THE MIDGETS - Free Jazz Leadsheet

"The Midgets" was composed by Duke Ellington and first recorded by the Duke Ellington Orchestra on June 30, 1936, in New York. The piece belongs to Ellington’s series of character pieces from the mid-1930s, using orchestral colour and sectional interplay to evoke vivid imagery.

Though not as widely revived as some of Ellington’s major works, it remains a notable example of his imaginative writing from the period. Built on shifting, loosely sectional forms rather than a standard 32-bar pattern, the tune highlights the band’s use of contrasting textures and inventive voicings.