... in store

Encadrée à Bruxelles...

RARE PHOTOGRAPHIES DES ANNEES 40 SIGNEE PAR LE DUKE, Paul Lavelle et d'autres musiciens à identifier

Cette photo a du être encadrée à Bruxelles dans les années 40.

Les signature réalisées au stylo à plume ne sont pas très lisibles.

Celle du Duke est très nette (relativement)

RARE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE 40 YEARS SIGNED BY THE DUKE, Paul Lavelle and other musicians to identify

This photo had to be framed in Brussels in the 40s.

Feather pen signatures are not very readable.

That of Duke is very clear (relatively)

The Uncommon Market

It's interesting what unofficial products find their way onto the various international branches of Amazon. Take Live in Dakar, Senegal, 1966, for example, on the Kipepeo label. It's available for sale here on CD-r, manufactured to order. This is the cover...

Like the notorious Squatty Roo label, the provenance of these recordings is highly questionable.

Might as well create your own CD, done here much more professionally...

We don't host downloads here on villes ville but a little 'crate digging' on-line uncovers the recordings I suspect Kipepeo ripped... 

Hey! Presto...

I saw the following programme for sale on eBay recently... 

From the vendor's description...

Talk about a multicultural event! In 1956, on the North Shore of Massachusetts, a very special musical concert happened. Two local Jewish organizations brought the famed Duke Ellington and his orchestra to Gloucester, MA!  Yes, Sisterhood of Temple Ahavath Achim and the Gloucester Chapter of Hadassah cooperated to make this event a reality! 

The concert was held on Saturday, July 14, 1956, in the Gloucester High School auditorium. The program has four pages (folded) and measures closed 6.15 x 9.5 inches. Please Note: The program was once folded in half and still has its fold line, as well as a faint water stain on the top left corner, in light brown. This program comes from the estate of the late Valerie Paul, a Brookline, MA, teenager who attended this concert with her boyfriend Greg Burke. She noted the date in blue ink in the upper right-hand corner of the front cover.

Inside is the full musical program -- all 16 numbers, with the composer names. Plus the names of the people who organized the concert. The back page has an image of the United Nations Forest, a charitable event spearheaded by Hadassah. This is a rare item you are not likely to find ever again.

The auction can be followed here...

Whilst the music for this engagement seems not to have been recorded, their next performance the very next day at the Tanglewood Music Festival - one week after their famous appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival has survived. This recording has been released on a pair of rare LPs on the Queen label. Here is the cover to Volume One:

These LPs have since been transferred and are available as a download (mp3 or FLAC) at the Presto Classical website here.

Duke of Milan: 30 January, 1966

The Wireless Ellington

The 25th International Duke Ellington Study Group Conference will be taking place at The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, 25th to 27th May, 2018.

It has been organised jointly by Birmingham City University and the Conservatoire. One of the prime movers in bringing the conference about is Tim Wall, Professor of Radio and Popular Music Studies, Birmingham School of Media, BCU.

Professor Wall has written a blog for several years now, detailing some aspects of his research. The blog can be accessed here, at Wall of Sound.

Several of the entries are on Duke Ellington and aspects of his work on radio, in particular. They are fascinating and can be read at the following links:

Duke Ellington and his famous Orchestra live on the BBC June 1933


Duke Ellington band on BBC Radio 14th June 1933 8:00 pm


Duke Ellington on WHN 1927-29: 'Serving the masses, not the classes'


Exploring and understanding jazz and British radio in the 1930s

Coleman Hawkins and David Murray, and the idea of the progressive musician

New Book A-Comin'

News from Italian musicologist Luca Bragalini:his new book on Ellington's symphonic work, including 'lost' pieces which has been ten years in the research/writing will be published soon.

Last week, Luca conducted two performances of Black Kings, a tribute to Ellington and Dr Martin Luther King which you can read about here.

The campaign to have Luca's new book - which will include a CD of performances of the 'new' music - needs to start now!

Flaming Youth: Beloit Memorial High School Jazz Orchestra

First post in an occasional series: the Essentially Ellington competition has been run by JALC under the auspices of Wynton Marsalis for quite a few years now. High school bands are encouraged to participate in rehearsing and then performing transcriptions of chiefly Ellington and Strayhorn works.

    Nothing gladdens the heart so much as seeing young people developing their musical talents and literacy, engaging with these superlative charts. Here, then, from the 2016 finals is the performance by Beloit MemorialHigh School Jazz Orchestra. A particular highlight is the band's performance of Rockabye River with some stunning obligate work on the saxophone.