Osvaldo Farrés, music and Spanish lyrics · Joe Davis, English lyrics as "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" · Cuban bolero, first recorded by Bobby Capó in 1947
Quizás, Quizás, Quizás
Cuban songwriter Osvaldo Farrés wrote this bolero in 1947, and Joe Davis later added English words. Singers, bandleaders and jazz players have recorded it in Spanish and in English. You can hear it in films such as In the Mood for Love and Strictly Ballroom.
Listen in this order
The path starts with the first English-language record of 1947, then Nat King Cole's Spanish record of 1958 and Doris Day's English one. It then turns to jazz: an organ record, a piano quintet with two trumpets, a Cuban ensemble in Buenos Aires, a piano trio and a live band.
“Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps (Quizas, Quizas, Quizas)”, Single, Victor 20-3113
Desi Arnaz and his orchestra recorded Joe Davis's English version in Hollywood on December 29, 1947, and Victor issued it on a 78 in September 1948. According to Songfacts, this was the first recording of the English words.
First record of the English words
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Listen for
Desi Arnaz sings the English words with his own orchestra behind him. The whole record runs just under three minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first 8 in the usual of , one to a bar except where two are shown: , , Em7, Am7 B7, Em7, B7, Em7 Am7, Em7. If that is a stretch, loop Em7 and Am7 B7 and hum the melody over them.
Nat King Cole (arranged by Nelson Riddle, orchestra conducted by Armando Romeu Jr.) · 1958 · Latin jazz
“Quizás, quizás, quizás (Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps)”, Cole Español
For Cole Español, the orchestra was recorded in Havana in February 1958 and Nat King Cole added his voice at Capitol in June. Capitol released the album in August 1958, and the song also appears in the 2000 film In the Mood for Love.
Sung in Spanish
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Listen for
Cole's voice leads, with an orchestra behind him that was recorded months earlier in Havana. The record runs 2:46.
Try it on your instrument
Play the , where the song turns to the brighter of : , B7, , E6, B7, B7, E6, E6. Hum the melody over each pair of bars.
Doris Day (arranged and conducted by Mort Garson) · 1964 · Bossa nova, Vocal
“Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps (Quizás, Quizás, Quizás)”, Latin for Lovers
Doris Day recorded the English version on November 5, 1964, for Latin for Lovers, which Columbia released in March 1965. The recording was later used in the 1992 film Strictly Ballroom.
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Listen for
Doris Day sings the English words over an orchestra led by Mort Garson. The record runs about two and a half minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole tune once in the usual of : the twice, the 8-bar , then A again. For a smaller version, loop only the first four bars of A (, , Em7, Am7 B7) and hum the melody.
Shirley Scott (arranged and conducted by Gary McFarland) · 1965 · Soul jazz, Latin jazz
“Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps (Quizas, Quizas, Quizas)”, Latin Shadows
Shirley Scott recorded it in New York on July 22, 1965, for the Impulse! album Latin Shadows, with Gary McFarland arranging and conducting. The session used strings, flute, guitar and Latin percussion alongside her organ.
Jazz organ with strings
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Listen for
Scott's organ takes the lead, with strings and a flute around her and Latin percussion keeping the beat. The record runs 2:37.
Try it on your instrument
Vamp for a and for the next, four bars in all, and play the melody of the over the loop with a steady, even pulse. Playing the melody and the two is enough.
Ray Bryant's quintet, with two trumpets, bass and drums, recorded it in New York in September 1968. Cadet issued it in 1969 as a single and on the album Up Above the Rock.
Piano quintet with two trumpets
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Listen for
Bryant's piano leads, with two trumpets joining in over a bass and drum beat. The track runs 3:24.
Try it on your instrument
Loop the last four of the , , , Em7 , Em7, and hum or play the melody over them. Improvising over these is a bigger step that needs scale practice, so start by playing the melody twice, once an octave higher.
David Murray Cuban Ensemble (Daniel Melingo, vocals) · 2010 · Latin jazz
David Murray Cuban Ensemble Plays Nat King Cole en Español
David Murray's Cuban Ensemble recorded it in Buenos Aires on June 26 and 27, 2010, for an album inspired by Nat King Cole's Spanish-language records. Motéma released the album in October 2011.
Cuban ensemble led by a saxophonist
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Listen for
Daniel Melingo sings the Spanish words, and the band is a Cuban ensemble led by the saxophonist David Murray. At just over six minutes, it runs much longer than the earlier records on the path.
Try it on your instrument
Count through the 32 once as you listen: A, A, B, A, eight bars each. At the , play and in turn, two bars each, and hear the music brighten.
Giovanni Guidi's trio recorded it in April 2014 at the Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in Lugano, and ECM released the album This Is the Day in March 2015.
Piano trio
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Listen for
Piano, double bass and drums play it as an instrumental, and the track runs nearly seven minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the with the left hand on the bass notes only and the right hand on the melody, over the , , Em7, Am7 B7, Em7, B7, Em7 Am7, Em7. A trio spreads these jobs across three players, so try one job at a time.
“Quizás, Quizás, Quizás (Live)”, Edizione Speciale
Enrico Rava's group recorded it live at the Jazz Middelheim festival in Antwerp on August 18, 2019. ECM issued it on Edizione Speciale in 2021.
Live band
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Listen for
A live band plays it as an instrumental, and the album credits flugelhorn, tenor saxophone, guitar, piano, bass and drums. The track runs about five and a half minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Loop the last four of A, , , Em7 , Em7, with a friend, one of you playing the melody and the other playing the . Improvising over them is a larger step, so start with the melody played twice.
Cuban songwriter Osvaldo Farrés writes the bolero in 1947, and Bobby Capó's record is named as the first. Desi Arnaz records Joe Davis's English version in Hollywood on December 29, 1947, and Victor issues it in 1948.
1950s
Bing Crosby records it with the Bando da Lua on February 5, 1951. Nat King Cole sings it in Spanish on Cole Español, released in August 1958, with the orchestra recorded in Havana and his voice added in Hollywood.
1960s
Doris Day records the English version for Latin for Lovers in November 1964. Shirley Scott plays it on organ with strings in July 1965, and Ray Bryant's quintet, with two trumpets, records it in September 1968.
2000s
Pianist Rubén González plays it on Chanchullo, which World Circuit released in September 2000 after sessions in Havana and London between 1997 and 2000.
2010s
David Murray's Cuban Ensemble records it in Buenos Aires in June 2010. Giovanni Guidi's trio plays it in Lugano in April 2014, and Enrico Rava's group plays it live in Antwerp in August 2019.
More great versions
2 more, from 2000 to 2017. Tap a cover to play it here.
Pianist Rubén González plays it as a short piece on Chanchullo, recorded in Havana and London between 1997 and 2000. World Circuit released the album in September 2000.
Gregory Porter sings it on Nat King Cole & Me, his 2017 tribute album with arrangements by Vince Mendoza for a 70-piece orchestra. Blue Note released it in October 2017.
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
E minorusual key
32 barsA · A · B · A form
E minor → E major → E minorkey centers
A8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars · bridge
A8 bars
E m
E
E m
The tune is 32 in : an 8-bar A played twice, an 8-bar B and the A again. A swings between and for four bars, returns to Em7, pairs with B7 in bar 6, pairs Em7 with Am7 in bar 7 and settles on Em7 in bar 8. B (bars 17 to 24) turns to the brighter of : two bars of B7, two of , two more of B7 and two more of E6. The last A repeats the first and closes on .