Jimmy Van Heusen, music · Johnny Burke, lyrics · Introduced by Dolores Gray in Carnival in Flanders
Here's That Rainy Day
A slow, wistful ballad from a 1953 Broadway show that closed after six performances. The opening eight start in a minor, shadowed mood and brighten into major by the last . You hear it from Frank Sinatra, Wes Montgomery, Bill Evans and many more.
Listen in this order
Eight versions from 1959 to 1986. The path starts with Frank Sinatra singing the words, then hears the tune played by a big band, a guitar with strings, a saxophone, a drummer's quartet, a solo piano, a solo guitar and a trumpet.
Frank Sinatra recorded it on March 25, 1959, at Capitol Studio A in Hollywood for the album No One Cares, with Gordon Jenkins arranging and conducting. According to Wikipedia, critic Ted Gioia writes that jazz players barely knew the song in the 1950s until Sinatra recorded it.
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Listen for
A singer tells the story with an orchestra behind him, arranged and conducted by Gordon Jenkins. Follow the voice first, since every later version on this page plays what he sings.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first eight (, , , , , , , ) slowly, one or two to the bar, and hum the melody over them. If you can sing, sing along with the record.
The Oscar Peterson Trio with the Ernie Wilkins Big Band · 1962 · Big band
Bursting Out with the All-Star Big Band!
The Oscar Peterson Trio recorded it in New York on June 24, 1962, with a big band under Ernie Wilkins, for the album Bursting Out with the All-Star Big Band!
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Listen for
The piano trio of Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen plays the tune with a full big band of trumpets, trombones and saxophones around it. Listen for the moments when the band takes over from the piano.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody on your instrument at a pace you can keep steady, then hold one for each of the (, , , ). A smaller version: play the melody alone first, then add only the first chord of each bar.
Wes Montgomery with the Don Sebesky Orchestra · 1965 · Cool jazz
Bumpin'
Wes Montgomery recorded it at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on March 16, 1965, with an orchestra arranged and conducted by Don Sebesky, for the album Bumpin'.
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Listen for
Montgomery's guitar plays the tune with violins, violas, cellos and a harp behind him, and bongo and conga drums add a light rhythm under the band.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody on one instrument and add the of the underneath (, , , , , , , Am7 D7). A smaller version: play only the melody of the B section on its own.
Paul Desmond recorded it with the Jim Hall quartet in New York on June 1, 1965, for the RCA Victor album Easy Living. Two earlier tries in September 1964 were rejected and not issued.
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Listen for
Paul Desmond's alto saxophone carries the tune and Jim Hall's guitar answers it, with bass and drums keeping time underneath.
Try it on your instrument
If you play a melody instrument, learn the first eight of the tune and play them over the on a backing track or a chord app. A smaller version: play only the first four bars, then rest while someone else plays , , and .
Drummer Elvin Jones and bassist Richard Davis recorded it at RCA Studios in New York on June 20, 1967, with Frank Foster on tenor saxophone and Billy Greene on piano, for the Impulse! album Heavy Sounds.
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Listen for
At seven minutes this is the longest track on the path so far. A tenor saxophone, a piano, a bass and drums share it, and the drums and bass are the names on the album cover.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody once, then play the (, , , , , , , ) again and again, adding your own notes. Improvising over the chords needs practice. A smaller version: play the melody, then play it again with a few notes changed.
Bill Evans played it alone at the piano for the album Alone, recorded at Webster Hall in New York over six days in the autumn of 1968. Verve released the album in April 1970.
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Listen for
One piano and no other players, so the tune and its come from the same pair of hands.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody with your right hand and one per with your left, using the chords (, , , ). A smaller version: play the melody alone, then add only the lowest note of each chord.
Joe Pass recorded it on August 28, 1973, at MGM Recording Studios in Los Angeles, for the album Virtuoso, produced by Norman Granz for Pablo.
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Listen for
One guitar plays the melody and the together, with no band, and the track runs under four minutes.
Try it on your instrument
On guitar, play the melody with the shapes of the underneath (, , , , Am7, D7, Em7, Am7 D7). A smaller version: play each chord once per and hum the tune over it.
Chet Baker recorded it with Butch Lacy, Jesper Lundgaard and Jukkis Uotila at Sound Track Studio in Copenhagen on February 23, 1986. SteepleChase issued it on the album When Sunny Gets Blue.
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Listen for
Baker's trumpet leads a quartet of piano, bass and drums, and the track runs just over seven minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody on any instrument and breathe at the end of every two . Then add the of the final underneath (, , , , Am7, D7, Em7, Am7 D7). A smaller version: play only the last four bars.
The song is written for Carnival in Flanders, a Broadway show that closes after six performances, and Dolores Gray introduces it in 1953. In 1959 Frank Sinatra records it for the album No One Cares.
1960s
Oscar Peterson plays it with a big band in 1962, Wes Montgomery with strings in 1965, and Bill Evans alone at the piano in 1968.
1970s
Freddie Hubbard records it in 1970 with Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock and George Benson. Joe Pass plays it alone on guitar in 1973.
1980s
Chet Baker records it with a quartet in Copenhagen in 1986, and McCoy Tyner plays it with guitarist John Scofield at Merkin Hall in New York in 1989.
1990s
Gonzalo Rubalcaba plays it in 1999 on the Blue Note album Inner Voyage, in a version of nearly ten minutes.
More great versions
4 more, from 1964 to 1999. Tap a cover to play it here.
1960sCarmen McRae1964 · Vocal
1970sFreddie Hubbard1970 · Soul jazz
1980sMcCoy Tyner with John Scofield1989 · Modal jazz
Freddie Hubbard recorded it at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on November 16, 1970, with Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock, George Benson, Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette. CTI issued it on the album Straight Life.
McCoy Tyner played it as a piano and guitar duo with John Scofield at Merkin Hall in New York on November 27, 1989. Blue Note issued it on Things Ain't What They Used to Be in 1990.
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
Show the form and chords
How the tune works
G majorusual key
32 barsA · B · A · C form
G minor, then G major → B♭ major, then G major → G minor, then G major → C major, then G majorkey centers
A8 bars
B8 bars
A8 bars
C8 bars
G minor, then G
B♭ major, then G
G minor, then G
C major, then G
The tune runs 32 in four sections of eight: A, B, A and C. A opens in (, , , ), moves through and , then reaches with , and before turns it back. B starts with , , and E♭maj7, a short visit to , and returns to G through Am7, D7, Gmaj7 and Am7 D7. A returns unchanged. C is a new closing section: , Am7 D7, Em7, , then Am7, D7 and Em7, ending on Am7 D7 to lead back to the top.