History
"Body and Soul" was written in London for the actress and singer Gertrude Lawrence. Libby Holman introduced it in the U.S. in the 1930 Broadway revue Three's a Crowd. Louis Armstrong was the first jazz musician to record "Body and Soul". The tune grew quickly in popularity, and by the end of 1930 at least eleven groups had recorded it. "Body and Soul" remains a jazz standard, with hundreds of versions performed and recorded by dozens of artists. Classic vocal recordings include those of Ella Fitzgerald, Annette Hanshaw, Billie Holiday, Billy Eckstine, Etta James, Sarah Vaughan and Frank Sinatra, and such musicians as Benny Goodman, Lee Konitz, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Dexter Gordon and Lester Young contributed notable instrumental recordings. To this day, "Body and Soul" is the most recorded jazz standard.
One of the most famous and influential takes was recorded by Coleman Hawkins and His Orchestra on October 11, 1939, at their only recording session for Bluebird, a subsidiary of RCA Victor. The recording is unusual in that the song's melody is only hinted at in the recording; Hawkins' two-choruses of improvisation over the tune's chord progression constitute almost the entire take. Because of this, as well as the imaginative use of harmony and break from traditional swing cliches, the recording is recognised as part of the "early tremors of bebop". In 2004, the Library of Congress entered it into the National Recording Registry.
Read more about this topic: Body And Soul (song)
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