"Java" is an instrumental adaptation from a 1958 LP of piano compositions, The Wild Sounds of New Orleans, by Tousan, also known as New Orleans producer/songwriter Allen Toussaint

Allen Toussaint

Allen Toussaint is an American musician, composer, record producer, and influential figure in New Orleans R&B.Many of Toussaint's songs have become familiar through numerous cover versions, including "Working in the Coalmine", "Ride Your Pony", "Fortune Teller", "Play Something Sweet ", "Southern...

. As was the case of the rest of Toussaint's LP, "Java" was composed at the studio, primarily by Toussaint.

In 1963, trumpet player Al Hirt

Al Hirt

Al Hirt was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his million selling recordings of "Java", and the accompanying album, Honey in the Horn . His nicknames included 'Jumbo' and 'The Round Mound of Sound'...

 recorded the instrumental, and the track was the first single from his album, Honey in the Horn. It was Hirt's first and biggest hit on the US pop charts, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending four weeks at number one on the easy listening chart in early 1964.

Hirt's recording won the Grammy Award for Best Performance by an Orchestra or Instrumentalist with Orchestra

Grammy Award for Best Performance by an Orchestra or Instrumentalist with Orchestra

The Grammy Award for Best Performance by an Orchestra or Instrumentalist with Orchestra - Primarily Not Jazz or for Dancing was awarded from 1959 to 1964...

 in 1964.