"Tenderly" is a
popular song published in 1946 with music by
Walter Gross and lyrics by
Jack Lawrence Jack Lawrence may refer to:
* Jack Lawrence (songwriter) (1912–2009), American songwriter
* Jack Lawrence (artist) (born 1975), British comic book artist and animator
* Jack Lawrence (bluegrass) (born 1953), American bluegrass guitarist
* Jack Law ...
. Written in the key of E as a waltz in time, it has since been performed in and has become a popular
jazz standard
Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive List ...
. Notable versions have been recorded by singers, such as
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan (, March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "List of nicknames of jazz musicians, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, ...
,
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...
, and
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...
, and pianists, such as
Art Tatum
Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever. From early in his career, fellow musicians acclaimed Tatum's technical ability as extraordinary. Tatum a ...
,
Bill Evans
William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, block chords, innovative chord voicings, a ...
and
Peruchín
Pedro Nolasco Jústiz Rodríguez, better known as Peruchín (January 31, 1913 – December 24, 1977), was a Cuban pianist specializing in jazz-influenced Cuban popular music. He was an important figure in the 1950s descarga (jam session) scene ...
.
"Tenderly" was first recorded by Brazilian singer and pianist
Dick Farney
Farnésio Dutra e Silva (14 November 1921 – 4 August 1987), better known as Dick Farney, was a Brazilian jazz pianist, composer, and singer who was popular in Brazil from the late 1940s to the mid-1970s and 1980s.
Biography
He began playing pi ...
on June 15, 1947. Described as "a lovely waltz melody", Farney's version was positively received upon release in July 1947. The second recording was made by
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan (, March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "List of nicknames of jazz musicians, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, ...
on July 2, 1947. Her version entered the charts on November 15 and reached number 27. It has been described as "a ravishing rendition".
The next versions were recorded by the orchestras of
Randy Brooks and
Charlie Spivak
Charlie Spivak (c. February 17, 1904 – March 1, 1982) was an American trumpeter and bandleader, best known for his big band in the 1940s.
Early life
According to his immigration record, Sender Spivakovsky was born around 1904 in the village ...
later that year.
Singer Clark Dennis recorded the song in 1948. Vaughan re-recorded the song for MGM in 1950.
The song has also become a Latin music
standard Standard may refer to:
Symbols
* Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs
* Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification
Norms, conventions or requirements
* Standard (metrology), an object ...
—among the Cuban musicians that have made recordings are Vicentico Valdés,
Mongo Santamaría
Ramón "Mongo" Santamaría Rodríguez (April 7, 1917 – February 1, 2003) was a Cuban percussionist and bandleader who spent most of his career in the United States. Primarily a conga drummer, Santamaría was a leading figure in the pachanga an ...
,
Bola de Nieve
Bola de Nieve (literally ''Snowball''; 11 September 1911 – 2 October 1971), born Ignacio Jacinto Villa Fernández, was a Cuban singer-pianist and songwriter. His name originates from his round, black face.
Villa Fernández was born in Guanaba ...
and
Peruchín
Pedro Nolasco Jústiz Rodríguez, better known as Peruchín (January 31, 1913 – December 24, 1977), was a Cuban pianist specializing in jazz-influenced Cuban popular music. He was an important figure in the 1950s descarga (jam session) scene ...
.
The Brazilian Trio Surdina recorded a
samba
Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...
-inflected version in 1953, while
Jerry González
Jerry González (June 5, 1949 – October 1, 2018) was an American bandleader, trumpeter and percussionist of Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican descent.
Together with his brother, bassist Andy González (musician), Andy González, Jerry Gonzalez ...
y Los Comandos de la Clave recorded a
Latin jazz
Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave (rhythm), clave, and Afro-Brazil ...
version in 2010.
Other versions
*
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan (, March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "List of nicknames of jazz musicians, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, ...
– (1947)
*
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roo ...
– (1949)
*
Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me (Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccin ...
– (1951)
*
Art Tatum
Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever. From early in his career, fellow musicians acclaimed Tatum's technical ability as extraordinary. Tatum a ...
– ''The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces Vol. 3'' (1953)
*
Johnny Smith Quintet (featuring
Stan Getz
Stan Getz (born Stanley Gayetski; February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wis ...
) – ''Jazz at NBC'' (1953), ''
Moonlight in Vermont'' (1956)
*
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool".
Baker earned much attention and ...
– ''Chet in Paris, Vol. 2: Everything Happens to Me'' (1955)
*
Peruchín
Pedro Nolasco Jústiz Rodríguez, better known as Peruchín (January 31, 1913 – December 24, 1977), was a Cuban pianist specializing in jazz-influenced Cuban popular music. He was an important figure in the 1950s descarga (jam session) scene ...
– ''Piano con moña'' (1956)
*
Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
with
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...
– ''
Ella and Louis
''Ella and Louis'' is a studio album by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, accompanied by the Oscar Peterson Quartet, released in October 1956. Having previously collaborated in the late 1940s for the Decca label, this was the first of three a ...
'' (1956)
*
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life.
Born and raised in Washington, D ...
with Jimmy Hamilton – ''Indigos'' (1957)
*
Bill Evans
William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, block chords, innovative chord voicings, a ...
– ''
Everybody Digs Bill Evans'' (1959)
*
Eric Dolphy
Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and bandleader. Primarily an alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist, and flautist, Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain ...
– ''
Far Cry
''Far Cry'' is an anthology franchise of first-person shooter games published by Ubisoft. The first game, '' Far Cry'', was developed by Crytek to premiere their CryEngine software, and released in March 2004. Subsequently, Ubisoft obtained ...
'' (1960)
*
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. As a virtuoso who is considered to be one of the greatest Jazz piano, jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordin ...
and
Joe Pass
Joe Pass (born Joseph Anthony Jacobi Passalacqua; January 13, 1929 – May 23, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. Although Pass recorded and performed live with pianist Oscar Peterson, composer Duke Ellington, and vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, he ...
– ''
Oscar Peterson et Joe Pass à Salle Pleyel
''Oscar Peterson et Joe Pass à Salle Pleyel'' is an album by Oscar Peterson and Joe Pass that was released in 1975.
Track listing
Personnel
* Oscar Peterson - piano
* Joe Pass - guitar
* Norman Granz - producer
Chart positions
References ...
'' (1975)
*
The Great Jazz Trio – ''Love for Sale'' (1976) – as a bonus track
*
Lenny Breau
Leonard Harold Breau (August 5, 1941 – August 12, 1984) was an American-Canadian guitarist. He blended many styles of music, including jazz, country, classical, and flamenco. Inspired by country guitarists like Chet Atkins, Breau used finge ...
with
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), also known as "Mister Guitar" and "the Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson (musician), Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nash ...
– ''
Standard Brands
Standard Brands was a packaged foods company, formed in 1929 by J. P. Morgan & Co. with the merger of:
* Fleischmann Company
*Royal Baking Powder Company
* E. W. Gillett Company of Canada (1929) - Toronto-based baking goods company (maker of Ma ...
'' (1981)
*
George Benson
George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American jazz fusion guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist.
A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the ...
– ''
Tenderly'' (1989)
*
Carmen McRae
Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994) was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretati ...
– ''
Sarah: Dedicated to You'' (1991)
*
David S. Ware – ''
Earthquation'' (1994)
*
Gary Burton
Gary Burton (born January 23, 1943) is an American jazz Vibraphone, vibraphonist, composer, and educator. Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused ...
– ''Departure'' (1996)
*
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...
*
Erroll Garner
Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad "Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first re ...
*
Harry James
Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band to great commercial success from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947, but ...
*
Bud Powell
Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966) was an American jazz pianist and composer. A pioneer in the development of bebop and its associated contributions to jazz theory,Grove Powell's application of complex phrasing to ...
Luiz Bonfa, Brazil, January 2, 1963 Perry Como Show
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tenderly
1946 songs
1940s jazz standards
Songs with lyrics by Jack Lawrence
Jazz compositions in E-flat major
Rosemary Clooney songs
Nat King Cole songs
Sarah Vaughan songs