It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
| "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Duke Ellington | |
| Released | 1932 |
| Recorded | February 2, 1932 |
| Genre | Jazz |
| Composer(s) | Duke Ellington |
| Lyricist(s) | Irving Mills |
"It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" is a 1931 composition by
Grammy Hall of Fame.[2]
Background
The music was composed and arranged by Ellington in August 1931 during intermissions at the Lincoln Tavern in Chicago;[Bubber Miley,[3] who was dying of tuberculosis at the time;[4] Miley died the year the song was released.[5]
The song was first recorded by Ellington and his orchestra for
Joe Nanton and alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges played the solos. In later performances, trumpeter Ray Nance
often sang the vocal.
The song became famous, Ellington wrote, "as the expression of a sentiment which prevailed among jazz musicians at the time."[3] It contains one of the earliest uses in popular music of the term "swing".[7]
Other versions
- The Mills Brothers (1932)[7]
- The Boswell Sisters (1932)[8]
- Roger Wolfe Kahn (1932)[9]
- Stephane Grappelli with Django Reinhardt (1935)[6]
- Thelonious Monk Plays the Music of Duke Ellington (Riverside, 1955),[6] familiar to listeners of American Public Media's Marketplace radio program, which plays Monk's version as background accompaniment whenever the Dow Jones Industrial Average results are mixed[10]
- Sidney Bechet and Martial Solal – Sidney Bechet-Martial Solal Quartet Featuring Kenny Clarke (1957)[6]
- The Great Reunion (1961)[11]
- Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington – Ella and Duke at the Cote D'Azur[6] (Verve, 1967)
- Teresa Brewer and Duke Ellington (1974)[12]
- Chuck Brown – Go Go Swing Live (1987)[13]
- Diane Schuur with Stan Getz – Schuur Thing (1985)[6]
- Dr. John - Duke Elegant (2000)[6]
References
- ISBN 978-0195071405.
- ^ "Grammy Hall Of Fame". Recording Academy. Archived from the original on 2011-01-22.
- ^ ISBN 978-0306800337.
- ^ Jazz Journal, Dec. 1965
- ^ Corliss, Richard (21 October 2011). "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)". Time.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-993739-4.
- ^ ISBN 0-8242-0744-0.
- ISBN 0-684-18522-9.
- ISBN 978-0879307554.
- ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". Marketplace.org. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
- ISBN 0-7864-1857-5.
- ^ "Top Album Picks". Billboard. February 9, 1974. p. 61.
- ISBN 978-0-472-02747-7.
