Duke Ellington, music and lyrics · First played at Carnegie Hall in Black, Brown and Beige
Come Sunday
Duke Ellington wrote Come Sunday for Black, Brown and Beige, a long work from his 1943 Carnegie Hall concert. It was written for Johnny Hodges's saxophone, and Mahalia Jackson sang it on Ellington's 1958 recording. Pianists, saxophonists, singers and big bands have recorded it since, from Tommy Flanagan to Al Jarreau.
Listen in this order
The path starts with Ellington's own orchestra, then follows the song to a singer, a solo pianist, a saxophone quartet and a trio with orchestra. It ends with a bass clarinet duet, a vibes, guitar and bass trio, and a live big-band record from 2016.
“Come Sunday (live)”, The Duke Ellington Carnegie Hall Concerts, December 1944
Ellington's orchestra played it at Carnegie Hall on December 19, 1944, eight days after recording a four-and-a-half-minute version for Victor. This performance runs 11:48.
Big band and orchestra
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A full big band plays for almost twelve minutes, much longer than the studio record made days earlier. Johnny Hodges, the saxophonist Ellington wrote it for, is in the lineup.
Try it on your instrument
Play the of the one at a time, very slowly: , , F7 with , , , F7, B♭ with , then with . If that is too many, play only F7, Cm7 and B♭ and listen for where the other chords change the sound.
Duke Ellington and His Orchestra with Mahalia Jackson · 1958 · Vocal
“Part IV (aka Come Sunday)”, Black, Brown and Beige
Ellington recorded a revised Black, Brown and Beige for Columbia in February 1958, cut to six shorter parts. Mahalia Jackson sings Come Sunday in Part IV.
Big band and orchestra · Sung versions
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Mahalia Jackson sings with Ellington's orchestra for almost eight minutes. Johnny Hodges, the player Ellington wrote it for, is not in the band on this album: Bill Graham takes the alto saxophone chair.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody slowly and hold the last note of every phrase until your breath runs out, as a singer must. Then sing it on one vowel along with the record.
“Come Sunday (solo piano)”, The Tommy Flanagan Trio
Tommy Flanagan recorded it at Van Gelder's studio in Englewood Cliffs on May 18, 1960, for the album The Tommy Flanagan Trio. The rest of the album is a trio with Tommy Potter and Roy Haynes.
Piano-led versions
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Tommy Flanagan plays alone here, without the rest of his trio. The track lasts about three and a half minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody with your right hand and one per with your left, slowly enough that each chord rings out. Use the chords of the from the chart.
Ben Webster and Joe Zawinul recorded it in New York on September 20, 1963, for the Riverside album Soulmates, produced by Orrin Keepnews.
Saxophone, clarinet and flute leads
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Ben Webster's tenor saxophone leads a quartet with Joe Zawinul on piano, Richard Davis on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums. The track lasts a little over five minutes.
Try it on your instrument
If you play a melody instrument, play the tune along with the record and keep each long note even. If you play , play those of the , one at a time, under the record.
Oscar Peterson's trio recorded it in Los Angeles on November 8, 1963, with an orchestra arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle. Verve also issued it as a single.
Piano-led versions · Big band and orchestra
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Oscar Peterson's piano trio plays with an orchestra that includes ten cellos, five flutes and a harp, arranged by Nelson Riddle. The track lasts a little over three minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody smoothly, joining each note to the next, and play the for each with your other hand. Use the chords of the from the chart.
Eric Dolphy and bassist Richard Davis played it as a duet in New York in July 1963. It first came out on the album Iron Man, issued by Douglas in 1968.
Saxophone, clarinet and flute leads
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Only two musicians play: Eric Dolphy on bass clarinet and Richard Davis on bass. The track runs a little over six minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody alone with no accompaniment, then play only the lowest note of each from the chart as a slow bass line.
Milt Jackson, Joe Pass and Ray Brown recorded it at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles on August 25, 1975, for the Pablo label, produced by Norman Granz. The album came out in 1976 as The Big 3.
Guitar and vibes
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A vibraphone, a guitar and a bass play it as a three-piece group, with nobody else added. The track lasts about three minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the for each of the once, evenly, while you hum the melody. Then swap: play the melody and let a recording or a friend hold the chords.
Al Jarreau sang it with the NDR Bigband on a European tour in November 2016, in Amsterdam or Monte Carlo. ACT released the live recording in 2024 on the album Ellington, Jarreau's final album.
Sung versions · Big band and orchestra
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Al Jarreau sings in front of a live audience with a big band conducted by Jörg Achim Keller. The track lasts about four and a half minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Sing or hum the melody on one vowel along with the record, taking a breath only at the end of a phrase. Then play the of the , one at a time, under your own singing.
Duke Ellington writes it for Black, Brown and Beige and plays it at Carnegie Hall in January 1943. He records it for Victor on December 11, 1944, and plays it at Carnegie Hall again eight days later.
1950s
Ellington revises Black, Brown and Beige for Columbia in 1958, and Mahalia Jackson sings Come Sunday on it. Abbey Lincoln sings it with Kenny Dorham's trumpet on Abbey Is Blue in 1959.
1960s
Tommy Flanagan plays it alone at the piano in 1960. In 1963 Ben Webster and Joe Zawinul record it as a quartet, and Eric Dolphy plays it as a bass clarinet and bass duet.
1970s
Milt Jackson, Joe Pass and Ray Brown record it as vibes, guitar and bass in 1975. Kenny Burrell plays it with a large band that year for Ellington Is Forever, Vol. 2.
2010s
Al Jarreau sings it with the NDR Bigband on a European tour in November 2016. ACT releases the live recording in 2024 on the album Ellington.
More great versions
6 more, from 1959 to 1975. Tap a cover to play it here.
Dizzy Gillespie recorded it in New York on April 27, 1960, with an orchestra arranged and directed by Clare Fischer, for the album A Portrait of Duke Ellington.
The Cannonball Adderley Sextet played it live at Sankei Hall in Tokyo on July 15, 1963, for the album Nippon Soul. Pianist Joe Zawinul recorded it with Ben Webster two months later.
Booker Ervin led a quartet with Tommy Flanagan on piano at Van Gelder's studio on February 27, 1964, for the album The Song Book. Flanagan had recorded the song on his own four years earlier.
Cedar Walton's quintet recorded it in New York on July 10, 1967, for the album Cedar!, with Kenny Dorham on trumpet and Junior Cook on tenor saxophone. Dorham had played on Abbey Lincoln's version in 1959.
Piano-led versions · Saxophone, clarinet and flute leads
Kenny Burrell recorded it with a large band at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley in late 1975. It came out in 1977 on the double album Ellington Is Forever, Vol. 2.
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
B♭ majorusual key
32 barsA · A · B · A form
B♭ major → G minor → B♭ majorkey centers
A8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars · bridge
A8 bars
B♭
G m
B♭
The chart has 32 in four sections of eight: A, A, B, A, in . Each starts with , , F7 with , , and F7, then closes on B♭ with and with . B opens on with , D7, and , which points toward , then goes through F7 with Cm7, F7 with and G7, and to lead back to the last A. According to JazzStandards.com, the song is in B♭ major with a temporary shift to G minor in B.