Free Jazz Standard Sheet Music Downloads

"When Sunny Gets Blue" is a jazz ballad with music by Marvin Fisher and lyrics by Jack Segal, first recorded in 1956. The song was originally released as the B-side of Johnny Mathis's debut single and has since been covered by well over a hundred artists.

The tune follows a classic 32-bar AABA form in the key of Eb major. Its melody is both bluesy and tender, perfectly matching the lyric's imagery of a woman whose sadness brings rain and clouds. The A sections feature chromatic inner-voice movement that gives the harmony a distinctive melancholy color, while the bridge shifts to a brighter mood as Sunny begins to sing away her blues. The song works beautifully as a slow swing ballad and is equally rewarding for vocalists, who can exploit the narrative arc, and instrumentalists, who find rich harmonic material for improvisation.

Beyond Mathis's original, Nat King Cole's warm rendition on Love Is the Thing (1957) is a highlight. Notable jazz instrumental versions include Kenny Dorham's trumpet feature (1960) and McCoy Tyner's piano interpretation on Today and Tomorrow (1963).