"Soft Winds" is a 1940 jazz standard composed by Benny Goodman, with lyrics by Fred Royal.

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

performed it regularly in the 1940s. In 1961, jazz harpist

Dorothy Ashby Dorothy Jeanne Thompson (August 6, 1932 – April 13, 1986), better known as Dorothy Ashby, was an American jazz harpist, singer and composer. Hailed as one of the most "unjustly under loved jazz greats of the 1950s" and the "most accomplished ...

released an album of the same name with the song as the title track, recorded at the Plaza Sound Studios in New York City. Canadian jazz pianist

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards ...

regularly performed the song in the 1970s and 1980s with the Oscar Peterson Quartet. Chet Baker,

Dinah Washington Dinah Washington (born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950s songs". Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performe ...

and numerous others recorded it. The theme song to the British dating show ''

Blind Date A blind date is a social engagement between two people who have not met, usually arranged by a mutual acquaintance. Structure A blind date is arranged for by a mutual acquaintance of both participants. The two people who take part in the blind ...

'' closely resembles the standard but Goodman is not credited.

Covers

* Herb Ellis - Nothing But the Blues (1958) *

- '' Soft Winds'' (1961)

References

{{1940s-jazz-composition-stub 1940 songs 1940s jazz standards Benny Goodman songs