First Footage

Whilst our previous post was given over to our customary picture of Duke celebrating his birthday, today we can give proper space to the news which broke yesterday of  Ellington scholar Ken Steiner's discovery of Duke Ellington's debut on film. The full details are here.

Happy Birthday, Duke!

Many Happy returns!

Kinda Dukish

On the eve of Duke Ellington's 114th birthday, a heads up to Ehsan Koshbakht's fascinating blog, Take The A Train. 

Ehsan is a film historian, jazz scholar and architect from north eastern Iran. He has been a great supporter of my blog here, through all its various and frustrating permutations of name and domain address (I recently moved the blog back to its original address, villesville.blog.co.uk - sorry Ehsan!).

Ehsan blogs on a wide range of subjects connected to jazz and film. Now, however, he has tabulated all the posts relevant to Duke. Click on the tab at the top of his blog, Kinda Dukish. I've put the link at the top of my blog here also. There is a rich archive of material to enjoy and, of course, it is always well worth dropping by Take The A Train itself.

As Duke would say: Thank you for Ehsan Koshbakht!

Miro Image

When Miró met the Duke: Jazz Performance from Yorkshire Sculpture Park on Vimeo.

You Shall Go To The Bal...

We wear the mask that grins and lies,

It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—

This debt we pay to human guile;

With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,

And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,

In counting all our tears and sighs?

Nay, let them only see us, while

       We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries

To thee from tortured souls arise.

We sing, but oh the clay is vile

Beneath our feet, and long the mile;

But let the world dream otherwise,

       We wear the mask!

Paul Laurence Dunbar, 1895

More on Terry Teachout's forthcoming biography Duke to follow...

Beggar's Holiday

Duke Ellington Opens Up The Cave Again...

To be released on CD June 18, 2013: Duke Ellington Live At The Cave

Back in the day, the recordings which comprised this release were released on two green vinyl bootleg LPs with the title Duke Ellington Opens Up The Cave. The sound quality was execrable. This new release is on the 'Squatty Roo' label. Given the date on which these recordings were made, they are certainly not yet out of copyright. Will this be a legitimate release, then? And will the sound quality, therefore, be improved? Time will tell.

The product description on Amazon reads:

Back in 1970, Duke Ellington was at the threshold of a new sound. Yet again like so many times before, he was to take in his surroundings, musically and otherwise, and bring forth a new style for his musical instrument, his Famous Orchestra. Billy Strayhorn, his writing and arranging companion was now dead, and the bulk of the writing was once again falling on Ellington's shoulders. Hammond Organ pioneer Wild Bill Davis took up some of the slack, as he became Duke's assistant arranger, but Ellington seems to know at this point, that pushing his own limits was needed. This outing documents the final days of star saxophonist Johnny Hodges. The setting is the Cave Theatre Restaurant in Vancouver, B.C. in Canada, and the feeling is warm and intimate, but there is a decided edge to the feel of the music. The exotic power of drummer Rufus Jones is making a mark, and Ellington is about to bring us on his final journey through 'The Jungle' once again.

The title may be pre-ordered here.