After listening to “Mood Indigo” by Duke Ellington I believe that it falls more towards the Western European ideas and practices on the continuum. Duke Ellington was a New York musician who was able to create his own new version of jazz. This piece represents the period of 1930 when the song was released. Even though it was a jazz piece, the song was planned the right way to create the maximum effect for the listener and musicians. Along with an interesting use of instruments that did not fit the usual jazz style. The use of Ellington’ s new style created a strong harmonic complexity in “Mood Indigo”. At the time when “Mood Indigo” was released in 1930 it was a very troubled time in America. It was right in the mists of the Great Depression.…show more content… When one usually listens to jazz, the music seems to be very sporadic and almost improvised as the song progresses. Then again, I noticed how strong and long the percussions were playing and thought how could they keep such strong notes for so long? I then realized that Duke had put in a piano solo creating time and space for the percussionists to regain their breath before continuing with the song. This allows for the maximum effect of the clarinets to be able to play at such a low register with great power and emphasis. Along with the trombones to play at such high…show more content… For example, at 15 seconds you hear a piano in the background. This is used to connect one harmony to the other. Furthermore, Ellington’s use of overtones with the clarinet as well as the trombone gives off the illusion of another instrument within the song. Then at 2:15 when the clarinet begins again you can hear the difference in pitch, which contrast with the original harmony introduced at the beginning of the song. Duke Ellington’s “Mood Indigo” fit perfectly with the period of the 1930’s and left its mark in the jazz world. A quote by which he lived by was, “The memory of things gone is important to a jazz musician” (Terkel, 75). Creating a new sound in the jazz world, his memory has left its mark on
