The earliest recorded hit version was by
Benny Goodman & His Orchestra, featuring vocalist
Helen Forrest. It was recorded on February 7, 1940, and released by
Columbia Records as catalog number 35391, with the flip side "Fable of the Rose".[2] The
Les Paul Trio recorded a version released as
V-Disc 540B with a spoken introduction which was issued in November, 1945 by the U.S. War Department. In 1948, bandleader
Stan Kenton enjoyed some success with his version of the tune. The recording, with a vocal by
June Christy, was released by
Capitol Records as catalog number 911 (with the flip side "
Willow, Weep for Me")[3] and 15117 (with the flip side "Interlude").[4] It reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on July 9, 1948, its only week on the chart, at #27.[5]
A recording of the song by
Les Paul and
Mary Ford was made on January 4, 1951.[6] This version featured Paul on all guitars (lead, rhythm, muted strings for guitar percussion, and a bass line played on guitar).[6] Ford's lead vocals took three takes to record; since Paul and Ford recorded (at least Ford's vocals) at night, she placed a blanket over her head so most of the sound would be directed towards the single
RCA Type 44-BX ribbon microphone and would not travel through the building and wake up neighbors.[6] Regardless, while recording one of Ford's harmony vocal parts, their neighbors complained about the noise.[6] According to Paul, the final recording featured 12 guitar parts and 12 vocal parts.[6]
The record was released on March 26 by Capitol Records as catalog number 1451, with the flip side "Walkin' and Whistlin' Blues",[7] and spent 25 weeks (beginning on March 23, 1951) on the Billboard chart,[5] 9 weeks at #1. It was subsequently re-released by Capitol as catalog number 1675, with "Josephine" on the
B-side.[8] This version crossed over to the
Most-Played Juke Box Rhythm & Blues Records chart, where it peaked at #2.[9]
This recording was inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame in 1979 and is on the list of the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum of the Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.[10] In 2023, this version was included on the
soundtrack of the film Asteroid City by
Wes Anderson.[11]
The song was sung in various recordings by
Ella Fitzgerald, becoming (with the
Gershwins' "
Oh, Lady Be Good!") Ella's signature tune. She first performed the song at
Carnegie Hall on September 29, 1947.[1] Her first recording, backed by the Daydreamers, was recorded December 20, 1947, and released by
Decca Records as catalog number 24387, with the flip side "
You Turned the Tables on Me".[12] Her most celebrated recording of "How High the Moon" is on her 1960 album Ella in Berlin, and her version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance."[13]
The song has become a
gypsy jazz standard and has been recorded by several musicians of the genre.
Louis Armstrong and his orchestra (recorded in two parts November 30, 1947, released by
Decca Records as catalog numbers 28103 & 28104, each with the flip side being a part of a two-part recording of "
Body and Soul".[15])
Mitchel Ayres' orchestra (vocal: Mary Ann Mercer: recorded February 8, 1940, released by
Bluebird Records as catalog number 10609B, with the flip side "A House with a Little Red Barn".[16])
Larry Clinton and his orchestra (recorded February 20, 1940, released by
Victor Records as catalog number 26521, with the flip side "Bread and Butter".[24])
Nat King Cole (released by Capitol Records as catalog number 10191, with the flip side "Blues in My Shower".[22])
King Cole Trio (released by Capitol Records as catalog number 531, with the flip side "I'll Never Be the Same".[3])
Kaye Connor (released by
Cosmo Records as catalog number 485, with the flip side "Derry Dum".[25])
Duke Ellington and his orchestra (recorded November 14, 1947, released by
Columbia Records as catalog number 38950, with the flip side "Cowboy Rhumba".[26])
Ziggy Elman (recorded
1947, released by
MGM Records as catalog number 10332, with the flip side "The Night Is Young and You're So Beautiful".[27])
Gloria Gaynor (
Disco version of the song, on
1975 MGM Records album Experience Gloria Gaynor, catalog number M3G 4997.[1]) Along with the tracks, "Casanova Brown" and "(If You Want It) Do It Yourself", this version went to number one on the disco/dance chart.[30]
Dizzy Gillespie (released by MGM Records as catalog number 30742, with another recording of the same song by
Jimmy McPartland on the flip side.[31])
Benny Goodman Septet (released by Capitol Records as catalog number 20126, with the flip side "Benny's Boogie".[32])
Eddie Heywood and his orchestra (recorded May 2, 1944, released by
Signature Records as catalog number 40002A, with the flip side "Sarcastic Lady".[36])
Harry James' orchestra (recorded March
1940, released by Varsity Records as catalog number 8221.[37] and by
Montgomery Ward as catalog number 10004,[38] both with the flip side "You've Got Me Out on a Limb".[37][38])
Bibbi Johnson and Thore Swanerud (recorded September 19, 1949, in
Stockholm,
Sweden; released by Savoy Records as catalog number 965, with the flip side "Tout Desire".[20]) (also listed as by the Thore Swanerud Sextet, issued by
Discovery Records as catalog number 173, with the flip side "Tout D'Suite".[40])
Big Jay McNeely on the album Live at Birdland, 1957 (1992, Collectable Records), recorded live in stereo at the
Seattle, Washington, Birdland Club in 1957.
Russ Morgan and his orchestra (recorded February 20, 1940, released by Decca Records as catalog number 3030A, with the flip side "Rose of the World".[42])
Oscar Peterson (released by Mercury Records as catalog number 8943, with the flip side "Nameless Blues".[43])
Phish, dedicated to the memory of Les Paul, Darien Center, NY 8/13/2009.
The Polecats on their 1981 Mercury Records album Polecats Are Go!.
Bud Powell (piano) on the album Spring Broadcasts 1953, with
Oscar Pettiford on bass and
Roy Haynes on drums. This broadcast was recorded March 21, 1953.
Boyd Raeburn and his orchestra (recorded August 14, 1947, released by
Atlantic Records as catalog number 860, with the flip side "Trouble Is a Man".[44])
Freddie Rich and his orchestra (vocal:
Rosemary Calvin; recorded February 14, 1940, released by
Vocalion Records as catalog number 5420, with the flip side "House with a Little Red Barn".[45])
David Rose and his orchestra (released by MGM Records as catalog numbers 30012B (with the flip side "Gay Spirits") and 30303 (with the flip side "
Bewitched").[46])
George Shearing Quintet (recorded December 18, 1951, released by MGM Records as catalog number 30627, with the flip side "Ghost of a Chance".[31])
Janis Siegel (on
1982 Atlantic Records album Experiment in White, catalog number 80007 1.[1])
Jimmy Smith (released by Blue Note Records as catalog number 1667, with the flip side "
Summertime".[47])
Keely Smith in 1985 on her jazz album I'm in Love Again on Fantasy Records.
Pat Suzuki on her album Miss Pony Tail (1957). This version plays during the opening scenes of the movie Biloxi Blues, and is also featured in the movie Eat a Bowl of Tea.
Art Tatum (solo piano) on the compilation album Piano Starts Here, released by Columbia Records in 1987.
Alexia Vassiliou recorded the song in her 1996 jazz album, featuring
Chick Corea, In A Jazz Mood for Sony-BMG.
Sarah Vaughan in 1957 recorded live at
Mr. Kelly's in Chicago. Notation is given to a version performed by Ella Fitzgerald on which she scats the verses, for which Sarah emulates.
Paul Weston and his orchestra (released by Columbia Records as catalog number 39299[29] and 39647,[49] both with the flip side "
Over the Rainbow";[29][49] also issued on the album Dream Time Music, Columbia catalog number CL 528, released November 2, 1953.[1])
Norman Vis (guitar) and his wife Anne-Lise Ricau (flute) released by Ouf Records on November 4, 2001, in Larreule.
Songs based on "How High the Moon"
Another jazz standard, "
Ornithology" by
Charlie Parker and
Benny Harris, is based on the
chords of "How High the Moon". It was common among jazz musicians (Ella Fitzgerald,
Lionel Hampton and others) to seamlessly include "Ornithology" in the solo when performing "How High the Moon".
Lennie Tristano wrote the
contrafact "Lennie-bird" over the chord changes, and
Miles Davis/
Chuck Wayne's "
Solar" is also based on part of the chord structure.[51] Coleman Hawkins' tune "Bean At Met" is also based on the changes of How High The Moon; this tune starts with simple riffs on the measures 1 to 8 and 17 to 24. The rest is filled up with solos.
John Coltrane's composition "Satellite" is also based on the chords of "How High the Moon", which Coltrane embellished with the three-tonic progression he also used on his composition "
Giant Steps".
Jimmy Giuffre's composition "Bright Moon" is also based on the chords of "How High the Moon".
Quincy Jones recorded it in 1957 on his second album, Go West, Man!