"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).Cf. entry of "Midnight Sun" in the Discography of American Historical RecordingsAudio track on YouTube. First releases on the Decca label were on the B-side of 10-inch 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 such as Dee Dee Bridgewater or Vanessa Rubin included the song associated with them, and Natalie Cole also sang the song in a tribute show called "We Love Ella" at the University of Southern California's Galen Center in 2007.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. Date Artist Album V Notes 1947 Lionel Hampton Orchestra single (Decca L 4546) first recording of the song; reissued in 1948 on New Movements in Be-Bop 1952 Coleman Hawkins single (various 7-inch and 10-inch)"Midnight Sun", Decca matrix 82330 in DAHR with Orchestra arranged and conducted by Danny Mendelsohn; album release 1958 on The Hawk Talks 1953 Les Brown and His Band of Renown single arranged by Frank ComstockEntry in DAHR 1953 Les Brown and His Band of Renown Concert at the Palladium (Vol. 2) live recording of the Comstock arrangement, released as 7-inch EP and various LP editionsEntry in DAHR.Live recording from September that year at the Hollywood Palladium on YouTube 1953 Page Cavanaugh Trio singleEntry in DAHR 1954 June Christy Something Cool v first vocal recording of the song, with orchestra led by Pete Rugolo. The initial mono 10-inch was entirely re-recorded in stereo in 1960. 1954 Harry James Dancing in Person with Harry James at the Hollywood Palladium arrangement by Neal Hefti 1955 Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra Apollo Hall Concert 1954 1955 Lionel Hampton single featuring Buddy Rich on drums, released on Clef, 1963 album release Here's Gates 1955 Barney Kessel Vol. 3: To Swing or Not to Swing 1955 Carmen McRae Torchy! v with orchestra arranged and conducted by Ralph Burns 1955 Bobby Troup The Songs of Bobby Troup v 1956 Bob Dorough Devil May Care v 1956 Jimmy Smith A New Sound... A New Star... 1957 Ella Fitzgerald Like Someone in Love v 1957 Art Pepper, Bob Cooper et al. Showcase for Modern Jazz originally credited to guitarist Howard Lucraft who directed the session 1958 Duke Ellington's Spacemen The Cosmic Scene The melody is played by the horn section with soloing by Clark Terry and Jimmy Hamilton 1958 Teddy Charles and His Sextet Salute to Hamp (Flyin' Home) with Bob Brookmeyer, Zoot Sims and Art Farmer. 1958 Julie London Julie v with Jimmy Rowles and His Orchestra 1959 Maxwell Davis with Members of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra Compositions of Lionel Hampton and Others... also released as The Stereophonic Sound of Lionel Hampton by the Members of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra 1959 Larry Elgart Larry Elgart and His Orchestra 1960 June Christy Road Show v 1960 Lou Donaldson Midnight Sun first released 1980 1960 Stan Kenton and His Orchestra Road Show 1960 Jo Stafford Jo + Jazz 1962 Tito Puente The Exciting Tito Puente Band in Hollywood Latin version with Puente playing vibraphone with audio from YouTube 1963 Brother Jack McDuff The Midnight Sun first released in 1968 1963 Sarah Vaughan Sarah Sings Soulfully v with a quartet arranged by Gerald Wilson 1964 Ella Fitzgerald Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Songbook v 1964 The Four Freshmen More 4 Freshmen and 5 Trombones 1965 Arthur Lyman Call of the Midnight Sun 1966 Lou Donaldson Musty Rusty 1966 Lionel Hampton Hamp in Japan / Live with his orchestra 1967 Nancy Wilson Lush Life v 1968 Carmen McRae "Live" & Wailing v 1969 Willie Mitchell The Many Moods of Willie Mitchell 1972 Tony Bennett The Good Things in Life v 1975 Ella Fitzgerald & Oscar Peterson Ella and Oscar v 1978 Sarah Vaughan How Long Has This Been Going On? v 1980 Lionel Hampton Live in Europe 1984 Mark Murphy Living Room v 1985 Ahmad Jamal Digital Works 1986 Chuck Brown Go Go Swing Live v 1986 June Christy A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening v 1987 Kate Ceberano Kate Ceberano and her Septet v 1987 Mel Tormé and George Shearing A Vintage Year v 1988 Flora Purim Midnight Sun v 1994 Vanessa Rubin I'm Glad There Is You - A Tribute to Carmen McRae v 1997 Dee Dee Bridgewater Dear Ella v 1997 Diana Krall Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil (Soundtrack) v 1998 Dee Dee Bridgewater Live at Yoshi's v 1998 Abbey Lincoln Wholly Earth v 2001 Rebecca Martin Middlehope v 2001 Diane Schuur and Maynard Ferguson Swingin' for Schuur v 2002 Cæcilie Norby First Conversation v 2003 Holly Cole Shade v 2004 Al Jarreau Accentuate the Positive v arranged by Larry Williams featuring Tollak Ollestad on harmonica"Midnight Sun" by Al Jarreau as audio track on YouTube 2005 Renée Fleming Haunted Heart v 2005 Hugh Masekela Almost Like Being in Jazz 2007 Elizabeth Shepherd Besides v 2007 Natalie Cole We Love Ella! A Tribute to the First Lady of Song v tribute show with an orchestra directed by co-host Quincy Jones, released on DVD 2008 Paul Motian Trio 2000 + Two On Broadway Volume 5 2008 Dianne Reeves When You Know v 2009 Quincy Jones featuring Al Jarreau The 75th Birthday Celebration v 2010 Esperanza Spalding Chamber Music Society v a solo interpretation, only as a bonus track on the Japanese release. She had already played the song at the Newport Jazz Festival in 2008.Official video of Spalding's solo on YouTube. There are more videos of her playing the song, a.o. at NPR's Tiny Desk Concert, "Midnight Sun" at about 4:10. 2013 Ellery Eskelin Trio New York II with organist Gary Versace and Gerald Cleaver on drums 2016 Bria Skonberg Bria v 2019 Krystyna Stańko Aquarius - The Orchestral Session v orchestrated and directed by Krzysztof Herdzin, featuring violinist Mateusz Smoczyński"Midnight Sun" by Stańko as audio track on YouTube. 2021 Julius Rodriguez Midnight Sun - EP
See also Lionel Hampton
References