Cole Porter, music and lyrics · Introduced by June Knight in the Broadway show Jubilee, October 1935 · Artie Shaw's 1938 record made it a hit
Begin the Beguine
Cole Porter wrote Begin the Beguine for the 1935 Broadway show Jubilee, where June Knight sang it. It is a long song set to a beguine, a dance rhythm close to a slow rumba. Artie Shaw's 1938 swing record made it a hit, and singers and jazz bands have kept playing it.
Listen in this order
The path starts with Artie Shaw's 1938 hit and Ella Fitzgerald singing the song, then Eddie Heywood's small band and Charlie Parker's 1952 take. It goes on to Oscar Peterson's trio, Erroll Garner's Latin-flavored album track, Dizzy Gillespie's big band and Illinois Jacquet's tenor saxophone with an orchestra.
Bluebird 78 rpm single, B-side of Indian Love Call
Shaw recorded it on July 24, 1938, at his first session for RCA Victor, in an arrangement by Jerry Gray. Issued as the B-side of Indian Love Call on Bluebird, it became a best seller that year.
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Listen for
Artie Shaw's clarinet and Tony Pastor's tenor saxophone step out in front of the band. The record runs about 3:15.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first four of an in C, one per bar: C, , , C6. Smaller version: hold a single C chord for the four bars and count to four in each.
Fitzgerald recorded it in Hollywood in early 1956 for her first Verve album, a double album of Cole Porter songs. Buddy Bregman arranged and conducted the orchestra, and Norman Granz produced.
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Listen for
Fitzgerald sings with Buddy Bregman's orchestra behind her. The track runs 3:39.
Try it on your instrument
Pick any phrase of the melody from this record and play it by ear over a held C . Smaller version: hum along and tap the beat.
Heywood's small band recorded it in New York in December 1944, and the record reached the US charts in 1945. Dick Vance played trumpet, Vic Dickenson trombone and Lem Davis alto saxophone.
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Listen for
Heywood's piano leads a small group with trumpet, trombone and alto saxophone. The record runs 3:19.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first four of a , one per bar: , , , B♭6. Smaller version: play only the bass notes C, F, B♭, B♭.
Parker recorded it in New York on January 23, 1952, with Walter Bishop Jr., Teddy Kotick and Max Roach. Mercury issued it with Estrellita on a single, and the session also produced Mama Inez, La Cucaracha and La Paloma.
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Listen for
Parker's alto saxophone is the lead voice over a piano, bass and drums . The track runs about 3:14.
Try it on your instrument
Look at 9 to 13 of an , where the chart stays on for five bars. If you can solo over changes, improvise a short line there. Smaller version: play a Dm7 for those five bars and hum along.
Peterson's trio, with Barney Kessel on guitar and Ray Brown on bass, recorded it in Los Angeles in early December 1952. It came out the next year on Oscar Peterson Plays Cole Porter, produced by Norman Granz.
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Listen for
Peterson's piano leads, with Kessel's guitar and Brown's bass beside it. The track runs 3:12.
Try it on your instrument
Play the bass part of the first eight of an , one note per bar: C, C, C, C, C, C, D, G. Smaller version: play C for all eight bars.
Gillespie's big band recorded it in New York on September 12, 1955, in an arrangement credited to Gillespie. The linked track comes from the 1992 compilation Dizzy's Diamonds.
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Listen for
Gillespie leads a band of four trumpets, three trombones and five saxophones. The track runs 4:55.
Try it on your instrument
Play the last eight of a , one per bar: , A°7, , , G6, A♭7, , . Smaller version: play G6 for two bars, then Dm7 and G7.
Bosses of the Ballad: Illinois Jacquet and Strings Play Cole Porter
Jacquet recorded it in New York on October 29 or 30, 1964, for Bosses of the Ballad, an album of Cole Porter songs with an orchestra. Esmond Edwards produced it for Argo.
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Listen for
Jacquet's tenor saxophone leads, with an orchestra behind him. The track runs 3:13.
Try it on your instrument
Play the closing of the chart, one per bar: , Dm7, , Dm7♭5, Dm7, , C, . Smaller version: play only Dm7, G7 and C.
Porter writes the song for the 1935 show Jubilee, and it gained little popularity at first. Artie Shaw's July 1938 record, arranged by Jerry Gray, makes it a best seller.
1940s
Eddie Heywood's small band records it in December 1944 and reaches the US charts in 1945. Frank Sinatra records it for Columbia in February 1946.
1950s
Charlie Parker records it in January 1952, and Oscar Peterson's trio follows that December. In 1954 Erroll Garner records it with a conga player on Mambo Moves Garner.
1960s
Illinois Jacquet plays it on tenor saxophone with an orchestra for Bosses of the Ballad, recorded in New York in October 1964.
For players
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
Show the form and chords
How the tune works
C majorusual key
100 barsA · A · B · A · C · C form
C → B♭ → A♭ → Ckey centers
A16 bars
A16 bars
B16 bars
A16 bars
C16 bars
C20 bars
C
B♭
A♭
C
The iReal Pro chart runs 100 in : A (16 bars), A (16), B (16), A (16), C (16) and C (20). Each opens with C, , and C6, then moves to and and stays on Dm7 for five bars before G7, Cmaj7 and C6 close it. The third A swaps those Dm7 bars for . The starts in B♭ with , and , then goes to A♭ through , and . , and bring it back toward C, and Dm7 and G7 lead into the last A. The holds C for six bars, then runs G7, , and before Dm7, G7, Cmaj7 and C6. The second C ends differently: Dm7, Dm7, Dm7♭5, Dm7♭5, Dm7, G7, C and C6, which makes it 20 bars.