Sundays with Duke #20: A Sentimental Solution

As we step into 1935 with Duke Ellington, the classics keep on coming. Today it’s In a Sentimental Mood - a tune so elegant it feels like it’s always existed.

The story goes that Duke composed it at a party to ease the tension between two women. Who knows if that apocryphal tale is true, but it’s a great story and an even better song.

The First Sentimental Spark

The first recording was for Brunswick:

The soloists include alto saxist Otto Hardwick, who may have contributed part of the melody. It certainly sounds like something he could have floated into the air for Duke to sculpt.

Otto Hardwick looking dapper!

As with many Ellington pieces that caught on, In a Sentimental Mood soon acquired lyrics (and Irving Mills as a co-writer). The lyricist was Manny Kurtz - later Mann Curtis - but Duke never recorded a vocal version himself. He did, however, return to the tune often in concert and on record.

Revisiting an Old Flame

One such revisit came in 1945, during those Victor sessions where Duke re‑examined several of his most popular numbers:

I love the jaunty little piano figure he tosses in there—just enough to remind you that even his most “sentimental” moods have a sly grin.

Sentiment, Stripped to the Essentials

Duke’s piano gets even jauntier on this next version, the leadoff track from his 1954 Capitol album The Duke Plays Ellington:

With only Wendell Marshall on bass and Butch Ballard on drums, Duke is truly “playing Ellington” - all touch, color, and quiet authority.

Sentiment Meets the Trane

Jump ahead to 1963 and we find Duke in one of his great late‑career dialogues: the truth-in-advertisingly titled Impulse! album Duke Ellington & John Coltrane. And what better way to open it than with In a Sentimental Mood?

It’s gorgeous - John Coltrane’s tenor tone is like a lantern in the dark, and Duke’s voicings are older, wiser, and more spacious. Interestingly, this is the only Ellington standard the two chose for the album.

A Sentimental Surprise

The next version is a little more mysterious. Recorded in early 1963 but not released until 1976 - two years after Duke’s death - it pairs him with another legend: violinist Stéphane Grappelli.

I don’t know the full story behind the delayed release, but I do know this: the performance is wonderful! Grappelli’s lyricism meets Duke’s harmonic poise, and the tune blooms all over again.

So, there we are - Another Sunday, another Ellington solution with enough sentiment to last for decades!