Sundays with Duke #40: Juan Gets Lost

As we step into 1942 with Duke Ellington, we run straight into another classic — Juan Tizol’s Perdido.

Duke arranged the tune, and the band recorded it for Victor that January with solos by Ben Webster, Ray Nance, and Rex Stewart.

Let’s give it a spin:

That three‑note figure just sings “Perdido!” over and over, and the whole thing moves along with that effortless Ellington glide.

A Hit That Stayed Hit

The tune clicked with the public immediately, and Duke kept it in rotation from then on. Other musicians picked up on it quickly too — there have been zillions of versions. Between Perdido and Caravan, Juan Tizol must have been cashing a lot of royalty checks!

At Capitol with Cat

One of the many Ellington recordings of Perdido is this snappy version for the Capitol Transcription Service from 1946:

Cat Anderson was definitely making his presence known in the trumpet section!

Johnny Gets Lost in Paris

While the Ellington band was touring Europe in 1950, Johnny Hodges and several members recorded a small‑group version in Paris for the Vogue label:

French pianist Raymond Fol sits in for Duke — it must have been a dream come true for him to play with a group of Ellingtonians.

Oscar's Outing

Meanwhile, also in 1950, Duke joined bassist/cellist Oscar Pettiford for this take on the Mercer label:

Bassist Lloyd Trotman and legendary drummer Jo Jones complete the quartet for this showcase for Oscar's cello.

Way Uptown

Duke and the band are back in the studio for Columbia in 1952 for this astounding take from the album Ellington Uptown:

The eight-plus minute arrangement takes advantage of the relatively new LP format from Duke's extended piano solo at the beginning to the have-to-hear-it-to-believe-it "chase" sequnce featuring trumpeters Clark Terry, Cat Anderson, Ray Nance and Wille Cook and trombonist Britt Woodman!

Harry and the Nonet Detour

Jumping to 1956, we find Juan Tizol playing with Harry James — he worked with Harry both before and after rejoining Duke in the early ’50s — in a small‑band “nonet” setting for a non‑commercial recording of Perdido:

It’s fun to hear Harry introduce the musicians, and even better to hear Juan take a little solo on his own tune!

Ella Arrives with Lyrics

Like many popular instrumentals, Perdido picked up lyrics along the way, but Duke kept it as an instrumental — except, of course, when Ella Fitzgerald stepped into the studio for Verve with the band in 1957:

Another tour de force for everyone involved.

The Space Age Nonet

Duke returned to the studio in 1958 for Columbia with a nonet (I get to use “nonet” twice!) billed as Duke Ellington’s Spacemen for the album The Cosmic Scene:

A reimagined arrangement for the Space Age.

Duke Not Lost in the Background

Another modern take appears on Duke’s 1960 Columbia album Piano in the Background:

Another great version!

Private Perdido

Duke and the band recorded this next version in 1962, but it was unreleased for decades:

So much wonderful material has been uncovered over the years!

Still Popular

And Duke wasn’t done — he included yet another fresh arrangement on his 1966 RCA Victor album The Popular Duke Ellington:

Dig that bass trombone from Chuck Connors!

Never Lost

My Spanish is pretty good, so I know perdido means “lost,” but luckily for us, Juan’s tune has never been lost!