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Duke Ellington And His Orchestra: The Treasury Shows Vol. 25
Storyville Records, based in Copenhagen, have now completed the Herculean task of re-releasing all the Duke Ellington Treasury Show albums on CD. These are recordings of broadcasts made for the US Treasury Department from 1945 to 1953, to promote the sale of war bonds, often with plugs by Ellington himself, a staunch patriot. Volume 25 is the last 2-CD set to be issued. In addition to featuring the last-known Treasury broadcast from the Blue Note Club in ...
read moreDuke Ellington: Duke Ellington In Coventry
During World War Two, the Germans rained tons of high explosives, including parachute air-mines and incendiary petroleum mines on the English city of Coventry. In addition to factories supporting the British war effort, they destroyed the city's emblematic cathedral. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Minister of Propaganda, took to using “Coventry" as a synonym for mass destruction. Enemy cities would be “Coventried," Goebbels proclaimed. It was revealed after the war that Churchill had received advance warning of the blitz ...
read moreDuke Ellington And His Orchestra: The Treasury Shows, Vol. 24
The early 1950s were a worrying time for Duke Ellington. Musical tastes were changing and big bands were going out of business. Ellington was nervous. “I like to keep a band so I can write and hear the music next day," he said, “The only way you can do that is to pay the band and keep it on tap 52 weeks a year. By various little twists and turns, we manage to stay in business." In ...
read moreDuke Ellington on Storyville Records
The legend of Duke Ellington--one of very few jazzmen worthy of the overworked accolade “genius"--continues to unfold four decades after his death. In large part this is thanks to the efforts of Ellington himself. From 1950 to 1974, he kept a private “stockpile" of recordings made for his own pleasure... and with an eye on posterity. Following his death on May 24th 1974, Duke's son Mercer donated this “stockpile" to Danish Radio. Since then ...
read moreDuke Ellington & His Orchestra: Rotterdam 1969
Here's a succulent and long-hidden treat for Duke Ellington aficionados: a wide-ranging and reasonably well-recorded concert performance by the Ellington orchestra from 1969 at the Do Doelen Concert Hall in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Many of Ellington's tried-and-true favorites are here, along with a number of lesser-known themes such as tenor Paul Gonsalves' feature, “Up Jump"; “Come Off the Veldt (and Into the Bush)," a showpiece for drummer Rufus Jones; alto Johnny Hodges' star turn, “Black Butterfly"; and trumpeter Cat Anderson's ...
read more"Prelude to a Kiss" by Duke Ellington
Last month's initial installment of this column opened with an introduction to the concept of analyzing jazz standards for the purpose of adding to our understanding about the structure and elements of great songs having enduring qualities. I did not feel it required mentioning that a song's final structure and the process of songwriting were completely different viewpoints. One purview implies looking back at a final product of art and the other requires looking ahead at a blank page of ...
read moreDuke Ellington And His Orchestra: Duke Ellington's Treasury Shows - Vol. 21
This volume of the Duke Ellington Treasury Shows commemorates the death on July 20 1946 of Joe “Tricky Sam" Nanton, one of the founding fathers of the band's early “jungle" sound that helped make its name at the Cotton Club. Nanton was the first musician to die with Ellington and the leader--a highly superstitious man--took it as a bad omen. As indeed it was, heralding an end to stable line-ups and an extended period of “musical chairs" ...
read moreWhy Jazz? A Concise Guide
Why Jazz? A Concise Guide Kevin Whitehead 184 pages ISBN-10: 0199731187 Oxford, University Press 2011 Small books on big themes are a tough gig. Jazz is a uniquely American, musically challenging, and highly improvisational musical form. Jazz is also a rather vexing topic to explain to the uninitiated (or even to the initiated, who quarrel much over it). Several years ago, I played some late-period work of John Coltrane (the first four ...
read moreHow Teachers can Swing in the Classroom
I am a jazz aficionado as well as a philosophy professor. Being in front of a classroom teaching is my favorite place on earth, second to a good jazz club with hip friends. In the midst of a philosophy class, I may wax enthusiastic about the transcendent qualities of a John Coltrane saxophone solo or the preternatural swing of Buddy Rich's timekeeping or the song-writing and band-leading genius of Duke Ellington. These comments are not merely idiosyncratic. They reflect something ...
read moreDuke Ellington And His Orchestra: Rotterdam 1969
Right up to the end Duke Ellington maintained an ability to surprise lesser mortals with his impish wit. In 1969 he visited the White House to celebrate his 70th birthday and kissed President Richard Nixon on the cheek four times. When Nixon asked why four times, Ellington replied, “One for each cheek." Tricky Dicky was--as they say nowadays--totally gobsmacked but regained his composure in time to present Ellington with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest ...
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Venetian Blinds by Mike Freeman
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Songs on the eve of... by Chris Abelen
Featured Event
A four-day festival in Philadelphia featuring John Zorn, Annette Peacock, Christian McBride, the music of Alice Coltrane, and much more. October 4-7, 2018
Story of the Day
I love jazz because of Miles Davis and Vitor Assis Brasil. I was first exposed to jazz seeing I Festival Internacional de Jazz de São Paulo in 1978. I met Ron Carter at Arpoador. The best show I ever attended was Miles Davis at Canecão in Rio de Janeiro. The first jazz record I bought was Memorial Clifford Brown. My advice to new listeners..
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By Hernani Heffner
Member since: 2018
