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In 1945, Johnny Otis recorded it as an early single on the Savoy label. By 1941, “Harlem Nocturne” was also used as a theme song for the Randy Brooks Orchestra. Hagen also intended the piece to be used by Jack Dumont, a saxophonist then with the Ray Noble Orchestra where Hagen worked. Johnny Hodges (1907-1970), meanwhile, became a legendary saxophonist In writing the tune, Hagen had been inspired by Duke Ellington’s band. Initially, Hagen wrote the song as a tribute to saxophonist Johnny Hodges, known for his solo work with Duke Ellington’s band. Here’s some of that lineage.Įarle Hagen wrote and composed the song, along with Dick Richards. Hagen played trombone with Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey and the Ray Noble Orchestra, where he became an arranger in the late 1930s. On the road with the Noble Orchestra, Hagen composed “Harlem Nocturne,” and the song became a jazz standard. In its musical sojourn, “Harlem Nocturne” became one of those classic and timeless instrumentals that filled the airways and nightclubs over the decades in many cover versions, even to this day. But the original “Harlem Nocturne” has its roots in late 1930s’ jazz and the big band era.
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Perhaps most notably the song came to wide popular notice in the early- and mid-1960s with a 1959 rendition, offered below, by a group called The Viscounts. But “Harlem Nocturne” would rise again in the 1980s, used for the TV series Mike Hammer and a related Hollywood film. “Harlem Nocturne” is a saxophone-saturated song born in 1939 that has had a long shelf life –a song that found pop fame 20 years, and again nearly 50 years, after its first release.
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“Harlem Nocturne” sheet music cover from Shapiro Bernstein Music Publishers, Hal Leonard Corporation.