My Little Brown Book is a ballad composed by Billy Strayhorn in 1935, when he was just twenty years old. Strayhorn wrote the piece for Fantastic Rhythm, a show he created for a Stunt Day event at his alma mater, Westinghouse High School in Pittsburgh. The composition predates Strayhorn's association with Duke Ellington by several years, making it one of his earliest works, composed before celebrated pieces like Take the A Train, Chelsea Bridge, and Lush Life. After joining the Ellington organization in 1939, Strayhorn arranged My Little Brown Book for vocalist, and it was first recorded in 1942 by the Duke Ellington Orchestra featuring singer Herb Jeffries. The melody is soft and pensive, conveying an introspective, quietly romantic mood that suits both vocal and instrumental interpretation. In the original orchestral arrangement, the melody is distributed among instruments including trombone, alto saxophone, and piano, each voicing different sections of the theme over subdued saxophone backgrounds. Strayhorn revisited and rearranged the piece in 1952 for vocalist Jimmy Grissom, transposing it to a new key, and elements of this arrangement later appeared on the 1967 Ellington tribute album ...And His Mother Called Him Bill, recorded as an instrumental homage following Strayhorn's death. While not as widely performed as Strayhorn's most famous standards, My Little Brown Book has been recorded by several notable artists and maintains a place in the jazz ballad repertoire.
