“Sherman Shuffle” recorded by the legendary Duke Ellington this week in 1942 is our password of the week at Whisperz Speakeasy!

Recorded under high-stakes on July 28, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois during his month-long residency at the Hotel Sherman in Chicago, “Sherman Shuffle” by Duke Ellington was originally titled "Fussy Puss" but the name was changed to honor the time he and his orchestra spent at the Hotel Sherman.

The stakes were high because the recording of “Sherman Shuffle” took place just three days before the first recording ban went into effect on August 1, 1942 — banning all commercial recordings in an effort to gain jukebox royalties. The session when the “Sherman Shuffle” was recorded was the orchestra's last chance to get new music on shellac for over a year!

This recording session featured an unrivaled lineup, often referred to as Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra. The “Sherman Shuffle” lineup included saxophonists Johnny Hodges, Ben Webster, Harry Carney, Otto Hardwick, and Chauncey Haughton. On trumpets and cornet: Ray Nance, Wallace Jones, and Rex Stewart. Playing the trombones: Lawrence Brown, Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton, and Juan Tizol. The rhythm section was represented by Fred Guy on guitar, Alvin "Junior" Raglin on bass, Sonny Greer on drums, and of course Duke Ellington leading it all from the piano.

Though lesser known than many of his other hits, “Sherman Shuffle” holds several fascinating nuggets of jazz history, particularly regarding its structure, hidden references, and historical timing.

During the brief brass solos, trumpeter Ray Nance famously opens his spotlight in the “Sherman Shuffle” by quoting a snippet of John Philip Sousa's iconic march, "The Stars and Stripes Forever". Following Nance, Rex Stewart takes over the solo using his signature half-valve glissando technique.

The “Sherman Shuffle” also departs from the standard explosive big band "shout chorus." Instead, Ellington arranged the track to slowly fade away, a unique structure directly modeled after Billy Strayhorn's arrangement of "Johnny Come Lately," recorded just a month earlier.

And if you visit the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, you can find the original, handwritten music manuscripts for the “Sherman Shuffle” in the archives where notes verify its evolutionary history, cataloged physically as "Sherman Shuffle verso Slip Of The Lip aka Fussy Puss," showcasing its original title on the original sheet music.