"Rose Room", also known as "In Sunny Roseland", is a 1917

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 ...

, music by

Art Hickman Arthur George Hickman (June 13, 1886 – January 16, 1930) was a drummer, pianist, and bandleader of one of the first big bands. Career Hickman founded a sextet in San Francisco in 1913. The band's first job was playing at training camp for the b ...

, lyrics by Harry Williams. It is almost always performed as an instrumental. Composed at a time when the popularity of

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

was fading in favor of

thirty-two-bar form The 32-bar form, also known as the AABA song form, American popular song form and the ballad form, is a song structure commonly found in Tin Pan Alley songs and other American popular music, especially in the first half of the 20th century. A ...

and

twelve-bar blues The 12-bar blues (or blues changes) is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. In its basic form, it is predominantly based on ...

songs, the song has been called "definitely ahead of its time" by composer

Alec Wilder Alexander Lafayette Chew Wilder (February 16, 1907 – December 24, 1980) was an American composer. Biography Wilder was born in Rochester, New York, United States, to a prominent family; the Wilder Building downtown (at the "Four Corners") ...

. Indeed, while popular in the late 1910s and early 1920s, the song enjoyed its biggest popularity during the

swing era The swing era (also frequently referred to as the big band era) was the period (1933–1947) when big band swing music was the most popular music in the United States. Though this was its most popular period, the music had actually been aroun ...

.Chris Tyle
Rose Room overview
at ''jazzstandards.com'' - retrieved on 24 May 2009 The song was named after the Rose Room in

St. Francis Hotel The Westin St. Francis, formerly known as St. Francis Hotel, is a hotel located on Powell and Geary Streets on Union Square, San Francisco, California. The two 12-story south wings of the hotel were built in 1904, and the double-width north wing ...

, where Hickman was playing at the time.Gene Lees: ''Cats of Any Color: Jazz Black and White''. Oxford University Press US, 1995. . p. 204 In 1914, jazz pioneer

Bert Kelly Charles Robert "Bert" Kelly CMG (22 June 1912 – 17 January 1997), was an Australian politician and government minister. He was influential in moving Australian political parties away from support for high-tariff policies. Early life Kelly ...

was a member of Hickman's band.

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

is credited in reviving the popularity of "Rose Room" with his 1932 recording. Ellington later used the song's

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

in his 1939 composition, "

In a Mellow Tone "In a Mellow Tone", also known as "In a Mellotone", is a 1939 jazz standard composed by Duke Ellington, with lyrics written by Milt Gabler. The song was based on the 1917 standard "Rose Room" by Art Hickman and Harry Williams, which Ellington himse ...

". "Rose Room" is also the song with which

Charlie Christian Charles Henry Christian (July 29, 1916 – March 2, 1942) was an American swing and jazz guitarist. Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar and a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained nat ...

impressed

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

in 1939, jamming it solo after solo for 45 minutes with Goodman's band. Modern Swing Group, Leader: John Kongshaug recorded a version in Oslo on December 6, 1954. It was released on the

78 rpm record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

His Master's Voice A.L. 3489. Bandleader

Phil Harris Wonga Philip Harris (June 24, 1904 – August 11, 1995) was an American actor, comedian, musician and songwriter. He was an orchestra leader and a pioneer in radio situation comedy, first with ''The Jack Benny Program'', then in '' The Phil Harr ...

used "Rose Room" as his theme song while performing in San Francisco. He also used "Rose Room" again as a second theme on his NBC radio series, ''

The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show ''The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show'', was a comedy radio program which ran on NBC from 1948 to 1954 starring Alice Faye and Phil Harris. Harris had previously become known to radio audiences as the band-leader-turned-cast-member of the same name ...

''. The Lawrence Welk Orchestra/Show made a rendition with "Peanuts" Hucko on clarinet, in a show paying tribute to roses. The tune plays over the closing credits of "Away with the Fairies" (2012), an episode from the first season of ''

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries ''Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries'' is an Australian drama television series. It was first broadcast on ABC on 24 February 2012. It is based on author Kerry Greenwood's historical mystery novels, and it was created by Deb Cox and Fiona Eagger. ...

''.

Notes

1917 songs 1910s jazz standards Jazz songs Songs with lyrics by Harry Williams (songwriter) {{1910s-jazz-composition-stub

See also

Notes