MOG

Nobody is sure about just what a "Mooche" actually is much less why this was chosen. However, we do know that Duke Ellington was always experimenting with composition. In this one, "The Mooche" made use, for the first time, the use of the human voice as another instrumental coloring to the already full orchestral pallette. Baby Cox was the vocalist on two record sessions. As with many shadowy characters in jazz, nothing is known about when she was born or died, what her life was like before and after the sessions. All that is known is her fabulously witchy sounding vocal which mimics the growl sound of the trumpet yet has more emotion behind the melodic line. This imitation weaves sinuously in and out of the work with drummer Jimmy Greer showing off his feathery light touch on the high hat cymbals. The man playing the guitar is much better known–Lonnie Johnson, a popular blues recording artist who had a very long career that reaped almost no record legacy except for spells of popularity in the late 1940's and early 1960's.