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{{distinguish|The Mooch}}
{{short description|1928 song by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills}}
{{Infobox song
{{Infobox song
| title = The Mooche
| name = The Mooche
| English_title =
| cover =
| comment =
| alt =
| image =
| type =
| image_size =
| language = English
| A-side = "[[Hot and Bothered (A Re-Creation)|Hot and Bothered]]"
| caption =
| alt =
| written =
| published = October 1, 1928
| original_artist =
| studio = [[Okeh Records|OKeh Recording Studio]]
| recorded_by =
| performed_by =
| genre = [[Jazz]]
| written =
| length = 3:20
| writer =
| Released = <!-- {{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| composer = [[Duke Ellington]] and [[Irving Mills]]
| Published =
| lyricist =
| Length = <!-- {{Duration|m=MM|s=SS}} -->
| Writer =
| Composer = Duke Ellington and Irving Mills
| Lyricist =
| Language = English
| Form =
}}
}}
{{listen
| type = music
| pos = right
| filename = Duke Ellington Baby Cox The Mooche 1928 Sample.ogg
| title = "The Mooche" (1928)
| description = Sample of "The Mooche" with scat vocals by Gertrude "Baby" Cox.
| format = [[Ogg]]
}}
'''"The Mooche"''' is an American [[jazz]] song, composed in 1928 by [[Duke Ellington]] and [[Irving Mills]],<ref name="Berger 2007"/> with [[scat singing]] by vocalist Gertrude "Baby" Cox.<ref name="Lawrence 2001"/> The song is considered to be one of Ellington's signature pieces and "he performed it frequently and recorded it many times over 45 years."<ref name="Berger 2007"/>


Among the jazz musicians who recorded the original version of the song was [[James "Bubber" Miley]] whom Ellington described as "the epitome of soul and a master of the [[plunger mute]]."<ref name="Gioia 2007"/> However, Miley's [[alcoholism]] and his consequent unreliability would lead to his parting with Ellington's band.<ref name="Gioia 2007"/> Four years later, on May 20, 1932, Miley expired from [[tuberculosis]]. He was 29 years old. Despite his early death, "no one, apart from Duke himself, did more than Miley to shape the early Ellington sound."<ref name="Gioia 2007"/>
'''"The Mooche"''' is an American [[jazz]] song, composed in 1928 by [[Duke Ellington]] and Irving Mills.<ref>[http://www.alfred.com/samplepages/00-28046S.pdf Berger, David (transcription). The Mooche. Jazz at Lincoln Center Library - Essentially Ellington. 2007, EMI Mills Music, Inc.]</ref> The song is in the so-called "jungle style" and includes the [[clarinet]] and [[Mute (music)|muted]] [[trumpet]] typical of Ellington's work.<ref>[http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/music_box/2005/01/the_late_show.html Crouch, Stanley. The Late Show: Why Duke Ellington's late work deserves our attention. January 12, 2005, Slate.com]</ref> [[James "Bubber" Miley]] was among the musicians that recorded the original version of the song.<ref>[http://www.jazz.com/music/2007/11/26/duke-ellington-featuring-bubber-miley-the-mooche Gioia, Ted (reviewer). Duke Ellington (Featuring Bubber Miley): The Mooche. 2007, jazz.com]</ref>


Ellington composed the song "for a high reed trio, playing one of the most eerie and haunting themes he had created up to that time. The theme, a [[sixteen-bar blues]] with interpolations by Miley, is followed by an eight-bar orchestral ''[[tutti]]'', and then segues to a low register solo by [[Barney Bigard|[Barney] Bigard]]. A [[Lonnie Johnson (musician)|[Lonnie] Johnson]] solo is followed by a Miley-inspired scat vocal by Baby Cox."<ref name="Lawrence 2001"/>
==Use In Popular Culture==
The Mooche is amongst the numerous jazz songs used in the queue area sound loop for the [[Jungle Cruise]] at the [[Magic Kingdom]] in [[Walt Disney World]].<ref>[http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-jungle-cruise-and-awol-airwaves.html The Jungle Cruise and AWOL Airwaves. Passport To Dreams Old and New. May 10, 2014.]</ref>


The song is in the so-called "jungle style" and includes the [[clarinet]] and [[Mute (music)|muted]] [[trumpet]] typical of Ellington's work.<ref name="Stanley 2005"/> The song is played in [[C minor]].
The song also plays in the 1991 film [[The Addams Family (film)|The Addams Family]].<ref>[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101272/soundtrack The Addams Family (1991) - Soundtracks. imdb.com]</ref>


The title, sometimes spelled "mooch," refers to "someone who constantly borrows but does not pay back."<ref name="Berger 2007"/> In 1933, Ellington explained that the title referred to "a certain lazy gait peculiar to some of the folk of [[Black Harlem|Harlem]]."<ref name="Ellington 1933"/><ref name="Tucker 1993"/>
==References==
{{reflist}}


==External links==
== References ==
{{Reflist
| refs =

<ref name="Berger 2007">{{cite news
| last = Berger
| first = David
| title = The Mooche by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills
| publisher = Jazz at Lincoln Center Library
| year = 2007
| url = https://content.alfred.com/catpages/00-28046S.pdf
| access-date = March 10, 2020
}}</ref>

<ref name="Ellington 1933">{{cite news
| last = Ellington
| first = Duke
| author-link = Duke Ellington
| title = My Hunt for Song Titles
| work = Rhythm
| date = August 1933
| pages = 22–3
}}</ref>

<ref name="Gioia 2007">{{cite web
| last = Gioia
| first = Ted
| author-link = Ted Gioia
| title = Duke Ellington (Featuring Bubber Miley): The Mooche
| year = 2007
| url = http://www.jazz.com/music/2007/11/26/duke-ellington-featuring-bubber-miley-the-mooche
| url-status = dead
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160529124433/http://www.jazz.com/music/2007/11/26/duke-ellington-featuring-bubber-miley-the-mooche
| archive-date = May 29, 2016
| access-date = March 10, 2010
}}</ref>

<ref name="Lawrence 2001">{{cite book
| last = Lawrence
| first = A. H.
| title = Duke Ellington and His World
| publisher = [[Routledge]]
| location = New York
| year = 2001
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=v6-SAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA136
| isbn = 0-415-93012-X
| page = 136
}}</ref>

<ref name="Stanley 2005">{{cite magazine
| last = Crouch
| first = Stanley
| author-link = Stanley Crouch
| title = The Late Show: Why Duke Ellington's late work deserves our attention.
| date = January 12, 2005
| url = http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/music_box/2005/01/the_late_show.html
| access-date = March 10, 2020
| magazine = [[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]
}}</ref>

<ref name="Tucker 1993">{{cite book
| last = Tucker
| first = Mark
| title = The Duke Ellington Reader
| location = New York and Oxford
| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]
| year = 1993
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=j7HLNsjGRKcC
| page = 88
| isbn = 0-19-505410-5
}}</ref>

}}

== External links ==
* {{YouTube|hP6pnM04PCo|A version of the song as performed by Duke Ellington & His Orchestra}}
* {{YouTube|hP6pnM04PCo|A version of the song as performed by Duke Ellington & His Orchestra}}
{{Duke Ellington}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Mooche}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mooche}}
[[Category:1928 songs]]
[[Category:1928 songs]]
[[Category:Jazz songs]]
[[Category:Jazz songs]]
[[Category:Songs with music by Duke Ellington]]
[[Category:Songs with lyrics by Irving Mills]]
[[Category:Jazz compositions in C minor]]



{{Jazz-composition-stub}}
{{1920s-jazz-composition-stub}}

Latest revision as of 11:59, 9 June 2021

Not to be confused with The Mooch.
"The Mooche"
Song
LanguageEnglish
A-side"Hot and Bothered"
PublishedOctober 1, 1928
StudioOKeh Recording Studio
GenreJazz
Length3:20
Composer(s)Duke Ellington and Irving Mills
"The Mooche" (1928)
Sample of "The Mooche" with scat vocals by Gertrude "Baby" Cox.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"The Mooche" is an American jazz song, composed in 1928 by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills,[1] with scat singing by vocalist Gertrude "Baby" Cox.[2] The song is considered to be one of Ellington's signature pieces and "he performed it frequently and recorded it many times over 45 years."[1]

Among the jazz musicians who recorded the original version of the song was James "Bubber" Miley whom Ellington described as "the epitome of soul and a master of the plunger mute."[3] However, Miley's alcoholism and his consequent unreliability would lead to his parting with Ellington's band.[3] Four years later, on May 20, 1932, Miley expired from tuberculosis. He was 29 years old. Despite his early death, "no one, apart from Duke himself, did more than Miley to shape the early Ellington sound."[3]

Ellington composed the song "for a high reed trio, playing one of the most eerie and haunting themes he had created up to that time. The theme, a sixteen-bar blues with interpolations by Miley, is followed by an eight-bar orchestral tutti, and then segues to a low register solo by [Barney] Bigard. A [Lonnie] Johnson solo is followed by a Miley-inspired scat vocal by Baby Cox."[2]

The song is in the so-called "jungle style" and includes the clarinet and muted trumpet typical of Ellington's work.[4] The song is played in C minor.

The title, sometimes spelled "mooch," refers to "someone who constantly borrows but does not pay back."[1] In 1933, Ellington explained that the title referred to "a certain lazy gait peculiar to some of the folk of Harlem."[5][6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Berger, David (2007). "The Mooche by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills" (PDF). Jazz at Lincoln Center Library. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Lawrence, A. H. (2001). Duke Ellington and His World. New York: Routledge. p. 136. ISBN 0-415-93012-X.
  3. ^ a b c Gioia, Ted (2007). "Duke Ellington (Featuring Bubber Miley): The Mooche". Archived from the original on May 29, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
  4. ^ Crouch, Stanley (January 12, 2005). "The Late Show: Why Duke Ellington's late work deserves our attention". Slate. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  5. ^ Ellington, Duke (August 1933). "My Hunt for Song Titles". Rhythm. pp. 22–3.
  6. ^ Tucker, Mark (1993). The Duke Ellington Reader. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 88. ISBN 0-19-505410-5.

External links[edit]


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