“‘Perdido’ is the perfect vehicle for him. [Peterson] hits each note perfectly whether with ferocity or tenderness.” - Ben Maycock

Rank 58 Music Juan Tizol Lyrics Ervin Drake Hans Jan Lengsfelder   On December 3, 1941, Duke Ellington and His Orchestra recorded “Perdido” for Standard Radio Transcription Services, a company that provided leased programming to radio stations. It is their January 21, 1942, recording of the song on the Victor label, however, that is regarded as their original recording. A modest hit, “Perdido” entered the pop charts on May 22, 1943, rising to number twenty-one.     More on Duke Ellington     Chart information used by permission from Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954   In 1944 Ervin Drake and Hans Lengsfelder were enlisted to fit lyrics to the tune, though the song was not generally sung with the Ellington band, the exception being Ella Fitzgerald on her 1957 recording of Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook.     More on Ervin Drake       More on Hans Jan Lengsfelder   In Stuart Nicholson’s Reminiscing in Tempo: A Portrait of Duke Ellington, Juan Tizol says he wrote “Perdido” on a train while sitting next to Herb Jeffries. The trombonist then handed it to Ellington who made an arrangement right then and there, and that very night they played it at a dance. A poster for Ellington’s Tempo Music, included in Nicholson’s book, bills “Perdido” as “It’s Latin America in Jitterbug Time.”     More on Juan Tizol   “Perdido” is a driving composition in the popular A-A-B-A form. Its simplicity, short phrases, and irresistible swing feeling have made it one of the top vehicles for jazz jam sessions. As a result, recordings of “Perdido” are frequently ten minutes or more in length, allowing for multiple instrumental solos and variations on the basic theme. One such legendary session finds Illinois Jacquet and Flip Phillips partaking in a tenor sax battle at a 1947 Carnegie Hall set (The Complete Jazz at the Philharmonic on Verve: 1944-1949.)

More information on this tune... James Lincoln Collier Duke Ellington Oxford University Press, USA Hardcover: 352 pages (Ellington’s biographer analyzes the song’s musical content.) See the Reading and Research page for this tune for additional references. - Jeremy Wilson

This section suggests definitive or otherwise significant recordings that will help jazz students get acquainted with “Perdido.” These recordings have been selected from the Jazz History and CD Recommendations sections.

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The Duke Ellington Orchestra’s original recording of “Perdido” (Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band) is noteworthy both as a historical document and as a shining example of Ellington’s gifts and those of his sidemen. Ella Fitzgerald is participated in many important recordings of the tune, and her 1957 performance with Ellington’s Orchestra (The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books) stands out both as one of the most charming and one of the most faithful to the song’s melody. Meanwhile Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie and a rhythm section of bebop giants are responsible for a 1953 live recording (Jazz at Massey Hall) that displays the song’s usefulness as a bop vehicle.

Noah Baerman - Jazz Pianist and Educator

Tizol’s tune clearly has no room for complex or wordy lines, but one has to wonder how much time was spent on developing its lyrics. The song begins “Perdido, I look for my heart it’s Perdido” and then the bridge, “High is the sun…” followed by “Low is the moon…” The words are not exactly clever. The Ervin Drake and Hans Lengsfelder effort seems little more than an afterthought dashed off on a busy afternoon. Minimal as they are, the lyrics seldom draw critical comment, favorable or unfavorable, although one music website editorial declares, “They don’t write ‘em like that now. Good thing, too.” -JW

Musical analysis of “Perdido”
Original Key	Bb major
Form	A – A –B – A
Tonality	Major throughout
Movement	This tune is highly motivic. “A” consists of a skip and a step, alternating with an arpeggiated figure before leaping up a major sixth and down a fifth toward the end. “B” is a sustained note that jumps down a fifth before ascending step-wise and repeated once a whole step lower.
Comments     (assumed background)
This is a favorite “jam” tune because of its simplicity. “A” is merely a ii – V7 – I, repeated over and over, while “B” is a circle of fifths similar to the bridge of “I Got Rhythm.” Each section is built from motifs that repeat, making this tune easy to learn and retain.
K. J. McElrath - Musicologist for JazzStandards.com

Violinist Stuff Smith had a popular, swinging, six-piece combo on 52nd Street starting in 1935. By 1944 he had scaled the group down to a trio, which, by 1945, included bassist Ted Sturgis and pianist Billy Taylor. Now Dr. Taylor, he commented about the trio prior to his joining it, “Stuff’s trio at the Onyx in 1944 was one of the greatest, most rhythmic trios I ever heard.”

The trio in 1945 wasn’t bad either, as is evidenced by a recording of the group performing “Perdido” at a Town Hall concert in 1945. The seven-minute version of the tune is taken at a moderate tempo and features great swinging solos by leader Smith and Art Tatum-influenced Taylor.

Chris Tyle - Jazz Musician and Historian

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Stuff Smith Time and Again Proper Pairs PVCD 118

“Perdido” was included in these films:

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• Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976, The Dave Brubeck Quartet)
• Another Woman (1988, Dave Brubeck Quartet)
• The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989, The Duke Ellington Orchestra)
• Blue Ice (1993, David Green, bass; Anthony Kerr, vibes; Pete King, alto Sax; Gerald Presencer, trumpet; Charlie Watts, drums; Steve Williamson, tenor Sax)

And on stage:

• Sophisticated Ladies (1981, 1st time instrumental, 2nd time Judith Hamison, Hinton Battle) Broadway musical

And on television:

• The Sopranos (2000, The Notables) HBO TV series, Season 2, Episode 17 "Commendatori"

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