DUKE ELLINGTON - It Don't Mean A Thing

By the mid-1920's Washington DC-born Duke Ellington was famous for leading his popular orchestra at New York City's legendary Harlem nightclub The Cotton Club. In 1931 the prominent pianist and bandleader composed the infamous jazz standard It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing), and he was the first to record the song the following year. In 1998 that recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame. This is considered to be the first time anyone used the word "swing" in the title of the song, thus introducing the greater world to the budding swing era. This fantastic clip of Ellington performing the song with his orchestra is from 1943.