Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals (On Green Dolphin Street)

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On Green Dolphin Street (1947)

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Origin and Chart Information

...this definitive version,
courtesy of Davis on muted
trumpet, John Coltrane on sax,
and Bill Evans at the piano ...
unfolds at a leisurely pace.

Music & Lyrics Analysis

Musician's Comments
Soundtracks
Free Chord Changes

Jazz History Notes

Getting Started
CD Recommendations
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- Ben Maycock

AKA

Green Dolphin Street

Rank

25

Music

Bronislau Kaper

Lyrics

Ned Washington

On Green Dolphin Street was introduced as the main theme of

the 1947 MGM film Green Dolphin Street. The movie was based
on British novelist Elizabeth Goudges 1944 book Green Dolphin
Country, published that same year in the United States as Green
Dolphin Street.
Elizabeth Goudge (1900-1984) enjoyed a prolific career writing
both fiction and nonfiction, including seventeen novels for adults
and children. Green Dolphin Street was her sixth effort and told
the story of a young man in 1800s New Zealand who sends to
the British Isles for the woman he loves. In an act of
carelessness, he addresses his letter to her sister with whom he
also shares a past. The story centers on the trials of the young

See the CD recommendations below for:

The George Shearing Quintet With
Nancy Wilson
Mark Murphy
Al Grey
Miles Davis
Barney Kessel

man and his bride as they attempt to make the marriage work.
Critics routinely praise Goudge for her ability to graphically
portray characters and landscapes, but, as a New York Times
reviewer said, Green Dolphin Street lacked the sterner virtues
of good literature.
Those sterner virtues were not at the top of the motion picture
companys list when MGM awarded Goudge $200,000 as the
winner of its annual Novel Award. It was the only such winner,
however, to find its way onto the silver screen.

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At a lengthy two hours and twenty minutes, Green Dolphin

Street starred Lana Turner, Van Heflin, Donna Reed, Richard
Hart, and Frank Morgan. In his book, The MGM Story, John
Douglas Eames says of the film,
It had everything, i.e. too much for a single movie:
a glorious wallow in family conflict, triangle
romance, Maori uprising in old New Zealand,
earthquake, tidal wave, pathos and bathos.

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Miles Davis

The movie is generally panned by todays critics, but war-weary

audiences were ready for an extravaganza. It was the top box
office draw of 1947 and won Academy Awards for visual and
sound effects.
In 1947, with a string of successful songs and movie scores

http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/ongreendolphinstreet.htm

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Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals (On Green Dolphin Street)

In 1947, with a string of successful songs and movie scores
behind him, Bronislau Kaper was enlisted to write the
soundtrack for the production. Suprisingly, the theme was not a
hit, even with Ned Washingtons lyrics. It would be a decade
before Miles Davis recording would establish the composition as
a jazz classic.
More on Bronislau Kaper at
JazzBiographies.com

More on Ned Washington at

JazzBiographies.com

On Green Dolphin Street is also the title of a 2003 novel by

Sebastian Faulks, in which the heroine hears Miles Davis playing
the song in the background when she moves to New Yorks
Greenwich Village in 1960.

4/24/15, 10:09 AM

Barney Kessel

Jazz History Notes

Although Miles Davis 1958 recording is
considered by many to be the best of the earlier
versions of the tune, several recordings prior to
Miles are worthy of consideration. An
interesting version by trombonist Urbie Green
from 1955, taken at a ballad tempo, features his
silken-toned trombone with pianist Jimmy Lyon
on the seldom-heard-in-jazz instrument, the
celeste.
The 1957 recording by the Poll Winners (named
because each musician placed first in Downbeat
magazines readers poll in 1956) with guitarist
Barney Kessel, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer
Shelly Manne, is almost the template version for
the tune, taken at a medium tempo with a Latin
feel.
Chris Tyle - Jazz Musician and Historian

Urbie Green
East Coast Jazz, Vol. 6
Rhino Records 76686

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Barney Kessel, Ray Brown,

Shelly Manne
The Poll Winners
Contemporary 7535
Original recording 1957

Getting Started
This section suggests definitive or otherwise significant
recordings that will help jazz students get acquainted
with On Green Dolphin Street. These recordings have
been selected from the Jazz History and CD
Recommendations sections.

- Jeremy Wilson

Music and Lyrics Analysis

Because it is a difficult song for a singer to keep in tune, On
Green Dolphin Street is most often performed as an
instrumental. Kapers composition reflects the bittersweet theme
of Goudges story. Writing lyrics for the song was undoubtedly a
challenge for Ned Washington, but he supported the mood with
a tale of lost love. The introductory verse describes a past
romance and culminates with I never think of this without a
sigh. The refrain wistfully recalls unforgettable nights while
falling in love, memories of which lead to the declaration, I
could kiss the ground on Green Dolphin Street. The gesture
may seem a bit impulsive in the context of a failed love affair,
but how else does one wind up a song written for a movie about
a street? -JW
Musical analysis of On Green Dolphin Street

Original
Key

C major

Form

A B1 A B2

Tonality

Major throughout
A consists of a downward arpeggiated

http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/ongreendolphinstreet.htm

For most modern jazz musicians, the 1958

performance of On Green Dolphin Street by
Miles Davis and his sextet (58 Miles Featuring
Stella by Starlight) provides the template for
how to interpret the tune. As can be heard here,
the A-sections are generally approached with
some sort of vamp (often with a Latin feel,
though not here), while the contrasting sections
are played with a looser swing feeling. This
formula works to utter perfection here, thanks
to the tight, swinging rhythm section and the
remarkable solos of Davis, John Coltrane,
Cannonball Adderley and Bill Evans.
Noah Baerman - Jazz Pianist and Educator

CD Recommendations for This Tune

Click on any CD for more details at Amazon.com

Miles Davis and John

Coltrane
Essential Live in Stockholm Vol.1
2000 Disk Union 739385
Original recording 1960

This recording offers a live exploration of

what by this point was a warhorse for the
Davis group. Coltrane really stretches out,

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Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals (On Green Dolphin Street)

Movement

figure outlining the chord and approached

by step. B is generally a downward skip
followed by ascending step-wise movement.

Comments

4/24/15, 10:09 AM
Davis group. Coltrane really stretches out,
showing the restlessness that would soon
lead him to form his own group.

(assumed background)

This tune is slow moving, melodically and harmonically.

There are many sustained notes in the A section and
harmonies that rarely change more frequently than one per
measure (often, every two measures). For this reason, the
song affords the novice player an opportunity to explore
improvisational ideas in depth without having to worry so
much about frequent chord changes. As far as traditional
voice-leading, there is little evidence of this in the A
section. Normally, a I chord that becomes a i (parallel
minor) chord resolves down a step, not upwards to II,
although the bII chord resolving to I in mm.10-11 could be
construed as a tri-tone substitution for V7.
The first B section, however, uses a fairly standard
progression of ii7 V7 I in two different keys with the
second a minor third up from the first (requiring the new
key only to drop half a step to a vii7 in order to return to
the original key). The second B uses several common tone
chords to move the harmony forward for the turnaround
(mm. 25-32). Most of the movement is in the bass, which
can completely change the tonal characteristics of the three
or four note chord above it. For example, in measure 25,
the chord is Dm. By moving the bass down to B natural, the
Dm triad becomes a Bm7(b5)a ii eventually leading to A
minorafter which the same thing happens again, starting a
variation of the circle of fifths that gets back up to C major.
Note the bass movement in the examples below:
mm. 25-26: Dm Dm7/C Bm7(b5) E7(b9)
mm. 27-28: Am Am/G F#m7(b5) B7(b9)

Joe Henderson
Four
1994 Verve 23657
Original recording 1968

Released for the first time in 1994, this live

recording is vintage Henderson, energetic
and endlessly creative. He is joined by the
rhythm section of Wynton Kelly, Paul
Chambers and Jimmy Cobb, who had by this
point recorded the tune as a trio, as well as
performing it countless times with Miles
Davis (including the live recording listed
above).

Milt Jackson and Oscar

Peterson
Very Tall
1999 Verve 559830
Original recording 1961

Jackson joins forces with Peterson here for

the first time on a recording. The results are
predictably swinging and infectious.

mm. 28-30: Em A7 Dm G7
Thus, the home key of C major is easily reached in a
manner that makes sense to the ear. Awareness of this will
facilitate success in mastering this tune.

Mark Murphy

K. J. McElrath - Musicologist for JazzStandards.com

Rah!
1994, Original Jazz Classics 141
Original recording, 1961

Check out K. J. McElraths book of Jazz Standards Guide

Tone Lines at his web site (www.bardicle.com).

Ernie Wilkins tasty brass arrangement sets

the tone for this sly, self-assured reading by
the young Murphy.

Musicians' Comments
I like Green Dolphin Street for the easy way you
can improvise on it. On a tune like this I would not
get too hung up on the lyrics, because they dont
knock me out. But I love the easy flow of the
changes and melody. I like the way Miles [Davis]
approached it, so my improv becomes my own lyrics. Even
though I am not singing new lyrics, the originals are in my heart
and come out in my solo.
Sheila Jordan, jazz vocalist www.sheilajordanjazz.com
Are you a published Vocalist or Instrumentalist?

Eric Dolphy
Outward Bound
1999 Prestige 8236
Original recording 1960

Bass clarinet is the instrument of choice on

this stroll down Green Dolphy Street, with
a group also including Freddie Hubbard on
trumpet and Jaki Byard on piano.

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Soundtrack information

- Noah Baerman

On Green Dolphin Street was included in these films:

Walter Norris
Green Dolphin Street (1947, Mel Torme)
The Prize (1963)
Zigzag (1970, Anita ODay)
The Score (2001, Cassandra Wilson)

Free Chord Changes for this Tune

http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/ongreendolphinstreet.htm

Lush Life
1990, Concord 4457

Pianist Norris, who has lived and taught in

Berlin for over 20 years, was persuaded to
record for Concord while visiting California.
This recording led to more and to several
tours, reacquainting him with American
audiences. This CD, which includes five of
the top standards, shows his considerable
technical prowess and creative genius to
advantage. His reharmonization of On
Green Dolphin Street is just one of the

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Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals (On Green Dolphin Street)

4/24/15, 10:09 AM
Green Dolphin Street is just one of the
highlights.

- Sandra Burlingame

Nancy Wilson, George

Shearing
Swingin's Mutual
Blue Note Records

Theres great interplay on this track as

vocalist Wilson and pianist Shearing deliver
a swinging version of the song. Wilsons
romantically airy vocals work perfectly with
Shearings deft piano.

Al Grey
Snap Your Fingers
2003, Verve
Original recording, 1962

Trombonist Grey leads the group through an

upbeat, bop version of the song. There is a
particularly bright spotlight on vibes player
Bobby Hutcherson.

Miles Davis
On Green Dolphin Street
1991, Sony 47835
Original recording, 1958

The songs popularity among the jazz set is

understandable after listening to this
definitive version, courtesy of Davis on
muted trumpet, John Coltrane on sax, and
Bill Evans at the piano. The song unfolds at
a leisurely pace.

Bill Evans
On Green Dolphin Street
1995, Milestone Records 9235
Original recording, 1959

This is a concise and elegant reading by

pianist Evans. Bassist Paul Chambers and
drummer Philly Joe Jones round out the trio
which plays with breathtaking synergy.

- Ben Maycock

Written by the Same Composer(s)...

This section shows the jazz standards written by the same
writing team.

Bronislau Kaper and Ned Washington

Year
1947

Rank Title
25

On Green Dolphin Street

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Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals (On Green Dolphin Street)

4/24/15, 10:09 AM

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