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Caravan (Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington song)

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Wikipedia article




"'Caravan'" is an American jazz standard that was composed by Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington and first performed by Ellington in 1936. Irving Mills wrote lyrics, but they are rarely sung. The exotic sound of "Caravan" interested exotica musicians; Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman, and Gordon Jenkins all covered it. Woody Allen used the song in two of his films, 'Alice' and 'Sweet and Lowdown'. Steven Soderbergh used the Lyman version in his 2001 film 'Ocean's Eleven'. The song appears often in the 2014 film 'Whiplash' as an important plot element. The Mills Brothers recorded an a cappella version in which they imitated instruments with their voices. Johnny Mathis recorded the song in 1956. More than 350 versions have been recorded.

Original recording



The first version of the song was recorded in Hollywood in 1936 and performed as an instrumental by Barney Bigard and His Jazzopators. Two takes were recorded, of which the first (Variety VA-515-1) was published. The band members were:

* Cootie Williams trumpet

* Juan Tizol trombone

* Barney Bigard clarinet

* Harry Carney baritone saxophone

* Duke Ellington piano

* Billy Taylor double bass

* Sonny Greer drums

The musicians were members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, which often split into smaller combinations to record songs under different band names. For this recording, which included Ellington and Tizol as performers, the session band leader was Bigard.

Other versions



* Barney Bigard and His Jazzopators Hollywood, December 19, 1936

* Duke Ellington New York, May 14, 1937

* Art Tatum Los Angeles, AprilJuly 1940

*Dizzy Gillespie October 25, 1951

* Thelonious Monk 'Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington', Hackensack, New Jersey, July 27, 1955

* Nat King Cole 'After Midnight', Los Angeles, September 14, 1956

* Santo & Johnny's 'Santo & Johnny' (1959), peaked at number 48 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 chart

* Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers 'Caravan', New York, October 23, 1962

* Wes Montgomery 'Movin' Wes', New York, November 16, 1964

* Dizzy Gillespie and Oscar Peterson 'Oscar Peterson and Dizzy Gillespie', London, November 2829, 1974

* Les Paul & Chet Atkins 'Chester and Lester', May 67, 1975

* Art Pepper 'Friday Night at the Village Vanguard', New York, July 29, 1977

* Wynton Marsalis 'Marsalis Standard Time, Vol. I', New York, May 2930, 1986 and September 2425, 1986

* Medeski Martin & Wood 'Notes from the Underground', New York, December 1516, 1991

* Michel Camilo 'Rendezvous', New York, January 1820, 1993

*List of 1930s jazz standards

External links and references



Category:1936 songs

Category:1936 singles

Category:Songs with music by Juan Tizol

Category:Songs with lyrics by Irving Mills

Category:Jazz songs

Category:Exotica

Category:1930s jazz standards

Category:Swing jazz standards

Category:Nat King Cole songs

Category:Santo & Johnny songs

Category:Jazz compositions in F minor

Category:Songs with music by Duke Ellington

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