Cotton Tail

This lively piece by Duke Ellington is typical of his upbeat, big-band style. With a drum keeping a steady beat, the song is characterized by the tenor sax and other wind instruments. The sax is at the forefront nearly the entire songs and often does scales, though a lower sax has a solo towards the beginning of the song. The song maintains an upbeat rhythm throughout, enhanced greatly by the rolling melody of the sax and steady beat of the drum. The bass also underscores the beat. Though there are many instruments playing, they blend together well and sound very cohesive. Without listening closely, I found it hard to pick out the individual instruments, and it was even difficult once a I tried. This can be attributed to the plethora of instruments that play in the background, so I "hear" them, but I don't really hear them. Overall, I like the song because it is swift and upbeat. In fact, it borders on swing, which may have been a criticism from jazz fundamentalists of his day. Regardless, swing or jazz, it is a well crafted piece.