Belgian Blues, 1961

Cottoning On

A very good friend of Villes Ville whose work for the Internet Archive features in our posting every Monday recently started his own blog, Cottontail On Jazz. There 's a permanent link to his writing on Ellington at the top of the page but you can access the full blog here.

I have a soft spot for Cotton Tail. It was the first Ellington record I ever heard. Along with Take the 'A' Train (which for some reason didn't make quite as much of an impression on my fifteen year old self) it featured on an old double album called Original RCA Swing Sounds which I purchased during my initial flush as a fervent fan of Glenn Miller (!)

I didn't like the track at all. It seems to me not even to have a proper melody. It sounded rough and unfinished - just reeds and brass blowing across the chords of a half-finished tune, the saxophone solo a rough-hewn half hearted blowing with no art or construction. So much for Duke Ellington and Ben Webster - the folly of youth! I tell a somewhat different story nowadays.

Ironically, so the story goes, Webster himself was less than impressed with his own solo. He was gulled by Ellington into believing the first take was just a rehearsal and expected another go. The track, with Webster's 'work in progress' is, of course, a classic. Do visit Cottontail on Jazz and, in the meantime, courtesy of the cathode You Tube, here is the original side:

Crescendo in View

Views and reviews concerning Terry Teachout's  

biography Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington continue to accumulate. 

I haven't asked permission to quote Loren Schoenberg directly from Facebook but he posted there a copy of the first page of Ellington's composition - in his own hand - Diminuendo in Blue as an eloquent riposte to Terry Teachout's contention that Ellington "stopped short of grappling with anything beyond the basics of elementary harmony."

In view of this hostile press, I wonder if Mr Teachout isn't trying to row back a little on some of the claims in his book. In a recent interview with Ethan Iverson on Do The Math, TT claims:

"...some people think that in order to take Duke Ellington seriously as a composer, we have to believe that he was successful as a composer of large-scale works.  The idea, I guess, is to push him up into the classical-music arena: he played in Carnegie Hall, therefore he's serious.  And that's completely wrong. Duke Ellington is serious because he is Duke Ellington.  He’s serious because of the work itself.  It’s interesting that he wanted to write the suites.  It’s interesting that he wanted to play in Carnegie Hall. That tells you important things as him as a person. But jazz does not usually profit from being compared directly to classical music, at least not on that level of generality. Most of the time, such comparisons do not illuminate jazz in any way. I wouldn't have made them in Duke if Ellington himself hadn't forced the issue by writing pieces like Harlem, Reminiscing in Tempo and Black, Brown and Beige. Jazz is a completely successful form of expression in and of itself, the same way the mystery novel is."

The emphasis is mine - and it's a bit rich... it is Terry Teachout himself in his book who makes the comparison: his book begins with Ellington's 'failure' to make a satisfactory large-scale composition Black, Brown and Beige on the eve of its première and he doesn't let go. Rather cheeky, then, to make that contention now  and - worse - to blame Ellington himself for having the temerity to work with longer forms. The whole point of Ellington's artistic life was to resist useless labels and categories (like 'jazz' and 'classical' - an even more meaningless label)and whose work took him where it would. To hold this against Ellington as a reason for comparing him to 'classical' music and then as another stick to beat him with because he 'failed' in European terms is just adding insult to injury. Mr Teachout has been very scrupulous in the name of accuracy to  work with the community of Ellington collectors and scholars. Yes, his book may be factually the most accurate ever written - but it is not 'facts' with which that community now takes issue but the rather patrician and judgemental tone much of the book takes which, in the main,consists of praising Ellington with faint damns...

Ethan Iverson also includes in his latest blog post a superb essay on Ellington's music called Reverential Gesture. This is what I was expecting from the Teachout book - informed critical analysis which enhances the listener's appreciation of the music and takes him to new places. Here is a small taster:

"Every Ellington record I’ve ever heard has a unique ambience. Thick harmonic complexity sits deep inside blues and swing. It never feels “tight” or “over-organized.” There’s grease in every corner, but it is unquestionably deeply sophisticated. Perhaps the walls and the furniture lean understandingly in response to this music."

Wonderful stuff! Read the whole piece by clicking on the title (above).

And you can read the whole transcript of Ethan Iverson's interview with Terry Teachout here.

Capitol Idea

Here is a flyer announcing Duke Ellington's signing to the Capitol label in 1953. Long deleted and ripe for reassessment, these recordings were anthologised by Mosaic Records many moons ago. The two titles here listed in the flyer, Satin Doll and Without a Song were the very first to be recorded at Melrose Place. You can access the full discography for the Mosaic release here.

Ephemera Ellingtonia

Here is an interesting lot of Ellingtonian ephemera presently for sale on Ebay. The description runs: 

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 - May 24, 1974), American composer, pianist, bandleader and 12 time Grammy award winner, vintage collection of personal contacts, belongings and mementos. The following are included in this archival lot: two contact/address notebooks containing various entries, notes and inscriptions, many quite possibly in Ellington's hand; business cards for his contacts in the music industry including Capital Records, Blue Note Records, The William and Morris Agency and The Cotton Club; member passes for the Senate, House of Representatives, various clubs, venues and hotels; travel expense logs, tickets and receipts.

A major figure in the history of jazz music, Ellington's career spanned more than half a century, during which time he composed thousands of songs, recording for most American record companies, appearing in films, scoring several, and composing stage musicals. He created one of the most distinctive ensemble sounds in Western music and continued to play what he called "American Music" until shortly before his death in 1974. His last words were, "Music is how I live, why I live and how I will be remembered." Ellington was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1966. He was later awarded several other prizes, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969, an Honorary PhD from the Berklee College of Music in 1971, and the Legion of Honor by France in 1973, the highest civilian honors in each country.

You can 'buy it now' for $595.00 Details here.

The Liberian Suite

The Liberian Suite Columbia CL-6073

December 24, 1947. Liederkranz Hall, New York.

Duke Ellington & His Orchestra: Shorty Baker, Shelton Hemphill, Al Killian, Francis Williams, t; Ray Nance, t, vn; Lawrence Brown, Tyree Glenn, tb; Claude Jones, vtb; Jimmy Hamilton, cl, ts; Johnny Hodges, as; Russell Procope, as, cl; Al Sears, ts; Harry Carney, bs; Duke Ellington, p; Fred Guy, g; Oscar Pettiford, Junior Raglin, b; Sonny Greer, d.

I Like The Sunrise (Al Hibbler, vocal)

Dance No. 1

Dance No. 2

Dance No. 3

Dance No. 4

Dance No. 5

American Hustle

Christian Bale & Amy Adams Bond Over Duke Ellington in Clip From 'American Hustle'

From Indiewire: The Playlist...

"A brand new clip has dropped from David O. Russell's highly anticipated film and it finds conman Christian Bale bonding with Amy Adams over jazz legend Duke Ellington, who has just died (which would place the scene in 1974, FYI). And the song they both cherish? "Jeep's Blues" from Ellington At Newport, a live album which is largely credited with reviving the icon's career. Meanwhile, playing in the background is Chicago's "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?"

So, check out the clip, followed by the Duke Ellington and Chicago tunes. "American Hustle" arrives in theaters on December 18th."

Edited to add from The L A Times by Gina McIntyre:

Has Duke Ellington ever saved your life?

 

David O. Russell knows the answer to that particular question because Ellington's music has rescued him many times. It happened yesterday. It'll probably happen again tomorrow. And it also happens near the beginning of Russell's latest movie, "American Hustle," when a couple of con artists, played by Christian Bale and Amy Adams, plop down on the floor and listen to Ellington's slow-cooker classic "Jeep's Blues" and look into each others' eyes and know they've found heaven on a cracker.

"That's a piece of music I've held in my heart for over 30 years," Russell says over dinner at Ross 424, the Hollywood Hills studio where, some 16 hours earlier, he finished the final sound mix on "Hustle." "You have a secret treasure chest of magic, and one day you say, 'Maybe this magic belongs in this movie. I'm going to share this beautiful thing, not knowing if anyone else is going to feel about it the way I do.' That's the danger in sharing something you love. But I don't have a choice. I need to convey that enchantment."

 

 

"American Hustle" (in theaters Dec. 13), loosely based on the Abscam FBI sting operation of the 1970s that ensnared seven members of Congress for taking bribes, shares much with Russell's last two movies, "The Fighter" and "Silver Linings Playbook." They deal with people whose lives have been broken apart and who now have to reinvent themselves or perish. They sport many of the same actors: Bale and Adams worked with Russell on "The Fighter," and Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro also starred in "Playbook."

But there's a connective tissue holding these movies together that goes deeper than plot and players. It's a bedrock belief that genius comes from madness. It's an expertly controlled chaos that careens from the mundane to the magical. Above all, it's a music of life, a desire to show people talking and arguing and dancing and living in a way that Russell says he wasn't awake to in his first four films.

"My whole goal is, when somebody walks out of these movies, is to have them say, 'I loved that world, and I loved those people,'" Russell says. "Regardless of the mistakes the characters may have made, to love them and love being with them, to love their love for life ... that's what I want to share through film."

 

 

Russell, 55, says he has never stopped reinventing himself, but his current phase, which has seen "The Fighter" and "Silver Linings" scoring with audiences and critics (each was nominated for best picture), began after "I Heart Huckabees," his 2004 "midlife crisis" movie, and a subsequent divorce. "Your world gets taken apart," Russell says of the end of his marriage. "I went through that and not trusting myself, not trusting my gut as a filmmaker."

There was no light-bulb moment paving the way to his current good vibrations, just a gradual realization that he couldn't afford certain ambivalences or darknesses (something he says he learned from his older son) and continue to have a career. At this time, he also couldn't afford to pay the rent, which is why he accepted the late Sydney Pollack's offer to adapt "Silver Linings Playbook" from the Matthew Quick novel. "There's nothing like being in debt to make you work and not be precious about it," Russell says.

When the financing for "Silver Linings" didn't come together, Russell made "The Fighter" and discovered in the neighborhoods of Lowell, Mass., a genuineness among the people that brought out a great affection and inspired him to undertake a new direction, going from his gut, or, as Bale's character in "Hustle" puts it, acting "from the feet up."

 

Not that the process is always smooth.

"He can't stand, as he's told me, sitting staring at [screenwriting program] Final Draft. He goes braindead," Bale says. "He said to me, 'I need to come walk around your garden with you. That's how I need to write the film. I need to walk around the garden, lay in the grass, chat with you, be in unorthodox situations, that's when I can write.' That's how he likes to work best and I think that's what makes his movies unique and that's why ultimately I enjoy working with him, even though there are moments where I feel like I could kill him. He probably feels likewise."

"With David, it's all about instinct," says Lawrence, who plays Bale's loose-cannon housewife in "Hustle." "He'll whisper something in your ear and inspire you to see something you didn't before. There's not really anything he can't do with an actor. He can take you to a million different levels, a million different planets. And if you go with it, it will be the best experience of your life."

"Enchantment?" Cooper considers Russell's fondness for the word. "Yes, I've heard it a time or two. But you listen to his voice and there is a little magic in it. So it's not surprising to find it in his films."

 

What might be surprising about Russell? He has seen "It's a Wonderful Life" so many times that he knows it by heart, referencing it frequently and even acting it out on occasion. ("I just do Lionel Barrymore though," he says with a smile.) He has a 2-year-old son, Leo, adopted as a baby with Russell's "better half," Holly Davis. And his favorite thing about "American Hustle" might just be the wide canvas it allowed him to bring to life — five specific worlds, each with its own music and decor. He furnished the Upper East Side apartment Bale shares with Adams with pieces his mother loved. And he bound the film's lovers together by Ellington.

Asked where he finds magic in his own life, Russell initially demurs. ("You say a thing and it's not your thing anymore.") Finally, he relents, speaking with great feeling about a park in Santa Monica that's next to a church and provides him with spiritual nourishment each time he visits.

"Even talking about it, a really good feeling comes over me," Russell says. "And that's sacred. And that's what I love to put in movies. There can be many great movies in any given year, but I'm happy to have a movie that has that love of life. I've got to have that enchantment!"

Source.