After you've gone

After You’ve Gone is a classic American popular and jazz standard composed in 1918 by Turner Layton, with lyrics by Henry Creamer. The song emerged from the Tin Pan Alley world and quickly became one of the most enduring standards of early jazz.

The lyric is a bittersweet warning to a departing lover: the singer does not beg them to stay, but confidently predicts that one day they will regret leaving and remember the love they lost. Marion Harris made the first recording of the song in 1918, helping turn it into an immediate hit.

Connection to Django Reinhardt & Gypsy Jazz:
After You’ve Gone became an important part of Django Reinhardt’s repertoire. Django recorded the tune three times: first in 1934 with Joseph Reinhardt and bassist Juan Fernandez, again on 4 May 1936 with the Quintette du Hot Club de France and vocalist Freddy Taylor, and once more during his 1949 Rome sessions with Stéphane Grappelli.

Musical character:
The tune combines blues feeling with lively syncopation and a surprisingly rich harmonic structure. In jazz it can be played at anything from a relaxed medium tempo to a fast swing. Its strong melody and frequent chord movement give improvisers plenty of material while keeping the form immediately recognizable.

Interesting facts:

• Turner Layton wrote the music and Henry Creamer the lyrics.
• Marion Harris made the first recording in 1918, and the song became a major hit.
• Layton and Creamer were both African American performers and songwriters associated with vaudeville and Tin Pan Alley.
• The tune has been recorded by major artists including Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Fats Waller and many others.
• Django Reinhardt’s first known version dates from 1934.
• His famous 4 May 1936 recording features Stéphane Grappelli, Joseph Reinhardt, Pierre “Baro” Ferret, Lucien Simoens and vocalist Freddy Taylor.
• Django returned to the tune again in 1949 during his Rome sessions with Grappelli.
• The song remains a popular jam-session piece in traditional jazz and Gypsy Jazz.

More than a century after its creation, After You’ve Gone remains one of the great crossover standards between early popular music, blues, swing and jazz. Django Reinhardt’s recordings helped give the tune a lasting place in the Manouche Jazz repertoire.