"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) and Sarah Vaughan (In the City of Lights, 1999).
Now a jazz standard, "Hi-Fly" has been recorded in many versions by other leading musicians,[14] including:
Smokin′, 1958
The Hottest New Group in Jazz, 1959
At the Jazz Corner of the World, 1959
The Warm Sound, 1961
Hi-Fly, 1962
Many Splendored Vibes, 1962
Snap Your Fingers, featuring Billy Mitchell, 1962
Phenix, 1975
No Blues, 1975
The Berlin Concerts, 1977[15]
At The Village Vanguard Again, 1977
Gotham City, 1981
Goodbye for Bill Evans, 1981
Jazz Guitarist, 1982
Hi-Fly, 1984
Full Steam Ahead, 1985
Hi Fly, 1985
Harlem Blues, 1988
Mr. A.T., 1992
Damn!, 1995
So What, 1998
Ray's Tribute to His Jazz Piano Friends, 1998
In the City of Lights, 1999
A Quiet Time, 2009[16]
Boneyard, 2009