Richard Rodgers, music · Lorenz Hart, lyrics · Introduced in the Broadway show Jumbo
My Romance
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart wrote My Romance for the 1935 circus show Jumbo. Donald Novis and Gloria Grafton sang it on stage, and Doris Day sang it in the 1962 film. Red Garland, Bill Evans and Ben Webster recorded it in the 1950s and 1960s.
Listen in this order
The path starts with Ella Fitzgerald singing the song with an orchestra, then hears a piano trio and a tenor saxophone group. It moves through the live Bill Evans trio, a slow Ben Webster and Harry Edison ballad and Wes Montgomery on guitar, and ends with two 1994 records.
“My Romance (Stereo Version)”, Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers and Hart Song Book
Ella Fitzgerald recorded this in August 1956 for her Rodgers and Hart songbook, with Buddy Bregman arranging and conducting. Norman Granz produced the album.
Sung versions
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Listen for
Ella Fitzgerald sings the whole song with an orchestra behind her, in under four minutes. The tune is easy to follow, so this is the version to hear first.
Try it on your instrument
Sing or play the melody along with the recording. Then play it alone with the from a chart. The first of each holds two chords, and , so give each two beats.
Red Garland recorded this on August 17, 1956, at the Van Gelder studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, with Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums. It came out that year on A Garland of Red.
Piano trio versions
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Listen for
A piano trio with bass and drums plays for nearly seven minutes. The pianist states the tune, then keeps going with the bass and drums holding the beat underneath.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody over the with a steady beat, or ask a friend to play the bass notes. If you can improvise over , take a second . Smaller version: play the tune twice and change one phrase the second time.
Gene Ammons recorded this on June 16, 1960, at the Van Gelder studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Tommy Flanagan played piano, with Doug Watkins on bass, Arthur Taylor on drums and Ray Barretto on conga.
Tenor sax leads
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Listen for
A tenor saxophone plays the tune with piano, bass, drums and conga drums behind it. At about four minutes, it is shorter than the trio records on this path.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody with a steady backing track or a friend keeping time. The last eight (C) are different from the first A, so mark where they start. If you can improvise over , take one ; the smaller version is to play the tune twice.
The Bill Evans Trio played this live at the Village Vanguard on June 25, 1961, with Scott LaFaro on bass and Paul Motian on drums. It came out in 1962 on Waltz for Debby.
Piano trio versions
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Listen for
A live club recording of piano, bass and drums. Listen for the bass, which plays its own lines while the piano plays the tune.
Try it on your instrument
Play just the first , eight , along with the recording and stop. When that feels easy, play all 32 bars. If you can improvise over , take a after the melody.
Ben Webster and Harry "Sweets" Edison · 1962 · Swing
Ben and "Sweets"
Ben Webster and Harry Edison recorded this in June 1962 at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York, with Hank Jones on piano, George Duvivier on bass and Clarence Johnson on drums. According to JazzStandards.com, Webster went on to record the song many times, beginning with this album.
Tenor sax leads
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Listen for
A tenor saxophone and a trumpet take the song as a ballad over piano, bass and drums. The pace is gentler than the trio records before it.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody slowly with the . If you play a horn, play along with the saxophone for the first and stop.
Wes Montgomery recorded this with a string orchestra in New York on April 18 or 19, 1963. Jimmy Jones arranged and conducted the date, and the track came out on Fusion! from Riverside.
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Listen for
Wes Montgomery plays the melody on guitar with strings behind him. At under two and a half minutes, it is the shortest version on this path.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody along with the recording, once through. Guitarists can add the from the chart under the tune.
Johnny Griffin recorded this at RPM Sound Studios in New York on December 4 or 5, 1994, with Peter Martin on piano, Rodney Whitaker on bass and Gregory Hutchinson on drums. It is on Chicago, New York, Paris.
Tenor sax leads
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Listen for
A tenor saxophone leads with piano, bass and drums for almost nine minutes, the longest saxophone track on the path.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody with a backing track and, if you can improvise over , take one . Smaller version: play the melody twice and change the rhythm of one phrase the second time.
Keith Jarrett's trio played this at the Blue Note in New York on June 5, 1994, with Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. It came out in 1995 in the set At the Blue Note: The Complete Recordings.
Piano trio versions
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Listen for
A live piano trio stretches the song to nearly ten minutes, so the tune comes back after long stretches of improvising.
Try it on your instrument
Play the from the chart on piano and count the 32 while the recording plays, so you can hear each time the tune comes round. If you can improvise, take a solo .
Rodgers and Hart write it for Billy Rose's circus show Jumbo, which opens at the Hippodrome in New York in November 1935. Donald Novis and Gloria Grafton introduce it on stage.
1950s
Lee Wiley sings it in 1954, and Ruby Braff and Ellis Larkins play it as a duet in 1955. In August 1956 Ella Fitzgerald sings it with Buddy Bregman's orchestra, and the Red Garland Trio plays it for Prestige.
1960s
Gene Ammons plays it on tenor saxophone in 1960, the Bill Evans Trio plays it live at the Village Vanguard in 1961, and Ben Webster and Harry Edison record it in 1962. Wes Montgomery plays it with strings in 1963.
1990s
Carly Simon makes it the title song of a 1990 album. In 1994 Keith Jarrett's trio plays it live at the Blue Note and Johnny Griffin records it on tenor saxophone, and Kevin Mahogany's 1998 album takes its name from it.
More great versions
5 more, from 1954 to 1998. Tap a cover to play it here.
Hampton Hawes recorded this live at Mitchell's Studio Club in Los Angeles on April 30 and May 1, 1966, with Red Mitchell on bass and Donald Bailey on drums. It came out in 1969 on The Seance.
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 · B · A · C form
Ckey centers
A8 bars
B8 bars
A8 bars
C8 bars
C
The runs 32 in four sections of eight: A, B, A, C, in . A starts with and in one bar, then with , with , and Cmaj7 with , which leans into . It goes on through Am7 with and Dm7 with G7, and ends on Cmaj7 with . B opens on Fmaj7 with and Cmaj7 with C7, repeats that pair, rests for a bar on Cmaj7, then moves through with , Em7 with B♭7, Am7 with , and Dm7 with G7. The second A repeats the first. C opens on Fmaj7 with A7, then Dm7 and , with , and Am7 with . It ends with and Am7, Dm7 with G7, and with Am7 and Dm7 with G7 to lead back to the top.