The Simon Spillett Big Band plays the music of Tubby Hayes
The Wigan Jazz Festival, Wigan, Lancashire
Mark Armstrong, Bruce Adams, Nathan Bray, Steve Fishwick (trumpets); Mark Nightingale, Andy Flaxman, Ian Bateman, Pete North (trombones); Sammy Mayne, Pete Long, Robert Fowler, Karen Sharp, Alan Barnes (saxes); Rob Barron (piano); Alec Dankworth (bass); Pete Cater (drums)
Sunday 10 July, 20:15
The Simon Spillett Big Band plays the music of Tubby Hayes
The Swanage Jazz Festival, Swanage, Dorset
Mark Armstrong, Nathan Bray, Freddie Gavita, George Hogg (trumpets); Mark Nightingale, Andy Flaxman, Ian Bateman, Pete North (trombones); Sammy Mayne, Pete Long, Alex Garnett, Simon Allen, Alan Barnes (saxes); Rob Barron (piano); Alec Dankworth (bass); Pete Cater (drums)
Saturday, 30 July
Vocalist Candice Hoyes and Pianist Damien Sneed Present Duke Ellington's On a Turquoise Cloud at Caramoor on July 30
Presented in collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center for their Summer Jazz Festival, Caramoor will host the duo as they celebrate the 75th anniversary of Duke Ellington's On a Turquoise Cloud.
"She has a powerhouse of a voice that will easily sweep you off your feet and has captured audiences at Lincoln Center, international music festivals and even New York Fashion Week," - Rikki Byrd, Repeller
Vocalist and archival scholar Candice Hoyes and composer, conductor and pianist Damien Sneed are thrilled to perform the incomparable works of jazz icon Duke Ellington at the upcoming Summer Jazz Festival at Caramoor on July 30. The prolific duo presents Duke Ellington's On A Turquoise Cloud, a suite of high-flying, lyrical Ellington works that remain as innovative today as they were in Ellington's time. The pair appears at Caramoor in collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center on July 30. The music for the day begins at 1pm on multiple stages, with Candice and Damien expected to take the Spanish Courtyard stage in mid-afternoon. More information on this outdoor festival and tickets can be found here.
Talk: “Duke and Paul” by Patricia Willard Free and Open to the Public Sunday, June 19, 2022 1:30-2:30pm Memorial Union Play Circle, 800 Langdon St.
These two events are in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Duke Ellington’s 1972 UW–Madison Residency, and are part of the 2022 Madison Jazz Festival, presented by Arts + Literature Laboratory and Wisconsin Union Theater. We aren’t among the sponsors, but we want to acknowledge the significance of both the residency and this celebration. UW–Madison’s School of Music hosted Duke Ellington and his orchestra for its Duke Ellington Festival, also billed as “Duke Ellington Week,” which included five days of concerts, workshops and masterclasses in what would be the longest university residency of Ellington’s career.
June 17 Concert and Panel Discussion Schedule: 5:30pm: Sun Prairie and Middleton High School Jazz Bands perform Duke’s music with Guest Artist Victor Goines 7:00pm: Panel Discussion with Emeritus Professor Jim Latimer (organizer of the 1972 Ellington Residency), award-winning jazz journalist and former Ellington publicist Patricia Willard, and former Ellington vocalist and current Madison resident Jane Coyne 8:30pm: Concert of Duke Ellington’s music, including The Uwis Suite (composed for the 1972 residency), performed by the UW-Madison Jazz Faculty and Alumni Band
Personnel list for The Uwis Suite, by Duke Ellington, from the liner notes of The Ellington Suites, released by Pablo Records in 1976. [Mills Call Number: Jazz Pablo 2310-762]
June 19 Talk Details: 1:30pm: Jazz journalist, historian, and former Ellington publicist Patricia Willard will share her first-person account of Duke Ellington and his Orchestra being at UW–Madison 50 years ago. She was here for the residency as a student and as a journalist for DownBeat.
The June 17 Panel Discussion is a reprise of sorts of the Panel Talk the Mead Witter School of Music presented in April, when Lecturer of Ethnomusicology Luci Mok hosted Emeritus Professor of Music James Latimer and Jane Coyne to reminisce on the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Duke Ellington UW–Madison residency. Having Patricia Willard on hand promises to enhance the memories being shared!
Speaking of Patricia Willard’s memories, she published an account of the Duke Ellington Festival, along with photos she took, in the October 12, 1972 issue of DownBeat under the title “Love and Learn: The Ellingtonians at UW.” We have the issue in our holdings, but it’s not available online via any of the full-text databases to which we subscribe.
First page of “Love and Learn: The Ellingtonians at UW,” text and photos by Patricia Willard. DownBeat, Oct 12, 1972, Vol. 39, p12. [Mills Call Number: ML1 D748]
We look forward to new memories being made as old ones are shared and Duke Ellington’s music is performed!
1972 Duke Ellington Festival program cover, from Mills Music Library collection of School of Music Programme
DUKE ELLINGTON UW RESIDENCY 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
Location: Hamel Music Center Date: June 17th, 2022 Time: 5:30-10:00pm Admission: FREE
What's Going On?
UW’s Mead Witter School of Music celebrates the golden anniversary of Duke Ellington’s five-day residency in July 1972. The event schedule includes 5:30pm: Sun Prairie and Middleton High School Jazz Bands perform Duke’s music with Guest Artist Victor Goines; 7:00pm: Panel Discussion with Emeritus Professor Jim Latimer(organizer of the 1972 Ellington residency), award-winning jazz journalist and former Ellington publicist Patricia Willard, and former Ellington vocalist and current Madison resident Jane Coyne; 8:30pm: Concert of Duke Ellington's music, including his “UWIS Suite” (composed for the 1972 residency), performed by the UW-Madison Jazz Faculty and Alumni Band (confirmed musicians include saxophonists Les Thimmig, Anders Svanoe, Nick Berkhout, Alex Charland, and Zach Ramirez; trumpeters Dave Cooper, Dan Cross, and Nate Schmidt; trombonists Nat McIntosh, Tom Kelley, and Cole Bartels; pianist Johannes Wallmann; bassist Peter Dominguez; drummer Matt Endres; and special guest vocalist Jane Coyne.
Event Schedule: 5:30pm: Sun Prairie and Middleton High School Jazz Bands with Victor Goines 7:00pm: Panel Discussion with Jim Latimer, Patricia Willard, & Jane Coyne 8:30pm: Duke Ellington's UWIS Suite performed by the UW-Madison Jazz Faculty and Alumni Band
Location: UW Memorial Union Play Circle, 800 Langdon St. Date: June 19th, 2022 Time: 1:30-2:30pm Admission: FREE
What's Going On?
Patricia Willard will present "Duke and Paul" on Sunday, June 19, 2022, 1:30 to 2:30 pm in the Memorial Union Play Circle. This event is free and open to the public. Jazz historian Patricia Willard will share first-person account of Duke Ellington and his orchestra at UW-Madison 50 years ago, while a student as well as a journalist for Downbeat. Reflecting on Duke's week in residence, the hour will conclude with video of Duke and Paul Gonsalves performing "Happy Reunion" in Mills Hall on July 21, 1972.
Patricia Willard is a writer, historian, photojournalist, concert producer, archivist and research consultant who, for more than 25 years was associated with Duke Ellington as editor, researcher and West Coast public relations counsel. In July 1972, she independently registered as a student for the University of Wisconsin Duke Ellington Festival and covered the week-long event for Downbeat magazine. She holds one semester unit of University of Wisconsin undergraduate credit in Duke Ellington. Ms. Willard has served as Historical Consultant to the Duke Ellington Collection at the Smithsonian Institution Museum of American History, Consultant in Jazz and Popular Music at the Library of Congress and has conducted jazz oral histories for these institutions as well as for the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Oral History Program. She currently is completing a book on Ellington's last quarter century and his continuing impact on music internationally.
Panel Talk: Duke Ellington’s 1972 UW–Madison Residency Free and Open to the Public Friday, April 15, 2022 10:00-11:30am Collins Recital Hall, Hamel Music Center, UW–Madison, 740 University Ave
We are pleased to shine a light on this event presented by the Mead Witter School of Music! Lecturer of Ethnomusicology Luci Mok will host Emeritus Professor of Music James Latimer and Jane Coyne to reminisce on the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Duke Ellington UW–Madison residency.
Fifty years ago this summer, in July 1972, UW–Madison’s School of Music hosted Duke Ellington and his orchestra for its Duke Ellington Festival, also billed as “Duke Ellington Week,” which included five days of concerts, workshops and masterclasses in what would be the longest university residency of Ellington’s career.
The impetus for the 1972 festival came from a conversation with the School of Music’s Percussion Professor, Jim Latimer, while Duke was on campus in 1971 to receive an honorary doctorate. Professor Latimer went on to organize and chair the festival, which turned out to be the most extensive and intensive campus residency of Duke’s storied career.
Ellington Festival Committee, Jim Latimer, Chairman. From Duke Ellington Festival program, Mills Music Library
Highlights from the festival included a complete performance of Duke’s Second Sacred Concert that included an 81-member community choir drawn from 21 local churches, a “Family Day” concert at Camp Randall Stadium that drew an audience of over 6,000, and the premiere performance of Duke’s The Uwis Suite, composed especially for the occasion.
Jane Coyne was a voice student at UW–Madison who participated in Ellington’s workshops during the residency and sang in the Ellington Festival Chorus. Following the residency, she was invited to tour and perform with Ellington’s Orchestra throughout his last year of performances.
Ellington Festival Chorus names, including Jane Coyne, from Duke Ellington Festival program, Mills Music Library
We have been communicating with Luci Mok, Professor of Double Bass and Jazz Peter Dominguez, and John and Carolyn Peterson Chair in Jazz Studies, Director of Jazz Studies & Professor of Music Johannes Wallmann throughout this academic year regarding plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Duke Ellington Festival. We have shared various materials, including a scan of the festival program (see cover image and excerpts above) and recordings from the festival we have in our Ken Ohst Collection, a collection on 181 reels of jazz music and interviews from Ken Ohst, long-time jazz announcer and producer at WHA Radio.
We also shared the Oral History Program interview with Jim Latimer, which was conducted by Roxanne Reed in 1994. Special thanks to Troy Reeves, Head of the Oral History Program at University Archives, for making the recording available. Tom Caw, Music Public Services Librarian, met with Luci Mok’s Music 497: Jazz in America class this semester to teach the students how to conduct research into the residency making use of resources we have here physically and access to online for an assignment. Johannes Wallmann has a performance of The Uwis Suite planned for the Madison Jazz Festival in June, along with other forms of acknowledging and celebrating the anniversary. We’ll share more information about that as we get it!
Here is a wonderful video of two sets played on Ellington's birthday this year by the FEEL (Far East Ellington Lovers) Jazz Orchestra.
The Orchestra's leader is Yoshia Inoue. As well as being a musician and bandleader, Yoshia is also determined to follow in the footsteps of the late Japanese Ellington collectors Mr Sigawa and Mr Shibata by re-establishing the Duke Ellington Society of Japan. Yoshia says "many precious episodes and records are disappearing. So I want to find and gather footprints of Ellington in Japan and enjoy them with Ellington lovers of all over the world!"
We'll certainly give Mr Inoue all the support we can and will report future developments...
