George Gershwin, music · Ira Gershwin, lyrics · Introduced by Adele Astaire and Allen Kearns in the musical Funny Face, 1927
'S Wonderful
George and Ira Gershwin wrote 'S Wonderful for the 1927 Broadway show Funny Face. Its middle part moves to a new before the opening tune comes home. Versions here run from a 1927 vocal record to a 2025 voice-and-piano duo.
Listen in this order
The path starts with a 1927 vocal record and Fred Astaire's own jazz-group version, then moves through a Paris session, a singer with a jazz trumpeter, a piano, saxophone and drums trio, and a piano trio with a conga player. It ends with Ella Fitzgerald's orchestra version from 1959 and a voice-and-piano duo from 2025.
Art Tatum, Benny Carter and Louis Bellson1954 · Big band
Helen Merrill with Clifford Brown1954 · Contemporary jazz
The Red Garland Trio plus Ray Barretto1958
Ella Fitzgerald with Nelson Riddle's Orchestra1959 · Vocal
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020sDee Dee Bridgewater and Bill Charlap2025
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Hear the song as it first reached the public
Frank Crumit · 1927
'S Wonderful / Victor single
Frank Crumit recorded the song in New York on October 25, 1927, four weeks before Funny Face opened on Broadway. According to JazzStandards.com, his record reached fifth place on the pop charts in January 1928.
From the show Funny Face · Voice on the track
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Listen for
Frank Crumit sings the whole song with only a piano and a violin behind him. Listen for the middle part of each , where the tune leaves home for a new before the opening part returns.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first eight with for bars 1 and 2, for bars 3 and 4, in bar 5, in bar 6, and in bar 7, and Fm7 and B♭7 in bar 8. Smaller version: play only E♭maj7 for bars 1 and 2 and E°7 for bars 3 and 4 under the melody.
Fred Astaire starred in Funny Face in 1927 with his sister Adele, who introduced the song with Allen Kearns. He recorded it in Los Angeles in December 1952 with a jazz group that included Oscar Peterson, Charlie Shavers and Flip Phillips, for the four-record set The Astaire Story.
Voice on the track
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Listen for
Astaire sings the song with a small jazz group behind him. Try to pick out the trumpet, tenor saxophone, piano, guitar, bass and drums one at a time.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first four of the as : and in bar 1, and in bar 2, and Em7 in bar 3, Am7 and D7 in bar 4. Smaller version: play only Gmaj7 for bars 1 and 2 and D7 for bars 3 and 4.
Dizzy Gillespie's sextet recorded the song in Paris on February 22, 1953, the same day as Always, My Man and Moon Nocturne. Vogue issued it on a single with Ooo-Bla-Dee.
Trumpet lead
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Listen for
Gillespie plays trumpet in front of a trombone and a of piano, bass and drums. Listen for which instrument carries the tune in the first .
Try it on your instrument
Play the end of the second , 15 and 16: in bar 15, then and in bar 16, which lead into the in . Smaller version: play only E♭6, then D7♭9, then start the bridge on .
Hear a famous pianist share the tune with a saxophone
Art Tatum, Benny Carter and Louis Bellson · 1954 · Big band
“S'Wonderful”, The Tatum-Carter-Bellson Trio
Art Tatum, Benny Carter and Louis Bellson recorded this trio version in Los Angeles on June 25, 1954. It first came out on the Clef LP The Tatum-Carter-Bellson Trio in 1955.
Alto saxophone on the track
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Listen for
This is a trio of piano, alto saxophone and drums. Listen to how full the piano sounds with only a saxophone and drums beside it.
Try it on your instrument
Play the second half of the : , , and with , one per , which walks back down to E♭ for the last A. Smaller version: play only G7 and B♭7, two bars each.
Helen Merrill recorded the song in New York on December 22, 1954, with an arrangement by Quincy Jones and Clifford Brown on trumpet. EmArcy issued it on her album Helen Merrill in 1955.
Voice on the track
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Listen for
Merrill sings and Clifford Brown plays trumpet. Quincy Jones wrote the arrangement for the band behind them, so listen for how the band changes around the voice.
Try it on your instrument
Try the last , which differs from the first two: for 1 and 2, then for bars 3 and 4 (the earlier A sections use ), then , , with , and Fm7 with B♭7. Smaller version: play only bars 1 to 4, E♭maj7 then G♭°7.
Red Garland's trio recorded the song on April 11, 1958, with Ray Barretto added on conga. At 6:43 it is one of the longer tracks on the Prestige LP Manteca.
Conga or extra percussion
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Listen for
Garland plays piano with bass, drums and Ray Barretto's conga drum, and the track runs almost seven minutes. Listen for the conga adding a second layer of rhythm under the piano.
Try it on your instrument
Play the chart through once with the melody, then play the again for a second while you hum or play the melody higher up. Improvising over the chords is a bigger step that takes practice; the smaller version is to play only the chords for the second chorus while someone else plays the melody.
Ella Fitzgerald with Nelson Riddle's Orchestra · 1959 · Vocal
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book
Ella Fitzgerald recorded the song in Los Angeles on July 16, 1959, with Nelson Riddle's orchestra, as part of her Gershwin Song Book. According to Wikipedia, Ira Gershwin helped choose the songs for the set.
Voice on the track
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Listen for
Ella Fitzgerald sings with an orchestra that Nelson Riddle arranged and conducted. Compare the size of the band here with the small groups on the earlier steps.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole chart once and notice where each A ends differently: the first A goes back to the top with and , and the second leads into the with and . Smaller version: play only the last two bars of each .
Dee Dee Bridgewater and Bill Charlap recorded the song for their album Elemental at Sear Sound in New York. Mack Avenue released the album on June 13, 2025.
Voice on the track
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Listen for
Only two musicians play here, a singer and a pianist, and the track runs under three minutes. Listen for how the piano answers the voice between the lines.
Try it on your instrument
Play it as a duo with a friend: one person plays the melody and the other plays the from the chart. Smaller version: play only the chords of the first , 1 to 8, while the other person plays the melody.
George and Ira Gershwin write the song for the Broadway show Funny Face, which opens in November 1927. Frank Crumit records it that October, and his record reaches fifth place on the pop charts in January 1928.
1950s
Fred Astaire sings it with a jazz group in December 1952, and Helen Merrill sings it with Clifford Brown on trumpet in 1954. Ella Fitzgerald records it with Nelson Riddle's orchestra in 1959.
2020s
Dee Dee Bridgewater and Bill Charlap record it as a voice-and-piano duo for their album Elemental, released in June 2025.
More great versions
3 more, from 1952 to 1957. Tap a cover to play it here.
Oscar Peterson, Barney Kessel and Ray Brown recorded it in Los Angeles in early December 1952. It came out on Oscar Peterson Plays George Gershwin in 1953.
Buddy DeFranco and Oscar Peterson Play George Gershwin
Clarinetist Buddy DeFranco and pianist Oscar Peterson recorded it in Los Angeles on December 6, 1954, with arrangements by Russell Garcia. Norgran issued it on an album of Gershwin songs.
Eddie Costa with Rolf Kuhn & Dick Johnson, Mat Mathews & Don Elliott at Newport
Don Elliott's quartet, with Bill Evans on piano, played it live at the Newport Jazz Festival on the afternoon of July 6, 1957. Verve issued the set on an album shared with other Newport groups.
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♭ majorusual key
32 barsA · A · B · A form
E♭ major → G major → E♭ majorkey centers
A8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars · bridge
A8 bars
E♭
G
E♭
The tune runs 32 in four 8-bar sections: A, A, the B and a last A. Each A holds for two bars, then for two ( in the last A), then to , and with and Fm7 with B♭7 in bars 7 and 8. The first A returns to the top with those , while the second A ends with E♭6 and then with , which points the music into the bridge. The bridge sits in for four bars ( with , Am7 with , with Em7, Am7 with D7), then , , and B♭7 with lead back to E♭ for the last A. is home and G major appears only in the bridge. Key bars: 16 in E♭ major, 4 in G major, then 12 in E♭ major.