Harry Akst wrote the music and Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young contributed lyrics to this enduring jazz/pop standard. Eddie Cantor recorded it first, but Ethel Waters had the first hit, before everyone from Louis Armstrong to Bob Wills to Peter Case covered it. Django Reinhardt takes a sizzling solo on this 1934 recording with Stéphane Grappelli and the Quintette du Hot Club de France. Fun fact: The actress and singer Dinah Shore first performed as Frances Rose Shore, but became so associated with the song that she adopted it for her stage name. The song has a 16-bar introduction that is rarely played, and Aaron teaches the core 32-bar AABA form in the key of G, which is common for string-oriented jazz ensembles. Some bands with horns prefer it in the key of A♭. but as Aaron notes, if you find yourself in that situation, just slide everything up one fret! In this video, Aaron shows you the chord progression for “Dinah,” including some alternative fingerings for different voicings.
