Kurt Weill, music · Maxwell Anderson, lyrics · Introduced by Walter Huston in Knickerbocker Holiday
September Song is a 1938 ballad by Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson, written for the Broadway musical Knickerbocker Holiday. Walter Huston asked for one solo song, and the authors wrote it for his limited vocal range. You will hear it from Walter Huston, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and James Brown.
The path starts with Walter Huston's 1938 record and moves through three vocal versions by Sinatra, Fitzgerald and Vaughan. It continues with Erroll Garner's trio and Zoot Sims's tenor saxophone, and it ends with a 1952 Paris concert version by Sidney Bechet and James Brown's 1969 big-band record.
8 recordings, 1938 to 1969 · Play all 8 on YouTube ↗
Step 1 of 8 Now playing✓ Heard
Walter Huston · 1938
Single, with “The Scars”
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Play the first eight from the chart: , , , , , , Cmaj7 G7sus, Cmaj7. Smaller version: play only the first four bars.
Step 2 of 8 Now playing✓ Heard
Frank Sinatra · 1965 · Vocal
September of My Years
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Play the first four of the chart (, , , ) and hold each for its full length. Smaller version: play only the first chord of each bar, F7, Fm7, Cmaj7 and Em7.
Step 3 of 8 Now playing✓ Heard
Ella Fitzgerald · 1960
Ella Fitzgerald Sings Songs from the Soundtrack of “Let No Man Write My Epitaph”
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Play the from the chart: for two bars, for two bars, Fm6 for two bars, F♯°7, then . Smaller version: play only the roots F, F♯ and G.
Step 4 of 8 Now playing✓ Heard
Sarah Vaughan with Hal Mooney and His Orchestra · 1956
Sarah Vaughan Sings Broadway: Great Songs from Hit Shows
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Play the last four of the first A from the chart: , , G7sus, Cmaj7. Smaller version: play only D7, G7 and Cmaj7, one per bar.
Step 5 of 8 Now playing✓ Heard
Erroll Garner · 1949 · Bebop
Back To Back
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Play 1 to 4 of the chart with the left hand on the roots and the right hand on the rest of each , two beats each where the chart shows two chords. Smaller version: play the right-hand chords alone.
Step 6 of 8 Now playing✓ Heard
Zoot Sims with Gary McFarland Orchestra · 1966 · Easy listening
Waiting Game
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Play the last A of the chart, which ends on for two . Smaller version: play only the last four bars, , , C6, C6.
Step 7 of 8 Now playing✓ Heard
Sidney Bechet with Claude Luter et son orchestre · 1952
Vogue release
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Play 5 to 8 of the first A from the chart: , , G7sus, Cmaj7. Smaller version: play D7, G7 and Cmaj7, one per bar.
Step 8 of 8 Now playing✓ Heard
James Brown with the Louie Bellson Orchestra · 1969 · Big band, Soul & R&B
“September Song (Extended Version)”, Soul on Top
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Play the full 32 of the chart, one per bar where the chart shows one. Smaller version: play only the eight-bar , to .
3 more, from 1952 to 1977. Tap a cover to play it here.
1952 · Swing
The Complete Capitol Recordings of Art Tatum
Art Tatum plays it in a trio with guitarist Everett Barksdale and bassist Slam Stewart on his Capitol recordings.
1959 · Hard bop, Cool jazz
Chet
Chet Baker plays trumpet with Kenny Burrell on guitar, Paul Chambers on bass and Connie Kay on drums on this track from the 1959 album Chet.
1977 · Big band, Easy listening
Seasons
Bing Crosby sings it with the Pete Moore Orchestra on the 1977 album Seasons.
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
The song runs 32 in four sections of eight, , and the iReal Pro chart is in . Each A opens on and then plays and into in bar 3. , and follow, and bars 5 and 6 play and . The first A ends on Cmaj7 G7sus and a bar of Cmaj7, and the second A ends on Cmaj7 and , which leads into the . The bridge alternates and and ends on G7sus, which sets up the last A. The last A ends on for two bars.
Chart from iReal Pro's Jazz 1460 playlist, contributed by its users.