quintet with Milt Jackson Just One of Those Things · 1958 Cannonball Adderley Love for Sale · 1958 John Coltrane Lover, Come Back to Me · 1958 Bobby Darin Mack the Knife · 1958 Bill Evans Trio Night and Day · 1958 The Red Garland Trio plus Ray Barretto 'S Wonderful · 1958 Jimmy Smith Sometimes I'm Happy · 1958 Hank Mobley Quintet Speak Low · 1958 The Red Garland Trio Stormy Weather · 1958 Miles Davis with Gil Evans Summertime · 1958 Blossom Dearie Tea for Two · 1958 Ahmad Jamal Trio This Can't Be Love · 1958 The Red Garland Trio This Can't Be Love · 1958 George Russell Autumn in New York · 1959 Ray Charles Come Rain or Come Shine · 1959 Bill Evans Trio Come Rain or Come Shine · 1959 Frank Sinatra Here's That Rainy Day · 1959 Anita O'Day with Billy May I Get a Kick Out of You · 1959 Ella Fitzgerald with Nelson Riddle's Orchestra I Got Rhythm · 1959 Anita O'Day with Billy May I Love You · 1959 Al Cohn and Zoot Sims Lover, Come Back to Me · 1959 Mary Martin and Patricia Neway My Favorite Things · 1959 Kenny Burrell with Art Blakey Oh, Lady Be Good! · 1959 Ella Fitzgerald with Nelson Riddle's Orchestra 'S Wonderful · 1959 Wynton Kelly Trio Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise · 1959 Ella Fitzgerald The Man I Love · 1959 Bob Brookmeyer and Bill Evans The Man I Love · 1959 Ben Webster with the Oscar Peterson Trio This Can't Be Love · 1959 Bill Evans Trio What Is This Thing Called Love · 1959 The Wes Montgomery Trio Yesterdays · 1959
1960s
Coltrane's 1960 soprano saxophone recording of My Favorite Things, from The Sound of Music, makes the show tune a jazz standard, and his groups stretch it to about twenty minutes by 1966. Miles Davis's quintet takes My Funny Valentine to fifteen minutes live in 1964, and Bill Evans plays Autumn in New York alone. Ornette Coleman records Embraceable You in 1960, and Janis Joplin's band sings Summertime in 1968.
Tony Bennett Alone Together · 1960 John Coltrane Quartet But Not for Me · 1960 The Barry Harris Trio Don't Blame Me · 1960 Ornette Coleman Quartet Embraceable You · 1960 Ella Fitzgerald with the Paul Smith Quartet How High the Moon · 1960 Jimmy Smith Trio Mack the Knife · 1960 Ella Fitzgerald Mack the Knife · 1960 John Coltrane My Favorite Things · 1960
66 more
Gene Ammons My Romance · 1960 Ella Fitzgerald September Song · 1960 Charles Mingus Quartet Stormy Weather · 1960 John Coltrane Summertime · 1960 Red Garland These Foolish Things · 1960 Frank Sinatra Come Rain or Come Shine · 1961 Wynton Kelly Trio Come Rain or Come Shine · 1961 Red Garland Trio I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good) · 1961 Coleman Hawkins More Than You Know · 1961 Stanley Turrentine More Than You Know · 1961 Bill Evans Trio My Romance · 1961 John Coltrane Quartet Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise · 1961 Gene Ammons Someone to Watch Over Me · 1961 Paul Desmond and Gerry Mulligan All the Things You Are · 1962 Wes Montgomery Quintet Come Rain or Come Shine · 1962 Bill Evans and Jim Hall Darn That Dream · 1962 Bill Evans Easy to Love · 1962 McCoy Tyner Trio Have You Met Miss Jones · 1962 The Oscar Peterson Trio with the Ernie Wilkins Big Band Here's That Rainy Day · 1962 Dexter Gordon Love for Sale · 1962 Bill Evans and Jim Hall My Funny Valentine · 1962 Ben Webster and Harry "Sweets" Edison My Romance · 1962 McCoy Tyner Trio Speak Low · 1962 Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie Ain't Misbehavin' · 1963 Ella Fitzgerald All the Things You Are · 1963 Sonny Rollins and Coleman Hawkins All the Things You Are · 1963 Bill Evans Autumn in New York · 1963 Thelonious Monk Don't Blame Me · 1963 Cannonball Adderley Sextet Easy to Love · 1963 Ella Fitzgerald & Count Basie Honeysuckle Rose · 1963 Bud Powell Trio I Can't Get Started · 1963 Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers I Didn't Know What Time It Was · 1963 John Coltrane Quartet My Favorite Things · 1963 Wes Montgomery My Romance · 1963 Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie On the Sunny Side of the Street · 1963 Thelonious Monk Tea for Two · 1963 Sonny Rollins and Coleman Hawkins Yesterdays · 1963 Bill Evans Trio Alone Together · 1964 Hampton Hawes Trio Blue Skies · 1964 Dexter Gordon Darn That Dream · 1964 The Oscar Peterson Trio Have You Met Miss Jones · 1964 Oscar Peterson Trio with Clark Terry Mack the Knife · 1964 Grant Green My Favorite Things · 1964 Miles Davis Quintet My Funny Valentine · 1964 Joe Henderson Night and Day · 1964 Ben Webster Someone to Watch Over Me · 1964 Wes Montgomery with the Don Sebesky Orchestra Here's That Rainy Day · 1965 Paul Desmond – Jim Hall Quartet Here's That Rainy Day · 1965 The Dave Brubeck Quartet My Favorite Things · 1965 Earl Hines On the Sunny Side of the Street · 1965 Frank Sinatra September Song · 1965 Grant Green Quartet Speak Low · 1965 The Dave Brubeck Quartet I Get a Kick Out of You · 1966 John Coltrane My Favorite Things · 1966 Zoot Sims with Gary McFarland Orchestra September Song · 1966 Elvin Jones & Richard Davis Here's That Rainy Day · 1967 Bill Evans Yesterdays · 1967 Bill Evans Trio Embraceable You · 1968 Bill Evans Here's That Rainy Day · 1968 McCoy Tyner Quartet I Didn't Know What Time It Was · 1968 Jaki Byard Quartet Memories of You · 1968 Oscar Peterson Someone to Watch Over Me · 1968 Big Brother & The Holding Company, Janis Joplin Summertime · 1968 Oscar Peterson Quartet Exactly Like You · 1969 Janis Joplin Little Girl Blue · 1969 James Brown with the Louie Bellson Orchestra September Song · 1969
1970s
Small groups and solo players take over. Joe Pass plays Night and Day, Have You Met Miss Jones and Here's That Rainy Day alone on guitar in 1973, and Jim Hall and Ron Carter play Alone Together as a guitar and bass duo. McCoy Tyner plays My Favorite Things alone in Tokyo in 1972, and Zoot Sims makes an all-Gershwin album in 1975. Bryan Ferry names his first solo album after These Foolish Things, a song from a 1936 London revue.
Paul Desmond and the Modern Jazz Quartet East of the Sun (and West of the Moon) · 1971 Jim Hall and Ron Carter Alone Together · 1972 McCoy Tyner My Favorite Things · 1972 Jim Hall & Ron Carter Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise · 1972 Joe Pass Have You Met Miss Jones · 1973 Joe Pass Here's That Rainy Day · 1973 Joe Pass Night and Day · 1973 Zoot Sims, Bucky Pizzarelli, Milt Hinton and Buddy Rich Honeysuckle Rose · 1974
11 more
Kenny Burrell I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good) · 1974 Zoot Sims Embraceable You · 1975 Zoot Sims with Oscar Peterson, Joe Pass, George Mraz and Grady Tate I Got Rhythm · 1975 Stan Getz featuring João Gilberto Just One of Those Things · 1975 Zoot Sims Oh, Lady Be Good! · 1975 Zoot Sims Someone to Watch Over Me · 1975 Zoot Sims and the Gershwin Brothers The Man I Love · 1975 Zoot Sims with Bill Holman Orchestra I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good) · 1976 The Phineas Newborn Trio The Man I Love · 1976 Willie Nelson Blue Skies · 1977 Art Pepper Lover, Come Back to Me · 1978
1980s
A revival of interest in standards, led by trios like Keith Jarrett's, brings the songs back to center stage. His trio opens Still Live with My Funny Valentine from Munich in 1986 and plays Little Girl Blue in Oslo and Smoke Gets in Your Eyes in Cologne in 1989. Chet Baker plays Here's That Rainy Day in Copenhagen in 1986, and Frank Sinatra records Mack the Knife for the first time on his 1984 album L.A. Is My Lady, with Quincy Jones.
Tommy Flanagan Trio I Love You · 1980 Joe Pass Embraceable You · 1981 Jimmy Raney Quartet featuring Doug Raney What Is This Thing Called Love · 1981 Stan Getz Quartet Blue Skies · 1982 Joe Henderson All the Things You Are · 1985 Chet Baker & Paul Bley Little Girl Blue · 1985 Chet Baker Quartet Here's That Rainy Day · 1986 Frank Sinatra Mack the Knife · 1986
6 more
Keith Jarrett Trio My Funny Valentine · 1986 Pharoah Sanders Quartet Speak Low · 1987 McCoy Tyner Don't Blame Me · 1988 Shirley Horn Memories of You · 1988 Keith Jarrett Trio Little Girl Blue · 1989 Keith Jarrett Trio Smoke Gets in Your Eyes · 1989
1990s
Younger players treat the songs as material to bend. Brad Mehldau's trio reworks All the Things You Are in 1999, and Lee Konitz, Mehldau and Charlie Haden play Alone Together live for close to 14 minutes in 1996. Sonny Rollins plays Someone to Watch Over Me with electric guitar and bass in 1991. Joni Mitchell records Stormy Weather with an orchestra in 1999, and sings The Man I Love on Herbie Hancock's 1998 Gershwin album.
Sonny Rollins Someone to Watch Over Me · 1991 Archie Shepp Quartet Smoke Gets in Your Eyes · 1992 Wallace Roney Love for Sale · 1993 Tommy Flanagan Trio Oh, Lady Be Good! · 1993 Johnny Griffin My Romance · 1994 Keith Jarrett Trio My Romance · 1994 Lee Konitz, Brad Mehldau and Charlie Haden Alone Together · 1996 The Ray Brown Trio But Not for Me · 1996
2 more
Brad Mehldau Trio All the Things You Are · 1999 Keith Jarrett Trio What Is This Thing Called Love · 1999
2000s
Several pianists play alone. McCoy Tyner plays Ain't Misbehavin' alone in 2000, the same setting as Fats Waller's own record from 1929, and Brad Mehldau plays My Favorite Things alone in 2006. Keith Jarrett's trio records Yesterdays in Tokyo in 2001. Singers return too: Patricia Barber sings Easy to Love, Cassandra Wilson sings Lover, Come Back to Me, and Dianne Reeves sings How High the Moon for the film Good Night, and Good Luck.
McCoy Tyner Ain't Misbehavin' · 2000 Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette Yesterdays · 2001 McCoy Tyner Come Rain or Come Shine · 2003 Greg Osby Summertime · 2003 Brad Mehldau My Favorite Things · 2006 Patricia Barber Easy to Love · 2007 Cassandra Wilson Lover, Come Back to Me · 2007 Kenny Barron Memories of You · 2007
2010s
The songs keep coming. Jeff Beck plays How High the Moon at the Iridium in New York in 2010 as a tribute to Les Paul, with Imelda May singing, and Vincent Herring names an album after Night and Day. Cécile McLorin Salvant sings I Didn't Know What Time It Was on WomanChild, Bill Frisell plays Tea for Two with viola and drums and no bass, and Diana Krall puts But Not for Me on her 2018 album with Tony Bennett.
Jeff Beck with Imelda May How High the Moon · 2010 Vincent Herring Night and Day · 2014
2020s
Pianists lead the new records. Fred Hersch, Drew Gress and Joey Baron record Embraceable You in Lugano in 2024, Emmet Cohen plays My Funny Valentine in 2025 with Ron Carter and George Coleman, and Dee Dee Bridgewater and Bill Charlap record 'S Wonderful as a voice and piano duo. The Bill Charlap Trio plays Darn That Dream live at the Village Vanguard in 2023, and Tigran Hamasyan plays Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise.
Tigran Hamasyan Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise · 2021 Bill Charlap Trio Darn That Dream · 2023 Fred Hersch, Drew Gress and Joey Baron Embraceable You · 2024 Emmet Cohen with Ron Carter and George Coleman My Funny Valentine · 2025 Dee Dee Bridgewater and Bill Charlap 'S Wonderful · 2025

Through the years

The tunes