On Green Dolphin Street (song)

For other uses, see Green Dolphin Street (disambiguation).

"On Green Dolphin Street" is a 1947 jazz standard composed by Bronisław Kaper with lyrics by Ned Washington. The song was written for the film Green Dolphin Street, starring Lana Turner and Van Heflin, which was based on a 1944 novel of the same name by Elizabeth Goudge.^[1]

"On Green Dolphin Street"
Song by Jimmy Dorsey
Published	1947
Genre	Pop, jazz
Composer(s)	Bronisław Kaper
Lyricist(s)	Ned Washington

Jazz critic Ted Gioia notes that the song appeals to jazz musicians "because of its engaging chord changes, which alternate between eight bars of floating pedal point and eight bars of rapid harmonic movement."^[2]

The song was revived in 1956 by jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal on his album Count 'Em 88. As Gioia notes, Jamal's "repertoire choices were often mimicked" at this time by Miles Davis, and "Jamal's performance, with its artful use of space and dynamics, anticipates Davis's later rendition, especially with its shifting rhythmic textures." Davis's sextet version from 1958, with John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, and Bill Evans, solidified the song's position as a jazz classic.^[3] It has gone on to become one of the most widely covered of all jazz standards, with more than 700 versions to date.^[4][5]

Gioia notes, "Vocalists occasionally tackle this song, but the lyrics suffer from shallowness. If you fell in love, would you sing about your beloved or just her address?" Among vocal versions, he prefers the one by Mark Murphy from 1961.^[6]

Renditions

Date	Main recording artist	Vocalist	Album title, notes	Ref.
1947	Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra	Bill Lawrence	Soundtrack for Green Dolphin Street. The commercial recording charted briefly at No. 25 in January 1948.	[7]
1956	Ahmad Jamal Trio	instrumental	Count 'Em 88	[8]
1957	Barney Kessel and the Poll Winners	instrumental	The Poll Winners	[9]
1958	Miles Davis Sextet	instrumental	Jazz Track (with soundtrack Ascenseur pour l'échafaud), reissued as Basic Miles (1973) and 1958 Miles in Japan (1974), (also '58 Miles Featuring Stella by Starlight)	[8]
1959	Jack Sheldon All-Star Big Band	instrumental	Jack's Groove
1959	Bill Evans	instrumental	On Green Dolphin Street	[8]
1959	Wynton Kelly	instrumental	Kelly Blue	[8]
1960	Eric Dolphy Quintet	instrumental	Outward Bound	[8]
1960	Duke Pearson	instrumental	Tender Feelin’s (album)	[8]
1960	Dakota Staton	Dakota Staton	Dakota (1960)	[10]
1961	Mark Murphy	Mark Murphy	Rah!	[8]
1961	Dinah Washington	Dinah Washington	The Complete Dinah Washington on Mercury, Vol. 7 (1961)	[11]
1961	Nancy Wilson	Nancy Wilson	The Swingin's Mutual!
1961	Grant Green	instrumental	Gooden's Corner
1962	Oscar Peterson and Milt Jackson	instrumental	Very Tall
1962	Mel Tormé	Mel Tormé	Comin' Home Baby!	[12]
1962	Dodo Marmarosa	instrumental	Dodo's Back!	[13]
1962	Sarah Vaughan	Sarah Vaughan	Included in her album You're Mine You (1962)
1963	Albert Ayler	instrumental	My Name Is Albert Ayler
1963	Vince Guaraldi Quintet	instrumental	In Person	[14]
1964	Tony Bennett	Tony Bennett	When Lights Are Low
1964	Erroll Garner	instrumental	Nightconcert (2018) - Recording from the Concertgebouw on November 7, 1964	[15]
1965	Sonny Rollins	instrumental	Sonny Rollins on Impulse!	[8]
1965	Bunky Green	instrumental	Testifyin' Time	[16]
1973	Jimmy McGriff Quintet	instrumental	Concert: Friday the 13th - Cook County Jail
1974	Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis	instrumental	Leapin' on Lenox	[8]
1974	Vince Guaraldi Trio	instrumental	Live on the Air
1977	Return to Forever	instrumental	Live
1977	Sadao Watanabe	instrumental	Live in Nemuro 1977
1978	Herbie Hancock	instrumental	The Piano
1982	Tony Rice Unit	instrumental	Backwaters	[17]
1986	Joe Pass and Ella Fitzgerald	Ella Fitzgerald	Easy Living	[18]
1987	Stan Getz and Kenny Barron	instrumental	Serenity	[19]
1991	Chick Corea Akoustic Band	instrumental	Alive
2021	Alan Stassforth and Michael Lindner	instrumental	The Pandemic Sessions	[20] [21]
2022	Seth MacFarlane	Seth MacFarlane	Blue Skies

In popular culture

"On Green Dolphin Street" is referenced in the sixth part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Stone Ocean in the name of Green Dolphin Street Prison, the primary setting of the story.