Jimmy Van Heusen, music · Eddie DeLange, lyrics · Introduced in the Broadway musical Swingin' the Dream, 1939
Darn That Dream
Darn That Dream is a 1939 song by Jimmy Van Heusen and Eddie DeLange, introduced in Swingin' the Dream. Alec Wilder called its chromatic melody hard to find and said he had never heard a song like it. Benny Goodman and Mildred Bailey had a 1940 hit with it; Miles Davis and Dexter Gordon recorded it later.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Learn the song Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, vocal by Mildred Bailey✓
- 2 Hear it arranged for a band Miles Davis Nonet, vocal by Kenny Hagood✓
- 3 Hear two horns over bass and drums Gerry Mulligan Quartet✓
- 4 Hear a small group take it Kenny Dorham Quintet✓
- 5 Hear Bill Evans in a quintet Art Farmer Quintet✓
- 6 Hear a piano and guitar duo Bill Evans and Jim Hall✓
- 7 Hear a long ballad on tenor sax Dexter Gordon✓
- 8 Hear a modern piano trio live Bill Charlap Trio✓
How the tune works
A chorus runs 32 bars in AABA form. Each A starts in G with G6, B♭m7 and E♭7 in one bar, then Am7 and B7♭5, then Em7, D7 and Cm6, then Bm7♭5 and E7. The second half of the A goes Am7 and F7, Bm7 and B♭m7, then Am7 and D7. Bar 8 changes with the ending: the first A closes with a turnaround of Bm7, B♭7, Am7 and D7, the second leads to the bridge with G6, Fm7 and B♭7, and the last A ends on G6. The bridge (bars 17 to 24) drops straight into E♭ with E♭maj7 and Cm7, Fm7 and B♭7, then Gm7, F♯m7 and B7, and Fm7 and B♭7 again. E♭maj7 and Cm7 come back in bar 21 to close the E♭ stretch. Bar 22 turns toward G with Am7♭5, D7 and Gm, Am7 and D7 follow in bar 23, and B♭m7, E♭7, Am7 and D7 in bar 24 lead into the last A.
The 32-bar chorus in G, four bars to a line: A (bars 1–8), A (9–16), bridge (17–24) and the last A (25–32). Bar 8 changes with the ending.
Taken from a forum poster's transcription of the changes in The New Real Book (LearnJazzPiano, 2004), checked against a 2014 Amber Lane Studio blog post that compares four published charts and against a 2011 jazzguitar.be forum thread. Bars that carry three or four chords change every one or two beats, read left to right. Extensions are dropped: the transcription writes F9, Am9 and D13 where this chart has F7, Am7 and D7. Charts differ in bar 3 of the A (Em7, D7 and Cm6, or Em, Em/D, A7/C♯ and Cm6), in bar 6 of the A (B♭m7 or a B♭ diminished chord), in bar 3 of the bridge (E♭maj7 with C7♭9, Gm7 with C7♭9, or Gm7, F♯m7 and B7) and in bar 6 of the bridge (Gm, Gm/F and Em7♭5 in one published sheet, or Am7♭5, D7 and Gm here). The blog says the song is published in G. This chart is a forum transcription, not a scan of a printed sheet, so compare it with the one you play from and with the recording. Use the key buttons to move the chart to the key you play in.
Source: Darn that Dream scales, forum post with the New Real Book changes (LearnJazzPiano.com, 2004)
Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗The path starts with the Goodman and Bailey hit, then moves through a Miles Davis nonet, a Gerry Mulligan quartet of two horns, bass and drums, two trumpet quintets, a Bill Evans and Jim Hall duo, a long Dexter Gordon ballad and a live piano trio. Each step gives you one thing to hear and one thing to try.
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Step 1 · Learn the song Now playing
Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, vocal by Mildred Bailey 1939
Single: Darn That Dream
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Mildred Bailey sings with the orchestra behind her. Keep the chart open and follow the four sections: two A sections, the bridge, and a last A.
- Try this
- Play the first four bars of the chart using the first chord of each bar: G6, Am7, Em7, Bm7♭5. Smaller version: play only G6 and Am7.
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Step 2 · Hear it arranged for a band Now playing
Miles Davis Nonet, vocal by Kenny Hagood 1950
Single: Venus de Milo / Darn That Dream
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Kenny Hagood sings with a band of trumpet, trombone, French horn, tuba and two saxophones. Notice how the horns play together behind him, and compare that with the Goodman record.
- Try this
- Play the first two bars of the chart's E♭ bridge: E♭maj7 and Cm7 in the first bar, then Fm7 and B♭7. Smaller version: play E♭maj7, then Cm7, then Fm7, then B♭7, one chord at a time.
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Step 3 · Hear two horns over bass and drums Now playing
Gerry Mulligan Quartet (with Chet Baker) 1953
Gerry Mulligan Quartet
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- Listen for
- This quartet is Chet Baker's trumpet, Gerry Mulligan's baritone sax, bass and drums, with no chording instrument. Listen for what carries the chords.
- Try this
- Play the first chord of each bar of the first A as a bass line: G, A, E, B, A, B, A, B. Smaller version: play only the first four notes.
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Step 4 · Hear a small group take it Now playing
Kenny Dorham Quintet 1953
“Darn That Dream (take 1)”, Kenny Dorham Quintet
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Kenny Dorham leads a quintet with Jimmy Heath on saxophone and a piano, bass and drums rhythm section. Count how many times the 32 bars go around, with the chart in front of you.
- Try this
- Play bars 5 to 8 of the chart's first A twice. End the first time on the turnaround Bm7, B♭7, Am7, D7 and the second time on G6, Fm7, B♭7. Smaller version: play only the two endings of bar 8.
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Step 5 · Hear Bill Evans in a quintet Now playing
Art Farmer Quintet 1958
Modern Art
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- Listen for
- Art Farmer's quintet has Benny Golson on tenor sax, and Bill Evans plays the piano. Listen to what the piano does under the other players, then hear Evans again in the next step.
- Try this
- Play the way back to G in bars 21 to 24 of the chart, one chord per bar: E♭maj7, Am7♭5, Am7, B♭m7. Smaller version: play Am7, then D7, then G6.
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Step 6 · Hear a piano and guitar duo Now playing
Bill Evans and Jim Hall 1962
Undercurrent
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- Listen for
- The duo is piano and guitar alone. Follow the chart and notice which of the two players outlines the harmony at each moment.
- Try this
- Play bars 3 and 4 of the A section as a chord study: Em7, D7 and Cm6 in bar 3, then Bm7♭5 and E7 in bar 4. Smaller version: play Em7, then Bm7♭5, then E7.
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Step 7 · Hear a long ballad on tenor sax Now playing
Dexter Gordon 1964
One Flight Up
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Dexter Gordon plays tenor sax with piano, bass and drums. JazzStandards.com calls this one of his most lyrical ballad performances, and at over seven minutes it gives you many choruses to follow on the chart.
- Try this
- Play along with only the first chord of each bar of the chart for one chorus. Smaller version: play along for the first A, eight bars, and stop.
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Step 8 · Hear a modern piano trio live Now playing
Bill Charlap Trio 2023
And Then Again
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- This is a live set by piano, bass and drums. Follow the chart and listen for how the three players hold the 32-bar form together from chorus to chorus.
- Try this
- Play the half-step move in bar 6 of the A section: Bm7 to B♭m7, then Am7 in bar 7. Smaller version: play Bm7, then B♭m7 only.
More great versions
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Dinah Washington with the Clifford Brown All Stars 1954
Dinah Jams
Dinah Washington sings it in a live set in Los Angeles in August 1954 with the Clifford Brown All Stars credited.
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Dexter Gordon Quartet 1955
Daddy Plays the Horn
Dexter Gordon recorded this shorter quartet version in Los Angeles in 1955, nine years before the long One Flight Up take.
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Thelonious Monk Trio 1956
The Unique Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk plays it with Oscar Pettiford on bass and Art Blakey on drums, on The Unique Thelonious Monk, recorded in March and April 1956.
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Jimmy Greene 1999
Brand New World
Saxophonist Jimmy Greene plays it with a trumpet, a trombone and a piano among the credited players on his 1999 album Brand New World.
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Fred Hersch and Sara Gazarek 2020
“Dreams / Darn That Dream”, Dreams / Darn That Dream
Fred Hersch and Sara Gazarek released this medley of Dreams and Darn That Dream as a Palmetto single in March 2020.