Written 1950s Lyricist(s) Jon Hendricks | Composer(s) Bobby Timmons Language English | |
"Moanin'" is a composition by Bobby Timmons, first recorded by Art Blakey's band on the 1958 album of the same title.
Contents
Composition
"Moanin'" has a call and response melody. One account of its creation was given by Benny Golson, the tenor saxophonist in Blakey's band: Timmons had the opening eight bars, which he often played between tunes, but formed the complete song only after Golson encouraged him to add a bridge. It is played in F minor.
Recordings and reception
"Moanin'" has been recorded numerous times and has become a jazz standard. Gary Giddins stated that the song "set the music world on its ear" and that it was "part of the funky, back to roots movement that Horace Silver, [Charles] Mingus, and Ray Charles helped, in different ways, to fan." Jon Hendricks later added lyrics, and the subsequent recording by Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross made the song even more popular.