Why this tune?
If you’re going to spend time committing jazz standards to memory, one of the first ones on any list should be “Body and Soul.” This 1930 song by Johnny Green with lyrics by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour and
Frank Eyton is, according to jazzstandards.com, the most popular song in the jazz canon. After the song became a hit in several “sweet” versions in 1930, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, and other swing and jazz players adopted it into their repertoires. Coleman Hawkins’ solo on his 1939 recording is still considered an “essential document of jazz,” a preview of the first be-bop records which were a couple of years away.
The beautiful melody and complex harmony provide plenty of opportunities and
challenges, including two (!) key changes in the bridge.
In my recording of the song, I go through the melody once, moving up a step every eight bars, starting in Eb major and ending in A major.
Tunes On Tuesday Reel
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Coleman Hawkins, 1939
Paul Whiteman (vocals by Jack Fulton)
Champian Fulton
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 