Jerome Kern, music · Ira Gershwin, lyrics · Introduced in the 1944 film Cover Girl
Long Ago (and Far Away)
Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin wrote it for the 1944 film Cover Girl, with Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly. A short opening phrase comes back at the start of each section, once at a higher pitch. Dick Haymes and Helen Forrest had the 1944 hit; Chet Baker, Art Pepper and Sonny Rollins played it later.
Listen in this order
The path starts with the hit duet of 1944 and moves to a swinging alto saxophone record, a quick trumpet quartet and a longer alto quartet. It then visits a piano trio, two tenor saxophones with an organ, a saxophone and guitar band with no piano, and a quartet that takes eight minutes.
1950sBenny Carter with the Oscar Peterson Quartet1952 · Swing
Chet Baker Quartet1953 · Cool jazz
1960sArt Pepper1960 · Post-bop
Red Garland Trio1961 · Easy listening
Gene Ammons & Sonny Stitt1962 · Soul jazz
Sonny Rollins Quartet1964
1970s
1980sThe Dave Brubeck Quartet1981 · Cool jazz
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Hear the song as the hit record
Dick Haymes & Helen Forrest · 1944
Single
Dick Haymes and Helen Forrest recorded it in New York on January 27, 1944, with Tutti Camarata and his orchestra. Decca issued it as number 23317, and it first reached the Billboard chart on April 27, 1944 and peaked at number 2.
A duet for two singers
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Listen for
A man and a woman sing the song together over an orchestra, so this is the clearest way to hear the tune with its words.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first eight with two to a bar: and , and , and Dm7, Gm7 and C7, then F6 and Dm7, Gm7 and C7, F6 and , Gm7 and C7. Hum the tune over them. If both hands together is too much, play only the first chord of each bar.
Benny Carter with the Oscar Peterson Quartet · 1952 · Swing
“Long Ago (And Far Away)”, Cosmopolite
Benny Carter recorded it on alto saxophone in New York on September 18, 1952, with Oscar Peterson on piano, Barney Kessel on guitar, Ray Brown on bass and Buddy Rich on drums. It came out in 1953 on the Clef album Cosmopolite.
F major · 4/4 · swing · 185 bpm (up) · Alto saxophone in the lead
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Listen for
An alto saxophone leads a small band of piano, guitar, bass and drums, and Buddy Rich plays the drums.
Try it on your instrument
Play the same first eight as in step 1, but hold each for two beats and feel the beat falling on 2 and 4 by tapping your foot or finger there. A smaller version is to tap 2 and 4 along with the record before you play anything.
“Long Ago (And Far Away) (12" LP Take)”, Pretty/Groovy
Chet Baker's quartet with pianist Russ Freeman recorded two takes in Los Angeles on July 29 and 30, 1953, a 2:15 take for a 10-inch LP and this 2:29 take for a 12-inch LP. The longer take is on World Pacific's Pretty/Groovy from 1959.
Trumpet in the lead
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Listen for
The whole track lasts 2:29, so the tune goes by quickly. A trumpet leads, with piano, bass and drums behind it.
Try it on your instrument
Play the middle eight , bars 9 to 16: and , and , , , , , , . The tune starts higher here than in the first section; listen for that lift on the record, then play the along with it. A smaller version is to play only the first chord of each bar.
Art Pepper recorded it for Contemporary Records in Los Angeles on November 23 and 25, 1960, with pianist Dolo Coker, bassist Jimmy Bond and drummer Frank Butler. It was released in 1963 on the album Intensity.
Alto saxophone in the lead
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Listen for
At 4:25 this is the longest track so far. An alto saxophone leads a quartet of piano, bass and drums.
Try it on your instrument
Play the last eight of the tune, bars 25 to 32: , , , and , and , and , , Gm7 and C7. The last two lead back to the top. If the full chords are too much, play only the first chord of each bar.
Red Garland recorded it in New York on November 30, 1961, with bassist Larry Ridley and drummer Frank Gant. Jazzland released it in 1962 on the ballad album The Nearness of You.
Piano trio
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There is no horn here. The piano carries the tune, with bass and drums behind it.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole first section, 1 to 8, then the middle section, bars 9 to 16, with the from steps 1 and 3 and the melody on top. A smaller version is to play the chords of one section and hum the tune.
Tenor saxophonists Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt recorded it with organist Don Patterson, guitarist Paul Weeden and drummer William James at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, in February 1962. Verve released it that year on Boss Tenors in Orbit!
Two tenor saxophones
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Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt both play tenor saxophone, with organ, guitar and drums behind them. At 6:17 this is the longest track so far.
Try it on your instrument
Loop the first eight of from step 1 and play a few slow notes of your own over them using only the notes of the scale. This needs some practice with . A smaller version is to play the loop and tap along with the saxophones.
“Long Ago and Far Away”, The Standard Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins recorded it in New York on June 26, 1964, with guitarist Jim Hall, bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Mickey Roker. RCA Victor released it in August 1965 on The Standard Sonny Rollins.
A band with no piano
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Listen for
There is no piano in this band. Jim Hall's guitar sits under Sonny Rollins's tenor saxophone, with bass and drums, and the track lasts under three minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play only the bass notes of the first eight , F, G, F, G, F, G, F, G, and hum the tune above them, as a bass and saxophone would without a piano. Then add the second of each bar. Both hands together is a bigger step; the bass notes alone are enough.
Dave Brubeck's quartet recorded it in San Francisco in September 1981, with Jerry Bergonzi on tenor saxophone, Chris Brubeck on bass and Randy Jones on drums. Concord Jazz released it in 1982 on the album Paper Moon.
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Listen for
A band of piano, tenor saxophone, bass and drums has eight minutes to play with, more than twice the length of the 1944 record.
Try it on your instrument
Play all 32 once through with the from the earlier steps, in the order A, B, A, C. This takes some practice with the . A smaller version is to play only the first eight bars twice.
Kern and Gershwin write it for the film Cover Girl, and Dick Haymes with Helen Forrest, Bing Crosby and Jo Stafford all have hit records in 1944. Frank Sinatra's version, arranged by Axel Stordahl, is first released that year too.
1950s
Benny Carter plays it on alto saxophone with Oscar Peterson's quartet in 1952. Chet Baker's quartet records two takes for Pacific Jazz in 1953 and returns to it in 1955, and Peterson's trio plays it in 1959.
1960s
Art Pepper, Red Garland, and the tenor saxophonists Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt record it between 1960 and 1962. Sonny Rollins plays it with guitarist Jim Hall in 1964.
1980s
Dave Brubeck's quartet records it in San Francisco in September 1981, in an eight-minute version for the album Paper Moon. Chet Baker plays it in Copenhagen in 1986 with pianist Butch Lacy.
1990s
Sonny Rollins records it in 1991 with an electric guitar and an electric bass in his band. John Abercrombie's organ trio plays it live at Visiones in New York in 1996, in a 9:42 version.
2010s
Tony Bennett sings it on The Silver Lining, his 2015 album of Jerome Kern songs with pianist Bill Charlap. Renee Rosnes joins on a second piano for this track.
More great versions
4 more, from 1944 to 1991. Tap a cover to play it here.
“Long Ago and Far Away”, The "V Discs": The Columbia Years 1943-1952
Frank Sinatra's version, arranged and conducted by Axel Stordahl, was first released in 1944. It is now collected on The V Discs, Columbia's set of his 1943 to 1952 recordings.
“Long Ago (And Far Away)”, Chet Baker Sings and Plays
Chet Baker recorded it again at Capitol's Melrose Studios in Los Angeles on March 7, 1955, with Russ Freeman, Carson Smith and Bob Neel, for the album Chet Baker Sings and Plays.
“Long Ago (And Far Away)”, Oscar Peterson Plays the Jerome Kern Song Book
Oscar Peterson's trio with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen recorded it at Universal Recording in Chicago for the album Oscar Peterson Plays the Jerome Kern Song Book. The sessions ran from July 14 to August 9, 1959.
Sonny Rollins recorded it in New York on August 24, 1991, with an electric guitar and an electric bass in the band. It is on the Milestone album Here's to the People.
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
F majorusual key
32 barsA · B · A · C form
F major → A♭ major → C major → F major → B♭ major → F majorkey centers
178–186 bpmhow fast players take it, across 3 transcribed solos (Weimar Jazz Database)
A8 bars
B8 bars
A8 bars
C8 bars
F
A♭
C
F
B♭
F
One is 32 in four sections of eight bars, A, B, A and C, in . A uses two to a bar: , , Dm7, Gm7 C7, then F6 Dm7, Gm7 C7, F6 and Gm7 C7. B starts higher, on and , and reaches in bar 11, before , and lead through and Gm7 C7 brings the music back to F. According to JazzStandards.com, Alec Wilder noted that Kern restates his opening idea a minor third higher after only eight bars. The second A repeats the first. C opens with , and , then E♭7, and Gm7 C7, and ends on F6 with a closing Gm7 C7 that leads back to the top.