Jay Livingston and Ray Evans · Sung by Nat King Cole in the film The Scarlet Hour, 1956
Never Let Me Go
Jay Livingston and Ray Evans wrote this ballad for the 1956 film The Scarlet Hour. Its wander through several and only reach the home key near the end. Nat King Cole sang it first, and J.J. Johnson's quintet recorded it the same year.
Listen in this order
The path starts with Nat King Cole's 1956 vocal and follows the song through a trombone quintet, Dinah Washington with a big band and Max Roach's group. It then hears Bill Evans alone at the piano, a Keith Jarrett trio, a Roy Hargrove quartet and, last, a tenor saxophone trio led by Joshua Redman.
1980sKeith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette1983 · Post-bop
1990sRoy Hargrove Quintet1994 · Post-bop
2000s
2010sJoshua Redman Trio2013
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Learn the song
Nat King Cole · 1956
Never Let Me Go / Too Young to Go Steady
Nat King Cole recorded the song in Hollywood on January 4, 1956, with Nelson Riddle arranging and conducting. He sings it in the film The Scarlet Hour, and Capitol issued it as a single that year.
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Cole's voice carries the song with Nelson Riddle's orchestra behind it. At just under three minutes it is short enough to hear twice in a row.
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Play 1 to 4 slowly, one per bar: , , , . If you only play the melody, hold a chord under bar 1 and an chord under bar 3, and notice how the ground shifts each bar.
J.J. Johnson's quintet recorded the song in New York on July 25, 1956, for the album J Is for Jazz. Bobby Jaspar plays tenor saxophone and Elvin Jones plays drums.
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J.J. Johnson's trombone leads a quintet that also has tenor saxophone, piano, bass and drums. The record came out the same year as Cole's single.
Try it on your instrument
Play 5 to 8, one per bar: , , , . Hum the melody over each chord and notice how the third chord, D♭maj7, sounds like a step away from where the tune has been.
Dinah Washington with Quincy Jones and His Orchestra · 1956 · Swing
The Swingin' Miss "D"
Dinah Washington recorded this version on December 6, 1956, with Quincy Jones conducting his orchestra and Benny Golson arranging this song. It came out in September 1957 on The Swingin' Miss D.
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Dinah Washington sings with a full orchestra conducted by Quincy Jones. The record runs under three minutes, so the song is over quickly.
Try it on your instrument
Loop the eight A-section , one per (, , , , , , , C7), at a slow pace and sing or hum the melody over them.
Max Roach recorded the song in Chicago during sessions on October 9 and 10, 1959, with trombonist Julian Priester, pianist Ray Bryant and bassist Bob Boswell. It came out in 1960 on Moon Faced and Starry Eyed.
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Julian Priester's trombone is the horn on this track, with piano, bass and drums beneath it. Other tracks from the same sessions feature Abbey Lincoln.
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Play the first four of the , one per bar: , , , . B♭m(maj7) is a chord with an A on top.
Bill Evans recorded the piece alone at Webster Hall in New York, in sessions that ran from September to October 1968. It came out in 1970 on his solo album Alone.
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Bill Evans plays by himself for more than fourteen minutes. Listen to how one pianist keeps the song moving for that long.
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Playing in Evans's style needs real solo-piano skill. A smaller version: play the eight A-section as slow whole notes with your left hand (, , , , , , , C7) and the melody with your right.
Roy Hargrove recorded the song in New York in January 1994 with Cyrus Chestnut, Rodney Whitaker and Gregory Hutchinson. It is on With the Tenors of Our Time, released in May 1994.
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Roy Hargrove plays flugelhorn on this track, with piano, bass and drums beneath him. The album has guest soloists on other tracks.
Try it on your instrument
Play 23 and bar 24 of the : and sharing bar 23, then in bar 24. Gm(maj7) is with an F♯ on top.
Joshua Redman recorded the song live at Blues Alley in Washington, DC, in February 2013 with Reuben Rogers on bass and Gregory Hutchinson on drums. It is on Trios Live, released in 2014.
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Redman's tenor saxophone leads, with only bass and drums behind him, in front of a live audience in Washington.
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Soloing over all 28 takes practice. A smaller version: play the melody once through, then play only the root note of each , one per bar, to feel the shape of the A, B and .
Nat King Cole sings the new song in the 1956 film The Scarlet Hour. J.J. Johnson's quintet and Dinah Washington both record it before the year ends.
1960s
Bill Evans plays it alone at the piano in 1968, for more than fourteen minutes, on what became his album Alone.
1970s
Red Garland's trio plays it live at the Keystone Korner in San Francisco in May 1977.
1980s
Elvin Jones's quintet, Keith Jarrett's trio and Bobby Hutcherson's quintet each record it in a studio between 1982 and 1985.
1990s
Roy Hargrove plays it on flugelhorn in a quartet in 1994. Keith Jarrett's trio plays it live in Tokyo in 1996.
2000s
Stefon Harris and Jacky Terrasson record it for Blue Note in 2001. Paul Motian's group records two versions of it in 2005.
2010s
Joshua Redman's trio plays it live at Blues Alley in Washington in 2013, and the recording comes out in 2014 on Trios Live.
More great versions
6 more, from 1977 to 2005. Tap a cover to play it here.
1970sThe Red Garland Trio1977
1980sElvin Jones Quintet1982
Bobby Hutcherson Quintet1985 · Post-bop
1990sKeith Jarrett Trio1996 · Contemporary jazz
2000sStefon Harris and Jacky Terrasson2001 · Contemporary jazz
Paul Motian Trio 2000 + One2005 · Contemporary jazz
The Red Garland Trio
1977
“Never Let Me Go (Live)”, Swingin' on the Korner
Red Garland's trio played the song at the Keystone Korner in San Francisco in May 1977. This live recording came out in 2015 on Swingin' on the Korner.
Drummer Elvin Jones led a quintet with cornet, soprano saxophone, piano and bass in New Jersey on February 10, 1982. It was issued that year on Earth Jones.
Vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson recorded the song in Berkeley, California, in October 1985 with Mulgrew Miller, John Heard, Billy Higgins and Airto. It came out in 1986 on Color Schemes.
Vibraphonist Stefon Harris and pianist Jacky Terrasson recorded the album Kindred at Avatar Studios in New York on January 10 and 11, 2001. Blue Note issued it that year.
“Never Let Me Go (from The Scarlet Hour) [1]”, On Broadway, Vol. 4 or The Paradox of Continuity
Drummer Paul Motian recorded two versions of the song in November 2005 with saxophonist Chris Potter, bassist Larry Grenadier and pianist Masabumi Kikuchi. This is the longer one, 7:08, on On Broadway Vol. 4.
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
B♭ majorusual key
28 barsA · B · C form
E♭ major → B♭ minor → A♭ major, then C major → E♭ major → G minor → B♭ majorkey centers
A8 bars
B8 bars
C12 bars
E♭
B♭ m
A♭ major, then C
E♭
G m
B♭
Three sections run A, B, C for 28 (8, 8 and 12). A has one per bar: , , , , , , , C7. B starts with in bar 9, in bar 10, in bar 11 and in bar 12, then in bar 13, and sharing bar 14, and sharing bar 15, and and sharing bar 16. C repeats the first six bars of A (bars 17 to 22), then and share bar 23, C7 fills bar 24, Cm7 bar 25, F7 and share bar 26, bar 27 and and D7♭9 share bar 28. B♭6 in bar 27 is the first chord in the chart. The chart also marks several of these chords with a suspended sound before they settle, which this list leaves out. The chords follow the iReal Pro chart, in B♭; players vary them.