First recorded as Angelica September 26, 1962 in a quartet with John Coltrane, this simple tune built in 2-bar phrases uses sequences to develop the melody. The chord changes are simple as well—standard stuff. And here’s the magic of Ellington: he transforms ordinary material into, in this case, charming, yet deep, music.

The pep section (Ray Nance, Cootie Williams and Buster Cooper) are featured with both Nance and Williams soloing along with the maestro, Jimmy Hamilton and Paul Gonsalves, but the icing on the cake is the wicked half chorus reed soli with its angular lines and wild harmonies.

The story goes that Ellington was having difficulty coming up with an ending (his fear of death), and Ray Nance suggested the rousing coda.

Ellington’s use of chromatic triads over a dominant pedal was an old device for Ellington but soon became a cliché when picked up by the younger generation. Another soon to be cliché is the switch to swing for the tenor solo on the bridge. Ellington had used this device on Conga Brava and Flaming Sword in 1940, but it was Dizzy Gillespie’s A Night In Tunesia that popularized the idea of switching from latin to swing and back.