Love On Parade

One of the touchstones of this blog is the performance of Duke Ellington and his Orchestra which took place to celebrate the opening of the Alvar Aalto Library at Mount Angel Abbey, Oregon on 29 May 1970. The orchestra premièred the composition Pockets: It's Amazing When Love Goes On Parade which had been orchestrated by Ron Collier and created by the Benedictine monastery's composer in residence, Ann Henry.

Researching this period of Ellington's career again recently, we were sad to note that Ann Henry passed away a little over two years ago on 14 May, 2023, her ninety-ninth birthday.

We have returned to the story of Ellington's involvement with the work of Ann Henry on the occasion of the concert at Mount Angel Abbey a couple of times in posts here and here.

The second post linked leads to an essay on Substack, which may be found here.

It seemed appropriate to mark the end of her story here with obituaries posted below.  The video which precedes this post is from the Mount Angel Abbey website and briefly features Miss Henry, with Ellington rehearsing at the piano. If anyone could teach us that life is not a rehearsal, it is Ann Henry.

Ann Henry Obituary

Ann Henry was a force of nature: a woman of energy, unstoppable and unforgettable.  She grew up in Chicago, the only child of “Little One” as her mother was known.  It was there that she started the Co-op Dance Group.  As a dancer she toured with famed musicians, Duke Ellington, Louis Jordan and Count Basie, who would become lifelong mentors and friends.  But she was more than just a dancer.  Her singing break came when she replaced Eartha Kitt in the musical revue, “New Faces of 1952.”  Subsequently she was hired to become a member of the original cast of “New Faces of 1956,” and by 1959 she had a three-month stint in the UK.  She returned to the United States and performed in Las Vegas but grew weary of the night club shows and wanted to focus on composing and song writing.

In the mid-1960’s while she was in France, she got a call from her manager informing her that she had a gig in Vancouver.  “British Columbia?” she asked and was told “No, Washington State”.  Daryl Kaufmann had tickets to her show and was so impressed that he tried to talk to her backstage.  Ann pretty much ignored him. When she was hospitalized with spinal meningitis, Daryl began visiting her in the hospital.  Eventually she was discharged and went to Chicago for some rehab.  Then she returned to live at Daryl’s family’s home in Vancouver.  One day they went for a car ride that led them to Mt. Angel, Oregon.  When Ann saw the Benedictine Abbey on the top of the hill, she told Daryl that she KNEW this was where she was supposed to be.  Ann then became a beneficiary of Benedictine hospitality and took up residence in the retreat house.  She also had an office that wasn’t much more than a closet with no windows, but it was big enough for her upright Grand Piano.  This is where she began her next chapter as composer-in-residence.  During this time at the Abbey, Ann studied theology and composed liturgical music.  Her long work, “Everyman’s Mass,” was in honor of St. Benedict the founder of the Benedictine Order of Mt. Angel Abbey.  But she never lost contact with the mentors of her youth.  In May 1970 her composition, “Pockets: It’s Amazing When Love Goes on Parade,” was sung by Ann accompanied by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra for the dedication of the Abbey’s Alvar Aalto Library.  In 1994, the Abbey honored Ann with an award for her accomplishments.

To know Ann was to know an American singer, dancer, choreographer, comedienne, composer, arranger, and lover of life.  She will be missed but her music will live on in all those who have heard it and sung it.

For those interested here is a link to the Duke Ellington performance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV9p2YZCP_8

Ann Starts singing around the 27-minute mark.  It would be interesting if anyone could identify any of the seminarians singing with her.

Here is the obituary for Ann Henry which appears on the website of Mount Angel Abbey...

ANN HENRY was born in 1924 in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of James and Jean Henry. It was in New York City, however, that her career in dance flourished, and she appeared in three Broadway shows, in the Metropolitan Opera House, as well as in television. Ann danced with her Co-Op Company and was creator of the modern dance jazz technique. Words such as choreographer, singer, music arranger, organ orchestrator, director, designer, artist… all have a place in describing the amazing career of this musician! Later, in a quite different setting, from 1964 to 1974 Ann Henry was a composer in residence at Mount Angel Abbey in Oregon. Here she shared her musical expertise with both monks and seminarians, composed five Masses, and for the dedication of the Mount Angel Abbey Library on May 30, 1970, Ann composed music which she and seminarians performed with Edward “Duke” Ellington. In more recent times Ann made her home in Portland, and here she formed the People’s Choir which served churches, schools and events including weddings and funerals in Portland and beyond. Ann Henry passed away on August 27, 2023. Mount Angel Abbey was a very special place to her, a spiritual home, and it was here that her Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated. She will be buried at Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Portland. Ann was a Benedictine Oblate of Mount Angel Abbey.