George Gershwin, music · DuBose Heyward, lyrics · From the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess
Summertime is a slow lullaby from George Gershwin's 1935 opera Porgy and Bess, with words by DuBose Heyward. Players love it because it is only 16 bars long and moves through a few minor chords, which leaves room to change the feel, the key and the solos. You will hear it at jam sessions, on records by singers, jazz horn players and rock bands, and in many film scenes.
▶ Plays the whole path: 8 recordings in order. Use the player's next button to skip ahead.
The tune runs 16 bars in two halves of eight. Both halves open the same way: an A minor chord, then a minor ii–V that comes back to A minor. The first half then moves to D minor and F7 before another ii–V returns to A minor. The second half swings briefly toward C major in bars 12 and 13, then closes with a ii–V back to A minor that leads into the next chorus.
One published harmonic analysis of the changes in A minor: 16 bars, four lines of four bars. The ii–V in each line is Bm7♭5 to E7.
Taken from one harmonic analysis, not a printed lead sheet. Fake-book charts differ in detail, so compare it with the chart you play from and with the recording.
Source: Learn Jazz Standards: Summertime Chords and Analysis
Eight versions, from the song sung straight to a modern jazz reworking. On the way you hear it swung, decorated, arranged for orchestra, stretched into a long solo and played by a rock band.
Step 1 · Learn the song
Porgy and Bess
Step 2 · Hear it as a jazz tune
Vocalion 3288
Step 3 · Play it as a slow blues
Blue Note 6
Step 4 · Hear the bebop decoration
Charlie Parker with Strings
Step 5 · Hear it arranged for orchestra
Porgy and Bess
Step 6 · Hear the long solo
My Favorite Things
Step 7 · Hear it outside jazz
Cheap Thrills
Step 8 · Hear a modern take
St. Louis Shoes
Sarah Vaughan Sings George Gershwin
Vaughan sings the tune in front of a Hal Mooney orchestra on her Gershwin songbook album.
Oscar Peterson Plays Porgy & Bess
The classic piano trio of Peterson, Brown and Thigpen plays the tune as part of a full Porgy and Bess album.
My Name Is Albert Ayler
Free-jazz tenor saxophonist Ayler plays the tune with a Danish rhythm section.
Porgy and Bess
A duet for piano and acoustic guitar, from an album of Porgy and Bess songs.
Gershwin's World
Hancock arranges the tune on his Gershwin tribute album, with Joni Mitchell singing.
Timeless Tales
Redman's quartet with Mehldau, Grenadier and Blade plays the tune on an album of standards and pop covers.