If fact, musicians and bandleaders wore the phrase as a badge of honor. The evolution may have begun with a performance in 1902 that was billed as a Negro Musical Comedy: Dehomey by composer William Marion Cook.

Move up 20-years, and you have The Jungle Town Stompers and songs like “Back to the Jungle”.

Although there were many bands that adopted the sound effects that resulted in the name, Duke Ellington was the bandleader who provided expressive harmonies, growing instruments and insistent rhythm that led to his “Jungle Period” in the 1920s. Although, unlike other bands, he rarely used the title. It was implied.

That’s where this show begins, Ellington’s Famous Cotton Club Orchestra, 1929.