The Mooche

"The Mooche" is an American jazz song, composed in 1928 by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills,[1] with scat singing by vocalist Gertrude "Baby" Cox.[2] The song is considered to be one of Ellington's signature pieces and "he performed it frequently and recorded it many times over 45 years."[1]

"The Mooche"
Song
LanguageEnglish
A-side"Hot and Bothered"
PublishedOctober 1, 1928
StudioOKeh Recording Studio
GenreJazz
Length3:20
Composer(s)Duke Ellington and Irving Mills

Among the jazz musicians who recorded the original version of the song was James "Bubber" Miley whom Ellington described as "the epitome of soul and a master of the plunger mute."[3] However, Miley's alcoholism and his consequent unreliability would lead to his parting with Ellington's band.[3] Four years later, on May 20, 1932, Miley expired from tuberculosis. He was 29 years old. Despite his early death, "no one, apart from Duke himself, did more than Miley to shape the early Ellington sound."[3]

Ellington composed the song "for a high reed trio, playing one of the most eerie and haunting themes he had created up to that time. The theme, a sixteen-bar blues with interpolations by Miley, is followed by an eight-bar orchestral tutti, and then segues to a low register solo by [Barney] Bigard. A [Lonnie] Johnson solo is followed by a Miley-inspired scat vocal by Baby Cox."[2]

The song is in the so-called "jungle style" and includes the clarinet and muted trumpet typical of Ellington's work.[4] The song is played in C minor.

The title, sometimes spelled "mooch," refers to "someone who constantly borrows but does not pay back."[1] In 1933, Ellington explained that the title referred to "a certain lazy gait peculiar to some of the folk of Harlem."[5][6]

References
  1. Berger, David (2007). "The Mooche by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills" (PDF). Jazz at Lincoln Center Library. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  2. Lawrence, A. H. (2001). Duke Ellington and His World. New York: Routledge. p. 136. ISBN 0-415-93012-X.
  3. Gioia, Ted (2007). "Duke Ellington (Featuring Bubber Miley): The Mooche". Archived from the original on May 29, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
  4. Crouch, Stanley (January 12, 2005). "The Late Show: Why Duke Ellington's late work deserves our attention". Slate. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  5. Ellington, Duke (August 1933). "My Hunt for Song Titles". Rhythm. pp. 22–3.
  6. Tucker, Mark (1993). The Duke Ellington Reader. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 88. ISBN 0-19-505410-5.
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