Style:

Introduced at a medium-up swing, it is commonly played at bright tempos.

Form:

12 Bar Major Blues

Arrangements:

A common arrangement is to insert 4 bar solo breaks at the top of the first few choruses, as heard on Oscar Peterson's legendary recording from Night Train.

Key:

C Major

Harmony/Overview:

A straight ahead Major blues with a II - V turnaround. The melody is made up entirely of a 4 bar phrase that is centered around only two notes; the 5th and the tonic.

Recordings:

This song has been recorded over 200 times to date. The first recording comes from a 1942 short film entitled Jam Session, which features the line up of Ellington, Webster, Stewart, and Bigard among others, performing the tune at a club. It is sometimes referred to as "Duke's Place" when vocalists include the lyrics. The sheer simplicity of the melodic content has made this a widely accessible blues tune and as a result it has become one of the most popular in the repertoire.

JGC Top Picks:

Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington, The Great Summit, 1961

Oscar Peterson, Night Train, 1962

McCoy Tyner, McCoy Tyner Plays Duke Ellington, 1964