Kiss and Run is a popular song written by Sam Coslow around 1950, first released in 1953 by vocalist Vicki Young with an orchestra conducted by Dave Cavanaugh. Coslow was a prolific songwriter whose career stretched from the 1920s through mid-century, encompassing Broadway revues, Hollywood film scores, and hit songs including "Cocktails for Two" and "Just One More Chance," many written in collaboration with composer Arthur Johnston for Paramount Pictures. Kiss and Run belongs to the later phase of Coslow's output, a period when his songwriting had shifted from its peak commercial prominence toward more occasional compositions. The tune is not widely known as a jazz standard, but it gained lasting visibility in the jazz world through Sonny Rollins's 1956 recording on Sonny Rollins Plus 4, which featured the Clifford Brown and Max Roach Quintet personnel. That session transformed the song from its original pop vocal context into an extended instrumental vehicle, with Rollins and Brown delivering an energetic duet performance over the tune's changes. This jazz reading remains the definitive interpretation and the primary reason the composition is remembered today, a testament to how a relatively obscure pop song can find a second life when taken up by improvising musicians of the highest caliber.
