Jesse Greer, music · Raymond Klages, lyrics · Introduced by Marion Davies and Lawrence Gray in the 1929 film Marianne
Just You, Just Me
Just You, Just Me comes from the 1929 film Marianne, where Marion Davies and Lawrence Gray introduced it. The tune moves slowly and stays in one , which suits jam sessions. Lester Young and Thelonious Monk recorded it, and Monk's tune Evidence grew from it.
Listen in this order
Start with Lester Young's 1943 quartet, then hear Ella Fitzgerald sing it and Young play it again with Oscar Peterson's group. Next come Thelonious Monk's trio, four tenor saxophonists, Bill Evans playing with himself, Monk live in 1964 and a piano and vibraphone duo.
Lester Young recorded this quartet version in New York on December 28, 1943, with Johnny Guarnieri on piano, Slam Stewart on bass and Sid Catlett on drums. Keynote issued it on a single, K603, in 1944.
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Listen for
Young plays the tune on tenor saxophone and then improvises on it, while piano, bass and drums keep a steady beat behind him.
Try it on your instrument
Play the slowly: | | | | C6 | | G7 | C6 G7. Hum the tune over it, then play the again without looking.
Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio · 1952 · Cool jazz
The President Plays with the Oscar Peterson Trio
Lester Young returned to the song on August 4, 1952, in New York, with Oscar Peterson on piano, Barney Kessel on guitar, Ray Brown on bass and J.C. Heard on drums. The track runs 7:38, much longer than his 1943 quartet version.
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Listen for
Young leads on tenor saxophone with piano, guitar, bass and drums behind him. Compare the pace and the length with his 1943 quartet record.
Try it on your instrument
Play along with the record and count the out loud in groups of eight : A, A, B, A. If you can solo over , try one chorus over the from step 1. If not, play just the root of each chord.
Thelonious Monk recorded the song with bassist Oscar Pettiford and drummer Art Blakey for his second Riverside album, at Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, on March 17 or April 3, 1956. According to JazzStandards.com, it was the first of his many recordings of the song.
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Listen for
Monk's trio has only piano, bass and drums, and the track lasts nearly eight minutes, so Monk has room to rework the tune as he goes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the 's eight with a steady beat: | | | | C6 | | G7 | C6 G7. Then play them again with the on different beats, and notice how the feel changes.
Hank Mobley, Al Cohn, John Coltrane and Zoot Sims · 1956 · Hard bop
Tenor Conclave
Hank Mobley, Al Cohn, John Coltrane and Zoot Sims, four tenor saxophonists, recorded this at Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, on September 7, 1956, with Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums. Prestige issued it on Tenor Conclave in 1957.
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Listen for
Four tenor saxophones share this 9:20 track, with piano, bass and drums behind them. Listen for the change in sound each time a different saxophonist takes over.
Try it on your instrument
Play the , one per : | | | | | | | . Then go back to the from step 1.
Bill Evans recorded this in New York on February 9, 1963, playing several piano parts that he layered on top of one another. It is on his Verve album Conversations with Myself.
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Listen for
Several piano lines sound at once, all played by Evans. Listen for the line that carries the tune, then for the ones that answer it.
Try it on your instrument
Play the tune with your right hand and the with your left. For a small version of the overdub idea, record the chords on a phone and play the tune over the recording.
Thelonious Monk played the song live at the It Club in Los Angeles on November 1, 1964, with Charlie Rouse on tenor saxophone, Larry Gales on bass and Ben Riley on drums. Monk's own tune Evidence is built loosely on this song, and both are on the Live at the It Club reissue.
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Listen for
This is a live quartet recording of 6:14, with a tenor saxophone added to Monk's piano, bass and drums. Compare how Monk plays the tune here with his 1956 trio record.
Try it on your instrument
Monk's Evidence is loosely based on this song. Try a small version of that idea: play the 's from step 1 and make up a short new melody over them, even one note per .
Pianist Oscar Peterson and vibraphonist Milt Jackson recorded this as a duo at RCA Studios in New York on January 20, 1983, for the Pablo album Two of the Few.
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Listen for
Piano and vibraphone are the only two instruments. Listen for which one carries the tune at each moment and which one fills in behind it.
Try it on your instrument
Try the duo idea at one keyboard: play the tune with your right hand and one per with your left, using the chords from step 1.
Nat King Cole sings the song with his trio and Willie Smith on alto saxophone, recorded in Los Angeles in August or September 1956 for the album After Midnight.
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
C majorusual key
32 barsA · A · B · A form
C major → F major → C majorkey centers
A8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars · bridge
A8 bars
C
F
C
The tune runs 32 in four sections of eight bars, , and stays close to . Section A moves through , , and , then C6 with , with , with G7, and C6 with G7 at the end. The starts on , C7 and , a short visit to , then B♭7 leads back to C6, with , and G7. The last A closes on C with G7, ready for the next . These follow the iReal Pro chart.