DEMS BULLETIN
DUKE ELLINGTON MUSIC SOCIETY
02/3 December 2002 - March 2003
FOUNDER: BENNY AASLAND
HONORARY MEMBER: FATHER JOHN GARCIA GENSEL
EDITOR: SJEF HOEFSMIT
ASSISTED BY: ROGER BOYES
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THE INTERNATIONAL DEMS BULLETIN DUKE ELLINGTON MUSIC SOCIETY 02/3 December 2002 - March 2003 FOUNDER: BENNY AASLAND |
Voort 18b, Meerle, Belgium
Telephone: +32 3 315 75 83
Email: dems@skynet.be
A jazz colleague Rod King has brought to my attention a pair of recordings he has recently acquired.
The two 10" x 78rpm shellac records contain four sides comprising The Tattooed Bride, and possess plain white labels with the artist's name and tune title hand-written in black ink. The four sides are identified on the labels with the Roman numerals "I" to "IV", which are repeated in the wax surrounds where four notations "TT I" to "TT IV" are scratched by hand. There is no other identification detail.
This recording originates from a "live" performance with an audience (concert? dance?) and the recording technique is not of the best, being somewhat amateurish and having several clumsy adjustments to the sound balance in places.
There is a spoken introduction by Duke ("The bride was tattooed all over with the letter 'W'") which gives no clues to the performance's origin.
The music appears to be complete, apart from the inevitable breaks between the 78rpm sides, and there is a very rare Jimmy Hamilton "fluff" (a "missed" note) in his solo work above the full band during the final fast section. This may assist in identification.
The fact that the recordings are pressed in shellac and at 78rpm speed suggests that they may date from the late 1940s, and therefore may even predate the earliest known recordings of this title, as listed in Nielsen. Alternatively, some of those listed versions have never been released and this pair could possibly be one of them. Long-play on vinyl was only just starting to appear in 1948-1949.
Can you identify this mystery "Bride"?
P.S. The music is marvellous!
Frank Dutton
Thank you for your audio copy on cassette. You are right. This is one of the very early recordings. In fact, it is the premiere at Carnegie Hall on 13Nov48. It was released on LP FDC 1023 and later on CD VJC-1024.
SH
I am wondering why the middle (slow) section of The Tattooed Bride is called Aberdeen. A most odd title for Duke to have used, relating to a famous old city on the East Coast of Scotland. And if this section is titled, do the other two fast sections one on each side of Aberdeen also have their own titles?
Frank Dutton
I think I can answer the question of the city Duke referred to as Aberdeen when he called for the number from The Tattooed Bride. It was Aberdeen, South Dakota.
In late October, l948 Duke had a 5 or 6 day event in Aberdeen, when he likely could have been preparing numbers for his Carnegie Hall concert, set for November 13, l948. Duke and the band came to Washington, DC on November l for a l0-day gig. I had a chat with Sonny Greer, and he told about the fine time they had in Aberdeen the hometown of my wife Rhoda. Sonny told me about the big mansion they stayed in, and the fine piano they had in the building. The band left Washington on the morning of November 11, and 2 days later played at Carnegie Hall where the band did its first public performance of The Tattooed Bride.
Jack Towers
The Tattooed Bride has 3 movements: Kitchen Stove, Omaha and Aberdeen.
Annie Kuebler
It can be read in Eddie Lambert's Listener's Guide (p150) that Duke introduced to the audiences two different stories, telling sometimes one and sometimes the other. Well, I listened to all the introductions to the Tattooed Bride (thanks to DEMS who provided me with all the performances I missed) and I never heard anything about the first version of the story, that one about the athletic exercise of the husband (too tired in the evening to notice that his new wife was tattooed), but plenty of the second, about the shape of the tattoo and so on.
It would be of great interest if someone has some hint. Please let me know.
Emiliano Mafrici
Marcello Piras, in DEMS bulletin 02/2-17/1 states that Duke is not on the 9Jan28 session.
The session took place on the above date for the Harmony label and consisted of: Sweet Mama; Stack O'Lee Blues and Bugle Call Rag found in New DESOR 2801.
I agree with him that it is difficult to tell. However from listening to all three and to sessions recorded both before and after the session of 9Jan28, I think the following: Sweet Mama - could be Duke Ellington; Stack O Lee Blues - can't tell; Bugle Call Rag - sounds definitely like Duke Ellington, especially when compared to Red Hot Band of 29Dec27 and the following issues of Jubilee Stomp: 19Jan28 for OKeh and two takes of the same title, recorded on Mar28 for Pathé and Cameo. I found that the latter session convinced me that it was Duke Ellington on Bugle Call Rag because of the sameness of stride tempo. The left hand sounds definitely Duke Ellington, for the time. The fact that the recordings on 9Jan28 and on Mar28 (Pathé/Cameo) were equally poor helped to equalise the sound. I also found that the 1st and 2nd title from 9Jan28 were not recorded previously explained the hesitation in Duke Ellington's performances.
Sadly, Mark Tucker's fine book on early DE ends in Nov 1927 and Stratemann does not start until 1929. The New DESOR of course does consider it a Duke session, as do Bakker and Lord.
I can only find three references to 9Jan28: Eddie Lambert's book, p21 column 1, where Eddie states that the session appears to be "a backward slide" but he doesn't question Duke Ellington's presence. There is another discussion by Eddie in his early book in the "Kings of Jazz" series, p43, where he talks about Duke's piano playing in the early days of the band that might prove helpful on the above.
The second reference is DEMS 88/5-8 where the question is whether or not it is Harry Carney or Barney Bigard on clarinet on Stack "O" Lee Blues.
The third is found in "With Louis and the Duke" by Barney Bigard (and Barry Martyn), p59: "The first recording I made with the band was Bugle Call Rag and I remember that for some reason, they couldn't use the drums." Barney then goes on to relate the fact that Sonny sat through the session, got paid but didn't play and what Wellman Braud did when he was told that his bass was too close to the (recording) horn. He is talking about the non-electric recording that was made for Harmony. The passage goes on to describe the various recording situations. However, it is pretty clear that Duke was on the session since Barney did not say anything about it.
Bill Morton
I plan to plunge again into it early next year, and perhaps write an essay if there is meat enough. Meanwhile, I will keep an eye open on all the contributions that may come from this [Duke-Lym] list.
Incidentally, have you checked whether the session is cited in Bigard's (or any other early Ellingtonian's) recollections?
Marcello Piras
See also "Duke Ellington and his world" by Austin Lawrence, p120.
SH
In MIMM p145, Duke tells us: "While Billy Strayhorn was in the hospital in New York, I was in Paris again, and one night we made a tape with Joe Turner and all the other good pianists, each of them playing two compositions. It was wonderful, because I felt I was bringing Billy a piece of his favorite 1 city. All his colleagues, friends, and fellow pianists participated in this. They stayed up till eight in the morning after working all night long. We hope to take that beautiful tape and sell it, and use the money to establish a Billy Strayhorn scholarship in Paris. When that comes out, it will make Billy happy, and he will smile again, as I am sure he did when we set up the first Billy Strayhorn scholarship at Juilliard in New York."
A copy of this tape has been discovered in the Danish collection. Knud S rensen broadcast three selections over the Danish Radio on 2Aug85. They were claimed to have been played by Duke himself: Meditation; T.G.T.T. and Little Purple Flower. These three selections are documented in the New DESOR as entry 6738. DEMS has "released" these three selections at the end of Cassette CA-29 (01/3-2).
DEMS member Claude Bolling wrote to DEMS: "Thank you very much for this audio tape and for the photocopy of file-sheet # 35319 of the Danish Archive, which reminds me of a very emotional moment. This session, supervised by Duke himself was made at Studio Barclay, 9 Avenue Hoche, 75008 in Paris, to be sent to Billy Strayhorn, sick at this time, for him to have pianistical news from his friends in Paris. I played selections 2, 3, 4 and 5. Selections 6, 7, 8 and 9 are by Aaron Bridgers. I am happy to be able to give these precise details.
Best wishes."
Claude Bolling
Alexandre Rado mentioned the same session in his presentation in Pittsburgh on 26May95. Alexandre told us that the recording was made in the early morning of 10Mar67. His presentation was published in edited form in DESUK's "Blue Light" 3/3.
We can now make the first correction. Following the good custom of using the date of the day before the night in question, we should change the date to 9Mar67. However, there is more. Following the DESOR tradition this session should be deleted, because it was not Duke who played the three broadcast selections! Based on the notes supplied by Claude Bolling and Alexandre Rado, combined with the identifications as made for the Danish Radio Archive by Bjarne Busk and his friends and colleagues, we can now make the following description of this session.
The tape started with Joe 'Stride' Turner playing Harry Yuma. Claude Bolling played two of his own compositions, Garnerama and I Love You All Madly. He continued with Harlem Strut by James P. Johnson and he concluded with his own composition, Quietly. Aaron Bridgers took over. He played Yesterdays by Jerome Kern, followed by Meditation; T.G.T.T. and Little Purple Flower. Claude Bolling is sure that it was Aaron Bridgers who played these three Ellington compositions and not Duke himself. Aaron continued with Lush Life; Star Ride; Satin Doll and Take the "A" Train. Alexandre Rado played for us the beginning of this recording of Take the "A" Train.
The tape continued with Joe Turner, who played Carolina Shout by James P. Johnson.
Errol Parker played Consolation and Blues for Her Soul. It is believed that it was Stuart De Silva who played Greens of Soul and Blues for Duke. It is further believed that it was Michel Sardaby who played Blues Sunset and Blues for Billy. Some selections were accompanied by bass or by bass and maracas. Alexandre Rado gave the names of John Lamb and Ron Brooks as bassists and Sam Kali as the maracas-player.
DEMS
I can accept that this session should be deleted from the New DESOR, but I believe that many collectors may want to include this session in their private files. I hope that Karl Emil Knudsen (Storyville Records) one day will release a selection of this 90 minutes long historical session.
SH
1 The spelling of this word seems to support the claim that it was Stanley Dance who actually wrote the book MIMM.
See DEMS 02/2-12/3 and 02/2-23/3
You have not noticed the following errors on page 11 in the liner-notes. It is stated there that track 11 originally was released on the 8-LP set RDA-017, "All-Star Jazz Festival." This set was issued in 1979. The 7-LP set RD4-169, "Great Songs! Great Bands!" was issued in 1974 and it contained 10 Ellington selections which are now on the tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. The claims that RDA-106 and RDA-112 were original releases are correct. They were both issued in 1970.
While on the subject, another small error appeared in the liner-notes of the RCA Centennial Edition on page 70 (Disc 14, track 4): The first issue of D4VB-455-1 was not RCA FXM1-7302 but Reader's Digest RD4-184, "Original Hits of the Big Bands," issued in 1974. I am sure. It was my Reader's Digest copy which was used by Jean-Paul Guiter for producing RCA FXM1-7302, which came out in 1977. This should be corrected in the New DESOR.
Georges Debroe
On Disc #3 track #10 of the 3 CD set "Live and Rare" is a hitherto unknown recording of Mr. Lucky. What we find on this recent release is different from the selection, which was previously issued on Readers Digest RD4-112. It is the same arrangement (by Wild Bill Davis) but this version is without his participation on organ. There are four other selections which have been performed in two versions, with and without organ: La Dolce Vita (with WBD on track # 1 and almost without on track # 13), Alfie (with WBD on track # 2, without on track # 14), Soon It's Gonna Rain (with WBD on tracks # 9, 19 and 20 and without on track # 18) and Moon Maiden (with WBD on track # 12 and without on track # 21).
They must have taken the wrong take of Mr. Lucky (a genuine "mistake"), because the liner-notes describe the previously released version (with organ).
The liner-notes are not only wrong for Mr. Lucky, but also for track # 1, Dolce Vita and for track # 21, Moon Maiden, in as far as Wild Bill Davis is concerned.
It is a pity that the original version of Mr. Lucky is missing, although there would not have been enough room on the third CD of this set. The only CD with some spare room for a single Readers Digest selection was CD #1.
Luciano Massagli
See DEMS 02/1-22/1
That the recently released Storyville CD 8322 was not mentioned in Wendy Lawrence's Gonsalves collection in the Mar02 issue of the Swedish Bulletin, is due to the fact that this was only part 1 of a four part publication. Part 2 was in the Oct02 Bulletin.
I am looking forward to the other two parts of the publication and especially to the announced "MEX A Tribute to Paul Gonsalves" written by Wendy.
SH
See DEMS 02/2-8
Someone has edited out the answer to the origin of 6710. When Ella sings Mack the Knife, she used to mentioned the name of the city. To me it does not sound like an amateur recording from the audience, even if the sound is not too good - but I have heard worse... Some of my own recordings for example.
Jan Bruér
The third Stockholm concert on 24Jan67 has finally been located now! This letter came from Klaus Götting:
I have a question for you.
The subject is New DESOR entry 6710 (following the 02/2-8+9 discussion).
We now know that 6711 must have been the first concert in Stockholm on 24jan67, that the second concert from this date exists in our collections, although not yet listed in the New DESOR and that 6710 (DESOR entry and our tape) must be from another occasion early in 1967.
One of my friends (Ella Fitzgerald specialist Michel Macaire) comes up with the following idea:
In Ella's portion of the mystery tape 6710, she performs Every Time We Say Goodbye and this may point to the United Kingdom.
I tried to check this observation and found the following:
- the few Ella-recordings I have with this song were all made in England (with the exception of the Cole Porter Songbook album recorded in L.A. in 1956)
- this particular song was very popular in England (and as it seems only there):
a) G. M. Fidelman in his book "First Lady of Song" wrote on page 91: "although not a hit in the U.S., Every Time was such a smash success for Ella in the UK that audiences there would not tolerate an appearance without it". And on page 223: "sometimes different regions ...had special favorite songs that Ella had to sing, ...in England ...Every Time... had an immense impact on the British.
b) Stuart Nicholson in his book "First Lady of Jazz" wrote on page 160: "a large portion of the English public now associates the name of Ella with that one number, more than with any other song she ever recorded".
- from Ella's itinerary early '67 in the UK we only know for sure of 11Feb (with Duke)
- Duke toured England from 5 to 20Feb67 and as it seems, was only once associated with Ella on the same program: on 11Feb in London from which we have the second concert on tape (DESOR 6722).
My files (I do not know why) also show their association the day before in Manchester, from which we have 6721 with Duke alone.
You have checked that the 6710 tape is different from all other sources early in 1967 and so my wild guess would be that this tape 6710 is
- either the other concert from 10Feb in Manchester
- or the first concert from 11Feb in London
Please listen again to Ella's spoken introduction to Every Time...; she says something like: "... every time we play up ... ?, ... backstage ...?, ... you have the record home ... "
Klaus Götting
Klaus is right. Congratulations to him and to his friend Michel Macaire! The tape 6710 contains the concert of 10Feb67 in Manchester's Free Trade Hall, in the New DESOR entry 6721.
I found in my files two notes about tape 6710 directing to the UK: "a part of this recording may have been used for the fake Birmingham 6Feb67" and 6 selections on a tape from Georges Debroe, belonging to 6710, were claimed to be from an unknown location in England in Feb67.
When I compared the concerts 6710 and 6721, I found a different description for the title Rue Bleue. The first chorus is somewhat different. That is why I did not spend time on a synchronous listening session. Now I have done so and there is no doubt. These are different recordings of the very same concert.
It gives us quite a lot to add and correct.
The date of 10Feb67 can be added to Ella's itinerary.
The non-complete Chromatic Love Affair (6710g) and Salomé (6710h) can now be described completely.
One of the two different descriptions of 6710f and 6721e should be selected to be the one for Rue Bleue.
SH
It may interest non-British members to know why this beautiful but by no means characteristic Cole Porter song was such a hit for Ella Fitzgerald in Britain but nowhere else. I recall it being said (I think by the late Benny Green) that, when Ella herself began to tour in this country in the late 1950s she was quite unprepared for the fact that her British audiences would insist on hearing her sing it.
At the time when Norman Granz was producing the Songbooks in the late 1950s, BBC Radio used to broadcast a weekly record request programme called 'Family Favourites', which became geared to uniting loved ones and families with members of the armed forces serving overseas. There were lots of these at the time, especially in Germany but also in other places, for example Cyprus. Certain songs were very suited to this situation because of the sentiment of their lyrics, and Every Time We Say Goodbye was obviously one of these.
Even this only partly explains why Ella's then-recent recording was such a huge hit in the UK and nowhere else. The rest of the explanation lies in the fact that the BBC enjoyed a monopoly of radio broadcasting in Britain in those days (a monopoly only broken in the mid-1960s when off-shore 'pirate' stations began transmitting from ships), and most of the BBC's musical output was of live not recorded music, because of a deal with the Musicians' Union designed to protect the livelihood of musicians. 'Family Favourites' was one of the few BBC radio programmes devoted exclusively to records, so its audience was in consequence huge, going far beyond the audience at which it was aimed. It offered the 'real thing', the popular records themselves which by the late 1950s were what people wanted to hear, as against versions of the songs being played live in a studio in London. So we all listened to 'Family Favourites' in the hope of hearing a few things to our taste' (I think the programme lasted for a full hour, certainly not much less). So in this way Every Time We Say Goodbye became very familiar indeed to us, in Ella's then-recent recording. It's a fairly safe bet that an undated Ellington-with-Ella recording on which she sings this song was taped in the UK.
Roger Boyes
See DEMS 02/2-31
Seeing a reference to the DE-John Coltrane session in Jerry's section, I was wondering whether (or not) he ought to list the recent appearance of one of those tracks in error.
The double-CD Impulse album 589 567-2 called "Coltrane (Deluxe Edition)" is supposed to be all with McCoy Tyner on piano. But what's listed as Big Nick from 11Apr62 with Tyner is actually Big Nick with Duke from 26Sep62. At least it is on the first edition of this release, which I gather is being withdrawn and replaced by a corrected version. So, to list or not to list this double CD as an Ellington release?
Brian Priestley
See DEMS 02/2-7/1
The rundown of the Japanese Laserdisc A Vision-AMLY-8029, "Memories of Duke" on page 1287 of the New DESOR starts with track 002, Satin Doll. Track 001 is missing and is probably the other track not by Ellington. My Gentle Price double CD 20052 starts however with Satin Doll, which is slightly different from the description in the New DESOR for 6816k. Int4DE is deleted. The total time of this recording is 7:29. Take the "A" Train (1.51) is the final track with Duke doing his "Love You Madly" piece.
You wrote: Mood Indigo (take 1) "this is the Snader transcription of 14 Mar52". Does this mean that it is an insert, does not come from the concerts, and has dubbed applause?
Lance Travis
What you tell us about your Gentle Price CD is also true for the Tring CD JHD016. The rundown on page 1287 and the description of 6816k on page 1108 are however from the Laserdisc. My video tape "Memories of Duke", A Vision 50187-3, starts with Satin Doll, beginning with Int3DE.
Mood Indigo (take -1) is indeed the original Snader transcription. (See 02/3-18/5)
"Memories of Duke" was a kind of documentary in which interviews with Russell Procope and Cootie Williams were included. This is taken from Klaus Stratemann, p576: "Procope goes on to say that playing old Ellington numbers such as Mood Indigo almost every night for 28 years never became boring, because of the men's attitude, and because Ellington kept changing his arrangements throughout the years. The fact is demonstrated in the film by two subsequent versions of Mood Indigo. The first one dates from '52, when the Ellington band was filmed for Snader Transcriptions.
The clip used is one that was 'doctored' with applause and an intro by M.C. Willie Bryant for use in the full-length 'Snader Composites' (see there)." (There is p340)
SH
Nothing new about Duke in Mexico. Take the "A" Train of "Mexican Suite" is the same, to our ears, as Take the "A" Train of "Memories of Duke" 6851g with the repetition of the 3° and 5°chorus and without the 1°chorus; the coda is edited, lacking the second bar: for this reason CW seems to fluff a note. Take the "A" Train, the closing theme of "Memories of Duke" is also taken from 6851g: it runs from 4DE to the 10th bar of the 4°chorus.
Giovanni Volonté
The closing Take the "A" Train of the "Mexican Suite" picture is different from track 10 of the Tring CD. Most convincing is the difference in pitch if both recordings are brought in synch because the last number of the "Mexican Suite" is played much faster than track 10 on the Trip CD.
Also the closing Take the "A" Train of "Memories of Duke" (track 13 of the Tring CD) is different from track 10. I made the same mistake in DEMS 91/4-5. I was corrected by Victor Schonfield whose confidence was shaken by my allegations about duplication on the Tring CD. He wrote: "On the second version [closing theme of 'Memories of Duke'] is some extra alto at the start of the first B section, which does not happen on the first version [6851g]"
After I listened very carefully again, I admitted in DEMS 93/3-2: "I was wrong. I admit that the two versions of Take the "A" Train are different." I am still convinced.
SH
See DEMS 02/2-22/1
The first issue of Nameless Hour (24Jul67) is Radio Canada International RM 222 and NOT the Attic CD 1425. This should be corrected on the New DESOR's Correction-sheet 1034, item 6767xa. Georges Debroe
See DEMS 02/1-10/1
The discussion about the word BULA (as alternative title for Afro Bossa, spelt Boola in DESOR, pXXXIV) interests me as it clearly has African roots. Not only that, but I found an article about explorer Sir Henry Morton Stanley 1 with connotations rather close to your home country [Belgium].
An alternative explanation might relate to the Zimbabwean city of Bulawayo, which means "Place of Slaughter." If, in Ellington terms, "Bula was there," maybe Bula was the black American equivalent of the famous Kilroy who, Webster's Dictionary tells us, was "a fictitious American male, created by American troops who left the inscription 'Kilroy was here' on walls, property, etc. all over the world in the years during and after World War II."
As far as the spelling BOOLA is concerned, there must be an Eli among our membership who can tell us how Boola Boola (Yale Concert, 26Jan68) became the Yale University song. According to Roger Lax and Frederick Smith's "Great Song Thesaurus" it was based on La Hoola Boola of 1897 by Bob Cole and Billy Johnson, which in turn may have originated in Hawaii. With new words attributed to Allan Hirsch, it became The Yale Boola in 1901.
As an interesting bit of trivia, in 1911 Cole Porter, then an eighteen-year-old undergraduate at Yale, wrote a football rally song called Bulldog! Bulldog! Bow, Wow, Wow, so maybe Boola was a bulldog mascot . Who knows?
Graham Peacock
1 "Failing to enlist British interests in the development of the Congo region, Stanley took service with the king of Belgium, Leopold II, whose secret ambition it was to annex the region for himself. From August 1879 to June 1884 Stanley was in the Congo basin, where he built a road from the lower Congo up to Stanley Pool and launched steamers on the upper river. (It is from this period, when Stanley persevered in the face of great difficulties, that he earned, from his men, the nickname of Bula Matari ['Breaker of Rocks']). Originally under international auspices, Stanley's work was to pave the way for the creation of the Congo Free State, under the sovereignty of King Leopold. These strenuous years are described in 'The Congo and the Founding of Its Free State' (1885)."
See DEMS 97/4-6/4 and 98/2-16/3
This Cat Anderson recording from late 1959 includes a tune variously spelt Ac-cen-tchu-ate (The Positive), Accentuate or Accen'tuate, and credited to Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. Certainly they composed a song with the first spelling, recorded by the Duke in 1945, but spelt on the record sleeve and in DESOR as Accentuate The Positive. The Anderson title has nothing to do with this song and the composer is unknown. In addition to the releases mentioned in both DEMS messages, the Anderson recording also appeared in the UK on a cheap cassette (AD-7008 "Greatest Hits of Duke Ellington"), and the entire session on Fidelio LP ATL 4116. Graham Peacock
The 1944 Arlen-Mercer song Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive (thus spelled in Alec Wilder's American Popular Song The Great Innovators, p279) is well enough known, if only for the Mercer lyric, an early example of the direct influence of the techniques of psychology on the words of a popular song. Is it possible that the title is mis- applied to the unrelated 1959 Cat Anderson track (which I don't know)? Roger Boyes
See DEMS 02/1-8/2 (note 4)
Leon Dierckx has Gotham (GRC 3979-A3/GRC 3979-B3). On side B, band 8 is I Got It Bad, from 24oct55. Half of the intro by Duke is missing.
Georges Debroe
We have read the discussion about the Gotham LPs and about the recording session of 19Aug51 (DESOR 5124) with great interest and we would like to make an addition to the New DESOR and give a detailed description of the Gotham LPs to be included in Section Three, Discs.
Is there anybody who can supply us with these details? We asked Sjef Hoefsmit, but he has only a tape from Joe Igo containing a copy of the LP. He can not answer our two questions: Were there none, one or two versions of Take the "A" Train on this LP? Can you give us the position of each selection on side A and side B of this LP? Is there anybody else out there who can help us?
Luciano Massagli
See DEMS 02/1-8/2
Thanks to Steven Lasker, we can show you a picture of the band playing Caravan on 19Aug51.
Al Hibbler has just finished singing Ol' Man River. There was no room for this picture in earlier Bulletins. DEMS
Luciano Massagli and Giovanni Volonté made a correction-sheet (1036) for the New DESOR with session 5124 from 19Aug51. This session is now called a Gotham recording session. That seems wrong. It was a broadcast in the series "Stars on Parade" as is illustrated by the Down Beat article of 5oct51. SH**
See DEMS 02/2-17/4
The only comment that, after long periods of listening, I have is that all the takes have a sameness of sound, with one exception; track 22 on the CD 10 of the RCA 24 CD Box has variation in volume that I cannot find anywhere else. There are at least 6 or 7 times that this occurs and to my ears it is very pronounced at 1:15-20, 2:18- 24, and 2:32-53. Tracks 21 and 23 have no such variations. Bill Morton
See DEMS 01/3-12/2
Luciano Massagli has sent me copies of his tapes of the two concerts of 20Sep59 to sort things out. I have found a very reliable link joining All of Me with Skin Deep in the 2nd concert, which makes me change my mind. I now believe that Skin Deep on BYG 2035 is from the 1st concert and not from the 2nd. That makes Skin Deep in the 2nd concert unissued.
Furthermore I must agree with Luciano that the link joining Things Ain't What They Used To Be with Juniflip on Sarpe 1013 is so convincing that I have to find another place in my listing for All of Me in the 1st concert on BYG 2035. I have put it after Jeep's Blues in the same concert. I have counted 13 (recorded) occasions on which Duke played All of Me after Jeep's Blues against 5 occasions on which he played it after Things Ain't What They Used To Be in the years 1957/60. All of Me appears also on tape after Jeep's Blues, although there is no continuous link.
SH
When Duke played on the same day two concerts, and these were recorded for later broadcasts, it often happened that selections from both concerts were mixed up. For a long time only one tape of 26Sep59 circulated among collectors, which was considered to be from one single concert, see the Old Desor 746. Let us give this tape number 536. In the New DESOR this tape was claimed to be from the 2nd concert (5932) because a tape of another concert on the same day had popped up in the meantime, which was claimed to be the 1st concert (5931). Let us call this tape 685. The opening Take the "A" Train, the combination of V.I.P.'s Boogie and Jam with Sam and the closing Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue on tape 685 were recognised to be identical with tape 536 and the conclusion was that tape 685 had a mixture of selections from the two concerts.
Recently DEMS member Jan Bruér donated to DEMS a tape with the claim to be exclusively of the 1st concert. Comparison with a great number of tapes from the collections of Luigi Sanfilippo, André Mahus, Klaus Götting and Luciano Massagli revealed that Jan Bruér's claim is correct. That means that Take the "A" Train, V.I.P.'s Boogie, Jam with Sam and Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue were from the 1st concert and not from the 2nd. In other words tape 685 was not mixed up but tape 536 was.
Jan Bruér also drew my attention to the fact that the trumpet solo on Black and Tan Fantasy, Creole Love Call and The Mooche was not played by Ray Nance (as on tape 536) but by Clark Terry (on tape 685). One can also hear Clark Terry in the opening Take the "A" Train, which makes it likely that this opening theme belonged to the same (1st) concert. There is however more evidence.
Duke's opening remarks at the first concert were: "Thank you, thank you very much ladies and gentlemen for such a warm welcome. You're very beautiful, very sweet, very generous, very gracious and all the kids in the band want you to know that we do love you madly. That was Take the "A" Train, Billy Strayhorn's Take the "A" Train, our theme and now in the next selection we include ."
Duke's opening remarks at the second concert were much shorter. It went like this: "Thank you, thanks very much ladies and gentlemen. You're very beautiful, very sweet, very generous, very gracious and we do love you madly. Our first selection includes ."
I do not draw my conclusions from the actual words of these comments but from the fact that the long comment is found between Take the "A" Train and Black and Tan Fantasy not only on the Jan Bruér tape (JB), which featured Clark Terry in Black and Tan Fantasy, but also on tape 536, which has Ray Nance in Black and Tan Fantasy. There is still another tape (331), which does not have the opening Take the "A" Train, but where Black and Tan Fantasy (with Ray Nance) is preceded by the short comment. If I accept that Jan Bruér's tape and/or 331 are not edited, I only have to explain one link in tape 536. If 536 is not edited, I have to explain a link in each of both tapes, JB and 331.
It is less complicated to prove that there is no connection between Happy Anatomy in the second concert and V.I.P.'s Boogie. The only tape on which they seem to be con-nected is tape 536. This is what we hear Duke say on tape 536 between both selections: "Paul Gonsalves and Clark Terry. The title of that number is Happy Anatomy. And now ."
On tape 331 we hear after Happy Anatomy much more: "Paul Gonsalves and Clark Terry. The title of that number is Happy Anatomy. It is one of the themes from the picture 'Anatomy of a Murder'. You know I'm very lucky as a songwriter ." Tape 331 continues with the Medley.
There is no tape with the end of Jam with Sam connected to any other selection. There is no reason to question the connection between All of Me and V.I.P.'s Boogie in the 1st concert on tape JB. Tape JB apart, all the other tapes do not have a reliable connection between the Medley and the closing Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue.
(I have used the tape numbers from Luciano Massagli and the initials of Jan Bruér, to make myself at least clear to them. It must be said that my dear friends Willie Timner and the late Ole Nielsen were right after all, with the exception of the mention of some of the releases.)
SH
I noted in the May 2002 Washington newsletter there was an article on page 2 about Duke at Carnegie, mentioning a Fats Waller appreciation event there in which Duke played, on 2Apr44. Not so. It didn't happen that date.
How can I be so sure? Irv and I were married that Sunday. We were married around noon and afterwards there was a large reception. I called Duke at home to remind him to come. That was about 3 or 4. He was still asleep. About an hour later he and Evie came. That evening, he and the band played the Hurricane show as usual and when we came in around 8:30, in our honor they did that awful corny version of Three Little Words. There was no way Duke could have included Carnegie that day.
If I had the book, "Duke Ellington - Day by Day - Film by Film" it would clarify any Waller event around that time he played.
Claire Gordon
Klaus Stratemann's book does not clarify any other Fats Waller event apart from the Memorial Concert in Carnegie Hall on 2Apr44. Fats died on 15Dec43. Klaus gives two references: the Amsterdam News of 4 and 18Mar44, p11 and Spotlight of May44. He does not indicate which one mentioned Ellington. Ellington only played two solo selections: Sophisticated Lady and Dancers in Love. The band played indeed the same day at the Hurricane. There is a half hour broadcast recorded.
I am not convinced that Ellington couldn't have slipped away for a short appearance at Carnegie Hall.
SH
While of course it is possible that Duke slipped away during the evening of 2Apr44 and played two numbers at Carnegie Hall, this is the first I heard of it. True, Carnegie Hall is only a few blocks away from the Hurricane and it could have been done. And I, a new bride, was not paying close attention to what Mr. Ellington was doing that evening.
Claire Gordon
If it's not too much trouble, could you explain this crazy record to me? I've owned a copy since I was 15 (1970), but it got away from me somewhere and I was very happy to find a new copy in Zurich. It's an amazing mess broadcasts, scraps of pieces what are those first two pieces (before Ben Webster plays I Don't Wanna Walk Without You Baby)? Definitely not Duke playing on Whispering Grass but doesn't sound like Strayhorn either, more like Nat Cole... a party? Anyway, I don't have the New DESOR I shall get it soon...but, as I say, elucidation would be greatly appreciated.
Anthony Coleman
"On Display": Who Wouldn't Love You, Unidentified Title, I Don't Want To Walk Without You are from 29Aug42. As you can see in the next article on this page, there are some doubts about the correct date, but as long as we have no certainty, we prefer to stay with the date as mentioned in all discographies.
Rose Room is by Freddy Slack and his Orchestra with Barney Bigard as soloist, recorded 3oct43. Barney joined Freddy Slack shortly after leaving Ellington, see his biography "With Louis and the Duke", p83. On the Sands of Time is again a genuine Ellington recording from 11Sep43.
I Don't Know What Kind of Blues I've Got is from 28Aug43. Frankie and Johnny is from 29May41.
Sophisticated Lady is from 5Sep43. Black and Tan Blues and Whispering Grass are believed to be from the same date and performed by the same orchestra, from the Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street, conducted by Paul Lavalle. Duke did not take part in these two selections.
Side B has only Ellington recordings: Take the "A" Train; Suddenly It Jumped; The Mood To Be Wooed and C-Jam Blues are from the AFRS "Spotlight Bands" broadcast of 27Jun45.
I Can't Give You Anything But Love and It Don't Mean a Thing are from the "Saturday Night Swing Show" (Duke's 20th Anniversary Tribute) from 10May47.
New World A-Comin' is from the Treasury Show from 16Jun45. (See for discussions about the Temple LP also DEMS 82/3-5 and 98/2-20)
SH
Thanks so much for your answer it's great to have all that info! One question remains...What is the basis for saying that Black and Tan Blues and Whispering Grass come from the same session as Sophisticated Lady? I'd bet my knowledge of American Media that it isn't true (nothing to back it up with though...). The whole atmosphere is totally different. All the Chamber Music Society broadcasts I know (Sidney Bechet, Jelly Roll Morton) are very tightly scripted and don't allow for the vibrations (laughter, movement) one hears before Hodges says, in a very soft voice, The Whispering Grass. The broadcast has a wonderful sense of informality nothing like anything I can associate with Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street. What is the source, if I may ask? Betty Roché on I Don't Know What Kind of Blues I've Got?, right? She was great... On the Sands of Time has no composer listing in discographies (I looked at them in a collectors store), but it should be marked somewhere that it's the theme from the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto...
Anthony Coleman
The late Ellington collector Erich Wahl from Switzerland wrote on his Temple LP jacket Paul Lavalle with a question-mark. That's all I have. Betty Roché it was! Thanks for the Tchaikovsky connection. SH
See DEMS 02/2-16 and left column on this page
We all agree that the "On Display" titles were part of a sort of "Medley of Solos" as Omar Ranney describes them in his "Views and Reviews" column dealing with the Duke's stage show at the Palace in The Cleveland Press of 29Aug42.
But Duke's "Medley of Solos" during the Cleveland gig consisted of Tangerine (Nanton), Sleepy Lagoon (Hodges), Deep in the Heart of Texas (Stewart), Jersey Bounce (Carney), Idaho (Nance), unlisted tune (Webster), unlisted tune (Brown). Ref: The Cleveland Press, Cleveland News and The Cleveland Plain Dealer - August 29, 1942.
Thus, the "On Display" titles are part of another "Medley of Solos" performed earlier the same year. I Don t Want To Walk Without You was included in the 1942 movie musical "Sweater Girl". Glenn Miller s earliest broadcast of the tune was dated 1st of April 1942 and that info could serve as a tip regarding the period when the Duke included the tune in his stage shows.
I suggest that you show the "On Display" trio of titles as "untraced stage show from untraced venue, Spring 1942."
Are you SURE that the two titles from "On Display" (given by Benny Aasland?) are the CORRECT titles?
Carl Hällström
What if the unlisted tunes for Brown and Webster would have been Who Wouldn't Love You and I Don't Want To Walk Without You respectively? The unidentified title featured Chauncey Haughton. There was no selection for him in your listing. If there was one, different from the unidentified title, you would have a point. Now there is nothing that contradicts the possibility that after all the date is right.
The two identified titles seem to be correct. The recordings on Temple M-554 have been compared to the Strayhorn scores by Walter van de Leur. See Walter's "Something To Live For", p252 for Who Wouldn't Love You? and p221 for I Don't Want To Walk Without You.
SH
Some people were disappointed that the original version was not included in the 1999 Columbia Stereo release but an alternate take with a different coda by Clark Terry, which does not incorporate his famous imitation of Puck's comment 'Lord What Fools These Mortals Be'. See 99/3-18 and 99/4-18/2. In DEMS 99/3-18, Sjef mentioned the expected releases of a second production run of the "Such Sweet Thunder" album and the release of a double CD "A Drum Is a Woman". In both cases the original version of Up and Down, Up and Down would be included.
Jerry Valburn has sent this message to the Duke-Lym list. He included the same Columbia release in his column on p28 of this Bulletin. This is taken from Jerry's message:
Please be advised that Columbia (US) has recently released a new CD which includes the correct version of UP & DOWN, UP & DOWN, I WILL LEAD THEM UP & DOWN. The CD on Columbia/Legacy is titled "Ralph Ellison - Living With Music." It has catalog number CK 85935 and contains other interesting vintage tracks by Louis; Bessie; Basie; Billie and Lips Page. There are two other Ellington tracks on the CD, East St. Louis Toodle-O and Black and Tan Fantasy. A very nice collection in all.
Perhaps George Avakian can shed some light on the prospect of Columbia releasing A DRUM IS A WOMAN.
During Phil Schaap's tenure with the company, "Drum" was re-mastered and ready for release, even advertised with the Columbia/Legacy number. BUT it has NEVER happened.
Jerry Valburn
See DEMS 02/2-4
Tom Lord's The Jazz Discography is available on CD-ROM. Apparently the CD includes all 26 volumes and is searchable! Peter MacHare
This is the end of Steve Voce's very enthusiastic review:
The 26 original volumes averaged out at $60 each. This disc, containing every word, costs $277 when bought on line through the web-site at http://www.lordisco.com (its well worth a visit just to look around).
Alternatively it can be ordered by mail, email, fax or phone. Here are some details. Lord Music Reference Inc., 1540 Taylor Way, West Vancouver, BC, Canada V7S 1N4, tel. 001.604-926-9953, fax 001.604-926-9822, e-mail: lord@lordisco.com
Incidentally, those are US dollars. They are a modest outlay for the most amazing application of technology to our music that I have ever seen.
Steve Voce
In "70 Years of Recorded Jazz", the Walter Bruyninckx work, there is a reference to a Duke Ellington composition that is not mentioned in the MIMM index.
Here is:
Edward King and his American "Royal Orchestra"
(Bernard Ette), Berlin August 1925
2831-B / Jig Walk - Charleston / Vox 1958
2832-B / Love Is a Just Wish for You / Vox 1971
2434-A / Jig Walk - Charleston / Vox 1995 (12 inch)
2441-A / Love Is a Just Wish for You / Vox 1995 (12 inch)
Note: Jig Walk and Love Is a Just Wish for You are
Duke Ellington compositions and most likely, the first
ever played on the continent of Europe.
I never heard about Love Is a Just Wish for You as a Duke Ellington composition.
Luis Contijoch
In Mark Tucker's "Ellington - The Early Years", pp132, 133 and 134 this is mentioned in Mark's description of the show "Chocolate Kiddies":
"Jim Dandy; With You and Jig Walk were copyrighted early in December 1925, more than six months after 'Chocolate Kiddies' opened in Germany."
"The back page of Jim Dandy says something about two additional Ellington-Trent songs. Incipits appear for Love Is a Wish for You and Skeedely-Um-Bum. The former is a waltz starting, like Jig Walk, on ii."
DEMS' comment:
Example 22 shows Love Is a Wish for You and Skeedely-Um-Bum, incipits from back page of Jim Dandy. Here we can read the first line of the tune: Love is just a wish for you To be with-in my arms This brings us even closer to the title you found in Bruyninckx, but there is more that indicates that we are dealing with the same song.
Mark again:
"Despite the advertisements, these songs seem not to have been published by Robbins. Neither appears in the Library of Congress copyright records nor survives in sheet-music form. However, soon after the 'Chocolate Kiddies' revue left for Europe, Jo Trent copyrighted Love Is Just a Dream of You (June 22, 1925), with no specific indication of composer. This may have become Love Is a Wish for You in its European incarnation."
"The success of 'Chocolate Kiddies' overseas inspired recordings of numbers from the show by several European artists. In August 1925 Bernard Etté's dance orchestra recorded Love Is a Wish for You in Berlin for Vox, which labelled the piece a 'Valse Boston'; ."
I very much appreciate your column "New Releases and re-releases" in each DEMS Bulletin, but where should we go to find these CDs? Joe Farrier
There must be many suppliers who have these CDs in their catalogues. I am personally very happy with Worlds Records in Novato, California. One can order by telephone: (800) 742-6663 or fax (415) 898-6348, visit the web-site www.worldsrecords.com or send an e-mail to info@worldsrecords.com.
Four times a year a catalogue is published with the latest additions to the stock.
In the June catalogue were three Ellington CDs mentioned: Love You Madly (02/2-25/3) with item code 36958 ($16); Treasure Shows Vol. 5 (02/2-21/3) item code 37019 ($24) and Live at Carnegie (02/1-19/1) with item code 36693 ($25).
In the latest September catalogue are four Ellington CDs: Money Jungle (02/2-24/4) with item code 37127 ($17); Neatwork, Volume 6 (02/3-19/1) with item code 36963 ($16); Pablo, Alhambra (02/2-25/1) with item code 36936 ($17) and Bluebird, Live and Rare (02/2-23/3) item code 36942 ($41). All prices are without mailing expenses! New releases arrive daily and are posted weekly at the web-site.
SH
Betty Knight reported from Washington that Louis Thomas's cabaret, the Oriental Gardens, on Ninth and R streets, N.W. has been razed. It was the oldest black cabaret in Washington. It is mentioned in MIMM several times and a picture of the interior is on p31. In spite of the fact that the city's preservation laws are among the strongest in the nation, the Consumers Affairs Department declared the building an imminent hazard, in which case the rules no longer apply. DEMS
See DEMS 01/2-22/1; 01/3-10/3; 02/1-9/1
Here is what certainly must have been the last 78 rpm with the Duke: A vinyl pressing, issued by John R. T. Davies, in 1993 of the following Brunswick masters Oklahoma Stuff, E-31372-B (29oct29) and Maori, E-32448-B (20Mar30) on the flip side. The pressing is reported and discussed on page 240 in Storyville Magazine # 156. Carl Hällström**
To quote you from DEMS Bulletin 02/2-18/2: "It is never too late to correct an error".
Has the following ever been discussed in DEMS? With the 10th Anniversary issue of the Bulletin, 1989/1, a lot of high quality DIN A4 photo pages were included. Benny didn't mention it, but they actually first appeared in the Aasland-Valburn bio-disco "Duke Ellington - The Master / Variety period".
One picture, the upper half of a page of amusing snapshots of the Ellington band during the ferry trip from Copenhagen to Malmö in April 1939, has the following caption:"Leo Mathisen, Harry Nicolausson, Timme Rosenkrantz and Duke in Copenhagen 1939". The correct caption should be: "Danish bandleader Anker Skjoldborg, Harry Nicolausson [editor of the Swedish jazz periodical "Orkester Journalen" is the fellow wearing glasses], Baron Timme Rosenkrantz [smoking a cigarette] and Duke at a party at the St. Thomas night- club in Copenhagen, 31May50."
Carl Hällström
See DEMS 02/2-18/1
Well, actually the band is standing at the train station in The Hague while waiting for a train to take them to Hamburg, where the transfer was to be made to a train to Copenhagen the first Swedish concerts took place in Malmö on 11Apr39, not in Stockholm.
And as for the photo of the band at the train station, I don't think it's Rex Stewart far left with the unknown (coloured) woman. Rex was a small, fat man. My first thought was coloured bandleader and pianist Freddy Johnson who lived in Holland at the time, and his coloured girlfriend Rosie Poindexter, who just might have been there to wish the Duke and the boys 'bon voyage'.
Carl Hällström
I am convinced that many of you will have noticed that this picture could not be from10Apr39.
It was certainly taken in DEN HAAG, The Netherlands, but the correct date must have been 24 or 25Jul33.
Three of the band-members present here were no longer with the band in 1939: Wellman Braud, Arthur Whetsel and Freddie Jenkins,
Please compare this picture with the 1933 photograph shown in Stratemann's "Day By Day", p66.
If you do this you will hardly miss another (and somewhat amusing) factor arguing for both photographs to be from the same period. Can one imagine Irving Mills wearing the same shoes in 1939 as he worn in 1933? On these photos he does...
I would suggest the following identification (left to right): Bessie Dudley; Freddie Jenkins; Fred Guy; Johnny Hodges; Joe Nanton (rear); Cootie Williams; Arthur Whetsel (squatting); Barney Bigard; Juan Tizol (squatting); Harry Carney; Duke; Irving Mills; Wellman Braud (rear); Sonny Greer (rear); Derby Wilson?; Otto Hardwick; Lawrence Brown (rear); Ivie Anderson.
Jean Portier
See DEMS 97/4-5
Recently I watched attentively the videotape of "Duke Ellington Swings Through Japan". (See Klaus Stratemann, p487.)
After The Mooche (and unfortunately largely covered by talking) we have some 1:17 piano playing, originally shown in the old Desor as 939f Unknown Title with as structure: 26DE. This is deleted from the New DESOR 6450, but it sounds very much as belonging to "Ad Lib on Nippon".
I do not recognise this passage as being an excerpt from the last item on the Danish broadcast #26, which clearly is "Ad Lib on Nippon" Part 3: Nagoya playing for 5:38, now listed in the New DESOR as 6451a from Tokyo 1Jul64.
Can it be that this unknown 939f is what New DESOR lists as 6451b Unidentified "K" with a different structure?
Klaus Götting
No. Unidentified "K", 6451b has nothing to do with "Ad Lib on Nippon". The Unknown Title in the old Desor (939f) is replaced in the New DESOR because it is not a part of the concert. It is put in a separate session, 6449. It is however a segment of Nagoya, 6451a as you assumed. Actually, the segment in the video documentary just starts where the Danish broadcast ended. There are only a few overlapping bars. That makes the identification very hard. I noticed that Klaus Stratemann gives only 0:25 for the video segment. The total length of 6451a is 8:20. You have a total of 6:55 from two sources, the video (1:17) and the broadcast (5:38). Session 6449 should be deleted. SH
I listened again to an interview of Duke by an unknown lady with a duration of %28:26 fading. It is not mentioned in DESOR or any other discography. My tape came from Ed Hausmann in Toronto with a quality of 5 to 6 (scale 10).
The subject of the interview is largely Sacred Concerts and Freedom and very obviously it was made one night after a performance of a Second Sacred Concert.
The tape has some piano playing/illustrations interspersed:
- 0:02-0:24 (= 0:22) In the Beginning God (partly over talk, from record ?)
- 5:25-5:40 (= 0:15) It's Freedom
- 15:27-15:30 (= 0:03) first six notes from In the Beginning God
- 24:00-26:55 (= 2:55) Medley: I Got It Bad, I'm Beginning To See the Light, Mood Indigo, Don't Get
Around Much Anymore, Caravan, Sophisticated Lady, Solitude, It Don't Mean a Thing, Satin Doll, I Let a Song
Go Out Off My Heart.
Duke's answers are not of great help in identifying the place and the date apart from these responses:
- "just did 4 weeks in Vegas" (= 12Mar-3Apr68) and "one day at White House playing for the president of
Liberia" (= 27Mar68)
- "that Grace Cathedral" (at 2:45 on my tape), this might be understood as if Duke talked after just having
performed there (on 16Apr68 ?)
- "we played Sacred Concerts at Coventry, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in NY, Emmanuel Temple in
Beverly Hills" (OK, all this was before 1968)
- "BS died 1st of May LAST year" (= 1967)
- "Lucky Roberts died THIS year" (= 5Feb68)
- "Sacred Concert as you heard tonight"; which means earlier the same day (at 7:18 on tape)
Many years ago this tape found its way into your collection and your corresponding sheet said: "1968, unknown lady, later than 2Feb68, possibly made outside of USA. Canada ?"
My original files said: Buffalo? Canada? NY ?
There are not so many occasions in 1968 where one would expect a Sacred Concert to be followed by a long interview. I see three: 16Apr68 at Grace Cathedral/Frisco, 7May68 in Milwaukee and 7Jul68 in Stratford Ontario.
I believe that we have here a hitherto undocumented INTERVIEW from 7Jul68 Stratford Ontario, Canada.
My reasons:
- this was the ONLY Sacred Concert OUTSIDE the USA during this period (Stratemann)
- my tape came from Ed Hausmann in CANADA
- the interviewer (NOT Helen McNamara, I think) says having seen TWICE the show "Pousse Café",
which was premiered in TORONTO Jan66, then played in Detroit and (only 3 times!) on Broadway (see
Stratemann p533).
Klaus Götting
See DEMS 02/2-24/4
Michael Cuscuna writes in his liner notes that "Now, all of the releasable music is here (....)". I'm afraid not. In the next reissue he'll be obliged to present (at least) three takes of A Little Max. And maybe the vaults will contain a few more unknown gems. Louis Tavecchio
Only three complete takes of A Little Max and one first take of Fleurette Africaine have not been used. Everything else was done in the one or two takes that appear on the latest CD. Michael Cuscuna
Thank you very much for the booklet "The Famous Cotton Club". My attention focused on the item "Duke Ellington to make national tour" on p18, where is written: " . where he supported Maurice Chevalier, popular French stage and screen star".
Immediately a question comes to me: is there any broadcast of these shows (with Chevalier accompanied by Duke) on record?
I have a Chevalier biography, where the Duke/Chevalier meeting is described. The book is titled "Maurice Chevalier - Le sourire de Paris" by Daniel Ringold and Philippe Guiboust (musique TF1 Editions).
I quote (and translate):
"The show Chevalier was planning would have to be played in one of the C.B.Dillingham theatres, the Fulton Theatre with a capacity of thirteen hundred people. Maurice intended to split the evening into two parts. During the first part, a great jazz orchestra would occupy the stage. During the second part, the orchestra would step down into the pit and accompany the songs by Chevalier, who would be alone on stage.
There remained the problem: which orchestra? Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians? Ted Lewis? Maybe the famous Paul Whiteman?
One evening, Dillingham took Chevalier to the Cotton Club in Harlem, the black ghetto of the New York metropolis, to listen to a jazz-band conducted by an extraordinary piano-player, who was starting to become well-known: Duke Ellington.
Impressed by the musicality and the swing of Ellington, Maurice decided that Duke's should be the orchestra to accompany him in the Fulton Theatre. But in 1929 segregation was still very widespread in the U.S.A. Duke had never crossed the border between Harlem and the rest of New York, and had never played on Broadway. Dillingham explained to Maurice the risks involved with engaging Ellington. The show could be boycotted. But Maurice would not listen:
'Listen Dillingham, it is very simple! I am Maurice Chevalier and I am French. I want that orchestra to accompany me. I am French and I do not know the American racial prejudices! Either Ellington is with me, or I do not sing and I cancel the show, that's all!'
Dillingham gave in and agreed to hire Ellington. Maurice sent for Duke and the musician became overwhelmed by joy and enthusiasm. And the show took place.
The theatre was sold out one week in advance. It is in the Fulton Theatre, thanks to Maurice Chevalier's determination, that Duke started his glorious career. One of the greatest names in jazz took off that night."
I read in another book - biography - (I had not the opportunity to buy it) Chevalier's appreciation of the Ellington orchestra's accompaniment. It went like this: "I do not understand how they handle their horns to make such exciting, driving music".
I figured that you could be interested in these stories.
Bernard Dupuis
Thank you Bernard for these interesting quotes from Chevalier's literature. However, like many other biographies this one is not fully accurate. Duke played in the Ziegfeld Theatre on Broadway 111 performances between 2Jul and 5oct29. The two weeks at the Fulton were between 30Mar and 13Apr30.
DEMS
See DEMS 02/1-16/5
I think we can correct the title given as La Grande Romp to Le Grand Rond.
In 1974 a kind of bonus LP (not for sale) by a discrete French label had 6 of the titles mentioned and spelled the last one as Le Grand Rond.
The LP's reference was DISC-RET 1974 (sic!); I hold a copy.
Also on a very old private tape I have this same title listed as Le Grand Rond with this spelling.
By the way: Le Grand Rond makes some sense in French (something like "the large circle"). "La Grande Ronde" also would also mean something like "the great ball/dance".
La Grande Romp on the other hand does not make any sense.
Jean Portier
Well there is a title, The Romp, by Ben Webster's All Stars on 20Aug45. My dictionary gives me some translations into my own language and my thesaurus gives my quite a few synonyms some of which sound familiar from other titles: lark, party, good time, hop, frolic, play, caper, bash.
SH
This is the title of a CBC television program in 1958. Duke's participation in the show on 31Jul58 is documented in Klaus Stratemann, p390. David Palmquist wants to be credited for discovering this previously undocumented session, or really his friend Reimut should be credited for calling him to tell him about the show a half hour before it started (on television) on 16Aug02.
I recorded this show earlier on 7Mar02. The one hour show was titled "Buried Treasures" and it contained recordings made of black artists appearing for CBC Television in the early years. It was put together for the occasion of CBC Television's 50th anniversary. The program was hosted by Molly Johnson.
The first part was Duke's contribution to the 1958 CBC show "Summertime '58". He played together with Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Jimmy Woode and Sam Woodyard: I'm Beginning To See the Light; Sophisticated Lady; Caravan; I Got It Bad; I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart and Don't Get Around Much Anymore.
The following "Buried Treasures" were recordings of Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Eckstine, Sarah Vaughan, Nat King Cole, Dinah Washington, Marion Anderson, Sammy Davis Junior (with Perdido) and Della Reese.
The closing item was again an Ellington performance of Sophisticated Lady, taken from the 2Sep64 recording for the CBC with Byng Whitteker.
Bill Morton
Has the presence of Wellman Braud on the session of 15Nov28 (at least on Bandanna Babies and Diga Diga Doo) ever been seriously disputed? The whole focus, both rhythmically and in terms of pitch, has always seemed more "sophisticated" than what one is used to from Braud. I A-B'ed these tracks with two great Braud performances - Freeze and Melt (4Apr29) and That Rhythm Man (28May29). I also played them for my girlfriend, who is a string player (cellist). The difference seems obvious to us both. Once I saw Billy Taylor listed as the tuba player on the 30oct28 session (I don't remember where). Was he playing string bass that early? The bass player certainly sounds like the Taylor of, for example, Harmony in Harlem (20Sep37). I don't say it's him - but I'm pretty sure it ain't Braud...listen to tone, intonation...check it out...
Anthony Coleman
Billy Taylor was mentioned as (probably) the tuba player on 30oct28 by the old Desor (entry 39). The New DESOR has Wellman Braud (entry 2812). Timner 1st, 2nd and 3rd edition had Billy Taylor; 4th edition has Wellman Braud.
DEMS
See DEMS 02/2-21
There is another error in the liner-notes. Ray Nance was not in the band after 1oct45. He left between 1 and 4oct45. On 1oct he could still be heard and on 4oct he was apparently absent.
Hans-Joachim Schmidt
Jerry Valburn seems to have overlooked DETS 903-9006 in his regular listings of "New Ellington CD Releases". Can it be included - for the record - in his next report?
Dennis Askey
This is taken from an e-mail from Jerry Valburn of 9Aug02: Just last week I received a print-out of the liner notes with multiple errors. I am faxing them the corrected pages this weekend and I HOPE they can get everything going. With schedules I think we are looking at the first weekend in September for the European release of DETS 903 9006. That's how it goes!"
Jerry Valburn
We just read in the TDES Newsletter from Dec02 an article written by Richard Ehrenzeller, telling us that DETS 6 is out. It contains the broadcasts of 16Jun, 23Jun and 28oct45. It is still missing in Jerry's column (See pp28/30).
DEMS
See DEMS 02/2-22/2
I agree with Luciano. The recording seems clearly to belong to the 19Jan38 Rug Cutters session. I can explain all the clues for this...the sound of the timpani, Duke's playing of the transition between the A theme and the B theme, Cootie's deliberation in his playing of the theme... Was that by any chance the same date when Leonard Feather recorded I've Got To Be a Rug Cutter and Untitled Blues in B Flat by Cootie on trombone? Just curious... Anyway, the band had Echoes of Harlem more - or - less in it's repertoire for over 2 years by then, so I was surprised that it would be so much trouble to put it together, even in a small band version.
Anthony Coleman
Here are my notes of the Leonard Feather recordings:
Dick Bakker gave Feb37 as date, and suggests that the notes in DEMS 86/3-1 and 87/1-2 are referring to this recording.
Steven Lasker suspected that this recording was made at either the 5Mar or 8Mar37 session. See Klaus Stratemann p140. Steven changed his mind after having spoken with Leonard Feather, who played both selections at Ellington '92 on 30May92 and placed it in time as Dec36. In Comments on Timner's 4th edition p7 Steven Lasker wrote:
"Considering the dates when Ellington recorded for A.R.C. in New York and Leonard was also in town, I think it likely that Feather's disc of I've Got To Be a Rug Cutter and Untitled Blues in B Flat was cut during the spring of 1938, probably either on 24Feb or 3Mar38. In any case, 1936 and 1937 can be ruled out as possible dates."
I share your surprise about the rehearsals for Echoes of Harlem after two years of practice, that's why I still believe that the date was some time around Feb36.
SH
Cootie's rehearsal of Echoes of Harlem is much closer to his interpretations of 1938, not only the studio session but also the Cotton Club broadcast. He has made the work his own, he inhabits it the way a great actor becomes his/her role; the way he sings his part on the rehearsal disc, the way he says "I know what I want!" is indication enough of this. On the original, great as it is, there is some element of straight reading. I could certainly go on, almost note for note, about this (not that there are so many notes on the rehearsal disc!)
Anthony Coleman
See DEMS 02/2-6/2
DETS double CD Vol. 5 contains two selections from this ONS broadcast: the second one is Let the Zoomers Drool. It is the last title in the broadcast. It does not follow the description in the New DESOR on page 994 (4583k). It ends like this: 3°10BAND,%.
Also the LP Joyce 1071 does not follow the DESOR description. We have: 3°11BAND,%, which is followed by a voice saying "This is the Armed Forces Radio Service." During this announcement the music is completely muted. After the announcement we hear a repeat as follows: 2°(nc)%,9AS,4BAND,12CA;3°6BAND,%.
However, the description in the New DESOR is correct. If we listen to the One Night Stand broadcast on our tape it ends indeed like it is described in DESOR: 3°16BAND,8HC,2BAND,%. We hear another voice saying: " . up for another One Night Stand and we wind up another session with Duke Ellington and his Orchestra playing from the Club Zanzibar in N.Y.C. Featured vocalists were Joya Sherrill and Albert Hibbler. This is the Armed Forces Radio Service." The text in Italics is spoken without music on the background. The first sentence is spoken over the end of the original recording and starts at the end of Harry Carney's solo. After the muted period we hear a repeat as follows: 2°(nc)%,12AS,4BAND,12CA;3°8BAND,%. This is also indicated in the New DESOR page 1307, where we find a second mention of Let the Zoomers Drool.
It seems obvious what has happened here. The versions on Joyce and on DETS are edited from the original ONS version. The Joyce version must have been used for another broadcast for which the mention of ONS had to be deleted. It is strange that the repeat after the closing announcement was not taken from the repeat after the ONS bc, which started with the last 12bars by Al Sears, but from the original broadcast again. There are not more than 7 bars by Al Sears free of speech and the Joyce version has 9 bars by Al Sears free of speech.
Another broadcast that comes to mind is ONS #800, but it does not make sense to edit the end of the closing selection. There was nothing wrong in the closing statement.
Hans-Joachim Schmidt
See DEMS 02/2-4/Q4
You wrote: "Most releases of this Snader Transcriptions session contain an edited version from Columbia Masterpieces album (5017b)" Does this mean that it is then not a Snader transcription but a false representation?
Lance Travis
Yes that's what it is. This is quoted from a 10Mar82 letter by Klaus Stratemann to me: "New World 5043 does indeed contain a totally different version of Mood Indigo. It is a heavily edited version of the commercial Columbia recording of 18Dec50 as released on the "Masterpieces" LP. They edited the entire main section, leaving only the beginning and the end intact 1. Admittedly a fine job of editing, but nevertheless, piracy. The reasons seem clear: When the fault on the original Camay release had been detected 2, they tried to correct this for the subsequent British equivalent release but could not get hold of an original Snader soundtrack from Mood Indigo, took an easier way out."
1 The beginning and the end of the Columbia recording were left intact.
2 The fault on the original Camay 3043 is the fact that on this LP Mood Indigo was missing and Sophisticated Lady appeared twice.
SH