Caravan

There's this song I really like called "Caravan". It was written by Duke Ellington way back when and it's just a great tune. It's a great song in the same way that the theme to Johnny Quest was a great song. It sounds good on the guitar, piano, harp, mandolin, or the trumpet, with bongos in the background or with a vibraphone accompaniment. It just sounds good no matter what style it's played in, who's playing it, or what it's being played on (even the normally ass-tastic solo flute!). And that's a good thing because it's been recorded by a lot or people over the years. I've got 44 versions of the song so far and I've been meaning to get them all for a while now. As many as I can, at least, without resorting to buying Caravan compilation CDs. (Ha! There's an actual market for variations on the Caravan theme, so I'm not the only one, Tess!) EMusic.com has been very helpful in my searches.

Imagine my joy when my uncle John sent me this list he found of everyone who's recorded a version of Ellington's classic tune:

There are some artists missing -- the list doesn't include such greats as Claw Hammer or the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, for example -- but that should keep me busy for a while.

Comments for: Caravan

jesus wee...egregious

Posted by t at December 8, 2003 1:26 AM

Well, there's something to be said for completeness.

I was listening to them all last night in series. It's actually kinda cool. You don't really hear the same song. They all have different tempos and are played on different instruments so you do't really realize it's the same thing unless you concentrate.

Posted by wee at December 8, 2003 10:38 AM

Obsession - it's not just a stinky 80's era perfume.

Posted by Tess at December 8, 2003 1:20 PM

Uncle John missed my favorite: Wynton Marsalis, Standard Time Vol 1, track 1.

Posted by E at December 8, 2003 2:45 PM

I actually have that one, E. I think UJ's list came from someone looking solely at LP records. It seems somewhat dated.

Posted by wee at December 9, 2003 2:06 AM

Ya know, when you fill your head with stuff like this you lose important trigonometry knowledge. (Or the ability to spell trigonometry.)I lost the little I had to 70's & 80's song lyrics.

Posted by suzi at December 9, 2003 10:46 PM

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