Traditional, credited to Joe Primrose (Irving Mills) · First recorded under this title by Louis Armstrong, December 1928
St. James Infirmary
A folk song of grief, credited to Joe Primrose, a pen name of the publisher Irving Mills. Its tune is only eight long and sits in a minor , so it repeats for every . You can hear it from Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Jack Teagarden, Bobby Bland, Red Garland and Anat Cohen.
Listen in this order
The path starts with Louis Armstrong's 1928 record, then follows the song through two big bands, a trombone feature, a blues singer, a piano trio and an organ with orchestra. It ends with a clarinet quartet recorded live in 2009.
1920sLouis Armstrong & His Savoy Ballroom Five1928
1930sCab Calloway1930
1940sArtie Shaw and His Orchestra with Hot Lips Page1941
Jack Teagarden with Louis Armstrong1947
1950s
1960sBobby "Blue" Bland1960
The Red Garland Trio1962 · Hard bop
Jimmy Smith with the Oliver Nelson Orchestra1965 · Bebop
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000sAnat Cohen2009
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Start with the record that made the song famous
Louis Armstrong & His Savoy Ballroom Five · 1928
OKeh single
Armstrong's Savoy Ballroom Five recorded it in Chicago on December 12, 1928, and Okeh issued it as number 8657. The first release credited Don Redman as composer; later releases credited Joe Primrose.
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Listen for
Armstrong sings and plays trumpet on this record. Listen for the same short tune coming around again for each ; the record runs 3:22.
Try it on your instrument
Play the chart's eight slowly, once through for each of the record, with the and as written. Smaller version: alternate Fm and C7, two beats each.
Calloway's orchestra recorded it for Brunswick on December 23, 1930, and the record came out in 1931 on Brunswick 6105, with Nobody's Sweetheart on the other side.
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Calloway sings, and a band of trumpets, trombone, reeds, banjo, piano and drums plays behind him. The record runs 3:05.
Try it on your instrument
Play the chart through twice, slowly, humming the tune over it. Smaller version: play only the first of each .
Artie Shaw and His Orchestra with Hot Lips Page · 1941
“St. James Infirmary Blues, Parts 1 and 2”, Victor single
Shaw's orchestra recorded it in New York on November 12, 1941, in two parts that Victor issued on the two sides of one 78 rpm record, number 27895, in May 1942.
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Hot Lips Page sings and plays trumpet in front of a large orchestra that includes strings. The two sides together run 6:20.
Try it on your instrument
Play the chart's eight with four slow beats to each , humming the tune. Smaller version: play only and .
Jack Teagarden with Louis Armstrong and His All Stars · 1947
The Complete RCA Victor Recordings
Teagarden's feature at the Town Hall concert of May 17, 1947, which became the first outing of Louis Armstrong's All Stars. He had first recorded the song in 1930 for Irving Mills, with his brother Charlie singing.
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Listen for
Teagarden sings and plays trombone in front of a live audience, with piano, bass and drums behind him. According to JazzStandards.com, he brings back the eerie water-glass sound from his 1930 record.
Try it on your instrument
Sing or hum the tune over the chart's eight , one at a time, and play the on piano under your voice. Smaller version: play one chord per bar and hum.
Bland recorded it in Chicago on November 12, 1960, at the same session as his hit Don't Cry No More. It came out in 1961 on the flip side of that single and on the album Two Steps from the Blues.
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Bland's voice leads from start to finish, with a band arranged and conducted by Joe Scott behind him. At 2:26 it is the shortest record on this path.
Try it on your instrument
Sing or hum the tune over the chart's eight , then play the chart once with only. Smaller version: play just and , two bars each.
Garland's trio recorded it at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on October 9, 1962. Prestige issued it in 1963 on the album When There Are Grey Skies.
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A piano trio plays the song as an instrumental, so the piano carries the tune while the bass and drums keep time under it. At 6:37 the short tune comes around many times.
Try it on your instrument
Play the chart's eight on piano, then play them again, changing the right-hand part each time; this is improvising, which takes practice. Smaller version: play the chart once with the tune in your right hand and the in your left.
Jimmy Smith with the Oliver Nelson Orchestra · 1965 · Bebop
The Incredible Jimmy Smith: Monster
Smith recorded it at Van Gelder Studio on January 19 or 20, 1965, with an orchestra arranged and conducted by Oliver Nelson. Verve issued it that year on the album Monster.
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Listen for
Smith plays organ, with guitar, bass, drums and Oliver Nelson's orchestra of reeds around him; the track runs 5:14. Listen for how a larger band changes the feel after the trio on the step before.
Try it on your instrument
Play the chart's eight on a keyboard with the in your right hand and the bass note in your left. Smaller version: hold one chord per bar.
Cohen's quartet recorded it live at the Village Vanguard in New York on July 5, 2009, and Anzic Records released the album in April 2010. At 10:16 it is the longest track on this path.
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Listen for
Cohen plays clarinet with piano, bass and drums in front of a live audience, and the short tune comes around many times over ten minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the chart's eight and keep going around them, taking turns: melody once, then only. Smaller version: play the chart once at a slow tempo.
Fess Williams and his Royal Flush Orchestra record it as "Gambler's Blues" in 1927. Louis Armstrong's Savoy Ballroom Five records it as "St. James Infirmary" on December 12, 1928, and Okeh issues it.
1930s
Cab Calloway records it with his orchestra for Brunswick on December 23, 1930. According to JazzStandards.com, Jack Teagarden also made his first recording of it that year, with his brother Charlie singing.
1940s
Artie Shaw's orchestra records it in two parts in November 1941, with Hot Lips Page singing and playing trumpet. At Town Hall in May 1947, Jack Teagarden makes it his feature with Louis Armstrong's All Stars.
1960s
Bobby Bland sings it in November 1960 for Two Steps from the Blues. The Red Garland Trio plays it in October 1962, and Jimmy Smith plays it on organ with Oliver Nelson's orchestra in January 1965.
1970s
Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie record it in 1977 with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Mickey Roker. Pablo releases it on The Gifted Ones in 1979.
1980s
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band plays it on My Feet Can't Fail Me Now, the group's first album, released on Concord Jazz in 1984.
2000s
Anat Cohen records it live at the Village Vanguard on July 5, 2009, with Benny Green, Peter Washington and Lewis Nash. The track runs more than ten minutes.
2010s
Hugh Laurie records it in 2010 for Let Them Talk, with horn parts by Allen Toussaint. Jon Batiste produces and sings his own version on Hollywood Africans in 2018.
More great versions
4 more, from 1977 to 2018. Tap a cover to play it here.
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
F minorusual key
8 barsA form
F minorkey centers
A8 bars
F m
The tune is eight long, shorter than a , and it repeats once for each , so there is a single section, A, and one , . In iReal Pro's chart bars 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 each hold and , bar 3 holds Fm and , bar 7 holds B♭m and C7, and bar 8 lands on Fm. The chart is a reading of iReal Pro's version, and other lead sheets may spell some differently.