Harry Warren, music · Al Dubin, lyrics · Introduced by James Melton in the film Melody for Two, 1937
September in the Rain
September in the Rain is a 1937 song from the film Melody for Two, introduced by James Melton. Dinah Washington named a 1960 album after it. George Shearing, Sarah Vaughan, Frank Sinatra and Roy Hargrove's big band all recorded it.
Listen in this order
The path starts with James Melton's 1937 record from the film, then moves through George Shearing's quintet, Dave Brubeck's octet and Red Garland's piano trio. It then turns to Sarah Vaughan live, Frank Sinatra and Dinah Washington, and ends with Roy Hargrove's big band in 2008.
James Melton with Bobby Dolan and His Orchestra · 1937 · Vocal
September in the Rain / Melody for Two
James Melton introduced the song in the 1937 film Melody for Two. He recorded it for Decca with Bobby Dolan's orchestra on April 20, 1937, and the record came out on Decca 1247 with the film's title song on the other side.
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Listen for
Melton sings it with an orchestra behind him, and the record runs 3:17. Treat it as the reference: every later version here plays or sings this same tune.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first four slowly, one per bar: , , , A♭maj7. Hum the melody over them. Smaller version: play only E♭maj7 for two bars, then A♭maj7 for two bars.
George Shearing's quintet recorded it in New York on February 17, 1949, for MGM, and the record came out on MGM 10426. The song reached the charts again in 1949, with versions by Sam Donahue and this quintet.
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Listen for
The quintet has piano, vibraphone, guitar, bass and drums, and the record runs about three minutes. Compare this small group with the orchestra behind Melton on the first step.
Try it on your instrument
Play the with a small-group feel, one or two per bar: , , , A♭maj7, , , , Fm7 B♭7. Smaller version: play only bars 5 to 8: D♭7, Fm7 B♭7, E♭6 C7, Fm7 B♭7.
Dave Brubeck's octet recorded it in San Francisco in July 1950 for Fantasy. The Fantasy 510 single paired it with What Is This Thing Called Love, and the octet's tracks were collected on an LP in 1956.
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Listen for
Five horns, piano, bass and drums play it in under three minutes (2:51). Compare this larger group with the Shearing quintet on the step before.
Try it on your instrument
Play the , only: , B♭m7 E♭7, , A♭maj7, , Cm7 F7, , . Smaller version: play only the last four bars of the bridge.
Red Garland's trio recorded it at Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, on August 17, 1956, with Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums. It appears on A Garland of Red, which Prestige issued as PRLP 7064.
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Listen for
Piano, bass and drums play for 4:45, longer than any earlier step. Follow the piano, then notice how the bass and drums keep the beat going underneath.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole form once, only, at a medium swing: , using the iReal chart. Smaller version: play just the first , bars 1 to 8.
“September in the Rain (Live at Mister Kelly's, Chicago)”, At Mister Kelly's
Sarah Vaughan sang it live at Mister Kelly's in Chicago in August 1957, with Jimmy Jones on piano, Richard Davis on bass and Roy Haynes on drums. Bob Shad produced the album At Mister Kelly's, which came out in 1958.
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Listen for
A singer with piano, bass and drums in a Chicago club, recorded live. The track lasts 3:34.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first eight as a slow ballad, one per bar: , , , A♭maj7, , , , Fm7. Smaller version: sing along with the recording and play only the first two chords.
Frank Sinatra with Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra · 1960 · Vocal, Swing
Sinatra's Swingin' Session!!!
Frank Sinatra recorded it with Nelson Riddle's orchestra at Capitol Studio A in Hollywood in late summer 1960 for Sinatra's Swingin' Session!!!. Capitol released the album on January 3, 1961.
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Listen for
Sinatra sings it with a swinging orchestra in under three minutes (2:59). Compare his version with Melton's on the first step.
Try it on your instrument
Play the at a medium-up tempo, only: , , , A♭maj7, , , , Fm7 B♭7. Smaller version: play bars 7 and 8, E♭6 C7 and Fm7 B♭7, in a loop.
Dinah Washington recorded it in New York on November 12, 1960, with Nat Goodman conducting and Belford Hendricks arranging. Mercury put it on an album named after the song and issued it as the single Mercury 71876 in 1961.
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Listen for
A voice with an orchestra behind it, and the whole record lasts only 2:09, the shortest on the path.
Try it on your instrument
Play the at a brisk tempo, only: , , , A♭maj7, , , , Fm7 B♭7. Smaller version: loop bars 7 and 8, E♭6 C7 and Fm7 B♭7.
Roy Hargrove's big band recorded it in Hollywood, California, on June 16, 2008, for the album Emergence. Hargrove played trumpet and wrote the arrangement, and the album came out in 2009 on Groovin' High.
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Listen for
A big band plays it for almost seven minutes, more than three times as long as Dinah Washington's record. Compare how a large group fills that time with how the trio did on the fourth step.
Try it on your instrument
Play the full 32 , only, then play the last A again as a tag, bars 25 to 32. Smaller version: play only bars 25 to 28: , , , A♭maj7.
Harry Warren and Al Dubin wrote the song for the 1937 film Melody for Two, where James Melton introduced it. Melton recorded it for Decca that April, and Guy Lombardo and the Rhythm Wreckers also had charted versions that year.
1940s
The song becomes popular again in 1948 and 1949, with versions by Sam Donahue and the George Shearing Quintet reaching the charts. Shearing's quintet records it for MGM in New York in February 1949.
1950s
Jazz players and singers both record it. Dave Brubeck's octet plays it in San Francisco in July 1950, Red Garland's trio in August 1956, and Sarah Vaughan sings it live in Chicago in August 1957.
1960s
Frank Sinatra records it with Nelson Riddle's orchestra in Hollywood in 1960, and Dinah Washington records it in New York in November 1960. Her album that year takes the song's name.
2000s
Roy Hargrove's big band records it in Hollywood in June 2008 for the album Emergence, released in 2009. The record runs almost seven minutes.
2010s
Annie Lennox sings it on Nostalgia, her 2014 album of covers, mostly of songs written in the 1930s.
More great versions
5 more, from 1946 to 2014. Tap a cover to play it here.
1940sDon Byas Quartet1946
1950sLester Young Quartet1951 · Swing
Zoot Sims - Bob Brookmeyer Quintet1956
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010sAnnie Lennox2014 · Vocal
Scott Hamilton & Jeff Hamilton Trio2014 · Bebop
Don Byas Quartet
1946
Vot's Dot / September in the Rain
Don Byas recorded it with a quartet for Savoy in New York on May 17, 1946, with Teddy Brannon on piano, Franklin Skeete on bass and Fred Radcliffe on drums. Savoy issued it on a 78 with Vot's Dot on the other side.
Lester Young recorded it in New York on January 16, 1951, with John Lewis on piano, Gene Ramey on bass and Jo Jones on drums. Norgran released it on the 1954 album The President.
Zoot Sims on tenor saxophone and Bob Brookmeyer on valve trombone recorded it in New York in January 1956. It opens the Dawn album The Modern Art of Jazz.
Annie Lennox included it on Nostalgia, an album of covers, mainly of songs written in the 1930s. Island Records released the album on September 30, 2014, and Lennox produced it with Mike Stevens.
Tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton plays it live in Bern on May 18, 2014, with drummer Jeff Hamilton's trio. Capri Records released the concert as Live in Bern in 2015.
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 · A♭ major · B♭ majorkeys it moves between
A8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars · bridge
A8 bars
E♭
A♭
E♭
E♭
A♭
E♭
A♭
B♭
E♭
E♭
A♭
E♭
The tune stays in and visits in short stretches. Each , bars 1 to 8, runs , , , A♭maj7, , , , Fm7 B♭7. The A returns in bars 9 to 16. The , bars 17 to 24, plays B♭m7 E♭7 twice, A♭maj7 twice, twice, then Fm7 and B♭7 to lead home. The last A, bars 25 to 32, repeats the first. These follow the iReal Pro chart; other lead sheets may spell some differently.