C JAM BLUES - Free Jazz Leadsheet

“c jam blues,” also known informally as “duke’s place” in later adaptations, was composed by Duke Ellington and first recorded in 1942 by the Duke Ellington Orchestra in a New York studio session. Designed around a simple two-note melodic idea, the piece became a defining example of Ellington’s ability to build richness from minimal materials.

Subsequent recordings by artists such as Oscar Peterson and the Jazz at the Philharmonic ensembles helped cement its role as a training-ground standard. Its twelve-bar blues form and uncluttered melody provide ample space for improvisation, making it one of the most frequently performed blues heads in the jazz canon.