This one is another Jazz standard, with a bewildering array of covers and takes. So bewildering, in fact, that there are multiple versions with Charlie Parker, making it hard to figure out what the version I wanted to write about was!
However, I have ascertained that this is the 1945 version with Dizzy Gillespie, rather than the longer 1953 version with Dizzy or the 1947 “Bird Of Paradise” version with Miles Davis (Bird was Parker’s nickname).
The original was written in 1939 by Jerome Kern, paired with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was a ’30s pop number for a musical, Very Warm For May.
This version retains much of the heartwarming charm of the original, but introduces the spectacular trumpet and saxophone of Gillespie and Parker. It kicks off with a lurching piano, before dissolving into a medley of melodious horns and some excellent guitar playing.
The middle even sees one of the band members humming along to the bassline, a lovely touch!
This was one of the songs released in 1945 on Savoy records, and set the tone for the piece as a Jazz standard.