Richard Rodgers, music · Lorenz Hart, lyrics · Introduced by William Gaxton and Constance Carpenter in A Connecticut Yankee, 1927
Thou Swell
Thou Swell is a love song from the 1927 Broadway musical A Connecticut Yankee, by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Its moves through several , which gives players plenty to work with. You can hear it from Bix Beiderbecke, Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan.
Listen in this order
The path opens with two jazz records from spring 1928, by the Louisiana Sugar Babes and Bix Beiderbecke's band. It moves to Horace Silver's piano trio and Charlie Parker with a big band, then to three singers, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Nat King Cole. It ends with Stacey Kent's band in 2001.
Charlie Parker with the Joe Theimer Orchestra1953 · Bebop
Ella Fitzgerald1956 · Vocal
Sarah Vaughan1957 · Vocal
1960sNat King Cole1960 · Big band
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000sStacey Kent2001
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Hear the song in 1928
Louisiana Sugar Babes · 1928
“Thou Swell (From "Connecticut Yankee")”, If You Got to Ask, You Ain't Got It!
The Louisiana Sugar Babes recorded it in Camden, New Jersey, on March 27, 1928, a few months after the song came out in the 1927 show. James P. Johnson plays piano and Fats Waller plays organ, with Jabbo Smith on cornet and Garvin Bushell on clarinet.
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Listen for
Pick out the four instruments: Jabbo Smith's cornet, Garvin Bushell's clarinet, James P. Johnson's piano and Fats Waller's organ. The whole record runs just under three minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first eight (the ): , , Fm7, B♭7, , , E♭maj7, then and together in bar 8. Hum the tune over them. Smaller version: play only the bass notes F, B♭, F, B♭, E♭, A♭, E♭.
Bix Beiderbecke recorded it in New York on April 17, 1928, with six colleagues from the Paul Whiteman orchestra. OKeh issued it on a 78 rpm record paired with Somebody Stole My Gal.
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Listen for
Bix's cornet carries the lead, with Bill Rank's trombone and Izzy Friedman's clarinet beside it. Min Leibrook's bass saxophone and the drums sit underneath.
Try it on your instrument
Play the , 9 to 16: , , , , , , B♭7, Gm7 C7. Smaller version: play one per bar, the first of each pair.
Charlie Parker with the Joe Theimer Orchestra · 1953 · Bebop, Big band
One Night in Washington
Charlie Parker played with Joe Theimer's orchestra at Club Kavakos in Washington, DC, on February 22, 1953. The live recording came out in 1982 on Elektra/Musician.
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Listen for
Parker's alto saxophone takes the lead in front of a big band of trumpets, trombones and saxophones. The recording was made live in a club.
Try it on your instrument
Play 7 to 10: , , , . Smaller version: play only the bass notes E♭, A then D, G then C, F then B♭. Soloing over the full needs more practice than this.
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers and Hart Song Book
Ella Fitzgerald recorded the Rodgers and Hart Song Book in Los Angeles in August 1956, with Buddy Bregman arranging and conducting the orchestra. This track is the shortest on the path, about two minutes.
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Listen for
Ella sings the song once through with Buddy Bregman's orchestra behind her. It ends at 2:05, so there is no room for long solos.
Try it on your instrument
Play 12 and 13, where the music moves to a new : , then . Smaller version: play only the roots B♭, E♭, A♭, G.
“Thou Swell (Live at Mister Kelly's, Chicago / 1957)”, Sarah Vaughan at Mister Kelly's
Sarah Vaughan sang it live at Mister Kelly's, a Chicago club, in August 1957. EmArcy released the album in February 1958.
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Listen for
Vaughan sings with only piano, bass and drums behind her, so her voice carries the song. The recording comes from a live club date.
Try it on your instrument
Play 1 to 8 as slow whole notes, one per bar: , , Fm7, B♭7, , , E♭maj7, (with at the end). Sing or hum the tune over them. Smaller version: play only the bass notes.
“Thou Swell (Live at the Sands)”, Nat King Cole at the Sands
Nat King Cole sang it live at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas in January 1960. Capitol shelved the recording and released it in 1966 as Nat King Cole at the Sands.
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Listen for
Cole sings in a Las Vegas showroom with an orchestra conducted by Antonio Morelli behind him. The whole song takes about two and a half minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the , 1 to 8, twice: , , Fm7, B♭7, , , E♭maj7, . Smaller version: play only the first four bars and stop on E♭maj7.
Stacey Kent recorded it in 2001 for In Love Again, an album made around the 2002 Richard Rodgers centennial celebration. It is the longest take on the path, at 4:52.
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Listen for
Kent sings with a small band of tenor saxophone, piano, guitar, bass and drums. Compare its length of 4:52 with Ella Fitzgerald's two minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole at a slow tempo, one per (the first chord when a bar has two). Smaller version: play only the , then stop.
The song comes from Rodgers and Hart's 1927 musical A Connecticut Yankee. Ben Selvin's orchestra records it in November 1927, and in 1928 the Louisiana Sugar Babes and Bix Beiderbecke record jazz versions.
1950s
Horace Silver records it with a piano trio in 1952, and Charlie Parker plays it live with a big band in 1953. Ella Fitzgerald sings it in 1956 for her Rodgers and Hart album.
1960s
Nat King Cole sings it with an orchestra at the Sands in Las Vegas in January 1960. Capitol releases the live recording in 1966.
2000s
Stacey Kent records it in 2001 for In Love Again, an album made around the 2002 Richard Rodgers centennial celebration.
More great versions
2 more, from 1952 to 1956. Tap a cover to play it here.
1950sOscar Peterson Trio1952
Blossom Dearie1956 · Vocal
Oscar Peterson Trio
1952
Oscar Peterson Plays Richard Rodgers
Oscar Peterson played it with guitarist Barney Kessel and bassist Ray Brown for his Richard Rodgers album, released in 1954 on Clef.
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
32 barsA · B · A · C form
E♭ major → A♭ major → B♭ major → E♭ majorkey centers
A8 bars
B8 bars
A8 bars
C8 bars
E♭
A♭
B♭
E♭
The tune is 32 in four 8-bar sections: A, B, A, C. In iReal Pro's chart the runs , , Fm7 and B♭7 in bars 1 to 4, then , and E♭maj7, and bar 8 holds and . The , bars 9 to 16, plays , Fm7 B♭7, E♭maj7, , , , B♭7 and Gm7 C7. The A section returns in bars 17 to 24. The , bars 25 to 32, plays Gm7 C7, Fm7 B♭7, , C7, Fm7, B♭7 and for the last two bars. The areas above are a reading of iReal Pro's chart, and other lead sheets may spell some differently.