La Belle Vie

PARISIAN LIFE

All the fun...

Here are what the poet called 'Kodak-distant' memories - some home cine footage uploaded recently to Youtube. The film was taken at the New York State Exposition, Empire Court, Syracuse, 1963 between 28 August and 2 September, a week long engagement for Duke Ellington and his Orchestra who feature in the early shots...

Happy New Year, The Blue Note 1958

Perchance to dream...

The time: 30 January, 1966; the place: the stage of the Theatro Lirico, Milano.


Classical actor Vittorio Gassman recites the famous soliloquy from Hamlet whilst Ellington plays in accompaniment the opening piece from his Shakespearean suite, Such Sweet Thunder.


It is a consummate performance...
 

Suites to the sweet

Students of literary and classical influence on the work of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn have much to look forward to in the coming months.

Anna Harwell Celenza Thomas E. Caestecker Professor of Music at Georgetown University, Washington DC, is currently finishing work on a study entitled Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn and the Adventures of Peer Gynt in America which will be published in the journal Music and Politics. News of its publication and links to a copy as soon as we have them.

And October 1, 2011 sees the publication of Professor Celenza’s book for children, Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker, illustrated by Don Tate. The charming cover is reproduced below. The book is available for pre-ordering here.

Quite by coincidence, idling away a couple of hours on the internet yesterday as I am wont to do, I chanced upon this video from the CBS series Playback.

I like to think I am familiar with most of the catalogue available of Ellington on video but this little promotional film came as a complete surprise. The quality is splendid and the opportunity to see Ellington in his post-Newport renaissance (the quintessential period of the Ellington Strayhorn collaboration for me)at work in the studio with his band is priceless!

Eastern promise

I can happily lose a couple of hours to the internet simply following lines of enquiry: one interesting reference will lead to a hyperlink or a Google search and, before you know it, an evening has gone by…


In this way, I recently happened upon precious footage of Duke Ellington in India which was filmed during his State Department sponsored tour of the Middle and Far East in 1963.

The tour inspired, of course, The Far East Suite – amongst the most iridescent works in the Ellington/ Strayhorn canon. Had I but time…

Anyway… The video is embedded in a blog called Blue Rhythm the main purpose of which is to raise funds for a proposed documentary, Finding Carlton: Uncovering The Story of Jazz in India. There are untold riches to explore there. A particular jumping off point for Ellingtonia is here.

This is an extract from Finding Carlton with some precious footage from the National Archive of the Ellington band's appearance.






The Blue Rhythm blog may be found here.