The Seventies: Never Stop Remembering Bill

The first recordings Ellington made in the studio in 1970 were not released until after his death. As was his wont, Ellington added continually to the 'stockpile' of private recordings in what became at times almost an audio diary of his travels. Here, the location is Las Vegas. From the superb on-line resource ellingtonia. com

DUKE ELLINGTON GROUP                     Las Vegas, NV                                                                7 January 1970

Duke Ellington recording session

Willie Cook(t); Lawrence Brown(tb); Paul Gonsalves(ts); Duke Ellington(p); Wild Bill Davis(o); Victor Gaskin, Paul Kondziela(sb); Rufus Jones(d)

The Kissing Mist        unissued

Willie Cook(t); Lawrence Brown(tb); Paul Gonsalves(ts); Wild Bill Davis(o); Victor Gaskin, Paul Kondziela(sb); Rufus Jones(d)

Tippytoeing Through The Jungle Garden  Fa F-9640

Willie Cook(t); Lawrence Brown(tb); Paul Gonsalves(ts); Duke Ellington(p); Wild Bill Davis(o); Victor Gaskin, Paul Kondziela(sb); Rufus Jones(d)

Noon Mooning           Fa F-9640

Duke Ellington(p); Wild Bill Davis(o);Paul Kondziela(sb); Rufus Jones(d)

Black Swan     unissued

Paul Gonsalves(ts); Duke Ellington(p); Victor Gaskin, Paul Kondziela(sb); Rufus Jones(d)

Rockochet       Fa F-9640

Duke Ellington(p); Victor Gaskin, Paul Kondziela(sb); Rufus Jones(d)

Never Stop Remembering Bill         Fa F-9640

Duck Amok     Fa F-9640

    

Tina      Fa F-8419, OJC20 469-2

Duke Ellington(p); Victor Gaskin, Paul Kondziela(sb); Rufus Jones(d)

Fat Mess         Fa F-9640

Perhaps because of the presence of Wild Bill Davis on the organ, the first couple of tracks here do indeed sound like lounge music of the period, perfectly suited to the gaming rooms of the Las Vegas strip. always, however, there is that certain something in Ellington's music which makes it more than mere ambient sound, the hint of something much more compelling and metaphysical.

The most affecting of these pieces is Never Stop Remembering Bill, a tribute to Ellington's arranging and composing companion, Billy Strayhorn, remembered here half way to the dawn of a new decade.

The early 70s saw something of history repeating from the early 50s in terms of loss of personnel. Billy struck out more on his own in the early fifties, effectively leaving Ellington's orbit and participating in several collaborations with two others of Duke's circle, Johnny Hodges and Lawrence Brown who had also left the band. The absence of these three musicians was felt now in 1970: Billy had gone, Ellington was to lose Hodges to a heart attack only a few months into the new year. Of the three, only Lawrence brown left voluntarily. This Vegas session was Brown's last with the band. His presence here, however, confutes a lot of inaccurate speculation which has been written about the terms of his departure, most recently a piece in the UK's magazine Jazz Journal. I wrote about that article here accompanied by the most inappropriate image, tabloid-style, I could find. The state of Lawrence Brown's dentistry seems to be something of a preoccupation for the gossip columnists of Jazz Journal. Witness a much earlier piece Lawrence Brown and the Plastic Tooth which may be found here. Evidence from the writer's own pen that his speculation on the reasons for Lawrence's departure do not bear proper scrutiny...

For those signed up to Spotify, I have prepared a playlist in recording order of Ellington's 1970 Las Vegas session. Viva!