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Midnight Sun (Lionel Hampton and Sonny Burke song)
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Wikipedia article
"'Midnight Sun'" was originally an instrumental composed by Lionel Hampton and Sonny Burke in 1947 and is now considered a jazz standard. Subsequently, Johnny Mercer wrote the words to the song.
First recording
"Midnight Sun" was first recorded by Lionel Hampton himself and his orchestra in a Los Angeles studio on November 10, 1947, with solos by Hampton and trumpeter Wendell Culley (Decca Matrix L 4546).[https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/2000270969/L_4546-Midnight_sun Cf. entry of "Midnight Sun"] in the Discography of American Historical Recordings[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFVj-qcDegk&t=41s Audio track] on YouTube. First releases on the Decca label were on the B-side of 10" shellack singles, where the song was coupled with either "Blow-Top Blues" composed by Leonard Feather and played by the Hampton Sextet with "lovely"Cook, Richard, Brian Morton (2006). 'The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings', 8th Edition, London: Penguin Books, p. 579 ISBN 9780141023274 vocals by Sarah Vaughan (Decca 28059), or "Three Minutes on 52nd Street",Besides Charles Mingus who also played bass on "Midnight Sun", the sextet session of June 8, 1947 additionally featured Kenny Dorham. Cf. Cook, Morton, 'The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings', ibid. another Hampton original recorded with the orchestra (Decca 28059 and Brunswick 03780 in the UK).See also the liner notes by Burt Korall to , released on MCA in 1993 and produced by Orrin Keepnews as part of the series 'GRP Presents the Legendary Masters of Jazz, The Original American Decca Recordings'. The booklet scans with full documentation on Discogs are readable.
The lyrics
According to Philip Furia, Johnny Mercer was driving along the freeway from Palm Springs to Hollywood, California, when he heard the instrumental on his car radio and started to set words to the song as he drove. The lyrics were first recorded by June Christy for her 1954 album 'Something Cool'. One famous recording of the song with the Mercer lyrics is by Ella Fitzgerald on her album 'Like Someone in Love' from 1957. Fitzgerald recorded the song again in 1964 for her album 'Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Songbook' and once more in 1978. "Midnight Sun" also became part of the repertoire of Carmen McRae after she recorded it first in 1955. Tribute albums to both singers by following jazz vocalists like Dee Dee Bridgewater or Vanessa Rubin included the song associated with them, just like Natalie Cole sang the song in a tribute show called "We Love Ella" at the University of Southern California's Galen Center in 2007.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlxFjT4CE6M Natalie Cole's performance] with an orchestra directed by Quincy Jones on YouTube.
Recordings
'"V" indicates vocal recordings with the lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Other entries are instrumental interpretations of the composition.'
See also
*Lionel Hampton
References
Category:Jazz songs
Category:Jo Stafford songs
Category:Ella Fitzgerald songs
Category:Nancy Wilson (jazz singer) songs
Category:Songs with music by Sonny Burke
Category:Songs with lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Category:1947 songs
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