Early Autumn

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Early Autumn (m. Ralph J. Burns, Woody Herman, w. Johnny Mercer) — first recorded in December 1948 as an instrumental; Mercer lyric written in 1952, at the request of Woody Herman

Woody Herman and his Orchestra – recorded 30 December 1948 in Hollywood, CA; issued in May 1949 on the singles Capitol Records 57-616 (78 rpm) and Capitol Records 54-616 (45 rpm), b/w “Keeper of the Flame” in each case — In 1950, multiple represses of the 1949 single were released in the US as Capitol Records 616. Also in 1950, the single was released in Sweden and Norway as Capitol Records C 616.

session personnel, from jazzdisco.org:

Stan Fishelson, Bernie Glow, Bill Harris, Red Rodney, Shorty Rogers, Ernie Royal (tp), Earl Swope, Ollie Wilson (tb), Bob Swift (btb), Woody Herman (cl, as, vo), Sam Marowitz (as), Al Cohn , Stan Getz, Zoot Sims (ts), Serge Chaloff (bars), Terry Gibbs (vib, vo), Lou Levy (p), Chubby Jackson (b, vo), Don Lamond (d)

Reviewing the recording for Jazz.com, Ted Gioia wrote [link defunct]:

When asked about this solo years later, Getz noted that he didn’t own copies of his old recordings, then added: “I don’t remember what I played on it. . . . My music is something that’s done and forgotten about.” Yet this was the performance that created the first buzz of fame that would establish Getz as a name attraction in the jazz world. And if Getz didn’t recall what he played on the date, many musicians and fans committed his phrases to memory. Ralph Burns’s chart is a perfect vehicle for the tenorist, and the sax section is luminous even before Getz steps forward. But his solo is a perfectly poised statement, and an important milestone in the development of the cool jazz idiom.

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audio file, VBR MP3 (3.0 MB), from the page The Complete Capitol Recordings Of Woody Herman, at archive.org:

Jo Stafford with Paul Weston & his Orchestra – B-side of the single Jambalaya/Early Autumn, 1952

Cleo Laine — from her 1957 LP Meet Cleo, MGM Records E3593, which is the US version of the UK album She’s the Tops!, MGM Records MGM-C-765, also released in 1957

Johnny Mathis – from his 1957 LP Wonderful, Wonderful

Anita O’Day – from the 1958 album, Anita O’Day Sings the Winners; arrangement and orchestra direction by Marty Paich

George Shearing Quintet with String Choir – from the 1961 album Satin Affair, Capitol Records T 1628, and T-1628 (Mono), Capitol Records ST 1628, and ST-1628 (Stereo)