Harold Arlen, music · Ted Koehler, lyrics · Introduced by Ethel Waters at the Cotton Club
Stormy Weather
Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler wrote Stormy Weather for the 1933 Cotton Club Parade, a Harlem nightclub revue. Ethel Waters sang it in the show, and Leo Reisman, Waters and Duke Ellington all recorded it that year. Lena Horne sang it in the 1943 film, and Billie Holiday and Red Garland recorded it in the 1950s.
Listen in this order
The path starts with Ethel Waters, who introduced the song, and the Ellington band that played in her show. It moves through two singers, then a trumpet with strings, a saxophone quartet and a piano trio, and ends with a thirteen-minute quartet record.
Dizzy Gillespie and His Operatic Strings1953 · Bebop
Roland Kirk Quartet1956 · Bebop
The Red Garland Trio1958 · Hard bop
1960sCharles Mingus Quartet1960 · Hard bop
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Ethel Waters · 1933
“Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time)”, 78 rpm single, reissued on The Incomparable Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters sang the song in the 1933 Cotton Club Parade in Harlem and recorded it that May with the Dorsey Brothers' Orchestra. Tommy Dorsey played trombone and Jimmy Dorsey played alto saxophone and clarinet.
Sung versions
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Listen for
One singer and one dance band, about three minutes long. This is the voice that sang the song in the show where it began.
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Play the melody along with the record, one phrase at a time. Then play it alone with the from a chart.
Victor 27819 single, from the album Moanin' Low: Torch Songs by Lena Horne
Lena Horne recorded this for Victor in Hollywood on December 15, 1941, with an orchestra conducted by Lou Bring. She sang it again in the 1943 film Stormy Weather.
Sung versions
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An orchestra conducted by Lou Bring backs Lena Horne for about three and a half minutes. This record came two years before the film.
Try it on your instrument
Play or sing the melody along with the record, and notice where the singer breathes. Then play it alone and breathe in the same places.
Billie Holiday and Her Orchestra · 1952 · Vocal, Swing
An Evening with Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday recorded this in New York on July 27, 1952, with a sextet that included Joe Newman on trumpet, Paul Quinichette on tenor saxophone and Oscar Peterson on piano. It came out on the Clef album An Evening with Billie Holiday in 1953.
Sung versions
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Billie Holiday sings with a small band that includes a trumpet and a tenor saxophone. Compare the band with the larger orchestras on the earlier records.
Try it on your instrument
Sing or play the melody along with the record. Then try it alone, a little behind the beat, the way a singer might.
Dizzy Gillespie and His Operatic Strings · 1953 · Bebop
The Very Thought of You
Dizzy Gillespie recorded this in Paris on February 22, 1953, with a string orchestra and a of Wade Legge on piano, Lou Hackney on bass and Al Jones on drums. It was issued on a Blue Star single paired with The Very Thought of You.
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Listen for
Dizzy Gillespie plays the tune on trumpet with strings behind him. The trumpet carries the melody that a voice carries on the other records.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody and shape each phrase the way a voice would, with the record behind you.
Roland Kirk recorded this in New York on November 9, 1956, with James Madison on piano, Carl Pruitt on bass and Henry Duncan on drums. It first came out on the King LP Triple Threat in 1957.
Saxophone and clarinet leads
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Roland Kirk, who played tenor saxophone, manzello and stritch, leads a quartet with piano, bass and drums. The record runs under five minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody with the record. If you play a horn, try shaping the long notes the way the lead player does.
The Red Garland Trio recorded this at Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, on November 27, 1958, for the album All Kinds of Weather. According to Wikipedia, public radio's Marketplace plays this version when it reports a fall in the Dow Jones average.
Piano trio versions
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A piano trio plays the tune for over ten minutes, with the piano in front and bass and drums behind it. That is more than three times as long as the sung records.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody with a backing track, then, if you can improvise over , take one . Smaller version: play the melody twice and change the rhythm of one phrase the second time.
Charles Mingus led this quartet at Nola Penthouse Sound Studios in New York on October 20, 1960, with Ted Curson on trumpet, Eric Dolphy on alto saxophone and bass clarinet, and Dannie Richmond on drums. It was issued as take 1 on the 1961 Candid LP Mingus.
Saxophone and clarinet leads
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A quartet of trumpet, a reed player (Eric Dolphy played alto saxophone and bass clarinet at this session), bass and drums takes the song past thirteen minutes. The tune is the starting point, and the long solos carry most of the record.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody with the record's opening. Then, if you can improvise over , take one on your own; smaller version: play the melody and stop on a long note where the soloist would start.
Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler write it for the Cotton Club Parade, and Ethel Waters sings it in the show. Leo Reisman records it with Arlen singing, and Waters and Duke Ellington's orchestra record it in May 1933.
1940s
Lena Horne records it for Victor in December 1941 and sings it in the 1943 film Stormy Weather.
1950s
Billie Holiday records it with a small band in 1952, and Dizzy Gillespie plays it with strings in Paris in 1953. The Red Garland Trio plays it for more than ten minutes in 1958.
1960s
Charles Mingus's quartet with Eric Dolphy stretches it past thirteen minutes in October 1960. Ella Fitzgerald sings it on her Harold Arlen songbook album for Verve.
1990s
Joni Mitchell records it in 1999 for her album Both Sides Now, released in 2000.
More great versions
1 more, from 1933 to 1933. Tap a cover to play it here.
1930sLeo Reisman and His Orchestra, with Harold Arlen1933
Leo Reisman and His Orchestra, with Harold Arlen
1933
Victor 78 rpm single
Leo Reisman recorded the song for Victor in late February 1933, before the Cotton Club show opened, with the composer Harold Arlen singing.
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
G majorusual key
32 barsA · A · B · A form
Gkey centers
A8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars · bridge
A8 bars
G
The chart has 32 in four sections of eight: A, A, B, A, in . Each moves in two-chord bars: with , with , Gmaj7 with E7, Am7 with D7, then with E7, Am7 with , G6 with and Am7 with D7. The second A ends differently, on G6 with and G6 with , which leads into B. B opens on with and with G7, twice, then goes through C6 with C♯°7, G6/D with E7, with E7 and with D7 to lead back to the last A. The iReal chart counts 32 bars; according to JazzStandards.com, the published song has two extra bars before the .