ellington live: October 2016

Friday 28 October 2016

Primping for the Prom...

From the on-line auction house...

Duke Ellington & His Orchestra

We are offering an 8.5 x 14 green folded sheet that has been signed on the verso by Duke Ellington & four members of his orchestra. The sheet is a program for the 1960 – 1961 Homecoming Queen Candidates in which Duke and his orchestra played, as noted on the program. The program refers to KSC, I believe this to be Kentucky State College.

The sheet has been folded into squares, probably in 1960, which is why it has been signed as it is.

This item comes with the vintage Duke Ellington publicity photo that is shown. This photo is date stamped on the back Jun 22 1969.

Thursday 27 October 2016

Tuesday 25 October 2016

More Treasures On The Way... Vol 22

From the Storyville website...

DESCRIPTION
In April 1945, to promote the sale of war bonds, the US Treasury Department contacted Duke Ellington to do a series of 55 min public broadcasts. These sessions would give Ellington a wide choice of material to perform including his older work; new instrumentals and pop tunes and his extended works as well.

This double CD contains a series of different radio broadcasts from the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco and the famous Hurricane Restaurant in New York among others. The broadcasts are featured complete with radio speaks and encouragements to buy bonds read by The Duke himself + bonus material and extensive liner notes.

CD1 contains a radio broadcast from the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco, recorded on August 3, 1946 with bonus tracks from a session at the Lakeside Park, El Patio Ballroom in Denver, July 1945, 1942. CD2 features a broadcast recorded at Meadowbrook, Culver City, California, August 17, 1946. Included are also three bonus tracks from a radio broadcast at the Hurricane Restaurant in New York City, August 21, 1943.

This Treasury Shows addition was recorded amid tensions between the Duke and his record company, a large musician’s strike, the surprising deaths of several prominent band members and political events such as rising racial and social tension and World War II, all of which is meticulously explained in the extensive liner notes by Duke Ellington connoisseur and journalist Roger Boyes. The musical gift of the versatile Ellingtonians always prevails, however—as Boyes for example writes:

“Hodges’ solo [on A Flower is a Lovesome Thing] is three-and-a-half minutes of pure melody, and in the unlikely event that you tire of that, Strayhorn’s accompaniment offers a parallel three-and-a-half minutes of great beauty”. Duke Ellington and his Orchestra always deliver on energy, skill and rhythm.

PERSONNEL

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra

CD1

Track 1-16: Broadcast recorded at Golden Gate Theatre, San Francisco, August 3, 1946

Shelton Hemphill, Taft Jordan, Francis Williams, Cat Anderson, Harold Baker (tp), Ray Nance (tp, vln, vo), Lawrence Brown, Claude Jones, Wilbur DeParis (tb), Jimmy Hamilton (cl, ts), Russell Procope (cl, as), Johnny Hodges (as), Al Sears (ts), Harry Carney (bs, cl, bcl), Duke Ellington (p), Billy Strayhorn (1p), Fred Guy (g), Oscar Pettiford (b), Sonny Greer (dr), Kay Davis (2), Marion Cox (1), Al Hibbler (3) (vo).

Track 17-20: Recorded at Lakeside Park, El Patio Ballroom, Denver, July 15, 1942

Rex Stewart, Wallace Jones (tp), Ray Nance (tp, vln), Joe Nanton, Lawrence Brown (tb), Juan Tizol (vtb), Chauncey Haughton (cl, ts), Johnny Hodges (ss, as), Otto Hardwicke (as), Ben Webster (ts), Harry Carney (bs, cl, as), Duke Ellington (p), Fred Guy (g), Junior Raglin (b), Sonny Greer (dr), Ivie Anderson (vo).

CD2

Track 1-16: Broadcast recorded at Meadowbrook, Culver City, California, August 17, 1946

Shelton Hemphill, Taft Jordan, Francis Williams, Cat Anderson, Harold Baker (tp), Ray Nance (tp, vln, vo), Lawrence Brown, Claude Jones, Wilbur DeParis (tb), Jimmy Hamilton (cl, ts), Russell Procope (cl, as), Johnny Hodges (as), Al Sears (ts), Harry Carney (bs, cl, bcl), Duke Ellington (p), Fred Guy (g), Oscar Pettiford (b), Sonny Greer (dr), Kay Davis, Marion Cox, Al Hibbler (vo).

Track 17-19: Broadcast at Hurricane Restaurant NYC, August 21, 1943

Taft Jordan, Wallace Jones, Harold Baker (tp), Ray Nance (tp, vln, vo), Joe Nanton, Lawrence Brown, Bernard Archer (tb), Jimmy Hamilton (cl, ts), Johnny Hodges (ss, as), Nat Jones (cl, as), Ben Webster (ts), Harry Carney (bs, cl, as), Duke Ellington (p), Fred Guy (g), Junior Raglin (b), Sonny Greer (dr).