I am putting together a graphic score as part of an improv workshop that I am taking part in and I have put together a piece that uses a fragment from Duke Ellington's Fleurette Africaine (or African Flower if you prefer) as a part of it. I have been trying to get a sense of the meaning of the tune to Ellington (and Max Roach/Charles Mingus) since it feels like it has some deep emotion in it. According to Nasheet Waits it was a reference to the African nations that were gaining independence from their colonizers at that time as well as the civil rights movement in the US. This makes sense to me but I was wondering if anyone else has any further insight into the tune's origins/meaning for the composer and original players.

I first heard the tune on Ellery Eskelin's "Forms" CD and it grabbed me from the first listen.