I'LL NEVER SMILE AGAIN - Free Jazz Leadsheet

Composed by Ruth Lowe in 1939, "i'll never smile again" was first recorded by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra with Frank Sinatra and the Pied Pipers on vocals. Its tender lyrics and haunting melody quickly established it as a defining ballad of the era.

The lyrics express heartbreak and the lingering pain of lost love, delivered over a gentle, flowing melodic line. Harmonically, it features lush progressions that allow for expressive phrasing and subtle improvisation in both vocal and instrumental renditions.

Subsequent recordings by Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and contemporary jazz vocalists have maintained its place as a standard, celebrated for emotional depth and melodic beauty.