Bart Howard

Bart Howard (born Howard Joseph Gustafson, June 1, 1915 – February 21, 2004) was an American composer and songwriter, most notably of the jazz standard "Fly Me to the Moon".^[1]

Biography

Howard was born in Burlington, Iowa. He began his career as an accompanist at the age of 16 and played for Mabel Mercer, Johnny Mathis and Eartha Kitt, among others.

"Fly Me to the Moon" was first sung in 1954 by Felicia Sanders at the Blue Angel nightclub in Manhattan, where the composer became M.C. and accompanist in 1951. The song received wide exposure when Peggy Lee sang it on The Ed Sullivan Show several years later. Bart Howard "lived off" this song for the rest of his life, although he had 49 other songs to his credit. These include "Let Me Love You", "On the First Warm Day", "One Love Affair", "Be My All", "The Man in the Looking Glass", "My Love Is a Wanderer", "Who Wants to Fall in Love" and "Don't Dream of Anybody But Me".

Howard died February 21, 2004, at age 88, in Carmel, New York. He was survived by his partner of 58 years, Thomas Fowler, and a sister, Dorothy Lind of Burlington, Iowa.^[2]

Discography

• Bart Howard, K.T. Sullivan, Julie Wilson and William Roy (undated, c. 1990). Bart! The Songs of Bart Howard (CD). US: Painted Smiles Records PSCD-114.
• KT Sullivan (1997). In Other Words: The Songs of Bart Howard (CD). US: DRG Records 91449.
• Portia Nelson (2007). Let Me Love You: Songs of Bart Howard (CD). US: DRG Records 91442.