Ivie Anderson follows with the melody in lyrics before ending the song with scat singing mirroring Nanton’s introductory solo, incorporating a similar elegant downward glissando to launch into the chorus for a final time. Slightly earlier, in Ring Dem Bells, a lively, solo-driven piece, Ellington uses scat singing in a call and response pattern with a saxophone. The idea of voice as instrument played a significant role in Ellington’s work, as did the idea of attaining a vocal quality through instruments. 
Nanton, as a master of the “growl and plunger” techniques, is an example of someone who allowed Ellington to cater to the strengths of his band members. Because of Nanton’s particular abilities, Ellington featured him when a piece required a rough and “earthy” sound.   Long tenures by stylistically unique players such as Nanton, Johnny Hodges, and “Cootie” Williams, to name some of his main soloists, aided Ellington in crafting his sound. By carefully crafting music with the styles and sounds of each band member in mind, Ellington was able to experiment with tone with great success.
Pieces such as Mood Indigo, Daybreak Express, Dusk, Harlem Air Shaft, and Happy Go Lucky Local demonstrate, in varying ways, Ellington’s ability to create focused and evocative themes, or tone poems. To do so, Ellington manipulates the traditional roles and sounds of instruments in order to capture specific moods through careful orchestration and innovative thinking. In Mood Indigo, for instance, Ellington uses a small ensemble for a subdued and contemplative piece. Ellington’s genius lies in the orchestration; the clarinet, trumpet, and trombone create chords in a non-traditional fashion, so that a muted trumpet is the highest tone, a muted trombone the middle, and a clarinet the lowest.  The result is a distinctive sound that seems to lend the piece an almost spiritual nature. Ten years later in Dusk, a similar reflection on mood and tone, Ellington employs low reeds to back a higher muted cornet. Recorded with eight more players than Mood Indigo, Dusk is more developed and allows Ellington to explore more fully the inversions of tone that create the elegant and subdued sound of the piece. 
While Mood Indigo and Dusk display Ellington’s abilities to write intricate and innovative slower pieces, evoking romance and warmth, Daybreak Express, Harlem Air Shaft, and Happy Go Lucky Local are lively pieces that demonstrate the fullness of his vision for the big band era. Daybreak Express uses the idea of a train accelerating to full speed as the framework for a tightly orchestrated piece. Ellington’s compositional skills dominate the entirety of the recording, layering sections to capture the speed and power of a train and featuring an intricate soli by the reed section. 
The success of Daybreak Express lies in the cohesion of the group’s sound, a quality of Ellington’s larger orchestras that is evident in Harlem Air Shaft and Happy Go Lucky Local. 