"Come Sunday" is a piece by

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

, which became a

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive lis ...

. It was written in 1942 as a part of the first movement of a suite entitled '' Black, Brown and Beige''. Ellington was engaged for a performance at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

on January 23, 1943, for which he wrote the entire composition (that whole concert was released in 1977 as '' The Carnegie Hall Concerts: January 1943''). In 1958 he revised the piece and recorded it in its entirety for the 1958 album of the same name. "Come Sunday" was originally a centerpiece for alto saxophone player Johnny Hodges; the 1958 album, which contained a vocal version of the piece with new lyrics by Ellington featuring gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, greatly increased its popularity.

Notable recordings

– '' Black, Brown and Beige'' (rel. 1946), recording of 1943 Carnegie Hall concert *

– '' Black, Brown and Beige'' (1958, with Mahalia Jackson) * Abbey Lincoln – '' Abbey is Blue'' (1959) *

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...

– '' A Portrait of Duke Ellington'' (1960) *

Eric Dolphy Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist and flautist. On a few occasions, he also played the clarinet and piccolo. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gai ...

– ''

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...

'' (rec: 1963, rel: 1968) *

Dee Dee Bridgewater Dee Dee Bridgewater (née Denise Garrett, May 27, 1950) is an American jazz singer and actress. She is a three-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, as well as a Tony Award-winning stage actress. For 23 years, she was the host of National ...

– '' Prelude to a Kiss: The Duke Ellington Album'' (1996)

References

1940s jazz standards 1943 songs Compositions by Duke Ellington {{1940s-jazz-composition-stub

Notable recordings

See also

References