Jeannine is a jazz tune that began as an instrumental piece by Duke Pearson and later gained lyrics by Oscar Brown Jr. The instrumental was first recorded by Donald Byrd in 1960, and the Cannonball Adderley Quintet released it the same year. Oscar Brown Jr. then recorded a vocal version for his 1963 album Tells It Like It Is!, portraying Jeannine as a stylish yet calculating gold digger. The song sits in the jazz and hard bop tradition and has become a jazz standard with many later covers and adaptations. An interesting note is that Pearson reportedly disliked Brown’s lyrics, though the lyricized version remains influential in vocal jazz.
