Out of Nowhere

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Out of Nowhere (also: You Came Along from Out of Nowhere ) is a pop song that was composed by Johnny Green and provided with a text by Edward Heyman . The song became a well-known jazz standard with numerous instrumental and vocal versions.

The song

The composition is held in a 32-bar song form A-B1-A-B2 and is usually interpreted in slow or medium tempo. The catchy melody lives from numerous repetitions: The motif of bars 1 and 2 is repeated in bars 5 and 6 and bars 9 and 10 in bars 25 and 26.

Heyman's lyrics expressed in the first two parts the expectations that are felt for a lover “from out of nowhere” . The second A section then asks what will happen when "you go back to your nowhere," and the final section has the singer explain, "I'll always wait ... hoping you'll bring your love to me." Johnny Green dedicated Out of Nowhere to his first wife, Carol, who promoted his career in the music business.

First recordings

In April 1931 Bing Crosby sang Out of Nowhere for the first time on a recording for Brunswick ; the record became his first big hit as a soloist. A month after Crosby's recording, Leo Reisman and his orchestra played the song again; his recording for Victor with vocalist Frank Munn rose to # 6 on the American pop charts. Also in 1931, "Out of Nowhere" was first sung in a movie, namely in the Paramount western comedy Dude Ranch .

Career as a jazz standard

Out of Nowhere's chord progressions were a reason for many jazz musicians to make it a popular jazz standard . One of the reasons for the enthusiasm was the bluesy opening sequence. At the time of its inception, George Gershwin and other popular music composers regularly introduced jazz elements into their music; these were blue notes of the Afro-American blues tradition, field hollers and work songs .

As early as 1937, Benny Carter and Coleman Hawkins recorded an instrumental version of the song with Django Reinhardt at a session in Paris . Carter played the first chorus on the trumpet (!) , Dotted by Django Reinhardt. The next two choruses were then played by Hawkins, who had already played the piece in Fletcher Henderson's orchestra and in his architecturally remarkable solo "already missed his ingenious interpretation of Green's Body and Soul ." Hawkins played another masterful version in 1955 at a jam session with Buck Clayton a. Reinhardt recorded a duo version with Stéphane Grappelli in 1939. Don Byas recorded another jazz version in 1945. In the same year, Tommy Dorsey had a hit when the song got new popularity through the film version in the musical You Came Along (sung here by Helen Forrest ).

The composition only became the ultimate jazz classic through the ballad-style version recorded on Dial Records by Charlie Parker , recorded on November 4, 1947 with pianist Duke Jordan and trumpeter Miles Davis . Parker recorded the song over a dozen times between November 1947 and 1954; Hans-Jürgen Schaal particularly emphasizes the live recording with Fats Navarro on June 30, 1950. Versions by Ahmed Abdul-Malik , Sonny Stitt , Lena Horne & Teddy Wilson , Joe Williams & Harry Sweets Edison , Johnny Smith , James Moody , Tal Farlow , Erroll Garner , Boulou Ferré and Caterina Valente followed .

The song also served as a bebop head ; Own compositions were derived from the harmonies, such as "Casbah" by Tadd Dameron , "Nostalgia" by Fats Navarro , "317 East 32nd Street" by Lennie Tristano , "Wee-Jay" by JR Monterose , "'Into Somewhere" by Bill Le Say , "Conversion" by Billy Taylor , and "She Rote" by Charlie Parker .

Use in film

Out of Nowhere was also used in various films; after Dude Ranch (1931) the song was in The Joker Is Wild (1957, Frank Sinatra ), Die Welt der Suzie Wong (1960), They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), September (1987, Bert Ambrose and His Orchestra), Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993, Coleman Hawkins and His All-Star Jam Band), Deconstructing Harry (1997, Django Reinhardt), Sweet and Lowdown (1999, Dick Hyman , Joe Wilder , Kelly Friesen)

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Out of Nowhere at jazzstandards.com
  2. ↑ a b After: Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories. 1890-1954.
  3. ↑ a b c Schaal Jazz-Standards , p. 381f.
  4. ↑ According to Lawrence Koch (1988) the basis for “She Rote” is in reality “more of a combination of 'Out of Nowhere' and 'Slow Boat To China'”. Quote from Jazzstandards.com.