Black and Tan Fantasy


"Black and Tan Fantasy" is a 1927 jazz composition by Duke Ellington and Bubber Miley. The song was recorded several times by Ellington and his Cotton Club band in 1927 for the Brunswick, Victor, and Okeh record labels.
The song was featured and performed by Ellington and his orchestra in the 1929 RKO short film Black and Tan.
The copyright was registered on July 16, 1927, and the song entered the public domain on January 1, 2023. The three 1927 recordings will not enter the public domain until 2049.

Composition

Trumpeter Bubber Miley cited a spiritual his mother would sing to him as a child as a major influence on the composition. The piece, titled "Hosanna", is heavily related to a melody from the Stephen Adams piece "The Holy City."
The piece begins in B-flat minor, modulating to B-flat major after a twelve-bar blues introduction. Ellington historian Mark Tucker describes it as "immediately the listener into a dark, slightly forbidding tonal atmostphere." Following solos, the piece ends with a reference to Frédéric Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 – a funeral march.
Sociologist David Grazian remarks that the piece's influences include the Blues music of the Deep South along with elements of Harlem's signature jazz sound, such as muted trumpets and stride piano.
Musician and historian Gunther Schuller points out that Miley provided "the main creative thrust" for "Black and Tan Fantasy," along with many of the orchestra's mid-1920s output:

Recordings

The piece has been recorded numerous times by both Ellington as well as other artists. Some notable recordings include:

Victor recording

The Victor recording of "Black and Tan Fantasy" was recorded on October 26, 1927, at the Victor Talking Machine Company studios in Camden, New Jersey, and released on February 3, 1928, as the B-side of "Creole Love Call".
This version, featuring Bubber Miley's growl trumpet and Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton's trombone plunger work, is widely regarded as the definitive 1920s recording of the composition.
The Victor recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1981.

Duke Ellington (1927–1942)

  • April 7, 1927 E-22299 issued on Brunswick 3526, Brunswick 6682, Brunswick 80002, Melotone M-12093, Polk P-9006, Vocalion 15556
  • October 6, 1927 BVE-40155-2 probably unissued
  • October 26, 1927 BVE-40155-4 Victor 21137, Victor 24861, Victor 68-0837
  • November 3, 1927 W 81776-A Columbia C3L-27
  • November 3, 1927 W 81776-B OKeh 40955
  • November 3, 1927 W 81776-C OKeh 8521, OK 40955
  • June 12, 1930 150590-1 Clarion 5331-C, Diva 6056-G, Velvet Tone 7082-V
  • February 9, 1932 71836-2, Victor Transcription L-16007
  • February 9, 1932 71837-1 and 2 Victor rejected
  • January 13, 1938 M-714-1, Brunswick m8256
  • January 13, 1938 M-715-1, Brunswick m8063