Duke Ellington, music · Manny Kurtz, lyrics (Irving Mills also credited) · First recorded by Ellington's orchestra for Brunswick, April 30, 1935
In a Sentimental Mood
In a Sentimental Mood is a slow Duke Ellington ballad from 1935, with words by Manny Kurtz. Players like its falling inner line and a bridge that moves to a distant key. You hear it on the 1962 Coltrane and Ellington record and on many vocal and ballad albums.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Learn the song Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra✓
- 2 Hear a landmark reading Duke Ellington & John Coltrane✓
- 3 Hear the words Ella Fitzgerald✓
- 4 Follow a horn lead Sonny Rollins with the Modern Jazz Quartet✓
- 5 Hear the composer at the piano Duke Ellington✓
- 6 Hear a piano trio Tommy Flanagan Trio✓
- 7 Follow it on guitar Emily Remler✓
- 8 Hear a newer reading Sonny Rollins✓
How the tune works
Each chorus runs 32 bars in four eight-bar sections: A, A, B, A. Each A starts in D minor on a slow falling line: Dm7 and Dm(maj7) share bar 1, Dm7 and G7 share bar 2, and bars 3 and 4 repeat the idea on G minor. Bars 5 and 6 return to D minor and D7, then Gm7 and C7 lead to F major in bar 8. The first A ends with an A7♭9 that points back to D minor. The second A ends with E♭m7 and A♭7, which lead into the bridge. The bridge moves to D♭ major and goes round D♭maj7, B♭m7, E♭m7 and A♭7 three times. Gm7 and C7 then bring the music back toward F major and the last A in D minor.
Read each line as four bars of 4/4. Chords in one bar change in the order shown: two chords usually split the bar, and where three share a bar the first chord holds two beats and the others one each. The A7♭9 in bars 8 and 24 lands on the last beat. A key tag marks the first bar where a new key area arrives. Use the key buttons to move the chart to the key you play in.
The source is the Learn Jazz Standards chord chart for C instruments, written in D minor with one flat in the key signature, 32 bars. The chart here follows its main chord line bar by bar. The source prints an optional second line above bar 6 of each A (Am7 D7) and above the first chord of bar 19 (Fm7); those are left out. In bars 2 and 4 the source writes G7 and C7 where many charts write Dm6 and Gm6, and the Weimar transcription does the same. The last A matches the first A except bar 32, which stays on Fmaj7 with no A7♭9. Form and key plan agree with the chord list on Wikipedia and with the JazzStandards.com analysis (A starts in D minor and ends in F major, bridge in D♭ major). Wikipedia's list differs in bar 19, where it shows B♭7 in place of B♭m7. Fake books differ in places.
Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗The path starts with Ellington's 1935 record, then adds the 1962 Coltrane session, a voice and guitar version and Sonny Rollins with the Modern Jazz Quartet. Ellington's piano trio, a Tommy Flanagan trio, a guitar quartet and a live Rollins set from 2007 finish it.
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Step 1 · Learn the song Now playing
Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra 1935
In a Sentimental Mood / Showboat Shuffle
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- Listen for
- Follow the 32 bars as A, A, bridge, A. Wikipedia names four soloists on this record: Otto Hardwick, Harry Carney, Lawrence Brown and Rex Stewart.
- Try this
- Play the first two bars of the chart slowly: Dm7 and Dm(maj7) in bar 1, Dm7 and G7 in bar 2. Repeat them until you can hear the falling line move between the chords.
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Step 2 · Hear a landmark reading Now playing
Duke Ellington & John Coltrane 1962
Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
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- Listen for
- Ellington plays piano and Coltrane plays saxophone, with bass and drums behind them. Wikipedia places this version in B♭ minor or D♭ major, a different key from the 1935 record.
- Try this
- Play the first eight bars of the chart slowly in your own key, then listen to the record's opening. Use the chart's key buttons to try B♭ minor if you want to play along.
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Step 3 · Hear the words Now playing
Ella Fitzgerald (with Barney Kessel) 1956
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book
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- Listen for
- Only voice and guitar play, so the chords sit in the open. Follow the A, A, B, A shape and listen for the moment the guitar moves to the bridge.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords for one A section while you hum the melody. If the full chords feel busy, play only the roots.
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Step 4 · Follow a horn lead Now playing
Sonny Rollins with the Modern Jazz Quartet 1953
In a Sentimental Mood / The Stopper
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- Listen for
- Rollins plays tenor saxophone, with Milt Jackson on vibraphone, John Lewis on piano, Percy Heath on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums. The take lasts 3:18, so listen for each A section and the bridge as they pass.
- Try this
- Play the melody of one A section on your instrument along with the record, slowly. If it feels fast, play the first four bars only and repeat them.
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Step 5 · Hear the composer at the piano Now playing
Duke Ellington (piano trio) 1953
The Duke Plays Ellington
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- Listen for
- The piano carries the melody and the chords with only bass and drums behind it. Count the 32 bars once through and mark where the bridge begins.
- Try this
- Play the melody of the first A section, then play the chart's chords under it. If both at once is too much, play the chords alone first.
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Step 6 · Hear a piano trio Now playing
Tommy Flanagan Trio 1960
The Tommy Flanagan Trio
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Piano, bass and drums play the whole 6:39 with no horn. Count how many times the trio goes through the 32 bars.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords one per bar along with the record for one full chorus, counting 32 bars. If the bridge changes are new, start with the first A section only.
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Step 7 · Follow it on guitar Now playing
Emily Remler 1981
Firefly
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- Listen for
- Remler plays guitar with Hank Jones on piano, Bob Maize on bass and Jake Hanna on drums. Follow the AABA form each time through; the take runs 7:49.
- Try this
- Play the melody once on guitar or any instrument, then play the chart's chords one per bar for a chorus. Soloing over the changes takes much more practice; the smaller version is to play only the chord roots along with the record.
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Step 8 · Hear a newer reading Now playing
Sonny Rollins 2007
“In a Sentimental Mood (Live)”, Holding the Stage
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- Listen for
- Rollins plays tenor saxophone with Bobby Broom on guitar, Bob Cranshaw on bass, Jerome Jennings on drums and Kimati Dinizulu on percussion. Compare the guitar's chords here with the piano and vibraphone on step 4.
- Try this
- Play the chart's bridge, bars 17 to 24, slowly, one chord per bar. It is the section that changes key, so learn it first.
More great versions
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Benny Goodman and His Orchestra 1936
In a Sentimental Mood / These Foolish Things Remind Me of You
Benny Goodman's 1936 version reached number 13 on the pop charts, one place above Ellington's own record.
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Sarah Vaughan 1961
After Hours
Sarah Vaughan sings it with only a guitar and a double bass behind her, on the first album she made in that format.
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Lucky Thompson Quartet 1964
Lucky Strikes
Lucky Thompson leads a quartet with Hank Jones, Richard Davis and Connie Kay, and the tune opens his Lucky Strikes album.
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McCoy Tyner 1974
Atlantis
McCoy Tyner plays it alone at the piano, live at the Keystone Korner.
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Dexter Gordon Quartet 1975
Stable Mable
Dexter Gordon plays it in Copenhagen with Horace Parlan, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and Tony Inzalaco.
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Joey Alexander (feat. Chris Potter) 2016
Bonus track from the Countdown sessions
A piano and bass clarinet duet with Chris Potter, who also recorded the tune on his 1993 album Concentric Circles.