Category: Classical jazz

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Duke Ellington (The development of jazz 8/11)

Ellington conducts the orchestra from behind the piano

Edward Kennedy ‘Duke’ Ellington was born in Washington D.C. on 29 April 1899 and died in New York City in 1974. His father and mother both played the piano. At the age of seven, he received piano lessons himself. His mother made sure he always looked neatly groomed. This worked out so well that in his surroundings he was called ‘Duke’. ‘Duke’ was a passionate baseball fan, and he earned some extra money by selling peanuts during games. 

1910s

Only at the age of 14, Duke gets a taste for playing the piano. He writes his first composition ‘Soda Fountain Rag’, probably inspired by his job as a bartender. You can hear this one here: 

More than 1,000 more compositions would follow, many of them destined to be played on a 78-rpm record. Many of these became jazz standards.

He now also takes music lessons to improve his technique and to master notation. At the age of 17, he leaves school to perform here and there, while painting during the day. At 18, he forms his own band, ‘The Duke’s Serenaders’. Instead of being satisfied with the successful gigs, he leaves for Harlem NYC with musical friends to get a piece of the ‘Harlem Renaissance’. This fails and ‘Duke’ and his friends return penniless to Washington D.C. 

1920s

Still, Ellington will return to Harlem NYC in 1923 where he got a four-year contract at the Hollywood Club. He became bandleader of a 10-piece band. With this orchestra that gradually came to be called ‘Duke Ellington Orchestra’, Ellington played all his life.  The orchestra still tours the world under the direction of Ellington’s youngest son Paul. 

Ellington wrote a few songs for the ‘Chocolate Kiddles’, a revue that toured several European cities in 1925. You can hear an excerpt from this revue, played and sung by Johnny Dunn and Jake Green, here:

By now, the band had a recognizable sound thanks to Ellington’s innovative arrangements and piano playing. In 1927, the prestigious ‘Cotton Club’ contracted the band after a successful audition. The repertoire was broad, consisting mainly of songs and tunes from revues. Audiences flocked, moreover, the performances were heard weekly on the radio. He recorded several songs with singer Adelaide Hall, of which ‘Creole Love Call’, became a world hit. You can hear the original recording here.

1930s

In the early 1930s, Ellington records several films. In ‘Check and Double Check’, the orchestra plays his ‘Old Man Blues’ during a dance scene.

During the Great Depression, Duke Ellington’s orchestra managed to survive. In 1933, he recruits singer Ivie Anderson and together they produce the hit ‘It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing). In the following recording, you can hear Ella Fitzgerald sing the song, accompanied by the Duke Ellington Orchestra (1965). Ella also shows she has mastered scat singing. That is singing on meaningless words.

Other songs from that era include: ‘‘Mood Indigo’(1930), ‘Sophisticated Lady’(1933), ‘Solitude‘(1934) and ‘In a Sentimental Mood’(1935).

During this period, he and his orchestra performed several times in England, Scotland, France and Ellington writes series of compositions around a specific musician.  ‘Jeep’s Blues‘ was bested for Johnny Hodges, ‘Yearning for Love’ for Lawrence Brown, ‘Trumpet in Spades’ for Rex Steward, ‘Echoes of Harlem’ for Cootie Williams and ‘Clarinet Lament‘ for Barney Bigard. These compositions perfectly matched the style and technical skill of each.

A well-known song like ‘Caravan’ also dates from this period (1937). Incidentally, this song was composed by Juan Tizol, one of the members of Ellington’s band. You can see a recent version here, played at the 2021 Big Band Jazz Party. A nice band, no show suits, a mix of old and young players, a beautiful setting and stars that fall from the sky.

1940s

Meanwhile Ellington teamed up with Billy Strayhorn, who became an indispensable ‘alter ego’ when it came to polishing lyrics and compositions, as well as rehearsing with the band and even playing the piano on recordings.  Strayhorn also composed ”Take the ‘A’ Train’, still today the band’s signature tune. 

Ellington was a master of composing short melodies; he also continued composing longer pieces, such as ‘Black, Brown, and Beige(1943) which deals with the history of slavery. The link is to a performance by the Klezmer Company Orchestra (2011). This composition received a lukewarm reception. More successful was ‘Jump for Joy'(1941). Here performed by the ‘Newark Academy Jazz Essentially Ellington Orchestra’ (2017) 

‘Beggers’s Holiday’(1946) eventually made it to Broadway.

1950s

Once again, big bands struggled to pull together. Count Basie disbanded and continued with a small ensemble. Duke Ellington was initially luckier; he booked a 77-day tour in Europe in which he performed 74 times. Then difficult times also dawned for the Duke Ellington Orchestra. At the Newport Jazz Festival on 7 July 1956, a small miracle happened, which I described in episode 2/11 of this series. Everything had backfired on that day; eventually tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves played a solo, and Ellington let him improvise for six minutes, while the audience turned into a dancing crowd. The recording of this performance would become the best-selling album of Ellington’s career. 

1960s

Ellington starts devoting himself to composing film music. The first film was ‘Anatomy of a Murder’ (1959). This was followed by ‘Paris Blues'(1961) in which Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier performed. Here you listen to Paul Newman playing ‘Mood indigo’. 

During this period, Ellington also made recordings with musicians he did not have daily contact with, such as Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkings, John Coltrane and also Frank Sinatra. A session with Charles Mingus and Max Roach resulted in the album ‘Money Jungle‘. 

He performs all over the world and is recording with several local artists, such as Sweden’s Alice Babs, and South Africa’s Sathima Bea Benjamin.

1970s

Ellington works on his first opera,’ Queenie Pie’, but it remains unfinished. His last performance was in the ballroom at Northern Illinois University on 20 March 1974. He dies of lung cancer on 24 May 1974.  At his funeral, Ella Fitzgerald spoke the words “It’d a very sad day. A genius has passed”.

Here the first joint performance with Louis Armstrong after 40 years on the Ed Sullivan Show, ‘In a Mellow Tone'(1961)

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Louis Armstrong (The development of jazz 7/11)

Louis Armstrong (nicknames Satch and Satchmo) was born on August 4th, 1901, in New Orleans and died on July 6th ,1971 in New York City. He played trumpet and cornet and had a great influence on the development of jazz.

He spent his childhood in poverty. At the age of 11, he bought a cornet in a pawn shop and by the age of 13, he was already playing in bands entertaining audiences in dance halls, brothels and riverboats.

1920s

In 1922, ‘King Oliver’ asked Armstrong moving to Chicago and play in his ‘Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band’. You can listen to an early recording of the band here.

In Chicago he is payd well for the first time. Influenced by his first future wife Lil Hardin, he broadens his skills by also playing classical music. From 1924, he plays in the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, the most prominent African-American band of the time.  Here you can listen to this orchestra, whose members at the time included both Louis Armstrong and Coleman Hawkins.

Armstrong has fully mastered the New Orleans style (‘old jazz’). When he joined the Fletcher Henderson band, he had been pioneering the most current forms of jazz for quite some time. This included the shift from collective to individual improvisation. His improvisations were sophisticated, subtle and melodic.

In 1925 Armstrong formed his own band ‘Louis Armstrong Hot Five (later Hot Seven)’. Among others he recorded the hit Potato Head Blues (1927) and his improvised solo in this song has since been imitated countless times.

Writing about improvisations, the introduction and solo of the song ‘Weather Bird’ (1928) together with pianist Earl Hines is one of the most famous improvisations in the history of jazz. Listen here:

During that year, Armstrong made 25 recordings. He also started singing more and more, his ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ (1929) became a hit. So did Armstrong’s interpretation of Carmichael’s ‘Stardust’ (1931) and ‘Lazy River’ (1931). You can listen to the latter below. He appears to be a master of ‘scat singing’, which is singing and improvising with meaningless words.

1930s

The Great Depression put many musicians out of work. Louis Armstrong could come and play at the New Cotton Club in Los Angeles, along with Lionel Hampton on drums. Hollywood could still afford a rich nightlife.  Moreover, radio recordings were made of all the performances. Later, Armstrong developed problems with his fingers and lips, and signed contracts to play in films more often.

1940s

After many years on the road, in 1943 Armstrong settled in Queens NYC with his then fourth wife. Again, many big bands had to stop performing because expenditure became too high. At the same time, interest in small ensembles was increasing, which suited Armstrong. Armstrong’s new group was called ‘Louis Armstrong and His All Stars’. In 1948, he recorded the English-language version of Suzy Delair’s song ‘C’est si bon’ which became a world hit. You can hear and see him play and sing on this 1962 recording:

1950s

Over the last 30 years, Armstrong has written over 50 songs, averaged over 300 performances a year, made many recordings and appeared in 30 films. His best-known film is ‘High Society’ with Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Celeste Holm.  Listen to the duet with Crosby:

In the 1950s, Armstrong was a beloved American icon. However, at that time a generation gap emerged between him and the younger generation of jazz musicians, such as Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins, who scorned Armstrong’s ‘vaudeville style’. In turn, Armstrong called their bebop style ‘Chinese music’.

During those years, he recorded two albums that were considered masterpieces: ‘Louis Armstrong plays W.C. Handy‘ (1954) and Satch Plays Fats (songs by Fats Waller). 

1960s

In 1963, he appears in Dave Brubeck’s jazz musical ‘The Real Ambassadors’ in which he performs ‘Summer Song’, one of his most popular vocal performances up to then. You can listen to it below

During these years, Armstrong toured Egypt, Ghana and Nigeria. However, he suffered a heart attack and had to rest for quite some time. It was not until 1964 that he set foot in the studio again and recorded his international hit ‘Hello Dolly’. The song reached number one on the Hot 100 and dethroned the Beatles. You can watch and listen to a recording from 1968 here.

Armstrong starts another world tour, but he breaks it off for health reasons as well. 

In 1968, he made the last recordings with his trumpet on the album ‘Disney Songs the Satchmo Way’ and scored another hit ‘What a Wonderful World’. You can hear and see that one now:

Armstrong dies in his sleep of a heart attack on 6 July 1971.