Duke Ellington: Take the 'A' Train (1941) as heard in Woody Allen's <i>Radio Days</i> (1987)

In 1941, Duke Ellington escaped the bondage of jungle music via an underground railway called the A train. Duke's motorman Billy Strayhorn, picking up a carload of familiar Swing Era passengerscatchy theme smoothly stated by saxes, punchy punctuation from the brasses, steady rhythmic pulsetransports us to Sugar Hill in Harlem, a destination just this side of paradise. Combining Benny Goodman's precision with Count Basie's nonchalance, Ellington's band rode its own express line to immortality. If you're looking for a single track to both epitomize and justify the Swing Era, take the A Train.