"Cotton Tail" is a 1940 composition by Duke Ellington. It is based on the rhythm changes from George Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm". The first Ellington recording (2 May 1940) is notable for the driving tenor saxophone solo by Ben Webster. Originally an instrumental, "Cotton Tail" later had lyrics written for it by Ellington. Later, more lyrics were written, based on the 1940 recording, by Jon Hendricks, and recorded by Lambert, Hendricks and Ross.

Slide Hampton's arrangement of "Cotton Tail" on Dee Dee Bridgewater's 1997 album Dear Ella won him the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) in 1998.

Notable recordings

* The Duke Ellington Orchestra, May 2, 1940
* Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook (1957)
* Mel Tormé - Mel Tormé and the Marty Paich Dektette - In Concert Tokyo (1988)
* Dee Dee Bridgewater - Dear Ella (1997)
* The Buddy Rich Big Band with Neil Peart - Burning for Buddy: A Tribute to the Music of Buddy Rich (1994)
* Neil Peart (Partial), in "De Slagwerker" - Snakes & Arrows Live (2008)
* Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, - Everybody's Bopin' (August 6, 1959)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_Tail