In , he recorded Three Suites , in which can be found a merry re-working of the Nutcracker. This was undoubtedly Duke's greatest strength: no matter the challenges or fashions, the Duke always stayed true to himself and defended his music. When it seemed impossible to record a track of more than 3 minutes on a 78rpm disc, he recorded Reminiscing in Tempo over 4 sides! When the record industry and market suffered as a result of the financial crisis of the s, he turned to radio.
Though steady and persistent, Duke Ellington was not against change, on the contrary. The composer was always in search of new influences Latin and Oriental in the s, and more expressionist and exotic sounds in the s. Though Duke Ellington is today sat alongside the greatest American composers, he also marked the history of modern music with his unforgettable collaborations: with the singer Ella Fitzgerald i n , the pianist and conductor Count Basie and the trumpeter Louis Armstrong in , the saxophonist John Coltrane in ….
Duke Ellington passed away on 24 May , at the age of Ellington and the Cotton Club were at the heart of the Harlem Renaissance, an explosion of culture, art and intellectualism centred around the African American community in Harlem, an area of Manhattan, in the s.
Ellington was always inventive and unconventional when it came to orchestration, and on this one he voiced the generally higher-pitched clarinet at the bottom of a three-horn frontline, with the generally lower-pitched trombone on the top, thus inverting the expected instrumental roles and creating an unusual timbre.
Clarinettist Barney Bigard was the clarinet soloist on the original recording and gets a credit as co-composer. This uptempo dance number perfectly encapsulates the raucous atmosphere of the s Swing era. One interpretation of this, in the context of the song and its lyrics, might be the idea that jazz can be complex or technically impressive, but it remains essentially worthless without those magical, hard-to-define ingredients: real feeling, attitude and swing.
Ivie Anderson, who sang with the Duke Ellington Orchestra for a decade, provided vocals on the original recording. In Duke Ellington was a musical celebrity at the height of the swing era. He abandoned the happy-go-lucky feeling associated with swing dancing in favour of the complex, chromatic sounds heard here, which perhaps owe something to the meditative feeling of impressionist classical music.
One famous edition of the Orchestra is now known as the Blanton-Webster band, which recorded extensively between approximately , and which notably featured tenor saxophone giant Ben Webster and double bassist Jimmy Blanton. Blanton was hugely influential on his instrument, pioneering the bass as a soloing instrument, amongst various other innovations, but he died of tuberculosis in , aged just Like a number of pieces on this list, Cotton Tail started life as an instrumental jazz tune before later being turned into a song.
Check out our list of 10 albums to get you started on your jazz journey and introduce yourself to some of jazz's great artists. Our education programs have gone online! Find out how you can join for free and learn more about jazz from our experts and members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. Ornette Coleman led a life as fascinating as his music.
Read up on some interesting facts about this jazz legend! Before his passing in May, Joe Temperley spent 29 unforgettable years as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra's baritone saxophonist and its beloved elder statesman. Between performances on their recent mini-tour of Canada, several JLCO members shared their memories of Temperley, who left behind an indelible legacy and a whole lot of stories. April is Jazz Appreciation Month, so we thought we'd celebrate by delving into the careers of a handful of underappreciated jazz artists.
Explore the careers of six musicians who deserve more accolades and learn the best places to start with their discographies. Photo by William P. Gottlieb, courtesy Library of Congress. Remembering Chick Corea Jazz at Lincoln Center remembers the life and legacy of Chick Corea, a towering figure whose innovations spanned decades and genres.
Isaiah J.
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