It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)

Background

The music was composed and arranged by Ellington in August 1931 during intermissions at the Lincoln Tavern in Chicago; the lyrics were contributed by Irving Mills. According to Ellington, the song's title was the credo of trumpeter Bubber Miley, who was dying of tuberculosis at the time; Miley died the year the song was released.

The song was first recorded by Ellington and his orchestra for Brunswick Records on February 2, 1932. Ivie Anderson sang the vocal and trombonist 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". It contains one of the earliest uses in popular music of the term "swing".

Other versions

• The Mills Brothers (1932)
• The Boswell Sisters (1932)
• Roger Wolfe Kahn (1932)
• Stephane Grappelli with Django Reinhardt (1935)
• Mel Tormé (in Musical Sounds Are The Best Songs, 1954)
• Thelonious Monk – Thelonious Monk Plays the Music of Duke Ellington (Riverside, 1955), 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
• Sidney Bechet and Martial Solal – Sidney Bechet-Martial Solal Quartet Featuring Kenny Clarke (1957)
• Buddy Rich (in Buddy Rich Just Sings, 1957)
• Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington – The Great Reunion (1961)
• Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa (in Burnin' Beat, 1962)
• Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington – Ella and Duke at the Cote D'Azur (Verve, 1967)
• Teresa Brewer and Duke Ellington (1974)
• Chuck Brown – Go Go Swing Live (1987)
• Diane Schuur with Stan Getz – Schuur Thing (1985)
• Dr. John – Duke Elegant (2000)
• Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga – Cheek To Cheek (2014)

References

References

1. Schuller, Gunther. (1991). "The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930-1945". Oxford University Press.
2. "Grammy Hall Of Fame". Recording Academy.
3. Lasser, Michael. (2014). "America's Songs II: Songs from the 1890s to the Post-War Years". [[Taylor & Francis]].
4. ''Jazz Journal'', Dec. 1965
5. (21 October 2011). "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)".
6. (2012). "The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire". Oxford University Press.
7. (1976). "Music Is My Mistress". Da Capo Press.
8. Ewen, David. (1987). "American Songwriters". The H.W. Wilson Company.
9. Friedwald, Will. (1990). "Jazz Singing". Charles Scribner's Sons.
10. (2003). "Jazz on Record: The First Sixty Years". Backbeat Books.
11. "Frequently Asked Questions".
12. Nollen, Scott Allen. (2004). "Louis Armstrong: The Life, Music, and Screen Career". McFarland and Company.
13. (February 9, 1974). "Top Album Picks".
14. Gantt, Diedre R.. (2013). "Rhythms of the Afro-Atlantic World". University of Michigan Press.