On Green Dolphin Street (song)

For other uses, see Green Dolphin Street (disambiguation).
"On Green Dolphin Street"
Song by Jimmy Dorsey
Published1947
GenrePop, jazz
Composer(s)Bronisław Kaper
Lyricist(s)Ned Washington

"On Green Dolphin Street" is a 1947 jazz standard composed by Bronisław Kaper with lyrics by Ned Washington. The song was written for the film Green Dolphin Street, starring Lana Turner and Van Heflin, which was based on a 1944 novel of the same name by Elizabeth Goudge.[1]

Jazz critic Ted Gioia notes that the song appeals to jazz musicians "because of its engaging chord changes, which alternate between eight bars of floating pedal point and eight bars of rapid harmonic movement."[2]

The song was revived in 1956 by jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal on his album Count 'Em 88. As Gioia notes, Jamal's "repertoire choices were often mimicked" at this time by Miles Davis, and "Jamal's performance, with its artful use of space and dynamics, anticipates Davis's later rendition, especially with its shifting rhythmic textures." Davis's sextet version from 1958, with John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, and Bill Evans, solidified the song's position as a jazz classic.[3] It has gone on to become one of the most widely covered of all jazz standards, with more than 700 versions to date.[4][5]

Gioia notes, "Vocalists occasionally tackle this song, but the lyrics suffer from shallowness. If you fell in love, would you sing about your beloved or just her address?" Among vocal versions, he prefers the one by Mark Murphy from 1961.[6]

Renditions

Date Main recording artist Vocalist Album title, notes Ref.
1947 Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra Bill Lawrence Soundtrack for Green Dolphin Street. The commercial recording charted briefly at No. 25 in January 1948. [7]
1956 Ahmad Jamal Trio instrumental Count 'Em 88 [8]
1957 Barney Kessel and the Poll Winners instrumental The Poll Winners [9]
1958 Miles Davis Sextet instrumental Jazz Track (with soundtrack Ascenseur pour l'échafaud), reissued as Basic Miles (1973) and 1958 Miles in Japan (1974), (also '58 Miles Featuring Stella by Starlight) [8]
1959 Jack Sheldon All-Star Big Band instrumental Jack's Groove
1959 Bill Evans instrumental On Green Dolphin Street [8]
1959 Wynton Kelly instrumental Kelly Blue [8]
1960 Eric Dolphy Quintet instrumental Outward Bound [8]
1960 Duke Pearson instrumental Tender Feelin’s (album) [8]
1960 Dakota Staton Dakota Staton Dakota (1960) [10]
1961 Mark Murphy Mark Murphy Rah! [8]
1961 Dinah Washington Dinah Washington The Complete Dinah Washington on Mercury, Vol. 7 (1961) [11]
1961 Nancy Wilson Nancy Wilson The Swingin's Mutual!
1961 Grant Green instrumental Gooden's Corner
1962 Oscar Peterson and Milt Jackson instrumental Very Tall
1962 Mel Tormé Mel Tormé Comin' Home Baby! [12]
1962 Dodo Marmarosa instrumental Dodo's Back! [13]
1962 Sarah Vaughan Sarah Vaughan Included in her album You're Mine You (1962)
1963 Albert Ayler instrumental My Name Is Albert Ayler
1963 Vince Guaraldi Quintet instrumental In Person [14]
1964 Tony Bennett Tony Bennett When Lights Are Low
1964 Erroll Garner instrumental Nightconcert (2018) - Recording from the Concertgebouw on November 7, 1964 [15]
1965 Sonny Rollins instrumental Sonny Rollins on Impulse! [8]
1965 Bunky Green instrumental Testifyin' Time [16]
1973 Jimmy McGriff Quintet instrumental Concert: Friday the 13th - Cook County Jail
1974 Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis instrumental Leapin' on Lenox [8]
1974 Vince Guaraldi Trio instrumental Live on the Air
1977 Return to Forever instrumental Live
1977 Sadao Watanabe instrumental Live in Nemuro 1977
1978 Herbie Hancock instrumental The Piano
1982 Tony Rice Unit instrumental Backwaters [17]
1986 Joe Pass and Ella Fitzgerald Ella Fitzgerald Easy Living [18]
1987 Stan Getz and Kenny Barron instrumental Serenity [19]
1991 Chick Corea Akoustic Band instrumental Alive
2021 Alan Stassforth and Michael Lindner instrumental The Pandemic Sessions [20]

[21]

2022 Seth MacFarlane Seth MacFarlane Blue Skies

"On Green Dolphin Street" is referenced in the sixth part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Stone Ocean in the name of Green Dolphin Street Prison, the primary setting of the story.

References

  1. ^ "On Green Dolphin Street (1947)". JazzStandards.com, Accessed June 11, 2025.
  2. ^ Gioia, Ted. The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire, Oxford University Press, 2012, p. 314.
  3. ^ Gioia, p. 314.
  4. ^ "On Green Dolphin Street". SecondHandSongs.com, Accessed June 11, 2025.
  5. ^ "JazzStandards.com / Songs and Instrumentals (1-100)". JazzStandards.com, Accessed June 11, 2025.
  6. ^ Gioia, p. 314.
  7. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 133. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Gioia, Ted (2012). The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire. New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 314. ISBN 978-0-19-993739-4.
  9. ^ "The Poll Winners". allmusic.com. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  10. ^ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  11. ^ "allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  12. ^ "www.allmusic.com". www.allmusic.com. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  13. ^ "Dodo Marmarosa – Dodo's Back!". AllMusic. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  14. ^ Ginell, Richard S. "In Person". Allmusic. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  15. ^ "errollgarner.com". errollgarner.com. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  16. ^ "Testifyin' Time - Bunky Green". allmusic.com. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  17. ^ "Backwaters Review by Jim Newsom\website=allmusic.com". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  18. ^ "Easy Living". allmusic.com. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Serenity / Stan Getz". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  20. ^ Alley One Music
  21. ^ "The Pandemic Sessions". bandcamp.com. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.