PRELUDE TO A KISS

Music: Duke Ellington- Lyrics: Irving Gordon, Irving Mills

Year: 1938

 

Prelude to a kiss-clasicos del jazz-standards jazz

Origin of the song

On 9 August 1938, Duke Ellington's orchestra, with sax-tenor Johnny Hodges, recorded 'Prelude to a Kiss' for the Brunswick label. A second version was recorded a fortnight later for the Vocalion label, but this time performed by Johnny Hodges & His Orchestra with lead singer Mary McHugh. In fact, Hodges' orchestra was actually formed by members of Ellington's band, including himself. Mary McHugh was the singer of that band at the time, recording half a dozen songs, including 'Prelude to a Kiss' and 'Lost In Meditation'.

The song had a very modest popular success. Hodges' version, although the audience liked the lyrics and performance of McHugh, only stayed on the charts for two weeks. She had a similar career to Ellington's version of the orchestra, which entered a week later, and reached the eighteenth place, disappearing after two weeks.

Irving Gordon, who worked at the music agency of Irving Mills, is the author of the lyrics and music for 'What Will I Tell My Heart' (1937), 'Unforgettable' (1941), 'Be Anything (But Be Mine)' (1952) and 'Sinner or Saint' (1952).


Versions in the top charts

PERFORMERS

DATE OF RECORDING

DAY OF ENTRANCE

PERMANENCE WEEKS

HIGH POSITION REACHED

 

Duke Ellington Famous Orchestra

1938.08.09

1938.10.29

2

18

Instrumental

Johnny Hodges Orchestra

1938.08.24

1938.10.22

2

13

Mary McHugh (voc)

Jazz. Outstanding performances

  Instrumental

PERFORMERS

DATE OF RECORDING

MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING

 

Duke Ellington Famous Orchestra

1938.08.09

Duke Ellington (p, dir); Rex Stewart (cnt); Wallace Jones, Cootie Williams (tp); Lawrence Brown, Joe Nanton (tb); Juan Tizol (vtb); Barney Bigard (cl, ts); Johnny Hodges (ss, as); Otto Hardwick (as, cl); Harry Carney (cl, as, bars); Fred Guy (g); Billy Taylor (b); Sonny Greer (d)

Duke Ellington Famous Orchestra

1945.05.10

Duke Ellington (p, dir), Rex Stewart (cnt), Cat Anderson, Shelton Hemphill, Taft Jordan, Ray Nance (tp), Lawrence Brown, Joe Nanton (tb), Claude Jones (vtb), Jimmy Hamilton (cl, ts), Otto Hardwick, Johnny Hodges (as), Al Sears (ts), Harry Carney (bars), Fred Guy (g), Junior Raglin (b), Sonny Greer (d)

John Hardee Quartet

1948.11.30

John Hardee (ts), Al Haig (p), Clyde Lombardi (b), Tiny Kahn (d)

Horace Silver Trio

1952.10.20

Horace Silver (p), Curly Russell (b), Art Blakey (d)

Duke Ellington Trio

1953.04.13

Duke Ellington (p), Wendell Marshall (b), Butch Ballard (d)

Ben Webster with strings

1954.12.15

Ben Webster (ts), Ralph Burns Orchestra

Bobby Timmons Trio

1960.01.12

Bobby Timmons (p), Sam Jones (b), Jimmy Cobb (d)

Pee Wee Russell Quartet

1963.04.10

Pee Wee Russell (cl), Marshall Brown (tp, vtb), Russell George (b), Ronnie Bedford (d)

Ronnie Mathews Quintet

1963.12.17

Ronnie Mathews (p), Freddie Hubbard (tp), Charles Davis (bars), Eddie Kahn (b),

Tootie Heath (d)

Jim Hall- Ron Carter Duo

1972.08.04

JIm Hall (g), Ron Carter (b)

McCoy Tyner Trio

1977.04.10

McCoy Tyner (p), Ron Carter (b), Tony Williams (d)

Mal Waldron- Steve Lacy Duo

1986.02.17

Steve Lacy (ss), Mal Waldron (p)

World Saxophone Quartet

1986.04.??

Oliver Lake, Julius Hemphill (as), David Murray (ts), Hamiet Bluiett (bars)

Sonny Rollins Quintet with brass

1993.08.??

Sonny Rollins (ts), Jon Faddis, Byron Stripling (fis), Clifton Anderson (tb), Alex Brofsky (tpa), Bob Stewart (tu), Tommy Flanagan (p), Bob Cranshaw (b), Jack DeJohnette (d),

Jimmy Heath (dir)

Brad Mehldau Trio

1995.04.03

Brad Mehldau (p), Christian McBride (b), Brian Blade (d)

  Vocal

PERFORMERS

DATE OF RECORDING

MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING

 

Johnny Hodges Orchestra

1938.08.24

Johnny Hodges (as), Cootie Williams (tp), Lawrence Brown (tb), Harry Carney (bars), Duke Ellington (p), Billy Taylor (b), Sonny Greer (d), Mary McHugh (voc)

Sarah Vaughan

1954.04.02

Sarah Vaughan (voc), John Malachi (p), Joe Benjamin (b), Roy Haynes (d)

June Christy & Stan Kenton

1955.05.??

June Christy (voc), Stan Kenton (p)

Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra

1955.08.23

Billie Holiday (voc), Harry 'Sweets' Edison (tp), Benny Carter (as), Jimmy Rowles (p), Barney Kessel (g), John Simmons (b), Larry Bunker (d)

Mel Tormé

1957.11.01

Mel Tormé (voc), Marty Paich (p, dir), Don Fagerquist (tp), Vincent DeRosa (tpa), Hymie Gunkler, Ronnie Lang (cl, as), Bob Enevoldsen (cl, ts), Stella Castellucci (arp), Bill Pitman (g), Joe Mondragon (b), Mel Lewis (d), string section

Nancy Wilson

1969.??.??

Nancy Wilson (voc), Hank Jones (p), Gene Bertoncini (g), Ron Carter (b), Grady Tate (d)

Tony Bennett

1977.04.??

Tony Bennett (voc), Bill Berry (tp), Scott Hamilton (ts), Nat Pierce (p), Monty Budwig (b),

Jake Hanna (d)

Sun Ra Arkestra

1988.08.08

Sun Ra (p, sint, voc), Ahmed Abdullah, Michael Ray (tp), Tyrone Hill (tb), Marshall Allen (as), John Gilmore (ts, per), Danny Thompson (bars), Leroy Taylor (cl), June Tyson (vn, va), Bruce Edwards (g), Rollo Radford (b), Earl 'Buster' Smith, Eric Walker (d)

Diane Schuur

1993.??.??

Diane Schuur (voc), Warren Luening (tp), Dave Boroff (ts), Earle Dumler (ob), Roger Kellaway (p), Chuck Domanico (b), Will Kennedy (d), string section

Joe Lovano

1994.04.06

Joe Lovano (ts), Richard Oatts (fl), Edwin Schuller, Mark Helias (b), George Schuller (d), Judi Silvano (voc), string section, Gunther Schuller (dir)

Claudia Acuña

1999.11.17

Claudia Acuña (voc), Jason Lindner (p), Avishai Cohen (b), Jeff Ballard (d)

On cinemas

 The song 'Prelude To A Kiss' is included in the soundtrack of the following movies:

 

ORIGINAL TITLE

TITLE IN SPAIN

YEAR OF PRODUCTION

PERFORMERS OF THE SONG IN THE FILM

Rough Cut

Golpe audaz

1980

 

The Fabulous Baker Boys

Los fabulosos Baker Boys

1989

Duke Ellington Orchestra

Glengarry Glen Ross

Glengarry Glen Ross: Éxito a cualquier precio

1992

Bill Holman Big Band

Prelude To A Kiss

Hechizo de un beso

1992

Deborah Harry

White Man’s Burden

Atrapado

1995

Michael Lang Trio

Munich

Munich

2005

Stan Getz

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