“How High the Moon” is one of the best-known jazz standards, introduced on February 8, 1940, during the Broadway revue ‘Two for the Show, a musical that would run at the Booth Theatre for 124 performances. Benny Goodman’s recording of the tune, featuring vocalist Helen Forrest, became an instant hit, entering the pop charts a few weeks after the show opened, rising to number six.
Ella Fitzgerald virtually owned “How High the Moon.” In 1947 she offered a performance with Dizzy Gillespie’s all-star big band (collected in the box set 75th Birthday Celebration), going from a straightforward reading of the song to some playful alterations of the lyrics and a scat solo. Her 1960 version from ‘The Complete Ella in Berlin: Mack the Knife’, recorded live in Berlin, updates the same arrangement with a tight quartet as her only accompaniment.
In 1951 guitarist Les Paul and his vocalist wife Mary Ford hit the top of the charts with “How High the Moon” remaining there for nine weeks. Their version was recorded by using a multitrack tape recorder to overdub the guitar and vocals, allowing the duo to record a full instrumental sound with multi-part vocal harmonies. This technical novelty marked their take on the song as a landmark recording in musical history. Paul is credited with perfecting the use of the multi-track tape recorder, a pioneering effort that changed the course of recorded music. After “Mockingbird Hill,” “How High the Moon” would become the second million-selling recording in 1951 for Les Paul and Mary Ford. (Within the same year Les Paul would go on to collaborate with Gibson Guitar Corporation to create the groundbreaking “Les Paul” solid-body, electric guitar, which would ultimately change the world of music.)
Morgan Lewis wrote “How High the Moon” as a slow ballad. Still, because of its complex and interesting chord progressions, the song became a bebop favorite and is almost always performed up-tempo since. Countless jazz musicians have employed it as the basis for new compositions, notably Charlie Parker’s “Ornithology” and John Coltrane’s “Satellite.” Lennie Tristano wrote the contrafact "Lennie-bird" over the chord changes, and Miles Davis/Chuck Wayne's "Solar" is also based on part of the chord structure. Jimmy Giuffre's composition "Bright Moon" is also based on the chords of "How High the Moon"
Nancy Hamilton’s lyrics may be sonically supportive in the up-tempo renditions we hear today, but the sentiment seems to get lost in the rush. Her words tell the story of a love that is beyond reach, like faint music or a distant moon. The verse is seldom performed although it is relevant, setting the stage for the refrain that is modestly clever and sweet without being cute.
For a time, “How High the Moon” contended for the honor of being the most recorded composition by jazz musicians. Today critics glorify the composition with such titles as “the bop national anthem,” “the bop hymn,” or “the national anthem of the modern jazz movement.”
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