"Summertime" is the name of an aria composed by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin, and has become a popular jazz standard. Gershwin is said to have based this song on a Ukrainian lullaby, Oi Khodyt Son Kolo Vikon (A Dream Passes By The Windows), which he heard in a New York City performance by Oleksander Koshetz’s Ukrainian National Chorus.
Gershwin began composing the song in December 1933, attempting to create his own spiritual in the style of the African American folk music of the period. It is sung multiple times throughout Porgy and Bess, first by Clara in Act I as a lullaby and soon after as counterpoint to the craps game scene, in Act II in a reprise by Clara, and in Act III by Bess, singing to Clara's baby.
"Summertime" is a single released by R&B singer Beyoncé featuring rapper P. Diddy in 2003. The song was the second and final single released to promote the film The Fighting Temptations, in which Knowles plays the leading lady. The song isn't featured in the film but is part of the official soundtrack. It first appeared as a B-side to Knowles' 2003 smash hit "Crazy in Love".
As it was released just seven days after the third single from Knowles' Dangerously in Love, "Me, Myself and I", the song garnered enough attention to peak on the Billboard R&B charts at #35. The song was part of the set list on Knowles' Dangerously in Love tour.
"Summertime" is a Grammy Award winning chart topping R&B single by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. The hit song spent one week at number-one on the US R&B chart. From the duo's 4th album Homebase, it also reached #1 Rap Single and #4 Billboard Hot 100. It also reached #8 on the UK Singles Chart.
It samples Kool & The Gangs' "Summer Madness".
The song earned the duo's second Grammy after Parents Just Don't Understand in 1988.
Summertime was remixed by DJ Jazzy Jeff himself with a scheduled September 2007 release.
"Summertime" is a single by American country music singer Kenny Chesney that reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. It was the third single from Chesney's 2005 album The Road and the Radio.
