“Alone Together” is a song composed by Arthur Schwartz with lyrics by Howard Dietz, introduced for the first time in Jean Sargent’s 1932 Broadway musical ‘Flying Colors’. Produced by Max Gordon and directed by Howard Dietzhe, the show opened at the Imperial Theater on September 15 and ran for 188 performances. The song was played on the part of the musical where actors Clifton Webb and Tamara Geva danced. “Alone Together” climbed the charts in late 1932, rising to ninth place with a version by Leo Reisman and His Orchestra with Frank Luther as the vocalist, a group which Jerome Kern dubbed “the String Quartet of Dance Bands.” The song is definitely the most popular of Schwartz and Dietz's collaborations and has become a jazz standard, with Artie Shaw being the first jazz musician to record it in 1939.
“Alone Together” is considered a very versatile tune by jazz musicians. Sometimes it is performed in a medium tempo as a hard swinging tune, as demonstrated brilliantly on Stanley Turrentine’s 1960 recording with Gene Harris and the Three Sounds (Complete Blue Hour Sessions). On the other hand, Jim Hall and Ron Carter showed that the tune can be played in a looser and more interactive manner on their recording from 1972.
The tune’s traditional ballad context is beautifully employed on Hank Mobley with the Art Blakey Jazz Messengers’’ live version from 1955, released on “At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 1” album. Miles Davis also offered a relaxed interpretation of the song on his album “Blue Moods,” with a Latin feel to it.
Lee Konitz offered the fifteen-minute “Variations on Alone Together” on his 1967 record “The Lee Konitz Duets.” He played several duet versions of the song with drummer Elvin Jones, vibraphonist Karl Berger, and bassist Eddie Gomez. The long track ends with all of these artists joining for a driving quartet exploration. Here are some other notable performances of this great jazz standard.
Read previous articles:
JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.15 - HOW HIGH THE MOON JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.14 - WATERMELON MAN JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.13 - STRAIGHT, NO CHASER JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.12 - CARAVAN JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.11 - TAKE THE 'A' TRAIN JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.10 - LAURA JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.9 - STELLA BY STARLIGHT JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.8 - ALL THE THINGS YOU AREJAZZ STANDARDS VOL.7 - SUMMERTIME JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.6 - NANCY (WITH A LAUGHING FACE) JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.5 - MY FUNNY VALENTINE JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.4 - AUTUMN LEAVES JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.3 - 'ROUND MIDNIGHT JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.2 - BODY AND SOUL JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.1 - YOU GO TO MY HEAD
