Jazz Corner - A Later Ellington Playlist (1956 - 1971)

The Ellington back catalogue is enormous. A lot of the 3-minute, 78 r.p.m. classics are very well-known (think of Mood Indigo, It Don’t Mean A Thing, Sophisticated Lady, Caravan, Cotton Tail, In A Mellotone, Take The ‘A’ Train, Perdido and The 'C’ Jam Blues, to name but ten). If you're after a good, cheap set of this earlier music, I recommend the nicely annotated set from Proper Records, although you should really supplement that with the complete Blanton-Webster Band on RCA Bluebird - you'd never regret it. Ellington continued to produce masterpieces into the LP era, although these records are less familiar to most. Here is an attempt at an introductory playlist.


All tracks by Duke Ellington & His Orchestra unless otherwise specified:


1. Tourist Point Of View (Ellington / Strayhorn) (from the album ‘Far East Suite’) Ellington (p); Cat Anderson, Mercer Ellington, Herbie Jones, Cootie Williams (t); Lawrence Brown, Chuck Connors, Buster Cooper (tbn); Harry Carney, Paul Gonsalves, Jimmy Hamilton, Johnny Hodges, Russell Procope (reeds); John Lamb (b); Rufus Jones (d). 12/66. Bluebird.

The arrival of the LP allowed Ellington to devise several extended suites, some of which were inspired by US State Department excursions. The 'Far East Suite' sessions followed the band’s world tour in 1963. Breathy tenor by Paul Gonsalves, screaming trumpet by Cat Anderson, beautifully limber bass by John Lamb.

2. Portrait Of Wellman Braud (Ellington) (from the album ‘New Orleans Suite’) Ellington (p); Cootie Williams, Money Johnson, Al Rubin, Fred Stone (t); Booty Wood, Julian Priester, Chuck Connors (tbn); Dave Taylor (btb); Johnny Hodges, Russell Procope, Norris Turney, Harry Carney, Paul Gonsalves (reeds); Joe Benjamin (b); Rufus Jones (d). 4-5/70. Atlantic.

Ingenious, speaker-rattling tribute to a bass player who was with Ellington in the late 20s/early 30s. Johnny Hodges died during the recording of the New Orleans Suite, having been with Duke almost constantly since 1928. The fact that many of Ellington’s band members stayed with him for decades is often remarked upon. In a 1958 interview with Humphrey Lyttelton, he made light of their loyalty: ‘Well, you’ve got to have a gimmick, Humphrey. The one I use is to give them money.’

3. Chinoiserie (Ellington) (from the album ‘The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse’) Ellington (p); Mercer Ellington, Money Johnson, Eddie Preston, Cootie Williams (t); Chuck Connors, Malcolm Taylor, Booty Wood (tbn); Russell Procope (clt/as); Norris Turney (as); Harold Ashby, Paul Gonsalves (ts); Harry Carney (bs); Joe Benjamin (b); Rufus Jones (d). 71. Original Jazz Classics.

This late suite is a happy fusion of jazz and world musics. Crucial to its success is a terrific array of improvising soloists, able to cope well with the sometimes slower-moving harmony. Here, Harold Ashby plays a masterful long solo while Duke pulls the strings behind him. Admiring conversation from the session - Carney: ‘Ol’ Ash was carrying on there!’ Gonsalves: ‘Yeah, he’s ready for the show now.’

4. Bonga (Ellington) (from the album ‘Afro-Bossa’) Ellington (p); Cat Anderson, Roy Burrowes, Cootie Williams (t); Ray Nance (cornet/vln); Lawrence Brown, Buster Cooper, Chuck Connors (tbn); Russell Procope (as/clt); Johnny Hodges (as); Jimmy Hamilton (ts/clt); Paul Gonsalves (ts); Harry Carney (bs/clt/bass clt); Billy Strayhorn (p); Ernie Shepherd (b); Sam Woodyard (d); Cat Anderson, Roy Burrowes, Cootie Williams, Billy Strayhorn (auxiliary perc). 63. Warner.

5. Eque (Ellington) (from the album ‘Latin-American Suite’) Ellington (p); Lawrence Brown, Buster Cooper (tbn); Johnny Hodges (as); Paul Gonsalves (ts); Harry Carney (bs); only soloists identified. 70. Original Jazz Classics.

A couple of catchy Latin miniatures. Distinctly Ducal scoring, though - the plunger-muted brass and virtuoso Crescent City clarinet on ‘Bonga’ are unmistakable.

6. Perdido (Ellington) (from the album 'The Great Paris Concert') Ellington (p); Cat Anderson, Roy Burrowes, Cootie Williams (t); Ray Nance (cornet); Lawrence Brown, Chuck Connors, Buster Cooper (tbn); Russell Procope, Johnny Hodges, Jimmy Hamilton, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney (reeds); Ernie Shepard (b); Sam Woodyard (d). 63. Atlantic.

7. Up Jump (Ellington) (from the album ‘The Jaywalker’) Ellington (p); Cat Anderson, Cootie Williams, Herbie Jones, Mercer Ellington (t); Lawrence Brown, Chuck Connors, Buster Cooper (tbn); Jimmy Hamilton (clt/ts); Russell Procope (as/clt); Johnny Hodges (as); Paul Gonsalves (ts); Harry Carney (bs/clt/bass clt); John Lamb (b); Rufus Jones (d); Emmanuel Abdul-Rahim (perc). 66-67. Storyville.

8. Duke Ellington / Count Basie - Jumpin’ At The Woodside (Basie) (from the album ‘1st Time!’) Ellington, Basie (p); Cat Anderson, Thad Jones, Willie Cook, Sonny Cohn (t); Ray Nance (cornet); Quentin Jackson, Louis Blackburn, Lawrence Brown (tbn); Frank Foster, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney, Frank Wess, Johnny Hodges, Jimmy Hamilton (reeds); Freddie Green (g); Eddie Jones, Aaron Bell (b); Sam Woodyard, Sonny Payne (d). 7/61. Columbia.

Three reminders that Ellington still ran one of the most exciting big bands out there. First up, a superb Perdido from Paris (arrangement by Gerald Wilson, I believe). Paul Gonsalves was the unexpected star of the band's appearance at the 1956 Newport Festival, a set that was widely credited with reviving Ellington’s fortunes at a difficult time for all big bands (Diminuendo In Blue was the track that caused all the fuss). Up Jump provides a fairly uncomplicated opportunity for Gonsalves to showcase his skills. On Jumpin' At The Woodside, Duke’s Gonsalves (right channel) spars with Count’s Frank Foster (left), in a spicy re-imagining of the Basie favourite.

9. Ella Fitzgerald with Duke Ellington & His Orchestra - I Got It Bad (And That Ain’t Good) (Ellington / Webster) (from the album ‘Ella Sings The Duke Ellington Songbook’) Ellington (p); Fitzgerald (v); Cat Anderson, Willie Cook, Ray Nance, Clark Terry (t); Quentin Jackson, John Sanders, Britt Woodman (tbn); Jimmy Hamilton (ts/clt); Russell Procope (as/clt); Johnny Hodges (as); Paul Gonsalves (ts); Harry Carney (bs/bass clt); Jimmy Woode (b); Sam Woodyard (d). 6/57. Verve.

Between 1956 and 1964, Ella Fitzgerald recorded 16 CDs worth of ‘Songbook’ material: over 200 songs, by the likes of the Gershwins, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hart and Jerome Kern. During most of these recordings, she was accompanied by well-drilled, well-behaved bands. The Ellington sessions, however, appear to have been much less disciplined: there are accounts of Ella crying, while Ellington, longtime collaborator Billy Strayhorn and loyal copyist Tom Whaley wrote arrangements on the hoof. Ella sounds fine, though, and the arrangements are excellent.

10. Duke Ellington / Charlie Mingus / Max Roach - Wig Wise (Ellington) (from the album ‘Money Jungle’) Ellington (p); Mingus (b); Roach (d). 9/62. Blue Note.

Labels were keen to record Ellington alongside the stars of the next generation (see also tracks 9 and 12). This is a good chance to hear more of Duke’s piano style - during later big band sessions, he sometimes liked to retire to the control room.

11. Half The Fun (A.K.A. Lately) (Ellington / Strayhorn) (from the album ‘Such Sweet Thunder’) Ellington (p); Cat Anderson, Willie Cook, Ray Nance, Clark Terry (t); Quentin Jackson, John Sanders, Britt Woodman (tbn); Johnny Hodges, Russell Procope (as); Paul Gonsalves, Jimmy Hamilton (ts); Harry Carney (bs); Jimmy Woode (b); Sam Woodyard (d). 8/56-5/57. Columbia.

From the excellent Shakespeare-inspired record. According to Sam Woodyard, Duke wrote no drum part, providing instead a description of the scene depicted: ‘Imagine this great golden barge floating down the Nile River: beautiful dancing girls, mounds of food and drink, elephants, ostrich feather fans, a hundred slaves rowing the barge and Cleopatra is lying on a satin bed.’ Perfectly judged alto solo by Johnny Hodges.

12. Duke Ellington / John Coltrane - In A Sentimental Mood (Ellington) (from the album ‘Duke Ellington And John Coltrane’) Ellington (p); Coltrane (ts); Aaron Bell (b); Elvin Jones (d). 9/62. Impulse!

Stark contrast in saxophone tone-colour: Coltrane’s straight, hard-won sound vs. the sweeter approach of Ellington’s reed players, especially Hodges (try the Ella Fitzgerald track at 3’25” for a good example of his ultra emotional, heart-on-sleeve mode).

13. Duke Ellington & His Orchestra featuring Mahalia Jackson - Come Sunday (Ellington) (from the album ‘Black, Brown And Beige’) Ellington (p); Jackson (v); Cat Anderson, Harold Shorty Baker, Clark Terry (t); Ray Nance (t/vln); Quentin Jackson, John Sanders, Britt Woodman (tbn); Jimmy Hamilton (clt); Bill Graham (as); Russell Procope (clt/as); Paul Gonsalves (ts); Harry Carney (bs); Jimmy Woode (b); Sam Woodyard (d). 2/58. Columbia.

‘Black, Brown and Beige’ was composed for a Carnegie Hall concert in 1943, although this abridged recording was made as late as 1958. Come Sunday was originally a Johnny Hodges solo - persuading legendary gospel singer Mahalia Jackson to perform on the remake was a masterstroke.

Samuel Barber - Mutations from Bach for brass ensemble and timpani (1967)

This late work is a skilful arrangement of a series of treatments of the chorale melody "O Christ, du Lamm Gottes", a German version of the Agnus Dei. This was music (and a message) that meant a great deal to Barber; Bach's chorale harmonisation and chorale prelude on this theme were among the music he requested for his funeral. The brass ensemble piece was written in the same year as another Barber Agnus Dei, his choral arrangement of the famous Adagio.

Mutations doesn't begin with Bach, but with an earlier setting of the chorale melody by the Hamburg organist Joachim Decker (c.1575-1611). One minute in (timings refer to this performance), at the first entrance of the trumpets, we hear Bach's richer, busier harmonisation, more fully scored than the Decker. From 1'35" onwards, there is a stirring version of the short chorale prelude mentioned above (BWV 619, from the Orgelbüchlein - listen here). This time, the original chorale melody appears in canon, shared between the 1st/2nd trombones and the 1st/2nd trumpets. The rest of the group become bells, weaving ascending and descending scales in and out of the slow-moving chorale. This section folds easily into a brief reprise of the final phrase of Bach's chorale (2'25"), first on horns and tuba, then on trumpets and trombones. 

At this point (2'52"), Barber borrows a particularly beautiful recitative from one of Bach's cantatas, "Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn" (BWV 23* - complete performance here). The solo goes to the 1st horn, accompanied by the trombones (original at 7'14" in the video above). Meanwhile, the chorale melody can be found floating high above, in a testing passage for a cup-muted 1st trumpet. Coming full circle, the piece ends with a final, gentle reminder of the Decker chorale, this time on muted horns.

Recently, I've returned to this piece quite frequently, either as a short break from a hectic day, or as a musical palate cleanser - after hearing performers pushed towards their limits, to listen to the simple speech of Barber's beautifully blended brass choir can be a tonic. The recording in the YouTube video is by the 90s edition of the London Symphony Orchestra Brass. It is, of course, very fine, but my favourite remains the performance by the London Gabrieli Brass Ensemble, as part of an excellent programme of US brass music. There's not much in it, but I prefer the slightly more spacious tempo, and the slightly more spacious acoustic (All Hallows, Gospel Oak vs. Barbican). The LGBE record, "From the Steeples and the Mountains" is on the Hyperion label. The third disc in the photo is Volume 6 of the Naxos box of Barber's orchestral music, which I recommend highly to anyone looking for a cheap way to explore beyond the violin concerto and the Adagio. 

* The Bach chorale harmonisation used by Barber can also be found in this cantata, lavishly decorated by the orchestra (13'57").