The song of the day for Tuesday, January 17, 2022, is “Mood Indigo.”

About This Song

“Mood Indigo” was written in 1930 by Duke Ellington, Barney Bigard, and Irving Mills. Originally titled “Dreamy Blues,” Ellington wrote this song, which 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 1999 for the album Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot & Cool. The album, a tribute to Duke Ellington, was released in 1999, one hundred years after Ellington was born. Jorge Calandrelli wrote the arrangement.

“Mood Indigo,” as well as Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot & Cool is available on Apple Music.

I found this 1931 version of “Mood Indigo” with Ellington and The Cotton Club Orchestra: