The Seventies: ... the Cave, man...

Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of Duke Ellington and his orchestra opening at the Cave, a supper club situated at 626 Hornby Street, Vancouver. 

You may recall from this post, that Nadine Jones, who had previously asked Ellington to conduct the Salvation Army band, was invited to the Orchestra's opening night at the venue on 2 April. She said: 

"What I do remember is that he invited my then-husband and me to his show at the Cave and backstage to his dressing room at half time.  He was 71, no kid at the time, and had spent most of his life in second hand smoke so when we went backstage he was lying on his back full length, resting between appearances. Since I was sitting behind him, I held his head up while he signed autographs. Maybe that`s why I was born? To hold up Duke Ellington’s head?"

The engagement ran from Thursday, 2 April, 1970 to Saturday, 11 April.

It is remembered chiefly today because of a bootlegged recording of the opening night which found its way onto a couple of green-coloured vinyl LPs in 1971...

Introduction / Rockin' In Rhythm

Creole Love Call / Fife

Tenor Solo / Take The A Train

Tenor Saxophone Calisthenics

Birth Of The Blues

Passion Flower / Things Ain't What They Used To Be

Drum Solo / Medley

Mood Indigo / I'm Beginning To See The Light

It Don't Mean A Thing / I've Got It Bad / Medley

Introduction / Happy Birthday

Take The A Train / I Can't Get Started

Don't Be Cool

April In Paris / Drum Solo

Here is an on-line review about this release...

RAC-CA3 United States 1970RAC – Jazz – Big Band – Instrumental

Perf: Duke ELLINGTON & his Orchestra Prod. Co: The Old Masters; San Mateo, CA 
Rec. Date: ca.1970
Time:
1. Bootleg LP: DUKE ELLINGTON OPENS THE CAVE – VOL. 1 The Old Masters TOM-44

2. Bootleg LP: DUKE ELLINGTON OPENS THE CAVE – VOL. 2 The Old Masters TOM-45
Spec: (Nos. 1 & 2) 12” 33rpm (Sides 1 & 2) (Green vinyl)Notes: This celebrated big band performs live in The Cave.

One jazz fan reported that – “In the 70s I purchased an LP that was called something like "Duke Ellington Live from The Cave." It was a garish, translucent object I forget whether it was red or turquoise, the sound was awful, and a few of the selections were only fragments. It was obviously a bootleg probably recorded under someone's table. I told Duke about it, he was furious, and he insisted that I send it immediately to Stanley Dance who was tracing bootlegs for Duke at the time. I did, asking Stanley to return my prize after he had examined it. Stanley acknowledged receipt of the LP but refused to return it, saying he "needed it." I never found another copy but Duke did say that he had played The Cave in Vancouver and that no recording had been authorized.” (Willard 2003)

More details are provided by a jazz writer, David Palmquist, a native of downtown Vancouver – “We had a radio personality in Vancouver who recently passed away, Jack Cullen by name. His claim to fame was interviewing all the jazz greats to hit town, and he frequently made bootleg recordings of their performances. I suspect the LP you're referring to was a result of his work, and he probably pressed a few copies for his friends. Maybe one of them got into the wrong hands and copied for broader distribution.”(Palmquist 2003)

Regarding the producer of these bootlegs, another jazz fan writes – “The producer of THE OLD MASTERS was someone using the name "Max Abrams" and he operated out of a Los Angeles Post Office Box. The LPs appeared in 1971 and disappeared at once but the LPs had "general distribution" and were exported world wide (sic) by Jack’s Record Cellar of San Francisco.” (Hällström 2003)

“The label on the A side of the first record fails to include the opening number C-Jam Blues. Following this tune, the MC announces, "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Cave Theatre Restaurant proudly presents Duke Ellington." (Hornsby 2003)

One jazz critic had this to say – “One of the worst bootlegs of Duke Ellington to emerge is this obvious audience recording of excerpts from the set of a concert in Vancouver, which claims to be the final liverecording featuring alto sax great Johnny Hodges... The sound is horrid and out of balance throughout bothsides of this LP; several of the tracks end abruptly as if the tape machine ran out... Ellington’s piano is hardly audible, the rich texture of the horns and reeds is badly muffled, while the audience conversations around the source mic are very audible at times. Not even the most zealous collector of the music of Duke Ellington should invest in this despicable ripoff!” (Dryden 2018)

Ref: Dryden, Ken 2018, Duke Ellington Opens The Cave – Vol. 1, Review, AllmusicDuke Ellington Opens The Cave – Vol. 1, DiscogsDuke Ellington Opens The Cave – Vol. 2, DiscogsWillard, Patricia; Palmquist, David; Hällström, Carl; & Hornsby, John 2003, The International DEMS Bulletin, No. 2-3,
Dec. 2002-Mar. 2003, p. 567, Duke Ellington Music Society, depanorama
Source

This bootleg had a further ignominious please in the digital era. I wrote about the dreadful CD-r produced by Squatty Roo here.

The Cave itself was demolished to make way for a downtown Vancouver office tower a mere eleven years after Ellington had played there. You can see a video of the news report here.