Bart Howard (born Howard Joseph Gustafson, June 1, 1915 – February 21, 2004) was an American composer and songwriter, most notably of the

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 lis ...

Fly Me to the Moon "Fly Me to the Moon", originally titled "In Other Words", is a song written in 1954 by Bart Howard. The first recording of the song was made in 1954 by Kaye Ballard. Frank Sinatra's 1964 version was closely associated with the Apollo missions ...

", which has been performed by Kaye Ballard, Judy Garland,

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, Della Reese, Bobby Womack, Diana Krall, Paul Anka,

June Christy June Christy (born Shirley Luster; November 20, 1925June 21, 1990) was an American singer, known for her work in the cool jazz genre and for her silky smooth vocals. Her success as a singer began with The Stan Kenton Orchestra. She pursued a sol ...

, Brenda Lee,

Astrud Gilberto Astrud Gilberto (; born Astrud Evangelina Weinert, March 29, 1940) is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She gained international attention in the 1960s following her recording of the song "The Girl from Ipanema". Biography Astrud Gilbert ...

, Nat King Cole,

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...

, Sia and RAYE and Super Tough among others. It is played frequently by jazz and popular musicians around the world. Howard wrote the song for his partner of 58 years, Thomas Fowler.

Biography

Howard was born in

Burlington, Iowa Burlington is a city in, and the county seat of, Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 23,982 in the 2020 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in 2000. Burlington is the center of a micropolitan area, which includes ...

. He began his career as an accompanist at the age of 16 and played for Mabel Mercer,

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

and

Eartha Kitt Eartha Kitt (born Eartha Mae Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Ba ...

, among others. "Fly Me to the Moon" was first sung in 1954 by Felicia Sanders at the Blue Angel nightclub in Manhattan, where the composer became M.C. and accompanist in 1951. The song received wide exposure when

sang it on '' The Ed Sullivan Show'' several years later. Bart Howard "lived off" this song for the rest of his life, although he had 49 other songs to his credit. These include "Let Me Love You", " On the First Warm Day", "One Love Affair", "Be My All", "The Man in the Looking Glass", "My Love Is a Wanderer", "Who Wants to Fall in Love" and "Don't Dream of Anybody But Me". Howard died February 21, 2004, at age 88, in Carmel, New York. He was survived by his partner of 58 years, Thomas Fowler and a sister Dorothy Lind of Burlington, Iowa.

Notes

The original title was "In Other Words", but so many people referred to it by the first lyric line, ("fly me to the moon") the publisher changed the title to "Fly Me to the Moon".

References

* Todd S. Jenkins (2004), ''Free Jazz and Free Improvisation: An Encyclopedia'', Greenwood Press

External links

* 1915 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American pianists 20th-century jazz composers 20th-century American LGBT people 21st-century American composers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American pianists 21st-century jazz composers 21st-century American LGBT people Accompanists American LGBT composers American male jazz composers American male pianists Jazz musicians from New York (state) LGBT jazz composers People from Burlington, Iowa People from Carmel, New York {{US-composer-20thC-stub