Harold Arlen, music · Johnny Mercer, lyrics · Introduced in the film Star Spangled Rhythm
That Old Black Magic
Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer wrote it in 1942 for a Hollywood film, as a song about magic. Its melody leans on repeated notes, and both singers and instrumentalists have recorded it. You can hear it in Star Spangled Rhythm, on Glenn Miller's number-one record, and in Bus Stop.
Listen in this order
The path starts with two records made in July 1942, one by Glenn Miller's band and one by Judy Garland, then hears the song with a big band and as a 1955 pop hit. It continues with three instrumentals from 1954, one with a conga drum, one led by an alto saxophone and one by a piano trio, and ends with Shirley Horn in 1963.
1940sGlenn Miller and His Orchestra, vocals Skip Nelson and the Modernaires1942
Judy Garland with David Rose1942
Dizzy Gillespie and His Orchestra, vocal Johnny Hartman1949
1950sErroll Garner Quartet1954 · Latin jazz
Benny Carter Septet1954
Bud Powell Trio1954
Sammy Davis Jr. with Sy Oliver1955
1960sShirley Horn1963 · Soul jazz
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Hear the 1943 hit
Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, vocals Skip Nelson and the Modernaires · 1942
Single: That Old Black Magic / A Pink Cocktail for a Blue Lady
Glenn Miller's band recorded it in Chicago on July 15, 1942, with Skip Nelson and the Modernaires singing, and RCA Victor released it in January 1943. It reached number one on Billboard that spring and was Miller's last number-one record.
Big band · A chart hit
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Listen for
Skip Nelson sings the lead and the Modernaires, a vocal group, sing with him while the full Miller band plays behind them.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody over six of and hold the same the whole time. Then add the to bars that follow. Smaller version: play the melody over a held E♭ chord.
Judy Garland with David Rose and His Orchestra · 1942
“That Old Black Magic (Single Version)”, Single: That Old Black Magic / Poor Little Rich Girl
Johnny Mercer wrote the lyric with Judy Garland in mind. She recorded it with David Rose's orchestra in Los Angeles on July 26, 1942, and Decca released it as a single in January 1943, just after the film opened.
A great singer
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Listen for
Judy Garland sings with an orchestra led by David Rose, in a single that runs under three minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Sing or hum the tune along with the record. Then play the first 16 of the chart: six bars of , then and alternating, ending and Fm7 B♭7.
Dizzy Gillespie and His Orchestra, vocal Johnny Hartman · 1949
Single: That Old Black Magic / Jump Did-Le Ba
Dizzy Gillespie's big band recorded it in New York on April 14, 1949, with Johnny Hartman singing. RCA Victor issued it as a single with Jump Did-Le Ba on the other side.
Big band · Bebop · A great singer
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Listen for
Johnny Hartman sings while a big band with four trumpets, three trombones, five saxophones and a conga drummer plays behind him.
Try it on your instrument
Count the 72 while the record plays: A, B and C run 16 bars each and D runs 24. Easier version: just tap the beat along with the band.
Sammy Davis Jr. with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra · 1955
Single: That Old Black Magic / A Man with a Dream
Sammy Davis Jr. recorded it in New York on March 10, 1955, with Sy Oliver's orchestra. Decca released it as a single, and it charted on Billboard that year.
A great singer · A chart hit
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Listen for
Sammy Davis Jr. sings the whole song with an orchestra led by Sy Oliver, and the record runs about three minutes and twenty seconds.
Try it on your instrument
Play the C part, 33 to 48, which is the most unusual stretch: , , , then . Smaller version: play just the melody over those four , one chord at a time.
Erroll Garner recorded it in New York in July 1954, with bass, drums and Candido on conga. Mercury issued it as a single and on the album Mambo Moves Garner.
Piano trio · Latin feel
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Listen for
Candido's conga drum joins the piano, bass and drums, so the rhythm has an extra layer under Garner's piano. The track runs more than five minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first 16 with the bass note on every beat and even, steady eighth notes in the right hand, in a Latin style. Easier version: keep the left hand on E♭ for the first six bars.
New Jazz Sounds Featuring Benny Carter, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Harris
Alto saxophonist Benny Carter led this session in New York on September 14, 1954, with Oscar Peterson's trio, trombonist Bill Harris and drummer Buddy Rich. According to JazzStandards.com, the record builds to a drum solo by Rich on the last .
Alto saxophone
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Listen for
At nearly seven minutes, this is the longest version on the path. Carter's alto saxophone and Peterson's piano both solo, and Buddy Rich's drums close it out.
Try it on your instrument
Pick one from the chart, such as , and play only its notes in the melody's rhythm for one . This needs some improvising, so a smaller version is to play the melody once and then repeat only its first phrase.
“That Old Black Magic (Master Take)”, Bud Powell '57
Bud Powell's trio with Percy Heath and Max Roach recorded several takes in New York on December 16, 1954. Take 4, the master, came out on Norgran in 1955.
Bebop · Piano trio · Latin feel
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Listen for
At 2:14, this is the shortest version on the path: just Powell's piano, Heath's bass and Roach's drums, with a Latin feel in the opening sections.
Try it on your instrument
Play the to pairs from the first 16 slowly, two beats each, then speed up. Smaller version: play Fm7 and B♭7 as two plain , alternating.
Arlen and Mercer write the song for the 1942 film Star Spangled Rhythm. Glenn Miller's band and Judy Garland both record it in July 1942, and Dizzy Gillespie's big band cuts it with Johnny Hartman in 1949.
1950s
Erroll Garner records it with a conga player in July 1954, and Bud Powell's trio cuts it that December. Sammy Davis Jr.'s 1955 Decca single charts on Billboard.
1960s
Ella Fitzgerald includes it on her Harold Arlen song book album, finished in January 1961, and Shirley Horn sings it in New York in December 1963 for a Quincy Jones production.
2010s
Bob Dylan sings it on Fallen Angels, a Columbia album released in May 2016.
More great versions
4 more, from 1954 to 2014. Tap a cover to play it here.
1950sOscar Peterson Trio1954 · Swing
Sarah Vaughan1957 · Vocal
Louis Prima and Keely Smith with Sam Butera and the Witnesses1958
Louis Prima and Keely Smith with Sam Butera and the Witnesses
1958
“That Old Black Magic (Live in Las Vegas/1958)”, Wild, Cool & Swingin'
Louis Prima and Keely Smith had a 1958 single of the song on Capitol that reached number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1959 it won the first Grammy for best performance by a vocal group.
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
72 barsA · B · C · D form
E♭ major → C minor and nearby keys → E♭ majorkey centers
A16 bars
B16 bars
C16 bars
D24 bars
E♭
C minor and nearby keys
E♭
The runs 72 in four parts, A (16 bars), B (16), C (16) and D (24), in , following the iReal Pro chart. A sits on six bars of , then alternates and , and closes with to and Fm7 to B♭7. B starts the same way and then moves through , Fm7 to B♭7, Gm7 and , ending and to . C is the one that leaves home: , , G7 and C7, then Fm7 and to D♭7, with Gm7 to C7 and Fm7 to B♭7 leading back. D returns to E♭maj7, goes through to and , and finishes with a long run of Fm7, A♭m7 to D♭7 and Fm7 to before E♭6. JazzStandards.com counts the same tune in eight-bar sections, so the part boundaries in other charts can differ.