Home » Search Center » Results: Mercer Ellington
Results for "Mercer Ellington"
About Mercer Ellington
Results for pages tagged "Mercer Ellington"...
Mercer Ellington
Born:
Mercer Ellington was born in Washington, D.C., the only child of Duke and Edna Ellington. He received formal music training and eventually led his own band as a trumpet player. Joining his father in Los Angeles in 1940 he began a period of study with the Duke Ellington Orchestra that lasted until he went into the service; this would be Mercer’s most productive period with regard to jazz standards. In Duke Ellington in Person: An Intimate Memoir, Mercer states, "There is nothing like practical experience, and when the band played arrangements I had written under [Duke’s] supervision, like “Moon Mist,” “Blue Serge,” “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be,” and “The Girl in My Dreams,” it was as instructive as gratifying." Mercer participated in the Duke Ellington Orchestra, at times in an administrative capacity, and then as band member in the 50’s and 60’s
Ella Fitzgerald Live at Falkoner Theatre Copnhagen 1966
Label: Gearbox Records
Released: 2026
Track listing: Satin Doll; Hey Little Girl; Something To Live For; Let’s Do It; Sweet Georgia Brown; How High
The Moon; Lover Man;
Só Danço Samba; I’m Just A lucky So And So; Mack The Knife.
The Legacy of Billy Strayhorn, part I: Lush Life, Take the A Train and more
by Larry Slater
Billy Strayhorn had one of the most unusual careers in jazz. Today his genius as a composer of jazz and song is uniformly acknowledged, but that was not the case during his lifetime. Strayhorn spent his entire career as in Duke Ellington's words, “his composing and arranging partner."Many of his most famous creations were ...
The Symphonic Ellington
by Larry Slater
Pianist Ethan Iverson wrote, “Every Ellington record I've ever heard has a unique ambience. Thick harmonic complexity sits deep inside blues and swing. There are larger Ellington compositions where he is stretching the form and apparently putting his hat into the ring as a great composer."In this hour, you'll hear Duke Ellington's most impressive ...
Noah Haidu: Standards III
by Pierre Giroux
Noah Haidu's Standards III is a study in jazz fluency--an exploration of melody, form, and interplay that reanimates familiar repertoire with both reverence and daring. Following the strong creative thread laid in the first two installments of the standards theme (Standards, 2023 and Standards II, 2024; both on Sunnyside), Haidu again enlists legendary bassist Buster Williams ...
Jack Chambers: Rethinking Duke Ellington
by Jack Kenny
Jack Chambers is professor at the University of Toronto and teacher of music and language. His jazz writings include the prize winning biography Milestones: The Music and Times of Miles Davis (Da Capo Press, 1998) and Bouncin' with Bartok: The Incomplete Works of Richard Twardzik (Mercury PR, 2008). Sweet Thunder: Duke Ellington's Music In Nine Themes ...
Charles Mingus: Mingus in Argentina
by Jack Kenny
This latter-day Charles Mingus group is ripe for reassessment. The new guys, Ricky Ford, Robert Neloms and Jack Walrath carried a heavy burden as they toured South America. The two-CD collection is a great feast of Mingus played by a band that, as yet, has never had real recognition. Much of the music was written for ...
Kenny Garrett Speaks Through The Soul of His Jazz
by Dean Nardi
Mental bungee-jumping may not be their sport of choice, but a cerebral ledge exists that sooner or later every jazz musician must leap off. One day, ready or not, tuning up or shaking down their instrument, they will glance in a mirror, hug a pregnant mother-to-be, second-line a funeral, walk in the deepest, dark woods, chance ...
Duke Ellington: Copenhagen 1958
by Ken Dryden
Duke Ellington left a formidable discography at his death at the age of 75 in 1974, and it has expanded greatly with the number of concerts that have been uncovered and issued since then. This CD is drawn from two 1958 concerts at KB Hallen in Copenhagen, though they are not sourced from the original, long ...
Ken Peplowski: Unheard Bird
by Jack Bowers
Even when the recording (in this case, two) is a classic--as, for example, Charlie Parker's memorable Bird with Strings (Mercury Records, 1950)--some songs that deserve better are necessarily left on the cutting-room floor. Some may see that as disappointing, while others--like reed specialist Ken Peplowski--embrace it as an opportunity. On Unheard Bird, Peplowski--with strings and a ...
Album Showcase
Trending
Interview
Lou Marini: A Solo Career Starting At The Age Of 80
History of Jazz
John Coltrane in Detroit: A Brief History
Live Review
The Tension Is Where the Music Lives: Miles Davis at 100,...
Live Review
Detroit Jazz Festival 2026: A Gathering in a Great Jazz City
Radio & Podcasts
Sullivan Fortner, Jim Rotondi & Dena DeRose, Ardeshir,...
Reanimating Conversations Past
Charlie Haden: Anatomy of a Jazz Classic
Profile
The Discreet Charm of Tete Montoliu
VOTE!
