The song of the day for Saturday, May 1, 2021, is “Mood Indigo.”

About This Song

Originally titled “Dreamy Blues,” Duke Ellington wrote this song in 1930, 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 his album Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot & Cool. The arrangement by Jorge Calandrelli features Wynton Marsalis on trumpet and Al Grey on trombone.

We hope you have enjoyed Duke Ellington Week on The Year of Tony Bennett. To quote Duke: “We love you madly!”

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