Duke Ellington, Johnny Hodges and Harry James, music · Don George, lyrics · Recorded in 1944 by Harry James (Columbia) and Duke Ellington (RCA Victor)
I'm Beginning to See the Light
Duke Ellington, Johnny Hodges and Harry James wrote the music in 1944, and Don George added the words. Each main part repeats one driving phrase, and the middle part changes the mood. Hear it from Harry James, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Gerry Mulligan, Phineas Newborn, Louis Armstrong and Milt Jackson.
Listen in this order
The path starts with the two 1944 band records, from Harry James and Duke Ellington, then Ella Fitzgerald with the Ink Spots in 1945. It goes on to Gerry Mulligan's quartet without a piano, Phineas Newborn's trio, Louis Armstrong with Ellington, Johnny Hodges with Earl Hines, and Milt Jackson's quartet in 1980.
1960sLouis Armstrong and Duke Ellington1961 · Big band
Johnny Hodges and Earl Hines1966 · Swing
1970s
1980sMilt Jackson, Joe Pass, Ray Brown and Mickey Roker1980
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Hear the 1944 hit
Harry James and His Orchestra · 1944
Columbia single, linked on the compilation Best of the Big Bands
Harry James and his orchestra recorded it for Columbia in Los Angeles on November 21, 1944, with Kitty Kallen singing. It reached No. 1 for two weeks in January 1945.
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Listen for
Listen for Kitty Kallen's vocal in front of the band, and for the violins in the arrangement.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first four : and share the first bar, then and , then D7 and G7, then and . Smaller version: play only the root of each and hum the tune.
The Ellington band recorded it in New York on December 1, 1944, for RCA Victor, with Joya Sherrill, who was seventeen and had just joined the band, singing. It came out on Victor 20-1618 and rose to No. 6 on the pop chart.
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Listen for
Listen for Joya Sherrill's vocal, and for Johnny Hodges on alto saxophone and Lawrence Brown on trombone, who are featured on the record.
Try it on your instrument
Play the B part, 17 to 24: for two bars, for two bars, for two bars, then for one bar and for one. Smaller version: play only the root of each and hum the tune over it.
Decca 78 rpm single, linked on Ella: The Legendary Decca Recordings
Ella Fitzgerald and the Ink Spots recorded it for Decca on February 26, 1945, and it came out that March on Decca 23399. It reached No. 5 on the pop chart in 1945.
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Listen for
Listen for Ella Fitzgerald and Bill Kenny of the Ink Spots as the two lead voices, with the other Ink Spots quiet behind them.
Try it on your instrument
Play the second half of the A part, 5 to 8: and share bar 5, then , and walk down in bar 6, D7 and G7 in bar 7, in bar 8. Smaller version: play only the roots C, B♭ and A in bar 6.
The Gerry Mulligan Quartet recorded it at Radio Recorders in Los Angeles in April 1953, with Chet Baker on trumpet, Carson Smith on bass and Larry Bunker on drums. It is on the Pacific Jazz album Gerry Mulligan Quartet Volume 2.
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Listen for
Listen for the baritone saxophone and trumpet sharing the tune, with only bass and drums underneath.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first eight with only the root of each in your left hand and the melody in your right, as the bass and horns do here. Smaller version: play the roots alone.
Phineas Newborn Jr. recorded it with bassist Oscar Pettiford and drummer Kenny Clarke at the Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, on May 4, 1956. It is on his Atlantic album Here Is Phineas, released that August.
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Listen for
Listen for the piano carrying the tune with bass and drums behind it. This is a three-piece group.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole 32 once and count them: A, A, B, A, eight bars each. Use the , , D7 G7, for the first four bars of each A. Smaller version: play only the four-bar start of the first A and stop.
Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington · 1961 · Big band
The Great Summit: The Master Tapes
Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington recorded it at RCA Victor Studio One in New York on April 3 or 4, 1961, with Armstrong's All Stars. It comes from their only studio meeting, an all-Ellington program produced by Bob Thiele.
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Listen for
Listen for Louis Armstrong's trumpet and Duke Ellington's piano in a small band, with Barney Bigard on clarinet.
Try it on your instrument
Hum the tune while you play the start of the A part: and , and , D7 and G7, and . Smaller version: play only the first two bars.
Johnny Hodges, one of the three composers, recorded it with pianist Earl Hines at the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on January 14, 1966. It is on the Verve album Stride Right, produced by Creed Taylor.
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Listen for
Listen for Johnny Hodges's alto saxophone leading a quintet with Earl Hines, guitar, bass and drums.
Try it on your instrument
Play 6 slowly: , and walk down, one to the beat, then and to finish the A part. Smaller version: play only the bass notes C, B♭ and A.
Milt Jackson, Joe Pass, Ray Brown and Mickey Roker · 1980
Quadrant Toasts Duke Ellington: The Ellington Album "All Too Soon"
Vibraphonist Milt Jackson, guitarist Joe Pass, bassist Ray Brown and drummer Mickey Roker recorded it for Pablo at Group IV Studios in Los Angeles on January 21, 1980. It was part of an all-Ellington album.
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Listen for
Listen for Milt Jackson's vibes and Joe Pass's guitar sharing the front, with bass and drums underneath.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole tune once at a steady medium-up tempo with a metronome: A, A, B, A, eight each. Smaller version: play only the last A, bars 25 to 32.
Harry James records it with singer Kitty Kallen in November 1944, and Duke Ellington follows with Joya Sherrill on December 1. Ella Fitzgerald and the Ink Spots record it in February 1945.
1950s
Gerry Mulligan's quartet with trumpeter Chet Baker plays it without a piano in 1953. Phineas Newborn Jr. records it with a piano trio in 1956, the year Joe Williams sings it with the Count Basie band.
1960s
Ben Webster plays it with strings, and Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington record it together in April 1961. Frank Sinatra sings it in 1962, and Johnny Hodges, a co-composer, plays it with Earl Hines in 1966.
1980s
Vibraphonist Milt Jackson, guitarist Joe Pass, bassist Ray Brown and drummer Mickey Roker record it in Los Angeles in January 1980.
1990s
Dee Dee Bridgewater sings it with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra in 1996. David Grisman on mandolin and Martin Taylor on guitar make it the title track of their 1999 Acoustic Disc album.
More great versions
4 more, from 1956 to 1999. Tap a cover to play it here.
1950sCount Basie and His Orchestra with Joe Williams1956 · Swing
Mandolinist David Grisman and guitarist Martin Taylor made it the title track of their 1999 Acoustic Disc album, with Jim Kerwin on bass and George Marsh on drums.
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
32 barsA · A · B · A form
C majorkey centers
A8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars · bridge
A8 bars
C
Thirty-two , all in C, in four eight-bar parts: A, A, B, A. In each A, and share the first bar, and the second, D7 and G7 the third, and and the fourth. Bars 5 to 8 go D7 and G7 in bar 5, , and A7 in bar 6, D7 and G7 in bar 7, and C6 in bar 8. B, the , holds one for two bars at a time: , then , then D7, then A♭7 for one bar and G7 for one, which leads back to the last A. These chords follow the iReal Pro chart; other lead sheets may spell some chords differently.