Perdido

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Perdido ( Spanish for lost, lost ) is a jazz standard composed by Juan Tizol (copyright 1942) and first recorded by Duke Ellington . The song supposedly refers to Perdido Street in New Orleans . In 1944 Ervin Drake and Harry Lenk (Hans Lengsfelder) wrote the lyrics for the song.

History of origin

The song was created on a tour by Ellington and his orchestra, to which Tizol belonged for many years. Tizol wrote the song by his own account when he was sitting on the train next to Herb Jeffries and then passed it on to Ellington, who immediately wrote an arrangement for his band. The orchestra played the song for the first time that same evening.

Features of the song

The song is in B flat major and the song form AABA. It “is a real swing number with a distinctive eighth note riff in the A part and a melting blues phrase in the B part.” In the text, care is taken that the riff can be sung as “Perdido” if possible: “ Perdido, I look for my heart, it's perdido. I lost it way down in Torrito. ”Accordingly, the text also plays with other Spanish rhymes, such as“ siesta ”and“ fiesta ”or“ bolero ”and“ sombrero . ”

First recordings

The first recording of the Duke Ellington Orchestra took place on December 3, 1941 for the Standard Radio Transcription Services , whose sound carriers were only available to the radio companies; the first regular recording was on January 21, 1942 for RCA Victor . This recording became a pop hit the following year; on May 22, 1943 it reached number 21 in the American charts. The Ellington Band usually played the song as an instrumental number. An exception is the recording with Ella Fitzgerald for her album Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook (Verve), which was recorded in 1957. Other recordings by Ellington that can exist alongside the original version are his quartet recording in 1950 with Oscar Pettiford or the band appearance in Paris in 1963 ( The Great Paris Concert ). Ellington soloist Johnny Hodges also recorded the piece several times with his bands.

The way to the jazz standard

The song, with its simple theme, was ideal for jam sessions , for example as part of the Jazz at the Philharmonic tours, where it was used by Illinois Jacquet and Flip Phillips in a tenor sax battle as early as 1947 . The song was recorded by many other artists, including Art Tatum , Erroll Garner (1944), Stuff Smith (1945), Louis Armstrong , Quincy Jones (1956) , the Charlie Parker Quintet (1950) and the Allstar gathered around him and Dizzy Gillespie -Quintet ( Jazz at Massey Hall , 1953). Lasting vocal interpretations were created by Sarah Vaughan (1954 with the Count Basie Orchestra ) and Dinah Washington .

The piece is not only part of the session repertoir, but is also repeatedly given “new interpretations” in “advanced styles” of jazz, for example through Aki Takase (1982), Jimmy Hamilton and the Clarinet Summit (1987) or Don Byron (1999) a Latin bop version.

Use in movies

The song has also been used in films and television series, including in the inclusion of the Dave Brubeck Quartet in Woody Allen's 1988 film Another Woman and 1976 Next Stop, Greenwich Village . The Ellington version was in The Fabulous Baker Boys from 1989 used. The song was also used in the series Die Sopranos .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ “Interestingly enough, 'perdido' in Spanish also means dissolute, indecent. "(HJ Schaal: Jazz-Standards. P. 395)
  2. ↑ See Basilio Serrano Juan Tizol: His talents, his collaborators, his legacy  ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 411 kB) Centro Journal 18 (2): 83-99 (2006)@1@ 2Template: dead link / redalyc.uaemex.mx  
  3. ↑ Stuart Nicholson : Reminiscing in Tempo: A Portrait of Duke Ellington
  4. ↑ a b c H. J. Schaal: Jazz standards. P. 395f.
  5. ↑ "Lost, I'm looking for my heart, it's lost. I lost it down in Torito. "
  6. ↑ Song portrait