Jazz Articles about Duke Ellington

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Duke Ellington Jazz Festival 2005

by Franz A. Matzner
October 18, 2005

It's all around, the sound of jazz, leaking from half-open windows, spilling out of doorways, flowing down the street in little pockets of music escaping restaurants, bars, and clubs. Couples wander in and out, patrons call for drinks over twanging pianos and swinging beats, intent listeners bend forward to catch every note, and lines of guests wait outside for the next show to begin.It's not New York in 1940. It's 2005 in Washington, D.C. and the U-Street Corridor ...

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Duke Ellington

by Tim Kirker
October 5, 2005

1899 - 1974Composer, bandleader, and pianist Duke Ellington rates as one of the most original and important figures in 20th century American music. He came of age at the dawning of jazz in the 1920s and along with Louis Armstrong, George Gershwin, and Bessie Smith, propelled the genre into its rightful place as a “national treasure. Ellington's career lasted over fifty years and played a large part in the evolution of jazz. During that time his creative output ...

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Duking It Out

by Jeff Fitzgerald, Genius
August 17, 2005

If you're anything like me, you are 5'10" tall, left-handed, and named Jeff. You also watched the epic Ken Burns documentary Jazz with a somewhat jaundiced eye (although in my case, it was just some stray popcorn butter on my glasses), thinking that perhaps Burns tended to fawn over certain personalities while leaving other important figures barely mentioned. Throughout the twenty-odd hours of the documentary, two names cropped up more than any others; Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.

Now, we've ...

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Duke Ellington: The Complete Live at Newport 1956

by C. Michael Bailey
August 10, 2005

Within the subatomic structure of American musical styles, the blues is the single indivisible particle with which all else is made. The blues combined with other influencing elements (eg. ethnic, religious, regional, cultural) form Country & Western, Bluegrass, Rock & Roll, Rhythm & Blues, Soul, Funk, Gospel and, yes, finally Jazz. It can be argued that the blues as expressed through Jazz is as much the pinnacle of artistic expression as Beethoven had reasoned Opera was. Within the realm of ...

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Duke Ellington and Others: Melinda and Melinda

by Florence Wetzel
May 18, 2005

Woody Allen's new film Melinda and Melinda is an artful combination of comedy and drama, and the soundtrack likewise is a successful weaving of opposites. Allen combines toe-tapping jazz standards and classical music, the jazz cuts focused on pianists.Allen's taste is impeccable: there are three cuts by Duke Ellington ("Take the A Train," “I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart," and “In a Mellow Tone"), three by Erroll Garner ("The Best Things in Life Are Free," ...

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Duke Ellington: The Centennial Collection & The Jaywalker

by Joel Roberts
December 16, 2004

Five years after the widely fêted Duke Ellington centennial, record companies are finding--or at least finding ways to remarket--still more treasure from the seemingly endless trove of Ellingtonia.

Duke Ellington Centennial Collection Bluebird 2004

Bluebird's latest, a 2-disc CD/DVD/audio/video collection, offers a fine overview of the 1927-1942 Ellington Orchestra, a period that spans the heyday of the legendary trumpeter Bubber Miley through the too-brief tenure of the virtuoso bassist Jimmy Blanton. Splendid renditions of ...

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Duke Ellington: Blues In Orbit

by Rex Butters
November 10, 2004

Teo Macero's first Ellington recordings resurface in the latest version of the master's popular '58-'59 sessions issued as Blues In Orbit. With band still riding high after the '56 Newport triumph and fresh off the road from Europe, they recorded a jukebox full of 45 single-sized tracks that bear riveting performances by several classic Ellingtonians including Jimmy Hamilton, Ray Nance, Clark Terry, Britt Woodman, Harry Carney, and Billy Strayhorn playing piano on two cuts. And then there's Johnny Hodges. Hodges ...