Matt Dennis, music · Tom Adair, lyrics · Recorded by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra with Connie Haines, 1941
Will You Still Be Mine?
Will You Still Be Mine? is a 1940 song by Matt Dennis, with words by Tom Adair. Its runs 40 , with two long sections followed by a short closing one. You can hear it from Erroll Garner, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Jackie McLean.
Listen in this order
The path starts with the 1941 dance-band record by Tommy Dorsey and Connie Haines, then moves into small-group jazz with Erroll Garner, Miles Davis and Red Garland. Sonny Rollins, Kenny Burrell and the Dave Brubeck Quartet come next, and Jackie McLean closes the path with a 1996 version.
1940sTommy Dorsey and His Orchestra with Connie Haines1941 · Big band
1950sErroll Garner Trio1953 · Swing
Miles Davis Quartet1955 · Bebop
The Red Garland Trio1957 · Hard bop
Sonny Rollins Trio1958 · Hard bop
Kenny Burrell Trio1959 · Hard bop
1960sThe Dave Brubeck Quartet1962 · Bebop
1970s
1980s
1990sJackie McLean and Junko Onishi1996 · Bebop
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Hear the song as a 1941 dance-band vocal
Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra with Connie Haines · 1941 · Big band
Will You Still Be Mine? / Yes Indeed!
Matt Dennis wrote the song in 1940 while arranging for Tommy Dorsey's band. The orchestra recorded it in February 1941 with singer Connie Haines, and Victor released it on a 78 rpm record in May.
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Connie Haines is the featured singer, with the whole Dorsey orchestra behind her. The record runs a little over three minutes, the length of a 78 rpm side.
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Play the first four of the , one per bar: , , , . Smaller version: play only the root note of each chord.
Erroll Garner recorded it in New York on February 27, 1953, with bassist Wyatt Ruther and drummer Fats Heard. Columbia released it that year on the LP Erroll Garner (At the Piano).
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Garner plays piano with Wyatt Ruther on bass and Fats Heard on drums. The track runs 6:24, so the trio has time to play through the tune more than once.
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Play 5 to 8 of the first : , E♭maj7, , . Smaller version: play the same , one per bar, with only the root note.
Miles Davis recorded it on June 7, 1955, at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Hackensack, with Red Garland, Oscar Pettiford and Philly Joe Jones. Prestige released it that September as the first track of The Musings of Miles, his first 12-inch LP.
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Miles Davis leads on trumpet, with Red Garland's piano, Oscar Pettiford's bass and Philly Joe Jones's drums behind him. The track runs about six minutes.
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Play 9 to 16 of the first : , Cm7, , F7, , , , . Smaller version: play one per bar, the first of each pair.
Red Garland recorded it with Paul Chambers and Art Taylor on August 9, 1957, in the same Hackensack studio where he had played it in Miles Davis's quartet two years earlier. Prestige released it that December on Groovy.
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Garland plays piano with Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums. He played the same tune in the Miles Davis quartet two years earlier, so you can hear one pianist in two settings.
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Play the , 33 to 40: , A♭maj7, , D♭7♯11, , E♭maj7, , . Smaller version: play one per bar, the first of each pair.
Sonny Rollins recorded it in February 1958 at WOR Studios in New York, with Oscar Pettiford on bass and Max Roach on drums. It is on Freedom Suite, which Riverside released in 1958.
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Rollins plays tenor saxophone with only Oscar Pettiford's bass and Max Roach's drums behind him. At under three minutes it is one of the shorter versions on this page.
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Play the last four of the second , bars 29 to 32: , , , . Smaller version: play only B♭m7 and E♭7, one bar each.
Kenny Burrell's trio recorded it live at the Village Vanguard in New York on September 16 and 17, 1959, with Richard Davis on bass and Roy Haynes on drums. Argo released it in 1960 on A Night at the Vanguard.
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Burrell leads on guitar with Richard Davis on bass and Roy Haynes on drums, so three instruments carry the whole track. It was recorded live in a New York club.
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Play the whole form once with one per bar, taking the first chord when a bar has two. Smaller version: play just the , bars 1 to 16.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet recorded it in New York on July 2, 1962, and Columbia released it three years later, in 1965, on the album Angel Eyes.
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Paul Desmond's alto saxophone and Dave Brubeck's piano are the two lead voices, with Gene Wright on bass and Joe Morello on drums.
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Play the first , 1 to 16, with in the left hand and the melody on top if you know it. Smaller version: play bars 1 to 4 and 13 to 16, skipping the middle.
Jackie McLean recorded it in January 1996 at the Power Station in New York, with pianist Junko Onishi, bassist Nat Reeves and drummer Lewis Nash. It is on Hat Trick, released in May 1996.
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McLean leads on alto saxophone, with Junko Onishi's piano, Nat Reeves's bass and Lewis Nash's drums behind him. The track runs 5:27.
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Playing a solo over all 40 needs more experience. Smaller version: play the , bars 33 to 40, one per bar: , A♭maj7, , D♭7♯11, , E♭maj7, , .
Matt Dennis writes the song in 1940 while arranging for Tommy Dorsey's band. Dorsey's orchestra records it in 1941 with singer Connie Haines.
1950s
Erroll Garner's trio plays it in 1953, and Miles Davis's quartet records it in 1955. Sonny Rollins plays it in 1958 with only bass and drums behind him.
1960s
The Dave Brubeck Quartet records it in New York in 1962. Columbia releases it in 1965 on the album Angel Eyes.
1990s
Alto saxophonist Jackie McLean records it in January 1996 with pianist Junko Onishi, bassist Nat Reeves and drummer Lewis Nash. It is on the album Hat Trick.
More great versions
5 more, from 1951 to 1959. Tap a cover to play it here.
1950sAhmad Jamal Trio1951 · Cool jazz
Matt Dennis1954 · Vocal
Erroll Garner Trio1955
Tal Farlow Sextet1955 · Bebop
Lem Winchester Quintet with Benny Golson1959 · Cool jazz
“Will You Still Be Mine”, The Complete Concert by the Sea
Erroll Garner played it at his Carmel concert on September 19, 1955, with Eddie Calhoun on bass and Denzil Best on drums. It was left off the original 1955 album and appears on the 2015 expanded edition.
Vibraphonist Lem Winchester led a quintet with tenor saxophonist Benny Golson at Rudy Van Gelder's New Jersey studio on September 25, 1959. New Jazz released it that year on Winchester Special.
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
40 barsA · A · B form
E♭ major · C minor · A♭ majorkeys it moves between
A16 bars
A16 bars
B8 bars
E♭
C m
E♭
C m
E♭
A♭
E♭
The tune is 40 : two 16-bar and an 8-bar . In iReal Pro's chart both A sections open with the same four bars, , , and . The first A then plays E♭maj7, E♭maj7, and in bars 5 to 8, , Cm7, and F7 in bars 9 to 12, and , , E♭maj7 and Fm7 B♭7 in bars 13 to 16. The second A plays for two bars, Cm7 for four and F7 for two, then F♯m7 B7, B♭7♯9, and in bars 29 to 32, which leads into the B section. The B section, bars 33 to 40, plays for two bars, for two, E♭maj7 for two, then F♯m7 B7 and Fm7 B♭7 to turn back to the top. The areas above are a reading of iReal Pro's chart, and other lead sheets may spell some differently.