Have You Met Miss Jones

About

Written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart for the 1937 musical comedy I’d Rather Be Right, Have You Met Miss Jones? became a jazz standard recorded by artists including Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Tony Bennett. For Robbie Williams, it marked a turning point. Invited by writer-director Richard Curtis to record the song for the soundtrack of Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), he discovered how naturally his voice suited swing. The experience directly inspired the making of Swing When You’re Winning.

Produced by Guy Chambers and Steve Power, the recording pairs Williams’ rich baritone with bright brass and a playful rhythm section. The lyric’s nervous admiration — “All at once I lost my breath, and all at once was scared to death” — allowed Williams to mix romantic sincerity with the wit that defines his best performances. Its appearance in a hit film also introduced him to a new audience.

I loved doing it. I remember thinking, this is easy — I could make a whole album of this. And that’s exactly what we did.Robbie Williams

The song’s success led directly to Williams’ swing project later that year, reuniting him with Chambers in Los Angeles to record with a full orchestra. His effortless phrasing and big-band poise earned praise from musicians who had worked with Sinatra himself. Have You Met Miss Jones? stands as the catalyst for one of the most successful and best-loved chapters of Williams’ career — a single song that set a whole new era in motion.