Sonny is “In A Sentimental Mood”

Caitlyn Liu

ENL 10C

Katherine Anderson

14 May 2018

Word Count: 798

Sonny is “In A Sentimental Mood”

Link to Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owr8kr035jA (Song time stamps 0:00)

            At the end of James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues,” Sonny and his jazz band play a song that moves the narrator so deeply he reminisces about the hardships in his life. “In A Sentimental Mood” by Duke Ellington and John Coltrane is an instrumental 1962 jazz song that can represent the song that Sonny plays. The song demonstrates similar emotional effects by creating swells of reflective nostalgia and emotional freedom.

            “In A Sentimental Mood” uses the same instruments as the song Sonny and his jazz band play. Baldwin writes that “the horn insisted, sweet and high, slightly detached perhaps”, Creole played his strings “dry, and driving, beautiful and calm and old,” and “the dry, love, black man said something awful on the drums” (20). The horn that plays in Ellington and Coltrane’s song  is drawn out “sweet and high” to create a whining agony that expresses the pain of a tortured artist who longs for something more (0:11). A “slightly detached” phenomenon is created by the wavering scales of Coltrane’s saxophone (1:08). Coltrane plays every few measures rather than throughout the entire song, and his initiates the large swells of the song (1:35). Creole’s strings are synonymous to the bassist in Ellington and Coltrane’s masterpiece because the low and deep notes conjure a “beautiful and calm and old” feeling. It sounds like the bassist plays triplets throughout the entire song which mimic the rhythm of the way Baldwin lists those adjectives to describe the strings (0:46-0:49). The bass’s rhythm disagrees with the rhythm of the drums. It is quick, sloppy, and “awful” but still provides a backbone (1:37-1:44). There is no consistent structure to the drumming pattern, just like there is no form of structure in jazz music. Jazz music completely reinvents itself every measure, and that is what attracts Sonny to it. He most likely wishes that he could evolve as often as jazz music can, but his race and his socio-economic position does not allow it. Perhaps the most enthralling instrument of “In A Sentimental Mood” is the piano, which happens to be Sonny’s specialty.      

            Ellington’s piano part that opens and closes the song mimics Sonny’s playing pattern. Baldwin writes that “Sonny went all the way back, he really began with the spare, flat statement of the opening phrase of the song. Then he began to make it his. It was very beautiful because it wasn’t hurried and it was no longer a lament” (21). The piano opening of “In A Sentimental Mood” is a D minor scale, which some describe as the “saddest key” (0:00-0:37). A sense of heavy sorrow is expressed in the repeating pattern of the melodic piano, which can be symbolic of the way Sonny feels stuck in the city of Harlem. His suffering allows him to convey his painful emotions into something that others can relate to and interpret for themselves. Sonny embraces “that storm inside” and “find[s] a way to listen” by playing jazz music so that others can learn to listen to their pain as well (17). The song ends with the same piano melody, in the same key, the same notes, in the same speed. And yet, it doesn’t sound sorrowful anymore (3:53). Because of all of the buildup that occurred throughout the song, the ending is hopeful. Like Sonny “make[s] it his,” the pianist decides to return to the beginning of the song to symbolize that despite all the chaos of life, or a song, it is so important to revisit one’s roots.

            The bridge of “In A Sentimental Mood” replicates the area of Sonny’s song when he begins to “make [the song] his” (21). Baldwin writes “Sonny’s fingers filled the air with life, his life. But that life contained so many others” (21). “In A Sentimental Mood” has an upbeat bridge where the piano is the main focus (2:06-3:22). It drives the melody and everyone else’s pace of playing while shifting the mood of the song. The notes have less of a pattern—they are sporadic and spontaneous, but they make the song sound uniform and complete. While the beginning third is sorrowful and can reflect struggle, a sense of freedom builds up in the bridge. After embracing the “fire and fury of the battle” of life, the instruments make the song sound reflective and triumphant (20). Consequently, the part of the song that sounds most free is when the most piano is being played. This can be compared to the way Sonny comes to life and feels his best when he is playing the piano. He is in complete control and dictates the sounds, the speed, and as a result, the emotions that encompass a room. Ellington and Coltrane’s song has the same effects by evolving instrumentally and emotionally the same way Sonny’s jazz song does.