Written by Matt Dennis and Tom Adair, Will You Still Be Mine? was first recorded by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra in February 1941, with an arrangement by Axel Stordahl and a vocal refrain by Connie Haines. There were roughly seven jazz versions between Dorsey's and the definitive version by Miles Davis in 1955. Davis's rendition appeared on Musings of Miles and featured Davis (tp), Red Garland (p), Oscar Pettiford (b) and Philly Joe Jones (d). Will You Still Be Mine? still sounds great and is one of those songs that's impossible not to love. Here are nine versions between 1941 and '55, plus a few bonus tracks:
Here's Tommy Dorsey in 1941...
Here's Ahmad Jamal in 1951...
Here's Buddy DeFranco in 1951...
Here's Matt Dennis in 1953...
Here's Erroll Garner in 1953...
Here's Benny Carter in 1954...
Here's Pete Jolly in 1955...
Here's Tal Farlow in 1955...
And here's Miles Davis in 1955. Now that you've heard a bunch of jazz versions, listen how Davis takes the song to a different level with his dry tone, sterling improvisation and tentative, shy feel that perfectly captures the lyric's big unanswered question. The contrast between Miles's vulnerability and Garland's driving piano is divine...
Bonus tracks: Here's the Red Garland Trio in 1957...
Here's the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1962...
And here's vocalist Monica Ramey with the Beegie Adair Trio recently with Denis Solee on tenor saxophone and George Tidwell on flugelhorn. Dig Beegie's solo...