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Many listeners over the years have assumed this song was called “Mister Satur- day Dance” based on a common mishearing of the opening lyrics (“Missed the Saturday dance . . .”). But my favorite garbling of the title came from an inebri- ated regular at a bar where I once played the piano. He stumbled up to the keyboard late one night, after another evening striking out with the ladies, and asked me if I knew how to play “Don’t Get Much Around Here Anymore.”

The song originated as a counter-melody composed for “I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart” that got recycled into “Never No Lament,” which Ellington recorded with one of his fi nest bands in 1940. This peculiar version leaves out the B theme and fi nal A theme recapitulation in the opening statement. Elling- ton frequently broke the rules of song form during this period, but this partic- ular “innovation” will sound quite odd to anyone familiar with the way this song

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is typically played. There are compensating factors, however: the melody serves as an ideal vehicle for alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges—who, according to Rex Stewart, may have provided the riff that originally inspired the song—while Cootie Williams also contributes an outstanding solo.

By 1942, lyrics by Bob Russell were added, and the song had been rechris- tened as “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore.” Yet the world-weary words seem at odds with the merry-making music. When Ellington presented the composi- tion at Carnegie Hall, at the famous concert that also saw the debut of his mag- num opus Black, Brown and Beige , he announced it under the new name but retained the anomalous opening half-chorus from the studio recording. The lyrics are not featured, and the melody is still assigned to Hodges, who plays it with, if anything, even more passion here than on the 1940 recording.

In March of that same year, an understated cover version by the Ink Spots, brandishing their sweet barbershop harmonies, reached the top of the R&B chart. This success gave Ellington a stunning, if pleasant, surprise soon after- ward, when he strolled into the William Morris Agency offi ce, hoping to borrow a few hundred dollars. While he was waiting, an offi ce boy gave him a letter that had been sitting around for him. Duke opened it to fi nd a check for $22,500— all due to “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” and fueled by the Ink Spots’ big hit.

The ASCAP strike prevented Ellington from seizing the opportunity with a vocal version of his own; he wouldn’t release one until 1947. But his label reis- sued his 1940 recording under the new name, and it also reached the top of the R&B chart in late May. The song never left his repertoire in later years. Given its popularity, “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” was demanded by audiences when Duke performed, but he often slipped it into the dreaded (at least by many Ellington devotees) “medley” that he frequently used to get such requests out of the way.

If any vocalist owned this song, it was Al Hibbler, who joined Ellington’s band in 1943 and stayed on for eight years. He recorded “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” on many occasions, but my favorite, hands down, is the ver- sion he made with Rahsaan Roland Kirk in 1972. For this project, Hibbler en- gages in his trademark hemming and hawing, which makes it sound as if he is making up the lyrics as he goes along. Kirk, for his part, acts as if he is audi- tioning for some demonic R&B band. Even Duke must have been envious.

Like many Ellington hits, this one shows up in surprising places. Paul McCartney performed an old time rock-and-roll arrangement of the song on his 1987 “Soviet” album Choba b CCCP , and his version is quite endearing. After hearing this track, one might almost think that Little Richard or Chuck Berry had written the tune. Other unexpected covers of this song include a rendition by Harry Connick Jr. for the soundtrack for When Harry Met Sally and Willie Nelson’s heartfelt performance on his platinum Stardust release from 1978.

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Yet for all its popularity—and it does get around much, the title notwith- standing—this song is devilishly hard to update into a modern jazz version. The melody almost demands a conventional swing rhythm and the harmonic sequence does not rank among Ellington’s most inspired. For that reason, this standard is rarely performed by the younger generation of progressive players who probably fi nd it easier to relate to Duke’s ballads than to such dance- oriented numbers.

recommended versions

Duke Ellington (recorded as “Never No Lament”), Los Angeles, May 4, 1940 The Ink Spots, July 28, 1942

Duke Ellington, live at Carnegie Hall, New York, January 23, 1943 Duke Ellington (with Al Hibbler), New York, December 20, 1947

Ella Fitzgerald, from The Duke Ellington Songbook , Los Angeles, September 4, 1956 Mose Allison, from Young Man Mose , New York, January 24, 1958

Johnny Hodges (with Billy Strayhorn), from Soloist , New York, December 11, 1961 Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Al Hibbler, from A Meeting of the Times , New York, March

30, 1972

McCoy Tyner, from Solar , live at Sweet Basil, New York, June 14, 1991 Dr. John (with Ronnie Cuber), from Duke Elegant , New York, 2000

East of the Sun (and West of the Moon)