"Invitation" is a song by Bronisław Kaper with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster, which originally appeared in the film A Life of Her Own (1950).
[1] Howard Morgen, who arranged it for guitar, writes that the "haunting" tune has "long been recognized by jazz players for its potential as an interesting mood piece" and "still sounds fresh and contemporary today.
In 1961, Rosemary Clooney recorded the song with a lush arrangement by Nelson Riddle and featured it as the first track on her album Love,[5] where the lyrics acquired special poignancy, given that Clooney and Riddle, both married, were having a doomed affair at the time.
[6] It has since been recorded by the vocalists Carmen McRae,[7] Freddy Cole, Andy Bey, and Patricia Barber; pianists Bill Evans,[4] Randy Halberstadt, Steve Kuhn, and Renee Rosnes; saxophonists John Coltrane, Joe Henderson, Herb Geller, Vincent Herring, Sahib Shihab, and Don Braden; trumpeters Roy Hargrove and Brian Lynch; bassist Ray Drummond; and vibraphonist Cal Tjader (on his album Latin Kick), among others.
During the course of its 48-bar form, "Invitation" uses all 12 tones as a chord root at least once, and the harmonies are thick with ... higher extensions.