Greetings and salutations Hivers. Today let's go into another Three Tune Tuesday post.

As always, thanks to @ablaze for making this series. Lots of people participate in it! Follow the tags to find a ton of good music recommendation.

Today something a little different. A few weeks ago my oldest son came in while I was listening to Eiji Kitamura's version of the jazz standard All of Me. I'll put this version first in my picks, so don't worry about finding it. It's a great tune and I absolutely love Eiji's version. I suppose I'm biased because I played the clarinet for many years, and Eiji's clarinet work is beyond amazing.

Anyway, I was listening to his version when my son came in. He stopped what he wanted to ask me and just listened to the music, then started asking about it when it was over. Long story short, I added it to his music player and he has been listening to it pretty much nonstop since.

The song was written at the height of the swing jazz era, in 1931, by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons. It instantly became a huge hit. That same year Louis Armstrong recorded a version of it that hit number 1 and from there it never really left the airwaves for many years, with many other artists recording their own versions of it, including Willie Nelson, who reached number 3 on the country charts with it.

For today's post I thought we'd look at a few versions of this wonderful tune. We'll start with my favorite, Eiji Kitamura's version with his magic clarinet, then cover a few others. I think I'll be sticking with instrumental versions of the song, but if you want one with the lyrics, listen to Frank Sinatra's or Ella Fitzgerald's version. Both are pretty great.

Eiji Kitamura

I already introduced this one above, so no more needs to be said. He plays every note so pitch perfectly that it's really hard not to love this version. See what you think.

Justin Jordan Dalisay

I found these guys a while ago. Beyond the one name, he doesn't specify who the other two are, so I can't say much about them. But man, what a guitar solo in there. It is really great!

Lester Young · Teddy Wilson Quartet

This is undoubtably a more groovy cover of the song than the other two. When you get a good saxist going, it's hard to beat that. The piano is also nice. They play at a faster tempo than the song is normally played at, but it works quite well.

Just one more.

Gentle Forest Friends

We'll end with another Japanese jazz group. I also pick this because it moves to yet another lead instrument, trombone this time. A more subdued version, but no less good.

So what's your favorite?

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David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Twitter or Mastodon.