Duke Ellington, music · First recorded by his orchestra on May 4, 1940 · Words by Jon Hendricks for Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, 1960
Cottontail
Cotton Tail is a 1940 Duke Ellington piece built on the same as Gershwin's I Got Rhythm. Audiences asked Ben Webster to repeat the tenor saxophone solo he played on the first record, note for note. Singers and bands keep playing it, from Lambert, Hendricks & Ross in 1960 to the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra in 1998.
Listen in this order
The path starts with Ellington's 1940 record and a 1947 concert version, then follows the tune through Oscar Peterson's trio, Ben Webster's return to it in 1953 and Clark Terry's band of Ellington players. It ends with Lambert, Hendricks & Ross singing words to Webster's solo, Wes Montgomery's guitar and a 1998 big band with Illinois Jacquet.
1960sLambert, Hendricks & Ross with the Ike Isaacs Trio1960 · Bebop
Wes Montgomery Quintet1961 · Bebop
1970s
1980s
1990sLincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, featuring Illinois Jacquet1998
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Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra · 1940
“Cotton Tail”, Victor 78 rpm single
Ellington's band recorded it on May 4, 1940, in Hollywood, with Jimmy Blanton on bass and Ben Webster on tenor saxophone. According to JazzStandards.com, Webster arranged the saxophone section's and played the solo that audiences asked him to repeat note for note.
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Listen for
Two moments center on the saxophones: the whole section playing a together, and Ben Webster's tenor saxophone solo. The record lasts 3:11.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first four of the tune in B♭ with two per bar: and , and , and , Cm7 and F7. Smaller version: play only the first chord of each bar (B♭6, Cm7, Dm7, Cm7).
“Cotton Tail (Live)”, Carnegie Hall Concert, December 1947
Ellington's orchestra plays it live at Carnegie Hall in December 1947, seven years after the first record. The concert was issued on the Fantasy label in 1977.
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Listen for
This live recording lasts 3:25. Play it right after the 1940 record and notice which parts of the tune the band keeps the same.
Try it on your instrument
Play 5 to 8 of the tune in B♭: and , and , and , then and . Smaller version: play one per bar: B♭, E♭, B♭, F7.
“Cotton Tail”, Oscar Peterson Plays Duke Ellington
Oscar Peterson, Barney Kessel and Ray Brown recorded an album of Ellington tunes in Los Angeles in December 1952. It came out on Clef in 1953 as Oscar Peterson Plays Duke Ellington.
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Piano, guitar and bass play the tune, and the record lasts 3:49. Follow the bass line under the other two, since it carries the beat.
Try it on your instrument
Play the in B♭: for two , for two bars, for two bars and for two bars. Smaller version: play only the roots, D, G, C and F, two bars each.
“Cotton Tail”, The Consummate Artistry of Ben Webster
Ben Webster had left Ellington's band in 1943. He recorded the tune again in New York on May 21, 1953, with Oscar Peterson's , for the Norgran album The Consummate Artistry of Ben Webster, later retitled King of the Tenors.
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Listen for
Webster plays tenor saxophone with piano, guitar, bass and drums behind him, and the record lasts 3:21. Compare his sound with the 1940 record, made by the same player thirteen years earlier.
Try it on your instrument
Play the two that close the tune, and then , and hold the B♭6 for a . Smaller version: play a low F, then a low B♭.
According to JazzStandards.com, Terry gathered mostly Ellington sidemen for this 1957 Riverside date, and Paul Gonsalves, who took over the Cotton Tail feature in Ellington's band after Webster left, plays tenor saxophone. It was recorded in New York on September 6, 1957.
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The record runs 6:54, about twice as long as the 1940 original, so the soloists get room. Gonsalves plays the tenor saxophone, the instrument Webster played in 1940.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first two of the tune's second line, and , then and , and hear how the second pair sits one step above the first. Smaller version: play C then D, one bar each.
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross with the Ike Isaacs Trio · 1960 · Bebop
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross Sing Ellington
Jon Hendricks wrote words for the tune, including words for Ben Webster's solo from the 1940 record. Dave Lambert, Hendricks and Annie Ross recorded it with the Ike Isaacs Trio in New York on June 2, 1960, for their album Sing Ellington.
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Three singers take the tune with words, including words set to Webster's 1940 solo, with a piano, bass and drums trio behind them. The record lasts 2:55.
Try it on your instrument
Play and on alternate for eight bars while the record plays, to feel the home and the chord that pulls back to it. Smaller version: hold a low B♭ and tap the beat.
Wes Montgomery recorded it in New York on August 4, 1961, for the Riverside album So Much Guitar!, with Hank Jones on piano, Ron Carter on bass, Lex Humphries on drums and Ray Barretto on congas.
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Wes Montgomery plays the lead on guitar, and Ray Barretto's congas add a second layer of drumming behind the band. The record lasts 3:42.
Try it on your instrument
Play the in B♭ with single notes on the roots of each : D, G, C, F, two each. Smaller version: play D for two bars and G for two bars.
Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, featuring Illinois Jacquet · 1998
“Cottontail (Live)”, Live in Swing City: Swingin' with Duke
The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra recorded this live set of Ellington's music at the Supper Club in New York in August 1998. Illinois Jacquet is the featured guest on tenor saxophone.
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Listen for
A full big band plays it live, and Illinois Jacquet takes the guest tenor saxophone spot that Ben Webster had on the 1940 record. The record lasts 5:42.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole tune once through at a slow pace from the iReal chart: A, A, , A, 32 . Smaller version: play only the first , 8 bars, and stop.
Ellington records it on May 4, 1940, with Ben Webster's tenor solo, and two fans record the band at a Fargo dance in November. His orchestra plays it again at Carnegie Hall in December 1947.
1950s
Oscar Peterson's trio, Ben Webster and Clark Terry's Ellington sidemen each record it, and Ella Fitzgerald sings it with Ellington's orchestra on her songbook album.
1960s
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross set words to Webster's 1940 solo in June 1960. Wes Montgomery records it with a quintet in August 1961 for Riverside.
1990s
Dee Dee Bridgewater scats it on Dear Ella in 1997, and in 1998 Herbie Hancock plays it on Gershwin's World. The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra records it live with Illinois Jacquet.
More great versions
2 more, from 1957 to 1997. Tap a cover to play it here.
1950sElla Fitzgerald with Duke Ellington1957 · Big band
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990sDee Dee Bridgewater1997 · Soul jazz
Ella Fitzgerald with Duke Ellington and His Orchestra
“Cotton Tail”, Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book
Ella Fitzgerald opens her Duke Ellington Song Book with it, backed by Ellington's orchestra. According to JazzStandards.com, she scats around the words.
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♭ → D7 → G7 → C7 → F7 → B♭key centers
A8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars · bridge
A8 bars
B♭
B♭
D7
G7
C7
F7
B♭
The iReal Pro chart runs 32 in : A (8 bars), A (8), B (8) and A (8). Each puts two in most bars: and , and , and , Cm7 and F7, then B♭6 and , and , and and Gm7. The first A ends with Cm7 and F7, which lead back to the top. The second and last A end with F7 and B♭6. The stays on one chord for two bars at a time: , G7, , F7, a chain that falls back toward B♭. Wikipedia and JazzStandards.com both describe the tune as built on of Gershwin's I Got Rhythm.