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Duke Ellington: Duke Ellington Orchestra
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By the early '50s, Duke Ellington was in the only slump of his career but it was more a commercial slip than artistic. Johnny Hodges, Lawrence Brown and Sonny Greer suddenly left to form a small group under Hodges' leadership. In what was called "The Great James Robbery," Duke persuaded three members of Harry James' Orchestra to join him: drummer Louie Bellson, altoist Willie Smith and Juan Tizol (who had left Ellington in the 1940s). But by 1953-54 the orchestra was struggling a bit during an era when few big bands survived. However in 1955 Hodges returned to the fold and at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival tenor-saxophonist Paul Gonsalves took an exciting marathon solo on "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" that caused a sensation. Ellington was big again and the momentum would continue through the remainder of his life.
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By the early '30s, Duke Ellington's orchestra was in demand at theaters around the country. When business manager Irving Mills arranged a tour through the South, Ellington insisted that the band charter luxury Pullman railroad cars to protect his musicians from racist hostility. Though coincidental, the move reflected a dignity and style that were pure Ellington. Duke Ellington was elite, and so was his orchestra. His powerful presence defied the very notion of racial inequality, and his life and his music were a profound statement against it.
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On April 20, 1964, Duke Ellington and His Orchestra began an engagement at the Casa Loma Club in Montreal, and the opening night was filmed by Radio-Canada. The band, here at its peak, performs “Take the A Train,” “Never on Sunday”, “Afro Bossa” and other standards and rarities. Featured soloists include Cootie Williams, Lawrence Brown, Paul Gonsalves, Jimmy Hamilton, Johnny Hodges, and Harry Carney. 63 min., B&W.
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To tell the story of Duke Ellington is to tell the story of jazz; to tell the story of his orchestra is to tell the story of his compositions. The man, the music, the life that he lived, the compositions that he wrote, and the orchestra that he fronted were one and the same. As jazz critic Ralph Gleason wrote in 1966, "the man is the music, the music is the man, and never have the two things been more true than they are for Ellington." Duke Ellington is one of the most important figures in the history and development of American music. Often referred to as the greatest single talent in the history of jazz (for many, the history of music), he was variously referred to as "The Aristocrat of Swing," "The King of Swing," and "The King of Jazz."
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In 1932, Ellington began touring the country with the band—now the Duke Ellington Orchestra—and over the years it became a mainstay of Big Band music. He continued to write for the band, and was joined in 1939 by Billy Strayhorn, with whom Ellington had a remarkable collaborative relationship. Ellington ... began to go beyond the limits of the traditional jazz band in his compositions. From 1943 to 1952 he produced a series of annual concerts at Carnegie Hall, inaugurating it with his "tone parallel" Black, Brown, and Beige. This was one of many works that combined the larger structures of concert music with the materials of pure jazz. Ellington's music also reached beyond the traditional venues of club and concert hall.
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Duke Ellington brought a level of style and sophistication to Jazz that it hadn't seen before. Although he was a gifted piano player, his orchestra was his principal instrument. Like Jelly Roll Morton before him, he considered himself to be a composer and arranger, rather than just a musician. Duke began playing music professionally in Washington, D.C. in 1917. His piano technique was influenced by stride piano players like James P. Johnson and Willie "The Lion" Smith. He first visited New York in 1922 playing with Wilbur Sweatman, but the trip was unsuccessful.
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Duke Ellington Orchestra