“C Jam Blues”“ is a jazz standard composed in 1942 by Duke Ellington….and performed by countless other musicians such as Dave Grusin, Django Reinhardt, Oscar Peterson, and Charles Mingus….and as the title suggests….the piece follows a twelve-bar blues form in the key of C major….as the tune is well known for being extremely easy to play….with the entire melody featuring only two notes….G and C.
A performance typically features several improvised solos….with the melody likely originated from the clarinetist Barney Bigard in 1941….but its origin is not perfectly clear. It was also known as “Duke’s Place“….with lyrics added by Bill Katts, Bob Thiele and Ruth Roberts.
In this video seen herewith….Billy Taylor and The All Star Orchestra….provides a wonderful rendition of C Jam Blues on the 1980 Kennedy Center salute to Duke Ellington….which brought together such jazz greats as singers Sarah Vaughan and Joe Williams….drummer Max Roach and more….as we at ImaSportsphile are absolutely delighted to have this “nugget of gold” in our treasure chest of vintage memories here at our site.
