Bronisław Kaper: "On Green Dolphin Street" plus one or two

This guy wrote two pieces of film music that later became jazz standards as well as a kind of Disneyesque tune that also has been covered by pop singers of various stripes but apart from that, nothing else of note? Not sure how long this thread will go but feel like it’s worth a try. Feel free to discuss his famous tunes or anything else you come up with, I’ll be back later.

His most famous tune is "On Green Dolphin Street," although often people leave out the initial "On."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGVdAlxlp18

Typical the A section is played with kind of a Latin feel of sorts whilst the B section is played Swing.

It was the title tune of a sort of Gothic 1947 Lana Turner film, her next film after The Postman Always Rings Twice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJdszk9D4PQ

He is credited in the film as Bronislau Kaper. Words were added at some point by the lyricist Ned Washington. He is not a big name, even a maven such as the late Michael Bourne of WBGO's "Singers Unlimited" once mistakenly referred to him as Ned *Hamilton* but he did write lyrics to for some other Hollywood hits, most notably "When You Wish Upon a Star" along with "Stella By Starlight" both of which were suprising to me when I just saw them here:
https://www.songhall.org/profile/Ned_Washington

For reference here is Sarah Vaughan singing the lyrics, although later for guessable reasons she dispensed with them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8yUoFv1e3c

Sassy, a few decades later:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVjQiXz3FZE

Here is an appreciation of the visual effects of the titular film.
http://nzpetesmatteshot.blogspot.com/2012/03/green-dolphin-street-oscar-winning.html

Ned Washington also wrote the lyrics to "Town WIthout Pity"!
https://www.kuvo.org/stories-of-standards-on-green-dolphin-street-2/

Miles Davis's version(s) of "On Green Dolphin Street" was apparently the breakout version that launched a thousand more but I really dig one that predated it done by The Poll WInners aka Barney Kessel, Shelly Manne and Ray Brown.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EHOwHqa9Vs

And the Latin A/Swing B format is already thoroughly in place.

The other song of his that became a jazz standard also is usually done as with a Latin A and Swing B (sometimes just mostly Martin Denny-style Latin all the way through), this being "Invitation," here sung by Sarah Vaughan on the same album as the one before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_Qt3Y7IxsM

This tune also first appeared in a Lana Turner film, this time 1950’s A Life of Her Own.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVSS57Wp3P4

But it didn’t catch fire until it appeared in the 1952 film Invitation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gwcvKEd3Zc

No Lana Turner in this one though. Dorothy McGuire instead, opposite Van Johnson.

This time the words were provided by a slightly more well-known lyrical warhorse, Paul Francis Webster.

Although his only previous mention here was for his kind of surprising appearance as the lyricist for that ancient earworm, the theme music for the old cheapo animation series Spiderman. ILMs 101 FAVOURITE TV THEMES OF ALL TIME COUNTDOWN FEVER

Forgot the hyphen in Spider-Man, sorry.

He also wrote the lyrics to standards like "Secret Love" from sinkah's favorite film Calamity Jane -Whip-Crack-Away!- as well as one of my faves "Baltimore Oriole."

He also wrote the lyrics to "The Shadow of Your Smile," not sure how I feel about that one.

In any case the lyrics to "Invitation" have some infelicities and vagueness but basically fit the mood of the song, whereas those of "On Green Dolphin Street" are just pure placeholders. I recently learned that half of the lyrics to this version by Cyrille Aimee that I have listened to many, many times where written by the singer herself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmFW3UWY9OY

It's kind of cool though. She just kind of wrote a second half continuing with the vibe and language of the first go-round. A seamless join imo.

Cal Tjader seems to have recorded it more than once. I like this version from 1963’s Soña Libré.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD-k8jwoigM

From 1962’s Standard Coltrane.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrDWSTjZbyg

Recently came across this Tom Harrell version and can't get enough of it. From his first album Aurora in 1976, later reissued as Total!.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blmIYqLNmsk

Actually he also wrote another jazz standard I don't really know called "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm" that I just came across. Here's Bud Powell playing it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f99_Tn5vXh8

And Barry Harris.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zzme5yxFVCA

Don't even remember the original version song by Ivie Anderson A Day at the Races in 1937.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSK508WDkM8

Here is the full song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pfbGndS7Ps

Another youtube posting of it has the following comment:

Chip Stern
8 years ago
One of the greatest, most under-appreciated vocalists in the history of American music. What a spirit! And such a great song--if you dig it, by all means check out how Bud Powell turns it into a bebop anthem

Just found a great version of “Invitation” sung by Rosemary Clooney, the lead track from her 1963 album Love that was recorded in 1961, a collaboration with Nelson Riddle, with whom she was having a affair! Guess I’ll have to reread Girl Singer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns0Fjw36WRU

Wasn’t really released because label at the time was RCA/Victor who didn’t put it out for some reason so Sinatra ending up buying it for Reprise.

Girl Singeris amazing by the way. Even better than I remembered it.

Oh wow. URGENT AND KEY DIGRESSION INSERTED HERE. Rosie was sitting on the couch and participating in the chat when Iggy and Bowie were on The Dinah Shore Show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrRmddyQbNo

Before I leave this thread for future generations to discover the night I will say that his one other song of note, while far from a jazz standard, is still a serviceable little film ditty, and has been covered many, many times, perhaps as many times as “Gloria” if maybe not quite as many times as “Louie Louie,” including once by Dinah Shore.

Was watching a movie the other day that famously has no music, no soundtrack score that is, this being Executive Suite, but there is some incidental music on the soundtrack, in particular when Louis Calhern is making a phone call at The Stork Club, where the piano player starts playing something that seems to be nothing other than “Invitation.”

Guess I should mention his other composition of note, which is “Hi-Lili Hi-Lo.” Here is the original version from the movie “Lili” starring Leslie Caron.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLIUzUnoomY

Here is a version by Dinah Shore along with our old friend Frank De Vol.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaIhCmQumIg

Britishes may remember the driving upbeat version by The Alan Price Set.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ0Rn-ReVUQ

Bizarrely there was a film on TV earlier on where I was momentarily distracted by the cool titles and extremely bombastic theme music - which I noticed was composed by Bronislaw Kape. Then I noticed George Peppard was playing a German Jew and turned it over.

... Kaper.

Interesting. The only film I can find connecting him to George Peppard is HOME FROM THE HILL.
https://moviemusicuk.us/2016/03/01/bronislau-kaper-fathers-of-film-music-part-14/

Oh wait, maybe it is TOBRUK.
https://sdtom.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/tobruk-1967kaper/

Indeed.

Always get that confused with TOPKAPI.

Watched a bit of LILI tonight. That song is an earworm.

Hollywood: The Oral History has more than two dozen quotes from Bronnie Kaper.

*bump* for reasons to be revealed later

Heh, wonder what I was thinking of.

Came to say something I just read says that "Invitation" was actually written by this guy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Dani%C5%82owski