"Caravan" is an American jazz standard that was composed by Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington and first performed by Ellington in 1936. Irving Mills wrote lyrics, but they are rarely sung. The song has regained popularity since being featured prominently in the 2014 film Whiplash.

Original recording

The first version of the song was recorded in Hollywood in 1936 and performed as an instrumental by Barney Bigard and His Jazzopators. Two takes were recorded, of which the first (Variety VA-515-1) was published. The band members were: The musicians were members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, which often split into smaller combinations to record songs under different band names. For this recording, which included Ellington and Tizol as performers, the session band leader was Bigard. As of 2024 this is the most covered song in history with over 500 versions published.

Other versions

The sound of "Caravan" appealed to exotica musicians; Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman and Gordon Jenkins all covered it. The Mills Brothers recorded an a cappella version of the song. More than 350 versions have been recorded.

In popular culture

Woody Allen used the song in two of his films, Alice and Sweet and Lowdown. The song is featured on Rachel Portman’s soundtrack for the 2000 film Chocolat. Steven Soderbergh used the Lyman version in his 2001 film Ocean's Eleven. The song is featured prominently in the 2014 film Whiplash as an important plot element. It features the Jim Widner Big Band arrangement and recording. A horn sample from the Romanian cover version by Fanfare Ciocărlia was used in the song "We No Speak Americano" by Yolanda Be Cool. Wu Bai used aspects of the song in his Crush on You (煞到妳). The Brian Setzer Orchestra version was used in The Sopranos episode "The Second Coming" where Tony Soprano attacks Coco for disrespecting Meadow.

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