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Johnny Smith featuring Stan Getz: Moonlight In Vermont

By Chris May
February 11, 2024
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The last word in glacial serenity, this version of Karl Suessdorf's "Moonlight In Vermont" was, as a single on the Roost label, a bigtime jukebox and radio hit for Johnny Smith and Stan Getz in 1952. At the time both musicians were salaried musicians at NBC radio and TV studios in New York. In all, in 1952 and 1953, Smith and Getz recorded eight tracks for Roost, which were included on the 1956 compilation album Moonlight In Vermont. Perhaps the most important long-term consequence of "Moonlight In Vermont" for Getz was that Norman Granz signed him to an exclusive deal as soon as his Roost contract expired. And the rest, as they say, is... blisstory (sorry).

Contact Chris May on All About Jazz.
Chris May is a senior editor of All About Jazz. He was previously the editor of the pioneering magazine Black Music & Jazz Review, and more recently editor of the style / culture / history magazine Jocks & Nerds.

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