Biography
Born on 26 December 1906 in Rockville, Connecticut, Morgan Lewis grew up to study at the University of Michigan before committing himself to a life in the theatre. He supplied scores for numerous stage productions, teaming at various points with lyricists Edward Eliscu, Ted Fetter and E.P. ‘Yip’ Harburg. His partnership with Nancy Hamilton began on the 1934 edition of New Faces; together they later created the revues One For The Money (1939), Two For The Show (1940) and Three To Make Ready (1946). The pair’s joint catalogue includes the songs “The Old Soft Shoe,” “In My Kenosha Canoe,” “The House With A Little Red Barn,” “With All My Heart,” “Lovely Lazy, Kind Of Day,” “Barnaby Beach,” “The Shoe On The Other Foot,” “At Last It’s Love,” “There’s Something On My Program,” “The Sad Sack,” “My Day,” “If It’s Love,” “I Only Know” and “I Hate Spring.” Among the performers who appeared in these revues were Eve Arden, Ray Bolger, Alfred Drake, Betty Hutton, Gene Kelly, Gordon MacRae and Bibi Osterwald.
In Two For The Show, Drake introduced “How High The Moon” as a slow, moody ballad. Late-swing orchestras led by Benny Goodman and Harry James took up the number in 1940, after which it passed into the repertoire of bebop players and soon became an anthem for that style, recorded instrumentally by Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and countless others. By the late 1940s the tune served as a frequent basis for improvisation at Jazz At The Philharmonic concerts; it remains most closely associated with Ella Fitzgerald’s many recordings. Jazz discographies alone list some seven hundred versions. Beyond jazz circles, Les Paul and Mary Ford achieved a major hit in the 1950s with a multi-tracked arrangement.
Lewis also worked as a director and choreographer. He staged the dances for Idiot’s Delight in 1936, directed the 1937 production Naughty Naught ’00 (music by Richard Lewine, lyrics by Fetter, starring Eleanor Phelps and Bartlett Robinson) and arranged the musical numbers for The Fireman’s Flame (1937), the musical melodrama featuring Grace Coppin and Ben Cutler that again used songs by Lewine and Fetter. For the screen he composed the score for The Unconquered (1954), Nancy Hamilton’s Oscar-winning documentary on Helen Keller, and later supplied music for The Madwoman Of Chaillot (1969).
In Two For The Show, Drake introduced “How High The Moon” as a slow, moody ballad. Late-swing orchestras led by Benny Goodman and Harry James took up the number in 1940, after which it passed into the repertoire of bebop players and soon became an anthem for that style, recorded instrumentally by Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and countless others. By the late 1940s the tune served as a frequent basis for improvisation at Jazz At The Philharmonic concerts; it remains most closely associated with Ella Fitzgerald’s many recordings. Jazz discographies alone list some seven hundred versions. Beyond jazz circles, Les Paul and Mary Ford achieved a major hit in the 1950s with a multi-tracked arrangement.
Lewis also worked as a director and choreographer. He staged the dances for Idiot’s Delight in 1936, directed the 1937 production Naughty Naught ’00 (music by Richard Lewine, lyrics by Fetter, starring Eleanor Phelps and Bartlett Robinson) and arranged the musical numbers for The Fireman’s Flame (1937), the musical melodrama featuring Grace Coppin and Ben Cutler that again used songs by Lewine and Fetter. For the screen he composed the score for The Unconquered (1954), Nancy Hamilton’s Oscar-winning documentary on Helen Keller, and later supplied music for The Madwoman Of Chaillot (1969).