Li'l Darlin'


"Li'l Darlin" is a jazz standard, composed and arranged in 1957 by Neal Hefti for the Basie Orchestra and first recorded on the 1958 album, The Atomic Mr. Basie.

Style

The composition, in the words of jazz writer, Donald Clarke, is "an object lesson in how to swing at a slow tempo."
Gary Giddins expands on the importance of tempo in the performance of "Li'l Darlin", saying that "in the enduring 'Li'l Darlin', tested the band's temporal mastery with a slow and simple theme that dies if it isn't played at exactly the right tempo. Basie never flinched." Hefti envisioned the piece to be played at a medium swing tempo, not as a ballad.

History

The Jazz Discography, as of June 24, 2019, lists 324 recordings of the work.

With lyrics added

Around 1958, Jon Hendricks wrote and arranged lyrics to "Li'l Darlin", and his vocal trio, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, performed it with Basie on May 26, 1958 for Roulette Records,. Mark Murphy recorded it on Rah in 1961. In 1963, Mel Torme sang "Li'l Darlin" with the Basie Band on The Judy Garland Show. Hendricks & Company recorded it on Love in 1982, and Kurt Elling on Flirting with Twilight in 2001.
Bart Howard wrote new lyrics, "Don't Dream of Anybody But Me", to Hefti's tune in 1959. Tormé recorded that song on Back in Town, Bobby Darin on This Is Darin, Mabel Mercer on Merely Marvelous and Ella Fitzgerald on Things Ain't What They Used to Be.

Big band, combos, and soloists

"Li'l Darlin" rapidly became small-group and solo instrument standard. Notable guitarists to record the piece include Joe Pass, Charlie Byrd, George Benson, Tal Farlow, Barney Kessel, Kenny Burrell, Howard Alden, George Van Eps and Howard Roberts. Pass performed it live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1979. Martin Taylor published his arrangement of the piece in a 2000 issue of Guitar Techniques.

TV and videography

The Basie arrangement without lyrics was often used as the closing theme for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Influence

"Sweetie Pie" – composed and arranged by Don Sebesky and recorded March 1962 as "Easy Chair" on Maynard Ferguson's Maynard '64 – has been described by its publisher, Sierra Music Publications, as "Li'l Darlin'-ish," owed its similarity as a swing ballad.