Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me

Composed by Duke Ellington, lyric by Bob Russell, arranged by Dave Wolpe

Here's an example of the Dave Wolpe chart we play from a ejazzlines.com.

Of course, Wolpe's version is an updated take on the classic Duke Ellington 1943 Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me, itself a vocal update of the 1940 Concerto For Cootie, celebrating the great trumpeter Cootie Williams.

Concerto For Cootie on YouTube

Wallace Jones, Cootie Williams, Rex Stewart(t); Lawrence Brown, Joe Nanton, Juan Tizol(tb); Barney Bigard(cl,ts); Johnny Hodges(ss,as); Otto Hardwicke(cl,as); Ben Webster(ts); Harry Carney(cl,as,bar); Duke Ellington(p); Fred Guy(g); Jimmy Blanton(sb); Sonny Greer(d,ch)

Here's the 1943 Do Nothin'... featuring vocalist Al Hibbler.

Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me on YouTube

Wallace Jones, Rex Stewart, Dizzy Gillespie,Taft Jordan(t); Lawrence Brown, Joe Nanton,Juan Tizol(tb); Jimmy Hamilton(cl,ts); Johnny Hodges(as); Otto Hardwicke(cl,as); Skippy Williams(ts); Harry Carney(cl,as,bar); Duke Ellington(p); Fred Guy(g); Wilson Myers(sb); Sonny Greer(d,ch); Al Hibbler(v)

Moonglow

Composed by Will Hudson and Irving Mills, words by Eddie DeLange, arranged by Dave Wolpe

http://youtu.be/sINBevaLodE

Dave Wolpe's arrangement of Moonglow is a fresh take on one of the great jazz standards.

Moonglow got its start with the father of jazz violin, Joe Venuti, back in 1933.

http://youtu.be/CsWq0BrUiYQ

Since Venuti's version, the song has been covered many times over the years to become a big band staple, including four in 1934 alone:

• Benny Goodman and His Orchestra (1934, #1)
• Duke Ellington and His Orchestra (1934, #2)
• Cab Calloway and His Orchestra (1934, #7)
• Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra (1934, Kenny Seargent, vocal, #8)

One of my personal favorites is Morris Stoloff's medley that combines Moonglow with George Duning's theme for the 1955 movie Picnic (William Holden and Kim Novak).

http://youtu.be/bNxtxfuZD6M

(Here's the audio-only version with no dialog.)

Incidentally, from 1926 to 1939, Irving Mills managed the Duke Ellington Orchestra, sang on some of their recordings, and wrote lyrics to several songs. Legend has it that he wasn't above putting his name on songs that he didn't write.