Cherokee, also known as Cherokee (Indian Love Song), is a jazz standard composed by Ray Noble and published in 1938. It was the first movement of Noble's Indian Suite and is built in a 64-bar AABA form with a B section that modulates through several keys, making it a favorite workout for jazz improvisers. The tune was popularized by Billy May's instrumental arrangement for Charlie Barnet and His Orchestra in 1939, which reached number 15 on the pop charts, and Barnet's 1940 variation titled Redskin Rhumba kept its profile. The tune is in the key of Bb major and is noted for its advanced harmony, including common jazz progressions and 2-5-1 transitions in the B section. It became a cornerstone of bebop development after Charlie Parker learned it in all 12 keys, with its chord changes inspiring Parker's Ko-Ko, and it has since been recorded by a wide range of artists from Duke Ellington to Sarah Vaughan to Wynton Marsalis.
