There Is No Greater Love

Isham Jones composed the music for "There Is No Greater Love" in 1936, with lyrics by Marty Symes. Jones's orchestra recorded the original version on February 3, 1936, in New York, featuring a young Woody Herman on vocals, and Decca Records released it as the B-side to "Life Begins When You're in Love." The song reached number 20 on the pop charts that April. Jones was already one of the most successful bandleaders and songwriters of the era, with over seventy hits to his name including "I'll See You in My Dreams" and "It Had to Be You." "There Is No Greater Love" proved to be among his final major compositions before he stepped back from performing and handed the leadership of his orchestra to Herman, who went on to lead his own bands for the next five decades. The melody is lyrical and direct, with simple, romantic phrasing that works equally well at ballad tempo or at medium-up swing speeds. This versatility has made it a staple vehicle for improvisation, recorded more than three hundred times by artists spanning the history of jazz, including Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, Chet Baker, and Amy Winehouse. Frank Rosolino's 1958 recording was particularly influential in establishing the tune as a medium-tempo swinger rather than strictly a ballad, a treatment that has remained common in jazz performance ever since.