How High the Moon
"How High the Moon" is a jazz standard with lyrics by Nancy Hamilton and music by Morgan Lewis. It was first featured in the 1940 Broadway revue Two for the Show, where it was sung by Alfred Drake and Frances Comstock.[1] In Two for the Show, this was a rare serious moment in an otherwise humorous revue.
- Jam Session at the Tower (2008).
Ray Anthony
and his orchestra (recorded in two parts November 30, 1947, released by Decca Records as catalog numbers 28103 & 28104, each with the flip side being a part of a two-part recording of "Body and Soul".[15])
Louis Armstrong
Mitchel Ayres' orchestra (vocal: Mary Ann Mercer: recorded February 8, 1940, released by as catalog number 10609B, with the flip side "A House with a Little Red Barn".[16])
Bluebird Records
Bonnemere (released 1949 by as catalog number 582, with the flip side "Autumn Leaves".[17])
Royal Roost Records
- Mahlon Merrick arrangement, February 18, 1940.
The Jack Benny Show
and his orchestra (recorded March 22, 1946, released by Decca Records as catalog number 29479, with the flip side "Thunder Rock".[18])
Randy Brooks
Trio (recorded November 11, 1948, released by Aladdin Records as catalog number 3071, with the flip side "Texas Blues".[19])
Charles Brown
The Octet recorded a lengthy track, with narration, where they play "How High The Moon" in various jazz styles.
Dave Brubeck
The Dave Brubeck Quartet recorded a 9:11-length version at in March 1953 that is included on the album Jazz at Oberlin.
Oberlin College
Dave Brubeck and recorded it as a short, slow ballad on Brubeck's 1995 CD Young Lions & Old Tigers.
Jon Hendricks
Quintet (recorded November 26, 1945, released by Savoy Records as catalog numbers 597A and 916A, both with the flip side "Ko Ko".[20])
Don Byas
Lilyann Carol with and Orchestra (released by National Records as catalog number 7015, with the flip side "Please Be Kind".[21])
Charlie Ventura
's Sextet (recorded January 19, 1945, released by Capitol Records as catalog number 10034, with the flip side "Sometimes I'm Happy".[22])
Al Casey
Trio (released by Musicraft Records as catalog number 315, with the flip side "The Song Is Ended".[23])
Herman Chittison
- A Friendly Session, Vol. 3 (2000) with the Johnny Guarnieri Quintet; Cool Christy (2002).
June Christy
and his orchestra (recorded February 20, 1940, released by Victor Records as catalog number 26521, with the flip side "Bread and Butter".[24])
Larry Clinton
(released by Capitol Records as catalog number 10191, with the flip side "Blues in My Shower".[22])
Nat King Cole
(released by Capitol Records as catalog number 531, with the flip side "I'll Never Be the Same".[3])
King Cole Trio
- I Walk With Music (2002).
Chris Connor
and his orchestra (recorded November 14, 1947, released by Columbia Records as catalog number 38950, with the flip side "Cowboy Rhumba".[26])
Duke Ellington
(recorded 1947, released by MGM Records as catalog number 10332, with the flip side "The Night Is Young and You're So Beautiful".[27])
Ziggy Elman
(released by Arco Records as catalog number 1214, with the flip side "Don't Blame Me."[28])
Erroll Garner
Trio (recorded October 7, 1950, released by Columbia Records as catalog number 39145, with the flip side "Poor Butterfly".[29])
Erroll Garner
(on Tamla Records album The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye, catalog number TM 221, released June 1961.[1])
Marvin Gaye
(released by MGM Records as catalog number 30742, with another recording of the same song by Jimmy McPartland on the flip side.[31])
Dizzy Gillespie
Septet (released by Capitol Records as catalog number 20126, with the flip side "Benny's Boogie".[32])
Benny Goodman
(released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-2119, with the flip side "Far Away Island".[33])
Larry Green
Quintet (recorded April 2, 1947, released by Decca Records as catalog number 24513, with the flip side "Ribs and Hot Sauce".[34])
Lionel Hampton
(released by Capitol Records as catalog number 60004, with the flip side "The Moon Is Low".[35])
Bill Harris
and his orchestra (recorded May 2, 1944, released by Signature Records as catalog number 40002A, with the flip side "Sarcastic Lady".[36])
Eddie Heywood
(recorded in four parts October 7, 1946, released by Mercury Records as catalog numbers 11009 & 11010.[39])
Jazz at the Philharmonic
Bibbi Johnson and Thore Swanerud (recorded September 19, 1949, in , Sweden; released by Savoy Records as catalog number 965, with the flip side "Tout Desire".[20]) (also listed as by the Thore Swanerud Sextet, issued by Discovery Records as catalog number 173, with the flip side "Tout D'Suite".[40])
Stockholm
Up and At Em CD (2001).
Carlos del Junco
and his orchestra (recorded May 27, 1946, released by Columbia Records as catalog number 38345, with the flip side "Tea for Two".[41])
Gene Krupa
on the album The World Is Falling Down (Verve Records), 1991.
Abbey Lincoln
on the album Live at Birdland, 1957 (1992, Collectable Records), recorded live in stereo at the Seattle, Washington, Birdland Club in 1957.
Big Jay McNeely
(issued back-to-back with the Dizzy Gillespie recording by MGM Records as catalog number 30742.[31])
Jimmy McPartland
Metronome All Stars (with , Lester Young, Billy Eckstine, Warne Marsh, among others) (1953).
Roy Eldridge
and his orchestra (recorded February 20, 1940, released by Decca Records as catalog number 3030A, with the flip side "Rose of the World".[42])
Russ Morgan
(with Ralph Burns orchestra; released by Signature Records as catalog number 15185A, with the flip side "Key Largo".[36])
Anita O'Day
(released by Mercury Records as catalog number 8943, with the flip side "Nameless Blues".[43])
Oscar Peterson
dedicated to the memory of Les Paul, Darien Center, NY 8/13/2009.
Phish
on their 1981 Mercury Records album Polecats Are Go!.
The Polecats
(piano) on the album Spring Broadcasts 1953, with Oscar Pettiford on bass and Roy Haynes on drums. This broadcast was recorded March 21, 1953.
Bud Powell
and his orchestra (recorded August 14, 1947, released by Atlantic Records as catalog number 860, with the flip side "Trouble Is a Man".[44])
Boyd Raeburn
(on 1991 Blue Note Records album I Remember, catalog number B2 90264,[1] also recorded for the Grammy Award-winning soundtrack to Good Night, and Good Luck in 2005.
Dianne Reeves
and his orchestra (vocal: Rosemary Calvin; recorded February 14, 1940, released by Vocalion Records as catalog number 5420, with the flip side "House with a Little Red Barn".[45])
Freddie Rich
with Stephane Grappelli (on 3-CD set, Retrospective 1934-53, released by Sunny Side on November 4, 2006)
Django Reinhardt
(piano instrumental solo; released by Signature Records as catalog number 15025B, with the flip side "A Rainy Night in Georgia".[36])
Hazel Scott
Quintet (recorded December 18, 1951, released by MGM Records as catalog number 30627, with the flip side "Ghost of a Chance".[31])
George Shearing
(released by Blue Note Records as catalog number 1667, with the flip side "Summertime".[47])
Jimmy Smith
in 1985 on her jazz album I'm in Love Again on Fantasy Records.
Keely Smith
on her album Miss Pony Tail (1957). This version plays during the opening scenes of the movie Biloxi Blues, and is also featured in the movie Eat a Bowl of Tea.
Pat Suzuki
(solo piano) on the compilation album Piano Starts Here, released by Columbia Records in 1987.
Art Tatum
recorded the song in her 1996 jazz album, featuring Chick Corea, In A Jazz Mood for Sony-BMG.
Alexia Vassiliou
in 1957 recorded live at Mr. Kelly's in Chicago. Notation is given to a version performed by Ella Fitzgerald on which she scats the verses, for which Sarah emulates.
Sarah Vaughan
(recorded September 6, 1946, released by National Records as catalog number 7015, with the flip side "Please Be Kind".[48])
Charlie Ventura
(released by Disc Records as catalog number 5025, with the flip side "Cloudy".[50]
Mary Lou Williams
Norman Vis (guitar) and his wife Anne-Lise Ricau (flute) released by Ouf Records on November 4, 2001, in Larreule.
Songs based on "How High the Moon"[edit]
Another jazz standard, "Ornithology" by Charlie Parker and Benny Harris, is based on the chords of "How High the Moon". It was common among jazz musicians (Ella Fitzgerald, Lionel Hampton and others) to seamlessly include "Ornithology" in the solo when performing "How High the Moon". Lennie Tristano wrote the contrafact "Lennie-bird" over the chord changes, and Miles Davis/Chuck Wayne's "Solar" is also based on part of the chord structure.[51] Coleman Hawkins' tune "Bean At Met" is also based on the changes of How High The Moon; this tune starts with simple riffs on the measures 1 to 8 and 17 to 24. The rest is filled up with solos.
John Coltrane's composition "Satellite" is also based on the chords of "How High the Moon", which Coltrane embellished with the three-tonic progression he also used on his composition "Giant Steps".
Jimmy Giuffre's composition "Bright Moon" is also based on the chords of "How High the Moon". Quincy Jones recorded it in 1957 on his second album, Go West, Man!