"Hi-Fly" (also sometimes spelled "Hi Fly" or "High Fly") is one of the best known compositions by American jazz pianist Randy Weston, written in the 1950s and inspired by his experience of being 6 feet 8 inches tall,[1] "and how the ground looks different to you than everybody else".[2] Since first being recorded on 1958's New Faces at Newport,[3] "Hi-Fly" appears on several other albums by Weston, including Live at the Five Spot (1959),[4] Niles Littlebig (1969),[5] Tanjah (1973),[6] Perspective (with Vishnu Wood, 1976),[7] Rhythms and Sounds (1978),[8] Earth Birth (1995),[9] Zep Tepi (2005),[10] and The Storyteller (2009).[11]
Jon Hendricks wrote lyrics to the song,[12] recorded first in 1959 on the album Lambert, Hendricks, & Ross!: "The Hottest New Group in Jazz" and also appearing on 1961's High Flying With Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. Among others who have recorded vocal covers are Abbey Lincoln (on The World Is Falling Down, 1991), Mel Tormé (on 1962's Comin' Home Baby! and other albums),[13] Karin Krog on (Hi-Fly with Archie Shepp)[14] and Sarah Vaughan (In the City of Lights, 1999).
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