duke00 – ELLINGTON GALAXY: Recent Episodes
None
In Januari 1958, Duke Ellington and His Orchestra spent some time in the Gulf states from Florida to Texas. In Mississippi they performed at concerts at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi. There are two surviving concert recordings, both from Jan 22., of which one (DESOR nr 5803) can be heard in stereo if you log in to the Goodies Room .
The two concerts at this venue are identical in contents, except for one item, namely that Autumn Leaves from the first session is replaced by You Better Know It in the latter.
https://ellingtongalaxy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/You-Better-Know-It.wavOzie Bailey sings You Better Know It
The following numbers were played:
Theme & introStompin’ At The SavoyWhat Else Can You Do With A DrumYou Better Know ItLa Virgen De La Macarena Skin Deep MedleyDiminuendo In BlueWailing IntervalCrescendo In BlueTheme and close
The band at this time was the regular one, except that Billy Graham was replacing Johnny Hodges on alto sax, but it included for instance Clark Terry and Harold Baker.
The soloists in Stompin’ At The Savoy are Hamilton, Nance, Carney, Gonslaves and Procope, whereas What Else Can You Do With A Drum and You Better Know It belong to Ozzie Bailey. La Virgen De La Macarena is a howcase for Cat Anderson’s high note trumpet and Skin Deep provides an interesting study of Sam Woodyard’s interpretation of Skin Deep, which was of course Louie Bellson’s own contribution to the Ellington band book. The Medley is the long one with fifteen of Ellington’s most popular songs. Before the closing of the concert, we are treated to a performance of Diminuendo And Crescendo In Blue, with the Wailing Interval as played by Paul Gonsalves. Of the numbers above, only Diminuendo In Blue/Wailing Interval/Crescendo In Blue have been issued on LP Ellington ’86.
We sincerely hope that you will like this concert.
From a tape of uncertain origin, we offer another mixture of tunes played by Duke Ellington and his men in November 1952.
https://ellingtongalaxy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Ko-Ko.wavKo-Ko played at Birdland in November 1952
In the Goodies Room, DESS members will in additon find some NBC broadcast episodes that show signs of having been cut and pasted to something that is not mentioned in the discograhies, such as New Desor. The following numbers are played:
*Lullaby Of Birdland (n.c.)PerdidoRock Skippin’ At The Blue NoteKo-KoMy Little Brown BookCottontailThe MoocheHow High The MoonSmadaHoneysuckle Rose & Theme**
A few of these, seems to come from a session that resulted into a commercial issue, Jazz Unlimited JUCD 2036 (Desor number 5223 ) from the so called Silver Jubilee broadcasts, the rest coming from an NBC broadcast of November 1952 /(Desor number 5227). The former are indicated in bold above but subject to some doubt.
This is an interesting mixture of Ellington in the early forties and Ellington in the fifties (Cotton Tail, Ko-Ko against Rock-Skippin’ At The Blue Note). and old against modern (The Mooche and How High The Moon), but this was a time when a lot of things happened in jazz.
The soloists are easily recognizable and there are no surprises here, for instance Jimmy Hamillton gets two features in Smada and Honeysuckle Rose and of course Clark Terry in Perdido. In Ko-Ko and The Mooche, Quentin Jacksson is heard on wa-wa trombone. Two of the numbers, Lullaby Of Birdland and Rock-Skippin’ At The Blue Note are strictly instrumentals. How High The Moon is an exciting number, based on the be-bop tune called Ornithology, with trumpet breaks by Ray Nance, Clark Terry and Willie Cook.
We hope you will enjoy the music!
The entrance to Birdland in the early days
Betty Roché sings Take The A Train
https://ellingtongalaxy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Take-The-ATrain.mp3Betty Roché‘s career started around 1940 and in 1943 she performed with Duke Ellington’s orchestra at the Hurricane Restaurant in New York City. The jazz fans got a glimpse of her already in late 1942, when she appeeared with the Ellington band in a movie titled Reveille With Beverly, where she ahe performed her scat version of Take The A Train, which would be associated with her for the rest of her life. Unfortunately her stay with the band coincided with Petrillo’s recording ban so during this period all we have is broadcast material. She also performed with the band in Black, Brown and Beige from Carmegie Hall in 1943. She rejoined Ellington in 1951 and now her scat version of Take The A Train became available to the public on vinyl.. After she left the band in 1954 she sang with sveral famous jazz musicians but after 1960 she would only appear sporodically in public.
Betty Roché singing with Duke Ellington in 1943
The first concert in this NBC Silver Jubilee Program series is from Nov 20, 1952 has been issued comercially together with another broadcast from Nov 24 on Jazz Up JUCD-2036, the rest have not been issues commercially.
In the Goodies Room, DESS members will able to hear the following numbers:
Theme & introLullaby Of BirdlandTake The A Train*PerdidoLeonerad Feather introduces Pretty And The WolfThings Ain’t What They Used To Be & bc close**
Paul Gonsalves is the soloist on Lullaby Of Birdland,, Clark Terry on Perdido, and in Pretty And The Wolf (AKA Monologue) we hear Ellington, Hamilton, Procope and Carney.
There is another commercially unissued NBC broadcast dated November 1952 in the Silver Jubilee series, which we plan to make available in a couple of week. In the meantime we hope you will enjoy this.
Author: Anders Asplund
Lullaby Of Birdland
https://ellingtongalaxy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Lullaby-Of-B.wavBirdland, one of the famous jazz clubs in New York City, started its operations on December 15, 1949. It soon became one of the most popular night spots in NYC. Seeking to capitalize on the the popularity of Charlie “Bird” Parker (hence the name of the club: Birdland) it offered the opportunities to the guests to listen to good jazz by some of the most popular musicians of the 1950’s, such as Stan Getz, Lester Young, Count Basie and Duke Ellington. The venue could seat approx. 500 people and could cater for small groups as well as big bands. It was also a meetin place for celebrities, especially actors. One of the smaller groups that played there was George Shearings group, the latter composer of the popular tune, Lullaby Of Birdland.
In the Goodies Room, DESS members will find the first part of an NBC broadcast from November 25, 1952. Strangely enough, this broadcast is not mentioned in Ellington discographies. Duke and his men played at Birdland from Nov. 20 to 26, the majority of these dates were broadcasted by NBC. They were in fact part of a Silver Jubilee Program series to celebrate Duke’s 25 years in the music business.
The broadcast includes the following numbers:
Theme & introRock Skippin’ At The Blue NoteKo-KoMy Little Brown BookVagabonds The Hawk TalksMood Indigo*Love You Madly
The soloists are the usual suspects. Vocals are by Jimmy Grissom in My Little Brown Book and Vagabonds, and and byBetty Roché in Take The A Train. It is interesting to note that Vagabonds during its short stay in the band book is either an instrumental or a feature for Jimmy Grissom. NDESOR shows five different recordings, three with Jimmy Grissom and two intstrumentals, the one referred to above not counted.
We hope that we within short can come back with the second part of this NBC broadcast. Hope you will enjoy this first part of the broadcast. The second one will be published in early February.
From the Band Box: Jimmy Grissom sings Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me
https://ellingtongalaxy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Do-Nothin.wavAfter his end-of-the-year engagement at the Blue Note in Chicago (see previous Goodie), Duke Ellington with his band had week-long engagements at Regal Theatre in Chicago and Storyville in Boston. On January 30, they started two week engagement at the Band Box in NYC, which ended February 15, 1953 to On this occasion Charlie Mingus replaced Wendell Marshall, who was on temporary leave to get married. After an argument between Juan Tizol and Mingus, the latter was fired, and replaced by Oscar Pettiford.
Band Box was a fairly new club club located on 1680 Broadway West between 52nd and West 53rd Streets, east side of street neighbouring Birdland at 1678 Broadway. In Ellington Day by Day and Film by Film, Band Box is described as “an oversized 1.100 seater”, which provided music for dancing and jazz entertaiment. Ellington shared the bill with the Art Tatum Trio and the Joe Loco mambo orchestra supplied the dance music. Ellington broadcasted on WMGM almost daily but apparently also appeared on television.
In the Goodies Room, there is a short part of a telecast taking place at February 1, and a WMGM broadcast performance from February 2, titled “Jazz Caravan” .
In the telecast sound track, you will hear Jimmy Hamilton, Russell Procope and Harry Carney together with their leader play the Theme, Monologue and Mood Indigo.
In the radio broadcast the full orchestra is heard playing the following: ThemeCaravanSmadaDo Nothin’ Till You Hear From MeThe MoocheHow High The MoonThemeCaravanLove You MadlyVIP’s BoogieJam With SamSt Louis BluesThings Ain’t What They Used To Be. The soloists are as follows:
Caravan – Juan Tizol, Smada – Jimmy Hamilton, Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me – Jimmy Grissom, The Mooche – Hamilton, Carney, Procope, Nance, Q Jackson, How High The Moon – Gonsalves, Nance, Terry, Cook, Hamilton, Jackson, Bellson, Carney, Love You Madly – Betty Roché, Gonsalves, Ellington, VIP’s Boogie & Jam With Sam – Most band members, St Louis Blues – Ray Nance, Things Ain’t What They Used To Be – Woodman, Procope, Cook, Gonsalves.
Hilton Jefferson plays alto saxophone on these numbers, but in in a month or so he was replaced by Rick Henderson. Jefferson was not given much solo space, but was an able player with a nice tone in his instrumentand it wouldn’t have hurt to hear a lot more of his playing..
Ever heard the expression “tape circulated amongst collectors”? This music we bring you comes from such a tape with all its flaws and surprises that comes with such a thing but we hope that you still will enjoy what we offer you!
Author: Anders Asplund.
The entrance to Blue Note in the early 1950’s
In the 1950’s Duke Ellington and his men played regularly at The Blue Note in Chicago. During that decade, he performed there at virtually all New Year’s celebrations. There are many surviving broadcasts from this period and one of them are in the Goodies R00m this month. It is the one from Jan 1, 1953.
The Blue Note was established in 1947, by Frank Holzfeind, who had the ambition to feature most jazz greats in his club, an ambition he succeeded in, and soon Duke Ellington could be seen and heard there.
Ellington’s first recording of Rock Skippin’ At The Blue Note, August 7, 1951
https://ellingtongalaxy.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Rock-Skippin.wavindicating that Ellington was featured there almost right from the start.
The Blue Note was one of the first fully integrated clubs in downtown Chicago.
Back to Jan 1, 1953, this is from the first hour of 1953, the continuation of a party at the club, that of course started the evening before, where Ellington and his men performed, but from which we have at present no recording available. So, we can only listen to the first early dance tunes from New Year’s Day in 1953, and with only moderate sound quality.
There are no surprises in the band personnell here, but it could be mentioned that this was half a year before Johnny Hodges’ return to the band, so Hilton Jefferson is playing alto saxophone.
The following tunes are played: Take The A TrainFancy DanMy Little Brown BookBensonalityThe Hawk TalksCreole Love CallAll Of MeSmadaHow High The Moon
My Little Brown Book is sung by Jimmy Grissom, Betty Roché is heard on All Of Me, and on Bensonality you will hear Jimmy Hamilton playing one of his rare tenor solos. Jimmy Hamilton is the only soloist in Smada. The outro, How High The Moon, is very short.
Happy Listening!
Anders Asplund
Long Time Ago In Portland!
Our Piano Player
https://ellington.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Medley.wavplays a medley of a couple of his most popular songs – Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me and Prelude To Kiss -and Jimmy Grissom gives a vocal version of Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me.
After the Medley (where Duke steals most of the show and which is regrettably subject to a bit of distortion), Honeysuckle Rose is played with the usual piano introduction by Duke, before the field is opened for Jimmy Hamilton’s clarinet.
Next comes Isle Of Capri in an arrangement of Gerald Wilson, who has given it a Latin touch. Harry Carney and Quentin Jackson are featured soloists. It is followed by Give Me The Right sung by Jimmy Grissom, who also is heard on Love You Madly, in which Rick Henderson is the soloist on alto sax.
Part 4 of this dance date ends with some well known Ellington creations, namely Creole Love Call, Monologue and Mood Indigo (nc).
In the Goodies Room, you’ll find this last part of the dance date from the Jantzen Beach Ballroom.
Big Dipper in Jantzen Beach Amusement Park
Rick Henderson plays All The Things You Are
https://ellington.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/All-The-Things-You-Are.wavWelcome back to the Jantzen Beach dance date on Nov. 13, 1954!
This part of the dance date starts with an Ellington original named Chili Bowl a song that remained in the band book for a year or so, to fade away into obscurity and never recorded again after 1954. Ellington is active at the piano and Ray Nance plays a solo on trumpet. The next number,Mood Indigo, is one of the most frequently played Ellington tunes. At this time the trio introducing it consisted of Britt Woodman, Quentin Jackson and Harry Carney, followed by Russell Procope and Willia Cook, before the trio comes back with the main theme. Just Squeeze Me is mainly a number displaying Ray Nance’s singing, But also Clark Terry, Willie Cook and Quentin Jackson are heard. This is followed by I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart/Don’t Get Around Much Any More as usual a piano and orchestra item. Time now for a little excitement as Rick Henderson plays a fine alto solo on All The Things You Are. Being a modernist of the Charlie Parker school he appears to fit in with the rest of the band quite well. Another fine soloist in band is Britt Woodman who can be heard playing in Theme For Trambeam. The two concluding numbers are Satin Doll and Jam With Sam, the latter with the customary solo fire works.
DESS members can go to the Goodies Room to listen to and download the complete part 3 of the dance date.
Advert for Jantzen Beach Amusement Park
It’s time for the second visit to the Jantzen Beach Ball Room in Portland, Oregon. First a tidbit as to what you can find in the Goodies Room.
https://ellington.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Serious-Serenade.wavHarry Carney in Serious Serenade
In addition to this song, DESS members will be able to hear and download the following numbers in the Goodies Room.
SmadaIn The MoodIf I Give My Heart To YouSophisticated LadySerious SerenadePerdisoCaravan
This session starts with a Strayhorn composition named Smada with Jimmy Hamilton soloing on calarinet. The next item that we present is a tune attributed to Joe Garland, called In The Mood. Everybody of course knows that this was a number made popular by Glenn Miller’s orchestra in 1939 and Ellington made a studio recording of it in 1954. After Duke’s piano introduction, we hear Peck Morrison in a couple of breaks and Clark Terry, Russel Procope,Jimmy Hamilton and Ray Nance soloing. In If I GiveMy Heart To You, a popular song at the time, Ellington and Harry Carney share the solos, and in Sophisticated Lady we hear Harry Carney’s impressive bass clarinet playing.
Serious Serenade is a composition by Ellington for Carney’s powerful baryton playing, is a joy to hear. This tune was only played during the years 1953-55 and after that it dissappeared from the repertoire. In Perdido we hear Ray Nance and Clark Terry as solists. This part of the dance date ends with Caravan, and Ellington, Hamilton. Quentin Jackson, Ray Nance and Cat Anderson are heard soloing.
We’ll be back in two weeks time with the third part of this dance date.
In the meantime: Enjoy the music!
The period 1951-1955 is an interesting Ellington period. As was discussed in the first article in the Premiered by Ellington series last month, it was a transitional period for Ellington and the orchestra both in terms of band members and repertoire but also as regards jobs particularly in New York with the fierce competition with new styles of jazz.
During these years, Ellington was on the road almost constantly and he played a lot at clubs and venues on the West Coast and in the mid-West. In the invaluable, The Duke Where and When (tdwaw.ca), David Palmquist has put together a special section called Ellington’s Marathon 1951-1952 (http://tdwaw.ellingtonweb.ca/1951-1952Marathon.html), which illustrates this.
The touring continued in more or less the same way in 1953-1954 with a lot of dance dates and concerts for Ellington in the West and Northwest of the country.
Much from the tours has been issued on LPs and CDs but there is a lot of unissued material from appearances in Chicago to the North Western states,, which the website will try to make available to DESS members in the coming months.
We start with a complete recording of Ellington’s dance date at Jantzen Beach Ballroom on Nov. 13, 1954. Due to its length it will be published in four parts.
The Jantzen Beach Amusement Park in Portland, Oregon, was during the years 1928-1970 one of the biggest of its kind and was sometimes called “the Coney Island in the West”. It had everything that could be expected in an amusement park. It also had restaurants and a well-known venue for dancing named Jantzen Beach Ballroom.
Jantzen Beach Ballroom in the 40’s
In 1954-1955, Duke Ellington and his orchestra performed there at least three times. NDESOR and TDWAW gives the dates as May 1 1954, Nov. 13, 1954 and Nov. 6 1955.
At the time of the dance on Nov. 13, 1954, Peck Morrison had replaced Wendell Marshall on bass and Frank Butler replaced Dave Black on drums and that Rick Henderson played alto sax. Frank Butler was not very well known, but he had played with Dave Brubeck, Edgar Hayes and Perez Prado. Peck Morrison was an experienced bass player who had worked with Lucky Thompson, Gerry Mulligan Art Framer and Jay & Kai. Rick Henderson was of the Charlie Parker school and he played with the orchestra for a couple of years, replacing Hilton Jefferson.
Here is a tidbit from the dance. It is Smile, composed by Charlie Chaplin
https://ellington.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Stardust.mp3The program starts with Dick Vance’s fine arrangement of Stompin’ At The Savoy with the following soloists: Jimmy Hamilton, Clark Terry, Harry Carney, Paul Gonsalves, Frank Butler (a few bars) and Rick Henderson. The next number is a joint venture by Ellington and Strayhorn (John LaTouche wrote lyrics which are not used here) called Maybe I Should Change My Ways, written for the ill-fated Beggar’s Opera and we hear Britt Woodman and Ray Nance soloing. From the Charlie Chaplin movie Modern Times comes Smile, which did not stay in the band book for long despite Gonsalves, Nance and Carney doing their best. Cocktails For Two is a tune that Ellington had recorded already in 1934 and in this 1954 version Ellington, Nance and Hamilton are heard. Time On My Hands and Summertime follow and they are solo vehicles for Jimmy Hamilton and Cat Anderson, respectively, before we finally hear two versions of Take The A Train, with Ray Nance and Paul Gonsalves in the main roles.
Here we take a break, but will be back with more from Jantzen Beach Ballroom next week.
This first part of the dance is available for DESS members in the Goodies Room.
We hope you’ll enjoy the music!
4 Feb. 1953According to New DESOR, Oscar Pettiford is the bass player on this broadcast from the Band Box in NYC, but according to other sources it might be Charlie Mingus. Who can tell? Wendell Marshall had temporarily left the band and Duke needed a good bass player until Marshall would come back.It is however confirmed that Pettiford was present two weeks later at Apollo Theatre. On this broadcast, Tony Scott was replacing Paul Gonsalves, and Hilton Jeffersson played alto.
Ray Nance from the Band Box
https://ellington.se/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Just-A-Sittin.wavThe bass player is clearly audible on the opening bars on Just A-Sittin’ And A-Rockin’. Maybe it is Oscar Pettiford after all? The Ellington band played at the Band Box from Jan. 30 to Feb 14, 1953. It is reported that broadcasts were occuring almost daily. In one such broadcast, Stan Getz was guest soloist.The playlist ias as follows:
BensonalitySeptember SongIn A MellotoneBaby You And MeBlue SkiesMood IndigoJust A-Sittin’ And A-Rockin’*Smada
Jimmy Hamilton is the main solosit in Bensonality (instead of Gonsalves) before Jimmy Grissom sings September Song, assisted by Ray Nance on violin. You should try to listen to the bass player on In A Mellow Tone, to see what your opinion is – Mingus or Pettiford? The next number is called Baby You And Me, but it is the same tune as the previous and with vocal by Betty Roché. Blue Skies is as usual a showcase for the four trumpet players Nance, Cook, Terry and Cat Anderson and Mood Indigo follows with Woodman, Jackson and Carney and with solos by Cook and Procope. Just A-Sittin’ And A-Rockin’ is a showcase for Ray Nance. The broadcast ends with Billy Strayhorns Smada with Jimmy Hamilton as the sole soloist.
DESS-members are welcome to listen to or download this broadcast if you visit the Goodies Room.
We hope you will enjoy!
And, by the way, have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Feb. 2, 1947Civic Opera House, Chicago
Here is another live performance in which Oscar Pettiford is present. Ellington played at the Civic Opera House in Chicago a few times during Pettifords tenure with the band, and once in 1967.
https://ellington.se/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Brown-Penny.wavBrown Penny sung by Kay Davis
On Februari 2, 1947 Duke and his Men took part in a concert at the Civic Opera House in Chicago where some selections recently recorded on Musicraft and some music that had been written for the Broadway Show, Beggar’s Holiday were played. Beggar’s Holiday was based on an 18th century British theatre play called Beggar’s Opera and was said to have resulted in a co-operation between librettist John Latouche, and Duke Ellington , but in reality Duke had very little time for the project, since he was touring with his band and could not communicate directly with Latouche. Instead, Billy Strayhorn had to fill the void, and he seems to have been the key factor in the fulfillment of the show. He wrote quite a number of new tunes for the show, which only ran for 16 weeks, due to various problems, not least financial. We can here listen to the Beggar’s Holiday Medley, which consists of Take Love Easy, When I Walk With You, Tomorrow Mountain and Brown Penny. Despite his deep involvement in creating the music for the show, Strayhorn got sadly little credit for his work, instead Duke and John Latouche got all the ovations from the media.The complete playlist is as follows:
Happy-Go-Lucky LocalBeggar’s Holiday MedleyTriple PlayNear MessTHE BEAUTIFUL INDIANS/Minnehaha/Hiawatha
Oscar Pettiford is heard in Happy-Go-Lucky Local as well as Procope, Nance and Carney. Marion Cox is heard in When I Walk With You and Kay Davis in Bown Penny. Triple Play, with Strayhorn at the piano, gives Hodges and Lawrence Brown some solo space, whereas Near Mess provides the only opportunity to listen to this Strayhorn original, since this is the only known recording. Here Pettiford, Taft Jordan Jimmy Hamilton and Al Sears are the soloists. The two remaining tunes are from a suite called THE BEATUFUL INDIANS, which together with Happy-Go-Lucky Local had been recorded commercially for Musicraft a few weeks before. We hear Kay Davis in Minnehaha, and Al Sears in Hiawatha.
Welcome to the Goodies Room to listen to the music and download it.
.
Oscar Pettiford Some years ago, I got a parcel from the late Sjef Hoefsmit. The contents was a CD, with some notable recordings with the Ellington orchestra where Oscar Pettiford was the basist, outside his regular role (1945-48) with Duke. I believe this should be of interest to the DESS-members, and the webbsite has therefor … Continue reading →
Such Sweet Thunder Stony Brook is a small University town situated on the north shore of Long Island, NY. It is famous for its University and an open air amphi theatre, Dogwood Hollow, which has been the venue of many musical events. On July 18, 1958, the theatre was visited by Duke Ellington and his … Continue reading →
We can now offer a new video montage to the DESS members. You’ll find it in the Goodies section. When clicking on the arrow below, you will find the introduction to a film short by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, “Salute To Duke Ellington” from March 6, 1950. In the Goodies section this will … Continue reading →
There is a new video montage for DESS members available in the Goodies Room. As usual it is a mixture of old and new. But any visitor to the website will be able to watch a performance of Take The A Train with two drummers, Elvin Jones and Skeets Marsh, by clicking the arrow in … Continue reading →
Today, DESS members can find a new video montage in the Goodies Room. But all visitors to the website can watch Take The A Train from the movie Reveille With Beverly (above). The montage in the Goodies Room includes the following: 1. The Perfume Suite – A short film by George Pal from 1946, … Continue reading →
There are numerous video and film clips with Duke Ellington available on internet. We have grouped some of the more unusual together in a video montage spanning from 1930 to 1970. Below is an example from Ed Sullivan Show from 1961 with Duke and Satchmo. The following can be seen and listened to in the … Continue reading →
Full blast at the Hurricane! We follow up our series with unissued Ellington broadcasts from the Hurricane Restaurant in 1943 with two more. They are from the end of Ellington’s tenure there. Both are from September 1943. Ellington and the band were to leave the Hurricane that month, playing their last gig on September 23. … Continue reading →
A busy night at the Hurricane We are continueing our presentations of rare broadcast recordings from the Hurricane in 1943. Here is a file with 35 minutes of music by Duke Ellington & His Orchestra. Starting with a Mutual broadcast from May 1943, (Desor4315a-e)) where a couple of new names appear in the sax section, … Continue reading →
Photo from The Hurricane Restaurant in 1943 Duke Ellington and his orchestra spent many weeks playing nightly at the Hurricane in 1943, 1944 and after it was reopened as The New Zanzibar in 1945. A great number of broadcasts from the restaurant have survived and many have been issued on LP’s and CD’s. There are … Continue reading →
Stockholm, October 28, 1973 Stockholm in the autumn of 1973 Since the start of this web-site we have published some 35 konserts that took place in Sweden, most of them complete. We have now only one remaining concert to offer the members, namely a Stockholm concert from Konserthuset, Oct 28, 1973. The sound files we … Continue reading →
Malmö, Nov 10, 1971 Malmö Stadsteater, where the concert took place in the evening of Nov 10, 1971 At this point in time, we are close to the end of our stock of Duke Ellington concerts in Sweden.The day before Duke and the band had played two concerts in Uppsala, and the 2nd of these … Continue reading →
The Uppsala Concerts, Nov. 9, 1971 The concert venue: Uppsala University During Duke Ellington’s 1971 concert tour in Europe, there were only two concert dates in Sweden, Uppsala on Nov. 9 and Malmö on Nov. 10. We have presented the first concert in Uppsala on these pages before and we can now present the 2nd … Continue reading →
Liseberg, Gothenburg, July 8, 1970 2nd concert Konserthallen, Liseberg where the concerts took place Cat Anderson plays The Birth Of The Blues A couple of weeks ago, the website published Ellington’s first concert at the Liseberg amusement park in Goethburg on July 7, 1970. Today, we also make available the second concert. DESS members can … Continue reading →
Liseberg, Gothenburg, July 8, 1970 1st concert
Duke at Lisebergshallen
In 1970 Duke Ellington & His Orchestra undertook three major tours: Japan, Australia & New Zealand and Europe. The European tour lasted more than a months, but there was only one concert date in Sweden. Two concerts were peformed at Konserthallen 8 July in Liseberg, Gothenburg’s famous amusement park.Since the previous vist to Sweden, Lawrence Brown had left while Booty Wood and Malcolm Taylor were now part of the trombone section and also Joe Benjamin had joined on bass.
As was hinted about before, these concerts were recorded on a portable recorder, and therefore the sound quality is not very good. But we assume that this is the only source to this performance, and that it therefore could be of interest to the DESS-members.
https://ellington.se/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Portrait-of-Louis-Armstrong.mp3 Cootie Williams plays Portrait of Louis Armstromg
Since it is difficult to hear Duke presenting the different numbers, we list them below:
C-Jam BluesSummer SambaKinda Dukish & Rockin’ In RhythmSecond LineBourbon Street Jingling JolliesAristocracy A La Jean LafitteThanks For The Beautiful LandPortrait Of Louis ArmstrongTake The A TrainIn A Sentimental MoodWailing IntervalMedleyBirth Of The BluesSt. Louis BluesApril In Paris Come Off The VeldtSolitudeIt Don’t Mean A ThingBe Cool And Groovy For MeSatin DollThings Ain’t What They Used To Be*Black Swan
Apart from some traditional numbers in Duke’s repertoire, there are a number of new tunes from the recently recorded New Orleans Suite and some others like Birth Of The Blues and Black Swan.
You will find the complete concert – with more than 100 minutes of the Ellington sound – in the Goodies Room!
Malmö, 25 October 1973 2nd Concert, part 2
Nils Lindberg and Rolf Ericson accompany Alice Babs in There’s Something About Me
https://ellington.se/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Theres-Something-About-Me.mp3 We can now present the concluding part of the 2nd concert in Malmö.
The program continues as follows: *In DuplicateSatin DollSerenade To SwedenCheckered HatSpacemenJeep’s BluesThere’s Something About MeSomebody Cares into I’m Beginning To See The LightTake The A TrainOne More TimeSt Louis BluesMack The KnifeHello DollyTiger Rag. Titles in bold have not been commercially issued.
After the opening number, where we can hear Harold Minerve and Åke Persson soloing, Alice Babs plays a key role on most of the following numbers. The band plays Satin Doll as a background to Duke’s introduction of her, leading into a wordless vocal in Serenade To Sweden. The next number, Checkered Hat, was written by Norris Turney as a homage to Johnny Hodges and arranged by Nils Lindberg. In Spacemen, Babs is improvising together with trumpet players, Rolf Ericson, Johnny Coles and Barry Lee Hall. In Jeep’s Blues we agin can hear Babs’ wordless singing and assuming Johnny Hodges’ old role, before announcing a surprise in the program, a new tune, never before performed in public, before the concert in Malmö, There’s Something About Me. Somebody Cares, was likewise a new number, with Babs, and the band’s regular vocalists Anita Moore and Tony Watkins participating. There is a transition into I‘m Beginning To See The Light, which is used as a background to the introduction of George Wein -of Newport Jazz Festival fame – , who together with Nils Lindberg participates on piano in Take The A Train. Next comes One More Time, with the three vocalists and St Louis Blues with just Ellington, Art Baron and Åke Person playing. The concert ends with two numbers sung by Money Johnson, Mack The Knife and Hello Dolly, and Tiger Rag with Rolf Ericson and Åke Persson joining Money Johnson as soloists.
You will find all this in the Goodies Room