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{{Short description|1932 composition by Duke Ellington, lyrics by Irving Mills and Mitchell Parish}}
{{other uses}}
{{other uses}}
{{Infobox song
{{Infobox single <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Songs -->
| Name = Sophisticated Lady
| name = Sophisticated Lady
| cover =
⚫
| Artist = [[Duke Ellington]] and his Orchestra
| alt =
⚫
| Recorded = {{Start date|1933|02|15}}
| type = single
⚫
| Released = {{Start date|1933}}
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| artist = [[Duke Ellington]] and his Orchestra
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| Genre = [[Jazz]]
| album =
⚫
| Writer = [[Duke Ellington]]
⚫
| released = {{Start date|1933}}
| format =
⚫
| recorded = {{Start date|1933|02|15}}
| studio =
| venue =
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| genre = [[Jazz]]
| length =
| label =
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| writer = [[Duke Ellington]]
| producer =
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title =
| next_year =
}}
}}


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==Background==
==Background==
Additional credit is given to publisher [[Irving Mills]] whose words were added to the song by [[Mitchell Parish]]. The words met with approval from Ellington, who described them as "wonderful—but not entirely fitted to my original conception". That original conception was inspired by three of Ellington's grade school teachers. "They taught all winter and toured Europe in the summer. To me that spelled sophistication".<ref>’Who was Duke’s Sophisticated Lady?’ (article retrieved 26 December 2014): http://www.allaboutjazz.com/who-was-dukes-sophisticated-lady-duke-ellington-by-aaj-staff.php</ref>
Additional credit is given to publisher [[Irving Mills]] whose words were added to the song by [[Mitchell Parish]]. The words met with approval from Ellington, who described them as "wonderful—but not entirely fitted to my original conception". That original conception was inspired by three of Ellington's grade-school teachers. "They taught all winter and toured Europe in the summer. To me that spelled sophistication."<ref name="who">{{cite web |title=Who Was Duke's Sophisticated Lady? |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/who-was-dukes-sophisticated-lady-duke-ellington-by-aaj-staff.php |website=All About Jazz |access-date=8 November 2018 |date=31 May 2006}}</ref><ref name="standards" /> It has also been suggested that the title refers to his longtime companion, [[Mildred Dixon]].<ref>Charles R. Saunders in ''The Spirit of Africville'', Halifax: Maritext/Formac, 1992, p. 35.</ref>
⚫
Duke Ellington and His Orchestra introduced "Sophisticated Lady" in 1933<ref>http://www.depanorama.net/33.htm</ref> with an instrumental recording of the song that featured solos by [[Toby Hardwick]] on alto sax, [[Barney Bigard]] on clarinet, Lawrence Brown on trombone and Ellington on piano. The recording entered the charts on 27 May 1933, and stayed there for sixteen weeks, rising to number three.
<ref>http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/sophisticatedlady.htm</ref>


Lawrence Brown, the trombone player in Ellington's band at the time, claimed that he was responsible for the main hook in the A section of the tune. Ellington paid him $15 for his contribution, but he was never officially credited.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gioia |first=Ted |title=The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2012 |pages=387 }}</ref>
Ellington’s early vocalist [[Adelaide Hall]] recorded two versions of "Sophisticated Lady". In 1944 on the Decca label (Decca F. 8467)<ref>[http://www.discogs.com/Adelaide-Hall-Sophisticated-Lady/release/2420894 "Adelaide Hall – Sophisticated Lady"], Discogs.</ref> and in the soundtrack of the 1989/90 movie documentary celebrating her life entitled ''Sophisticated Lady''.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0311838/ ''Sophisticated Lady'' movie starring Adelaide Hall.]</ref><ref>Sophisticated Lady, Library of Congress archive:https://www.loc.gov/item/jots.200019446</ref><ref>[https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/adelaide-hall-live-at-riverside/id218435616 "Adelaide Hall Live At the Riverside Studios".]</ref> Miss Hall recorded with Ellington on several occasions – in 1927, 1932 and 1933. Another version of Adelaide Hall singing "Sophisticated Lady" can be found on footage from British TV in the 1987 ''Terry Wogan Show''.<ref>{{YouTube|M0Oj3qctBII|Adelaide Hall singing "Sophisticated Lady" on British TV in 1987}}</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/10/obituaries/adelaide-hall-92-international-star-of-cabaret.html "Adelaide Hall, 92, International Star of Cabaret" (obituary)], ''[[New York Times]]'', November 10, 1993.</ref>

⚫
Duke Ellington and His Orchestra introduced "Sophisticated Lady" in 1933<ref name="sessions">{{cite web |title=Ellington Sessions 1933 |url=http://www.depanorama.net/33.htm |website=www.depanorama.net |access-date=8 November 2018}}</ref><ref name="standards" /> with an instrumental recording of the song that featured solos by [[Toby Hardwick]] on alto sax, [[Barney Bigard]] on clarinet, Lawrence Brown on trombone and Ellington on piano. The recording entered the charts on 27 May 1933 and rose to number three.<ref name="js">{{cite web |title=Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals (Sophisticated Lady) |url=http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/sophisticatedlady.htm |website=www.jazzstandards.com |access-date=8 November 2018}}</ref><ref name="standards" <ref/>

Singer [[Adelaide Hall]] recorded with Ellington in 1927, 1932, and 1933,<ref name="Collins">{{cite news |last1=Collins |first1=Glenn |title=Adelaide Hall, 92, International Star of Cabaret |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/10/obituaries/adelaide-hall-92-international-star-of-cabaret.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=8 November 2018 |date=10 November 1993}}</ref> but only recorded two versions of "Sophisticated Lady", in 1944 (with Phil Green And His Rhythm)<ref>Decca – F. 8467.</ref> and in 1976, on her album ''Hall of Ellington''.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Jazz Discography |url=https://lordisco.com/tjd/MusicianDetail?mid=64870 |website=The Jazz Discography |access-date=2 February 2021}}</ref> The song appeared on the soundtrack of the 1989/90 documentary celebrating her life entitled ''Sophisticated Lady''.<ref name="library">{{cite web |title=Sophisticated Lady A Musical Self-portrait Adelaide Hall |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/jots.200019446 |website=The Library of Congress |access-date=8 November 2018 }}</ref>
In his autobiography ''Music Is My Mistress'', Ellington writes that "George Gershwin once told Oscar Levant that he wished he had written the bridge to Sophisticated Lady, and that made me very proud".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ellington |first=Duke |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A8cQAQAAMAAJ&q=Oscar+Levant |title=Music is my mistress |date=1973 |publisher=Doubleday & Company |isbn=978-0-385-02235-4 |edition=1st |location=Garden City, N.Y |page=106}}</ref>


==Other recordings==
==Other recordings==
* [[Tony Bennett]] - ''[[Cheek to Cheek (album)|Cheek to Cheek]]'' (2014)
* [[Sylvia Brooks]]– ''[[Dangerous Liaisons]]'' (2009)<ref name="dangerous">{{cite web |title=Dangerous Liaisons |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/dangerous-liaisons-mw0001791172 |website=AllMusic |accessdate=8 November 2018}}</ref>
* [[Sylvia Brooks]] – ''[[Dangerous Liaisons]]'' (2009)<ref name="dangerous">{{cite web |title=Dangerous Liaisons |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/dangerous-liaisons-mw0001791172 |website=AllMusic |access-date=8 November 2018}}</ref>
* [[Casa Loma Orchestra]] – 1933<ref name="standards">{{cite book |last1=Gioia |first1=Ted |title=The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-19-993739-4 |page=389}}</ref>
* [[Casa Loma Orchestra]] – 1933<ref name="standards">{{cite book |last1=Gioia |first1=Ted |title=The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-19-993739-4 |page=389}}</ref>
* [[Chick Corea]] – ''Chick Corea Acoustic Band'' (1989)<ref name="standards" />
* [[Chick Corea]] – ''[[Chick Corea Akoustic Band]]'' (1989)<ref name="standards" />
* [[Larry Coryell]] – ''Toku Do''<ref name="Yanow">{{cite web |last1=Yanow |first1=Scott |title=Toku Do |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/toku-do-mw0000196937 |website=AllMusic |accessdate=8 November 2018}}</ref>
* [[Larry Coryell]] – ''[[Toku Do]]''<ref name="Yanow">{{cite web |last1=Yanow |first1=Scott |title=Toku Do |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/toku-do-mw0000196937 |website=AllMusic |access-date=8 November 2018}}</ref>
* [[Billy Eckstine]] – 1947<ref name="standards" />
* [[Billy Eckstine]] – 1947<ref name="standards" />
* [[Duke Ellington]] – ''Masterpieces by Ellington'' (1950)<ref name="standards" />
* [[Duke Ellington]] – ''Masterpieces by Ellington'' (1950)<ref name="standards" />
* [[Dave Grusin]] - ''[[Homage to Duke]]'' (1993)
⚫
* [[Adelaide Hall]] – ''Adelaide Hall live at the Riverside Studios''<ref name="riverside">{{cite web |title=Live at the Riverside |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/live-at-the-riverside-mw0000423453 |website=AllMusic |accessdate=8 November 2018}}</ref>
* [[Billie Holiday]] – ''[[All or Nothing at All (album)|All or Nothing at All]]'' (1956)<ref name="jd">{{cite web |title=Billie Holiday Discography |url=https://www.jazzdisco.org/billie-holiday/discography/ |website=www.jazzdisco.org |accessdate=8 November 2018}}</ref>
* [[Adelaide Hall]] – ''Adelaide Hall Live at the Riverside Studios''<ref name="riverside">{{cite web |title=Live at the Riverside |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/live-at-the-riverside-mw0000423453 |website=AllMusic |access-date=8 November 2018}}</ref>
* [[Earl Hines]] - ''[[Earl Hines Plays Duke Ellington]]'' (1971)
⚫
* [[Marcus Miller]] – ''[[Silver Rain]]''<ref name="silver">{{cite web |title=Silver Rain |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/silver-rain-mw0000256492 |website=AllMusic |accessdate=8 November 2018}}</ref><ref name="Tauss">{{cite web |last1=Tauss |first1=Lucy |title=Marcus Miller: Silver Rain |url=https://jazztimes.com/reviews/currents/marcus-miller-silver-rain/ |website=JazzTimes |accessdate=8 November 2018 |date=1 May 2005}}</ref>
* [[Mulgrew Miller]] and [[Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen]] – ''[[The Duets (Mulgrew Miller album)|The Duets]]'' (1999)<ref>{{cite web|title=Mulgrew Miller Discography |url=http://www.jazzdisco.org/mulgrew-miller/discography/ |publisher=jazzdisco.org |accessdate=7 March 2017}}</ref>
* [[Billie Holiday]] – ''[[All or Nothing at All (album)|All or Nothing at All]]'' (1956)<ref name="jd">{{cite web |title=Billie Holiday Discography |url=https://www.jazzdisco.org/billie-holiday/discography/ |website=www.jazzdisco.org |access-date=8 November 2018}}</ref>
⚫
* [[Stan Kenton]] – ''[[Kenton with Voices]]'' (1957)<ref name="voices">{{cite web |title=Kenton with Voices |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/kenton-with-voices-mw0000901733?1642747337136 |website=AllMusic |access-date=21 January 2022}}</ref>
⚫
* [[Charles Mingus]] – ''The Great Concert of Charles Mingus'' (1964)<ref name="standards" />
* [[Jeanne Lee]] on [[Archie Shepp|Archie Shepp's]] album [[Blasé (album)|Blasé]] (1969)
⚫
* [[Thelonious Monk]] – ''Thelonious Monk Plays Ellington'' (1955)<ref name="standards" />
* [[Abbey Lincoln]] - ''Golden Lady'' (1981)
⚫
* [[Marcus Miller]] – ''[[Silver Rain]]''<ref name="silver">{{cite web |title=Silver Rain |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/silver-rain-mw0000256492 |website=AllMusic |access-date=8 November 2018}}</ref><ref name="Tauss">{{cite web |last1=Tauss |first1=Lucy |title=Marcus Miller: Silver Rain |url=https://jazztimes.com/reviews/currents/marcus-miller-silver-rain/ |website=JazzTimes |access-date=8 November 2018 |date=1 May 2005}}</ref>
* [[Mulgrew Miller]] and [[Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen]] – ''[[The Duets (Mulgrew Miller album)|The Duets]]'' (1999)<ref>{{cite web|title=Mulgrew Miller Discography |url=http://www.jazzdisco.org/mulgrew-miller/discography/ |website=Jazzdisco.org |access-date=March 7, 2017}}</ref>
⚫
* [[Charles Mingus]] – ''[[The Great Concert of Charles Mingus]]'' (1964)<ref name="standards" />
⚫
* [[Thelonious Monk]] – ''[[Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington]]'' (1955)<ref name="standards" />
* [[Spud Murphy]] – ''Gone with the Woodwinds'' (1955)<ref name="standards" />
* [[Spud Murphy]] – ''Gone with the Woodwinds'' (1955)<ref name="standards" />
* [[Jaco Pastorius]] - ''[[Invitation (Jaco Pastorius album)|Invitation]]'' (1983)
* [[Don Redman]] – 1933<ref name="standards" />
* [[Don Redman]] – 1933<ref name="standards" />
* [[Boz Scaggs]] – ''[[But Beautiful (Boz Scaggs album)|But Beautiful]]'' (2003)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/but-beautiful-mw0000025388 |title=Boz Scaggs: But Beautiful |first=Stephen Thomas |last=Erlewine |website=AllMusic |access-date=March 10, 2023}}</ref>
⚫
* [[Art Tatum]] – 1933<ref name="standards" />
* [[Ray Stevens]] - ''Melancholy Fescue'' (2021)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wideopencountry.com/ray-stevens-goin-out-of-my-head/|title=Ray Stevens Gives 'Goin' Out of My Head' the 'High-Class Bluegrass' Treatment [Premiere]|first=Bobbie Jean|last=Sawyer|date=25 March 2021|website=Wideopencountry.com|access-date=May 31, 2021}}</ref>
⚫
* [[Art Tatum]] – 1933 and 1954<ref name="standards"/>
* [[Toots Thielemans]] with [[Fred Hersch]] – ''Only Trust Your Heart'' (1988)<ref name="standards" />
* [[Toots Thielemans]] with [[Fred Hersch]] – ''Only Trust Your Heart'' (1988)<ref name="standards" />
* [[The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra]] – ''Can I Persuade You?'' (2001)<ref name="standards" />
* [[The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra]] – ''Can I Persuade You?'' (2001)<ref name="standards" />
* [[Sarah Vaughan]] - [[After Hours (1961 Sarah Vaughan album)|After Hours]] (1961)
* [[Caetano Veloso]] - ''A Foreign Sound'' (2004)


==See also==
==See also==
Line 41: Line 70:


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/sophisticatedlady.htm "Sophisticated Lady" at jazzstandards.com]
* [http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/sophisticatedlady.htm "Sophisticated Lady" at jazzstandards.com]
* [http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=21943 Who Was Duke's Sophisticated Lady?]
* [http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=21943 Who Was Duke's Sophisticated Lady?]
* [https://secondhandsongs.com/work/11782/versions Hundreds of versions of Sophisticated Lady] at [[SecondHandSongs]]


{{Duke Ellington}}
{{Duke Ellington}}
{{Billie Holiday}}
{{Billie Holiday}}
{{Authority control}}


[[Category:1930s jazz standards]]
[[Category:1930s jazz standards]]

Latest revision as of 05:33, 19 October 2024

For other uses, see Sophisticated Lady (disambiguation).
"Sophisticated Lady"
Single by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra
Released1933 (1933)
RecordedFebruary 15, 1933 (1933-02-15)
GenreJazz
Songwriter(s)Duke Ellington

"Sophisticated Lady" is a jazz standard, composed as an instrumental in 1932 by Duke Ellington.

Background

[edit]

Additional credit is given to publisher Irving Mills whose words were added to the song by Mitchell Parish. The words met with approval from Ellington, who described them as "wonderful—but not entirely fitted to my original conception". That original conception was inspired by three of Ellington's grade-school teachers. "They taught all winter and toured Europe in the summer. To me that spelled sophistication."[1][2] It has also been suggested that the title refers to his longtime companion, Mildred Dixon.[3]

Lawrence Brown, the trombone player in Ellington's band at the time, claimed that he was responsible for the main hook in the A section of the tune. Ellington paid him $15 for his contribution, but he was never officially credited.[4]

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra introduced "Sophisticated Lady" in 1933[5][2] with an instrumental recording of the song that featured solos by Toby Hardwick on alto sax, Barney Bigard on clarinet, Lawrence Brown on trombone and Ellington on piano. The recording entered the charts on 27 May 1933 and rose to number three.[6][2]

Singer Adelaide Hall recorded with Ellington in 1927, 1932, and 1933,[7] but only recorded two versions of "Sophisticated Lady", in 1944 (with Phil Green And His Rhythm)[8] and in 1976, on her album Hall of Ellington.[9] The song appeared on the soundtrack of the 1989/90 documentary celebrating her life entitled Sophisticated Lady.[10] In his autobiography Music Is My Mistress, Ellington writes that "George Gershwin once told Oscar Levant that he wished he had written the bridge to Sophisticated Lady, and that made me very proud".[11]

Other recordings

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Who Was Duke's Sophisticated Lady?". All About Jazz. 31 May 2006. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Gioia, Ted (2012). The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire. New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 389. ISBN 978-0-19-993739-4.
  3. ^ Charles R. Saunders in The Spirit of Africville, Halifax: Maritext/Formac, 1992, p. 35.
  4. ^ Gioia, Ted (2012). The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire. Oxford University Press. p. 387.
  5. ^ "Ellington Sessions 1933". www.depanorama.net. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  6. ^ "Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals (Sophisticated Lady)". www.jazzstandards.com. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  7. ^ Collins, Glenn (10 November 1993). "Adelaide Hall, 92, International Star of Cabaret". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  8. ^ Decca – F. 8467.
  9. ^ "The Jazz Discography". The Jazz Discography. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Sophisticated Lady A Musical Self-portrait Adelaide Hall". The Library of Congress. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  11. ^ Ellington, Duke (1973). Music is my mistress (1st ed.). Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday & Company. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-385-02235-4.
  12. ^ "Dangerous Liaisons". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  13. ^ Yanow, Scott. "Toku Do". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  14. ^ "Live at the Riverside". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  15. ^ "Billie Holiday Discography". www.jazzdisco.org. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  16. ^ "Kenton with Voices". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  17. ^ "Silver Rain". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  18. ^ Tauss, Lucy (1 May 2005). "Marcus Miller: Silver Rain". JazzTimes. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  19. ^ "Mulgrew Miller Discography". Jazzdisco.org. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  20. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Boz Scaggs: But Beautiful". AllMusic. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  21. ^ Sawyer, Bobbie Jean (25 March 2021). "Ray Stevens Gives 'Goin' Out of My Head' the 'High-Class Bluegrass' Treatment [Premiere]". Wideopencountry.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
[edit]
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