As Duke Ellington wrote in his memoir, printed the yr prior to he died: “What is music to you? What would you be without music? Music is everything.”
I learn his phrases and miracle: What would track be with out Ellington’s items to us all? This tale wraps up our 2024 Jazz Revere Presen form, which we kicked off with a tribute to The Duke. We’ll end the life in a similar way—April 29 is Ellington’s a hundred and twenty fifth birthday!
Through the years, I’ve written a number of tales that detail and praise Ellington, and every one strikes a chord in my memory that deny unmarried tale may even start to scratch the outside of his immense musical affect—together with this one. And so I particularly look ahead to your feedback and contributions this month.
Let’s get this birthday celebration going!
”Dim Track Sunday” is a weekly form highlighting all issues Dim track, with over 200 tales overlaying performers, genres, historical past, and extra, every that includes its personal colourful soundtrack. I am hoping you’ll in finding some common tunes and most likely an advent to one thing untouched.
Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was once born on April 29, 1899, in Washington, D.C., and joined the ancestors on Might 24, 1974, at while 75. For plenty of readers, he wishes deny advent. However all people take pleasure in being offered to or reviewing his future historical past. This 1988 PBS “American Masters” episode, “A Duke Named Ellington,” is a great creation level, overlaying each his historical past and his affect at the global of track.
You’ll keep an eye on the overall two-hour episode underneath!
PBS’ “A Duke Named Ellington” display web page notes his piano schooling by the hands of his mama, which resulted in him creation his profession as a pianist at 17. He quickly began to compose untouched track, and by way of while 25, he’d shaped his personal band, The Washingtonians, later relocating to Brandnew York Town. A few years nearest, he was once a habitual on the iconic Yarn Membership in Harlem, which modified the whole thing.
In 1931 Ellington left the Yarn Membership and started a form of prolonged excursions that may proceed for the residue of his future. For Ellington, the bulky band was once no longer merely made up of 5 reeds, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, drums, a bass, and a piano; it was once made up of people. The place alternative composers had involved themselves with making a tone that unified the numerous tools into one tonality, Ellington believed in letting the dissonant voices of every musician play games towards every alternative. He wrote track that capitalized at the specific taste and talents of his soloists. For this and plenty of alternative causes, his soloists steadily stayed with him for prolonged classes. Probably the greatest individuals of his band had been Jimmy Blanton, Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams, and Harry Carney (who was once within the band for just about each and every certainly one of its forty-seven years).
At the Duke Ellington Orchestra site, Ellington biographer and Smithsonian Curator Emeritus John Edward Hasse wrote:
Nobody led a band like Duke Ellington. Nobody led a future like Duke Ellington. And no person wrote track like Duke Ellington. He was once certainly one of a type, past section.
Extensively remembered as a pianist, Duke was once a lot more. In my judgment, he was once The us’s biggest all-around musician: composer, orchestrator-arranger, conductor-bandleader, soloist, accompanist, and musical philosopher. He was once the best author of track for that crucial American establishment: the jazz orchestra or bulky band.
Ellington’s band and his composing made a profound yin-yang: he couldn’t have one with out the alternative. He composed the gigantic majority of the band’s repertoire. He wrote just for his band. And the band performed most commonly Ellington’s track—composed and/or organized by way of him. He hated being pigeonholed as strictly a jazz musician. Over his astonishingly fertile fifty-year profession the Duke Ellington Orchestra, he composed songs, scale down instrumentals, multi-movement suites, rankings for ballets and movement photos, and Broadway-bound musicals.
He was once most commonly referred to as a miniaturist for his three-minute evergreens corresponding to Temper Indigo, Subtle Woman, and In a Sentimental Temper. However his lesser-known, large-scale works equipped him with canvasses to inform larger tales, impressed by way of, amongst alternative subjects, African American historical past, his in another country travels, and his reverence for God. He expressed a power to be the most efficient, to form a novel tone and to crack out of musical sections, a deep admire for his heritage—and, increasingly more, a religion within the Divine.
One strategy to gauge a musician’s affect is by way of looking at how they’re venerated by way of alternative musicians. With Ellington, the record of tributes is a long way too lengthy for me to embed all of them right here—see Discogs for all 750. In lieu, I’ll proportion a couple of of my favorites.
On the lead of my playlist (this month, anyway) is “Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington.”
As reviewer Lindsey Planer writes for AllMusic:
Monk instructions a trio that still items the skills of Oscar Pettiford (bass) and Kenny Clarke (drums) on all of the tracks sans “Solitude,” which as it should be plenty options an unaccompanied piano. The delicacy and inherently intricate melodies that Duke Ellington is easiest identified for are completely matched to Monk’s angular and aspiring interpretations.
Jazz reviewers and critics have had combined takes in this booklet, however I’m siding with those that find it irresistible.
RELATED STORY: The singular well-dressed of Thelonious Monk
“Earl Hines plays Duke Ellington” is a masterpiece that will have to be in each and every Ellington fan’s assortment. From the Brandnew International Information liner notes:
This was once certainly one of Earl Hines’s extreme superior achievements on information, and it shows the overall length of his well-dressed: an incredible rhythmic creativeness, a shining, in lieu aristocratic finesse (moderately similar to Ellington’s personal) relating to pianistic contact; and a knack for making even profound concepts appear voluntarily conceived.
－BBC Track Brochure － “The Fifty All-Time Great Jazz Discs”
[…]
All of Hines’s sources are introduced ahead and the person items have an unpredictability that makes every of them some particular type of satisfaction. There may be the advent to “Heaven” that reminds one of the vital harmonies of “Crepuscule with Nellie,” the outlet of “’C’ Jam Blues” that displays astonishing originality of rhythm, the liberty of the taking part in of “Black Butterfly,” the length of temper dropped at “Creole Love Call,” and so forth. One hears a unconditionally sudden sweep of left-hand innovations, reharmonizations—such because the endings of “Mood Indigo” and “I’m Beginning to See the Light”—which might be surprising, and a readability of tone and scope of assault that specific a character too unique to shoot presence thru clichés. When Earl Hines made those recordings, he was once the seasoned useful resource just a superior artist may also be.
Right here’s “I’m Beginning to See The Light.”
Stunning jazz vocalists additionally love Ellington—many have carried out complete albums of his tunes. Let’s get started with Ella Fitzgerald, scatting “Rockin’ in Rhythm.”
It’s deny invisible I’m a big vocalese fan, and Lambert, Hendricks & Ross lead my favorites record. Right here’s their whole 1960 booklet with the Ike Isaacs Trio, “Lambert, Hendricks & Ross Sing Ellington.”
The 1973 hourlong particular “Duke Ellington: We Love You Madly” was once produced for tv by way of Quincy Jones and featured a star-studded solid.
Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, Peggy Lee, Sammy Davis Jr., Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack, Sarah Vaughan, Billy Eckstine, Rely Basie, Joe Williams, Ella Fitzgerald, Chicago, Cootie Williams, Clark Terry, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney, Cat Anderson, Louie Bellson.The All Superstar Band (jointly):- Cat Anderson, Invoice Berry, Bobby Bryant, Ernie Royal, Clark Terry, Snooky Younger, Cootie Williams, Al Aarons, trumpet; Jimmy Cleveland, Bob Brookmeyer, Maurice Spears, Tyree Glenn, Britt Woodman, trombone; Pete Christlieb, Invoice Perkins, Marshall Royal, Russell Procope, Jerome Richardson, Murray McEachern, Invoice Inexperienced, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney, reeds; Vince DeRosa, Artwork Maebe, Richard Perissi, Fr hrn; Crimson Callender, tuba; Dave Grusin, keyboards; Kenny Burrell, guitar; Ray Brown, Chuck Rainey, acoustic double bass; Louie Bellson, Paul Humphrey, drums; Larry Bunker, percussion; + fables together with Edgar Lustgarten, cello; Quincy Jones, track director. (Workforce on Digicam)
Filmed at The Shubert Theatre, Los Angeles.
Because of the blessing of YouTube, we’re additionally in a position to look this are living vocal tribute to the Duke (and others).
Ellington additionally did some superb collaborations, a few of which have been featured previous on this life of Duke. I additionally coated his Sacred Concert events in 2022.
RELATED STORY: Dim Track Sunday: Let’s praise Easter with Ellington’s Sacred Concert events
For Ellington aficionados: In the event you haven’t already visited Ellingtonia, I recommend that you achieve this—and bookmark it.
“Some Day all the jazz musicians should get together in one place and get down on their knees and thank Duke.”
— Miles Davis
About this web site
The predominant try of this web site is to lend as complete an online discography of the recorded works of Duke Ellington as conceivable. The discography was once created by way of Marcus Girvan, drawing on many assets together with Massagli and Volonté’s “The New DESOR”, The DEMS Bulletin and archive, DESUK’s “Blue Light”, Ken Vail’s “Duke’s Diary”, Dr. Stratemann’s “Duke Ellington – Day by Day and Film by Film”, Mark Tucker’s “Ellington – The Early Years” and extreme however under no circumstances least, David Palmquist’s “The Duke: Where And When” (TDWAW), the crucial information to The Duke’s itinerary.
I’ve a bulky comfortable spot in my center for Ellington’s signature track by way of Billy Strayhorn, “Take The A Train,” for 2 causes. First, I’m a local Brandnew Yorker who rode the A educate to Harlem extra instances than I may just rely, and 2d, as a result of in 1977, we introduced Washington, D.C.’s Pacifica radio station, the place I used to be this system director, with that track.
In latter, let’s take a look at in at the the untouched past of jazz artists who’re wearing Ellington’s track ahead. Right here’s Samara Pleasure, acting “Sophisticated Lady”:
Please connect me within the feedback and put up your favourite Ellington songs, tributes, tales, and quotes! I look ahead to listening.
Satisfied Duke Life!
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