The song of the day for Tuesday, April 29, 2025, is “Mood Indigo.”
About Today
We are remembering Edward Kennedy Ellington on the anniversary of his birth in Washington, D.C. 126 years ago today on April 29, 1899. We’ll be playing songs by Duke Ellington for the next few days.
About This Song
“Mood Indigo” was written in 1930 by Duke Ellington; Irving Mills wrote the lyrics. The song is based on a theme by Barney Bigard, who is said to have learned it from his New Orleans clarinet teacher, Lorenzo Tio. Ellington wrote the song specifically for “microphone transmission” and it was first played on a 1930 radio broadcast. Audiences loved the song, and so Irving Mills wrote the lyric, changing the name of the song to “Mood Indigo.” The song has been widely recorded by instrumental and vocal artists, including Tony Bennett, Charles Mingus, Ella Fitzgerald, Thelonious Monk, Frank Sinatra, and Nat King Cole.
About This Version
“Tony Bennett recorded “Mood Indigo” in May 1999 for his album Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot And Cool, which was released in 1999 for Ellington’s centennial. Jorge Calandrelli wrote the arrangement. Wynton Marsalis played trumpet for this recording.
Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot And Cool won the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance.
“Mood Indigo,” as well as Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot And Cool, is available on Apple Music.
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