Sunset And The Mockingbird - Duke Ellington

Here is a cat for this Duke Ellington tune.

I meant chart. Problem is, i finally got here but i don't know how to upload!

Sunset And The Mockingbird - Duke Ellington

"Sunset and the Mockingbird" is a movement in "The Queen's Suite" by Duke Ellington. The suite was written after meeting Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain in 1958 as a tribute to her. It was recorded in the studio and a single pressing of the recording was made and presented to the Queen. The music was released to everyone else only after Ellington's death in 1974.

The song has a standard 32-bar AABA structure. Although not a blues, it has a bluesy sound due to many instances of I-IV7 harmonic movements. Of particular interest is Ellington's use of harmonic parallelism: in the A sections, the initial movement is I-IV7-IIIø7 and down the cycle to I; in the bridge, the initial movement is I-IV7-I-IV7-VIIIø7 and down the cycle to V.

There are two performances on Youtube that I recommend: the original by Ellington and a wonderful performance by Tommy Flanagan. Neither should be missed.

This is an extraordinary song that I urge you to listen to and learn. It is an American musical treasure.

This is a slow tune; I play it at 65 bpm. Either the Ballad Swing or Swing Two/Four styles work well.

Sunset And The Mockingbird (k ver) - Duke Ellington