The song of the day for Monday, July 27, 2020, is “In A Mellow Tone.”

About This Song

Duke Ellington’s “In a Mellow Tone,” written in 1939, was based on the 1917 song “Rose Room” by Art Hickman and Harry Williams. Milt Gabler wrote the lyrics. The song is a favorite of both vocal and instrumental jazz performers, including Tony Bennett, Paul Gonsalves, Oscar Peterson, Coleman Hawkins, Ella Fitzgerald, and Annie Ross.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “In A Mellow Tone” in 1999 for his album Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot & Cool, released 100 years after the birth of Ellington in Washington, D.C. The arrangement was written by Ralph Burns, who first worked with Bennett 40 years earlier on Hometown, My Town.

“In A Mellow Tone,” as well as Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot and Cool, is available from Apple Music.