Bart Howard (born Howard Joseph Gustafson, June 1, 1915 – February 21, 2004) was an American composer and songwriter, most notably of the

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive lis ...

Fly Me to the Moon "Fly Me to the Moon", originally titled "In Other Words", is a song written in 1954 by Bart Howard. The first recording of the song was made in 1954 by Kaye Ballard. Frank Sinatra's 1964 version was closely associated with the Apollo missions ...

", which has been performed by

Kaye Ballard Kaye Ballard (November 20, 1925 – January 21, 2019) was an American actress, comedian, and singer. Early life Ballard was born Catherine Gloria Balotta in Cleveland, Ohio, one of four children born to Italian immigrant parents, Lena (née Nac ...

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

, Nancy Wilson,

Della Reese Delloreese Patricia Early (July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017), known professionally as Della Reese, was an American jazz and gospel singer, actress, and ordained minister whose career spanned seven decades. She began her long career as a s ...

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, and

Sia Sia Kate Isobelle Furler ( ; born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she rel ...

, among others. It is played frequently by

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and popular musicians around the world. Howard wrote the song for his partner of 58 years, Thomas Fowler.

Biography

Howard was born in

Burlington, Iowa Burlington is a city in, and the county seat of, Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 23,982 in the 2020 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in 2000. Burlington is the center of a micropolitan area, which includes ...

. He began his career as an accompanist at the age of 16 and played for

Mabel Mercer Mabel Mercer (3 February 1900 – 20 April 1984) was an English-born cabaret singer who performed in the United States, Britain, and Europe with the greats in jazz and cabaret. She was a featured performer at Chez Bricktop in Paris, owned b ...

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and

Eartha Kitt Eartha Kitt (born Eartha Mae Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Ba ...

, among others. "Fly Me to the Moon" was first sung in 1954 by

Felicia Sanders Felicia Sanders (born Felice Schwartz; April 26, 1921 – February 7, 1975) was a singer and musician of traditional pop music. Early years Sanders was born in Mount Vernon, New York but was raised in Southern California. She studied merchandi ...

the Blue Angel ''The Blue Angel'' (german: Der blaue Engel) is a 1930 German musical comedy-drama film directed by Josef von Sternberg, and starring Marlene Dietrich, Emil Jannings and Kurt Gerron. Written by Carl Zuckmayer, Karl Vollmöller and Robert Lie ...

nightclub in Manhattan, where the composer became M.C. and accompanist in 1951. The song received wide exposure when

sang it on ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

'' several years later. Bart Howard "lived off" this song for the rest of his life, although he had 49 other songs to his credit. These include "Let Me Love You", "

On the First Warm Day "On the First Warm Day" (also known as "The First Warm Day in May"). is an American pop standard with music and lyrics by Bart Howard. It was originally recorded by Rosemary Clooney for Columbia Records on April 18, 1952. Other performers wi ...

", "One Love Affair", "Be My All", "The Man in the Looking Glass", "My Love Is a Wanderer", "Who Wants to Fall in Love" and "Don't Dream of Anybody But Me". Howard died February 21, 2004, at age 88, in

Carmel, New York Carmel (pronounced ) is a Town (New York), town in Putnam County, New York, Putnam County, New York (state), New York, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the town had a population of 33,576. The town may have been named after Mo ...

. He was survived by a sister Dorothy Lind of Burlington, Iowa and by his partner of 58 years, Thomas Fowler.

Notes

The original title was "In Other Words", but so many people referred to it by the first lyric line, ("fly me to the moon") the publisher changed the title to "Fly Me to the Moon".

References

* Todd S. Jenkins (2004), ''Free Jazz and Free Improvisation: An Encyclopedia'', Greenwood Press

External links

* 1915 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American pianists 20th-century jazz composers 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century American composers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American pianists 21st-century jazz composers 21st-century LGBT people Accompanists American jazz composers American male jazz composers American male pianists Jazz musicians from New York (state) LGBT jazz composers People from Burlington, Iowa People from Carmel, New York {{US-composer-20thC-stub