"IN A SENTIMENTAL
MOOD"
DUKE ELLINGTON'S ORIGINAL
SONGWRITER: DUKE ELLINGTON; MANNY
KURTZ & IRVING MILLS GAVE
COUNTRY: U.S.A.
INSTRUMENT: PIANO
ALBUM: “IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD”
LABEL: THE BRUNSWICK
GENRE: JAZZ
YEAR: 1935
On April
30, 1935, Duke Ellington and His Orchestra introduced “In a Sentimental Mood.”
Recorded on the Brunswick label and featuring Otto “Toby” Hardwick on alto
saxophone, the composition went onto the pop charts on July 13, rising to
number fourteen.
"In
a Sentimental Mood" is a jazz composition by Duke Ellington. He composed the piece in 1935 and
recorded it with his orchestra during the same year. Lyrics
were written by Manny Kurtz; Ellington's manager Irving Mills gave himself a
percentage of the publishing, so the song was credited to all three.
According
to Ellington, the song was born in Durham, North Carolina. "We had played
a big dance in a tobacco warehouse, and afterwards a friend of mine, an
executive in the North Carolina Mutual Insurance Company, threw a party for
Amy. I was playing
piano when another one of our friends had some trouble with two chicks. To
pacify them, I composed this there and then, with one chick standing on each
side of the piano." The recording featured solos by Otto Hardwicke, Harry
Carney, Lawrence Brown, and Rex Stewart.
Ellington
recorded a version with John Coltrane which appears on Duke Ellington and John
Coltrane(1963) and Coltrane for Lovers(2001). The original was recorded in F
major, starting on D minor and with the bridge in Db major. But the version
Ellington and Coltrane version was performed in Bb minor or D-flat major, with
an interlude in A major.