C Jam Blues

"C Jam Blues" is a jazz standard composed in 1942 by Duke Ellington. One of his most famous pieces,^[1] it has been performed by countless other musicians, such as Dave Grusin, Django Reinhardt, Oscar Peterson, and Charles Mingus.

C Jam Blues
by Duke Ellington
"C Jam Blues" performed by Ellington in the 1942 short film Jam Session
Key	C major
Genre	Jazz
Form	Twelve-bar blues
Composed	1941 (1941)

Background

As the title suggests, the piece follows a twelve-bar blues form in the key of C major. The tune is well known^{[according to whom?]} for being extremely easy to play, with the entire melody featuring only two notes: G and C.

A performance typically features several improvised solos. The melody likely originated from the clarinetist Barney Bigard in 1941, but its origin is not perfectly clear.^[2]

It was also known as "Duke's Place",^[3] with lyrics added by Bill Katts, Bob Thiele and Ruth Roberts.^[2]

Notable performances

• The song is performed in the "soundie" Jam Session, produced in 1942. The video depicts a jam session where Ellington begins playing with a double bass before gradually being joined by other members of his band, among them drummer Sonny Greer and trumpeter Rex Stewart.^[4]
• Western Swing band leader Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys recorded the song sometime between 1945 and 1947 as part of The Tiffany Transcriptions.^{[5][better source needed]}
• Bill Doggett recorded a version on his 1958 tribute album Salute to Duke Ellington (King).
• "C Jam Blues" was used by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band as the basis of their song "The Intro and the Outro".^[6]
• Mulgrew Miller and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen included the song in their 1999 album The Duets.^[7]
• The Dave Brubeck Quartet performed this live at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival; the recording appears in their album Newport 1958.^[8][9]
• Tenor saxophonist Illinois Jacquet performed the song with former President Bill Clinton at his 1993 inaugural ball.^[10]