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.

Recordings

The earliest recorded hit version was by Benny Goodman & His Orchestra, featuring vocalist Helen Forrest. It was recorded on February 7, 1940, and released by Columbia Records as catalog number 35391, with the flip side "Fable of the Rose". The Les Paul Trio recorded a version released as V-Disc 540B with a spoken introduction which was issued in November 1945 by the U.S. War Department. In 1948, bandleader Stan Kenton enjoyed some success with his version of the tune. The recording, with a vocal by June Christy, was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 911 and 15117. It reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on July 9, 1948, its only week on the chart, at #27.
A recording of the song by Les Paul and Mary Ford was made on January 4, 1951. This version featured Paul on all guitars. Ford's lead vocals took three takes to record; since Paul and Ford recorded at night, she placed a blanket over her head so most of the sound would be directed towards the single RCA Type 44-BX ribbon microphone and would not travel through the building and wake up neighbors. Regardless, while recording one of Ford's harmony vocal parts, their neighbors complained about the noise. According to Paul, the final recording featured 12 guitar parts and 12 vocal parts.
The record was released on March 26 by Capitol Records as catalog number 1451, with the flip side "Walkin' and Whistlin' Blues", and spent 25 weeks on the Billboard chart, 9 weeks at #1. It was subsequently re-released by Capitol as catalog number 1675, with "Josephine" on the B-side. This version crossed over to the Most-Played Juke Box Rhythm & Blues Records chart, where it peaked at #2.
This recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1979 and is on the list of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum of the Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. In 2023, this version was included on the soundtrack of the film Asteroid City by Wes Anderson.
The song was sung in various recordings by Ella Fitzgerald, becoming Ella's signature tune. She first performed the song at Carnegie Hall on September 29, 1947. Her first recording, backed by the Daydreamers, was recorded December 20, 1947, and released by Decca Records as catalog number 24387, with the flip side "You Turned the Tables on Me". Her most celebrated recording of "How High the Moon" is on her 1960 album Ella in Berlin, and her version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance."
The song has become a gypsy jazz standard and has been recorded by several musicians of the genre.

Other versions

  • Lola Albright in Peter Gunn Season 1, Episode 5 "The Frog", 1958.
  • Ray Anthony - Jam Session at the Tower.
  • Louis Armstrong and his orchestra
  • Mitchel Ayres' orchestra
  • Chet Baker on the 1959 album Chet.
  • Jeff Beck and Imelda May live performance, 2010 Grammy Awards, as a tribute to Les Paul.
  • Bonnemere
  • The Jack Benny Show - Mahlon Merrick arrangement, February 18, 1940.
  • Randy Brooks and his orchestra
  • Charles Brown Trio
  • The Dave Brubeck Octet recorded a lengthy track, with narration, where they play "How High The Moon" in various jazz styles.
  • The Dave Brubeck Quartet recorded a 9:11-length version at Oberlin College in March 1953 that is included on the album Jazz at Oberlin.
  • Dave Brubeck and Jon Hendricks recorded it as a short, slow ballad on Brubeck's 1995 CD Young Lions & Old Tigers.
  • Don Byas Quintet
  • Lilyann Carol with Charlie Ventura and Orchestra
  • Al Casey's Sextet
  • Herman Chittison Trio
  • June Christy - A Friendly Session, Vol. 3 with the Johnny Guarnieri Quintet; Cool Christy.
  • Larry Clinton and his orchestra
  • Nat King Cole
  • King Cole Trio
  • Bing Crosby, in a medley with "Old Devil Moon" as part of the album El Señor Bing.
  • Duke Ellington and his orchestra
  • Erroll Garner Trio
  • Natalie Gauci, winner of Australian Idol 2007, performed this song on the Top 4 Big Band show.
  • Marvin Gaye
  • Gloria Gaynor Along with the tracks, "Casanova Brown" and " Do It Yourself", this version went to number one on the disco/dance chart.
  • Dizzy Gillespie
  • Benny Goodman Septet
  • Lionel Hampton Quintet
  • Eddie Heywood and his orchestra
  • Harry James' orchestra
  • Jazz at the Philharmonic
  • Bibbi Johnson and Thore Swanerud
  • Gene Krupa and his orchestra
  • Abbey Lincoln, on the album The World Is Falling Down, 1991.
  • Russ Morgan and his orchestra
  • Anita O'Day
  • Oscar Peterson
  • Boyd Raeburn and his orchestra
  • Dianne Reeves
  • Django Reinhardt, with Stephane Grappelli
  • David Rose and his orchestra and 30303
  • Diane Schuur, 1992, GRP Records album In Tribute, catalog number GRD 2006.
  • Hazel Scott
  • Charlie Ventura
  • Paul Weston and his orchestra
  • Chuck Berry recorded an instrumental version in May 1957 for Chess Records with Lafayette Leake, Willie Dixon, and Fred Below; it was first released in 1979 on the European compilation America’s Hottest Wax.

    Songs based on "How High the Moon"

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 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. 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!''