C Jam Blues
"C Jam Blues" is a jazz standard composed in 1942 by Duke Ellington and performed by countless other musicians, such as Dave Grusin, Django Reinhardt, Oscar Peterson, and Charles Mingus.
| C Jam Blues | |
|---|---|
| by Duke Ellington | |
Jam Session | |
| Key | C major |
| Genre | Jazz |
| Form | Twelve-bar blues |
| Composed | 1941 |
Background
As the title suggests, the piece follows a twelve-bar blues form in the key of C major. The tune is well known for being extremely easy to play, with the entire melody featuring only two notes: G and C.
A performance typically features several improvised solos. The melody likely originated from the clarinetist Barney Bigard in 1941, but its origin is not perfectly clear.[1]
It was also known as "Duke's Place", with lyrics added by Bill Katts, Bob Thiele and Ruth Roberts.
Recordings
- Ellington's black and white film was produced in 1942. The video depicts a jam session where Ellington begins playing with a double bass before gradually being joined by other members of his band, among them drummer Sonny Greer and trumpeter Rex Stewart. The film title is Jam Session.
- Western Swing band leader Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys recorded the song sometime between 1945 and 1947 as part of the Tiffany Transcriptions.[2]
- Bill Doggett recorded a version on his 1958 tribute album Salute to Duke Ellington (King).
- "C Jam Blues" was used by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band as the basis of their song "The Intro and the Outro".[3]
- Mulgrew Miller and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen included the song in their 1999 album The Duets.[4]
- The Dave Brubeck Quartet performed this live at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival; the recording appears in their album Newport 1958.[5]
References
- "C Jam Blues (1942)". JazzStandards.com. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
- San Antonio Rose. Tiffany Transcriptions page 351.
- Tracey, Ed (18 September 2016). "Odds & Ends: News/Humor (with a "Who Lost the Week?" poll)". Daily Kos. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
- "Mulgrew Miller Discography". jazzdisco.org. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
- "Recordings". Dave Brubeck Jazz. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
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