Richard Rodgers, music · Lorenz Hart, lyrics · Introduced by Dennis King and Vivienne Segal in I Married an Angel, 1938
Spring Is Here
Spring Is Here is a 1938 Rodgers and Hart ballad, written for a Broadway musical. It is a love song about love's absence, and jazz musicians have played it since the 1950s. Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, John Coltrane, Bill Evans and Miles Davis all recorded it.
Listen in this order
The path starts with Ella Fitzgerald singing the song, then follows Stan Getz's and Cannonball Adderley's small groups to John Coltrane's quintet. Bill Evans's piano trio and Miles Davis with a big orchestra come next, and it ends with Bobby Hutcherson's quartet and a live bass and piano duet from 1996.
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers and Hart Song Book
Ella Fitzgerald recorded it in August 1956 for her Rodgers and Hart Song Book, with a studio orchestra conducted and arranged by Buddy Bregman and Norman Granz producing.
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Listen for
Ella Fitzgerald sings a love song about love's absence, with a studio orchestra behind her. The track runs 3:40.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first eight of the melody slowly, then add the from your lead sheet: , , A♭°7, A♭6, , , , B♭m7 . Smaller version: play the melody alone and sing the words over it.
Stan Getz recorded it in Los Angeles on July 30, 1953, with Bob Brookmeyer on valve trombone beside his tenor sax. It came out in 1954 on Interpretations by the Stan Getz Quintet.
swing
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Listen for
Two horns share the , Getz on tenor sax and Brookmeyer on valve trombone, with piano, bass and drums behind them. The track runs 6:08.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody once as written, then again with the same notes in your own rhythm, a little before or after the beat. This needs only the melody; no soloing is involved.
Cannonball Adderley's quintet recorded it in New York on February 11, 1957, with Nat Adderley on cornet. It is on the EmArcy album Sophisticated Swing.
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Listen for
An alto sax and a cornet lead, with piano, bass and drums behind them. The whole track runs 3:48.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody of 1 to 8 on your instrument, then repeat it and change one note of your choice in each bar. Keep the others as written.
John Coltrane recorded it on July 11, 1958, at Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, with Wilbur Harden on trumpet and Red Garland on piano. Prestige issued it in 1962 on Standard Coltrane.
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Listen for
Two horns lead, Coltrane on tenor sax and Harden on trumpet, with Red Garland on piano. Try to tell the two horns apart by sound as the track runs its 6:56.
Try it on your instrument
Loop 5 to 8 ( , , , B♭m7 ), playing the root of each and holding it. Improvising over the loop needs some soloing practice; the smaller version is to play just the roots.
Bill Evans recorded it on December 28, 1959, at Reeves Sound Studios in New York, with Scott LaFaro on bass and Paul Motian on drums. It appeared in 1960 on Portrait in Jazz.
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Listen for
A piano, a bass and a drum set play as a trio. Follow Scott LaFaro's bass on its own for a while, then listen to the piano above it.
Try it on your instrument
Play the , 9 to 16, one per bar: , , , , , Fm6, , . Smaller version: play just the first four chords, then hum the melody over them.
Miles Davis played it with Gil Evans's orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York on May 19, 1961. Columbia issued the concert in 1962 as Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall.
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Listen for
Miles Davis plays the lead on trumpet while Gil Evans's orchestra fills in behind him, with harp and French horns among its instruments. The track runs 4:03 and is a live concert recording.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first eight of the melody, with someone else holding each as long notes underneath. Then play the melody alone again and notice what the held chords added.
Bobby Hutcherson, George Cables, Herbie Lewis and Philly Joe Jones · 1983 · Post-bop
Four Seasons
Bobby Hutcherson recorded it with George Cables, Herbie Lewis and Philly Joe Jones on December 11, 1983, at Studio 44 in Monster, Holland. Timeless Records issued the album Four Seasons in 1985.
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Listen for
The vibraphone leads, its notes ringing on after each strike, with piano, bass and drums behind it. The track runs 7:04.
Try it on your instrument
Play the , 25 to 36, slowly: , , , , , B♭m7 E♭7, Cm7 F7, , Cm7 F7, B♭m7 E♭7, , A♭6 B♭m7 E♭7. Smaller version: play only the first four bars.
Charlie Haden and Kenny Barron played it at The Iridium in New York in September 1996. The live recording came out in 1998 on Night and the City.
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Listen for
Only a bass and a piano play, so each one is easy to hear. The track runs 10:21.
Try it on your instrument
Play it as a duet with a friend: one person plays only the root of each , one note per , and the other plays the melody. Two players are enough, as on this recording.
Rodgers and Hart wrote it for the 1938 Broadway show I Married an Angel, where Dennis King and Vivienne Segal introduced it. According to JazzStandards.com, Leo Reisman's orchestra with singer Felix Knight took it to number 14 that year.
1950s
Stan Getz's quintet records it in 1953 with a valve trombone beside his tenor sax. Ella Fitzgerald sings it in 1956 for her Rodgers and Hart Song Book, and Bill Evans's trio plays it in December 1959.
1960s
Miles Davis plays it with Gil Evans's orchestra at Carnegie Hall in May 1961, and Hampton Hawes plays it with his trio at Mitchell's Studio Club in Los Angeles in 1966.
1980s
Bobby Hutcherson records it on vibraphone with George Cables, Herbie Lewis and Philly Joe Jones on December 11, 1983, in Monster, Holland.
1990s
Charlie Haden and Kenny Barron play it as a bass and piano duet at The Iridium in New York in September 1996, and the live recording runs 10:21.
More great versions
2 more, from 1958 to 1966. Tap a cover to play it here.
Sinatra sang it for the 1958 Capitol album Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely, recorded at Capitol Studio A in Hollywood with arrangements by Nelson Riddle. The album came out on September 8, 1958.
Hampton Hawes played it with Red Mitchell and Donald Bailey live at Mitchell's Studio Club in Los Angeles in 1966. The recording came out in 1973 on the Contemporary label.
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
A♭ majorusual key
36 barsA · B · A · C form
A♭ majorkey centers
A8 bars
B8 bars
A8 bars
C12 bars
A♭
The tune stays in . The , 1 to 8, plays and twice, then , , and B♭m7 . The , bars 9 to 16, runs , , B♭m7 and , rests two bars on , then and E♭7 lead back. The A section returns in bars 17 to 24. The , bars 25 to 36, adds a in bar 27 that points briefly toward , then moves through B♭m7 E♭7 and Cm7 F7 in pairs, , and a closing A♭6 , A♭6 B♭m7 E♭7. These follow the iReal Pro chart; other lead sheets may spell some differently.