Yes! You hit on exactly what I like Ellington so much too. He has this band with all these textures. Hot spice available at any time from Cat Anderson and to a lesser extent from Lawrence Brown or Gonsalves. Then he's got this beautiful melodic Johnny Hodges and his section arrangements to build around, plus his piano playing which I think is highly underappreciated. Also the bass and drum lines are great. Like I said, he was absolutely expert at using teh whole ensemble as his instrument. What I especially appreciate is that unlike a guy who aspires to be a Composer with a capital C, Ellington's originals are written around the band he had, playing on everyone's strengths for texture. Sure, others can and have done great interpretations of Ellington's pieces (including many side efforts by his own sidemen), but they're always different from the original because the original is truly of the time and place it was written and recorded. Some would say Pete Rugolo's arrangements for Stan Kenton were similar, or Woody Herman's building his arrangements around the sax Brothers, but I'd say Ellington took it to a whole different level. Two great examples from his Reprise era --
1. the first session he did was the Ellington orchestra, circa 1960, take on swing era classics. The album "Will Big Bands Ever Come Back?" was at once a eulogy and celebration of the big band classics, but with a very distinct Ellington touch. He only included one of his own classics.
2. "Ellington '65" and "Ellington '66" are as close as he ever got to down right schmaltz, but yet in the end I think they redeem their cool. Unlike a pop/easy listening interpreter of Beatles and Dylan songs that dominated the public ears and airwaves at that time, Ellington steps back and figures out how to take those songs and make them work with his "instrument." And then he signs off on each album with a solid dose of swing.
I also love several later Ellington small-group outings. "Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins" is one of the most stunning sessions ever captured on tape, in my opinion. And "Back to Back" with Johnny Hodges is also amazing. I'm not as big a fan of "Duke Ellington Meets John Coltrane" because I don't think either man really understood where the other was coming from but there was respect between them so they tried to meet in the middle.
Another great later album is "This One's For Blanton" on Pablo, just Duke Ellington and Ray Brown stretching out and leaving nothing in reserve.
Wow, sorry to get so rhapsodic. Can you tell I really like and respect Duke Ellington?
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message ----- From: "phillip holmes" <insuranceman@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, February 04, 2007 4:25 PM
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Ellington, wasRe: [ARSCLIST] Harry Carney
Ellington does sound stuffy at first, but once your ear has adjusted, it's the coolest thing in jazz. Cool in a "we've been there 100 times, and done it 1,000 times, so just be cool daddy" way. There are other musicians that take repeated listening to appreciate. I hated Coltrane the first time I heard him. After getting past some of the superficial stuff, I was able to listen to the music. Mozart sounds deceptively simple. Great playing makes Mozart sound easy, but it sure isn't easy to play. I digress. The way Ellington used Cat Anderson is genius. Most band leaders would have Anderson screeching and wailing all night long. Duke holds him in reserve till it's time for the coup de grace! I can vividly remember the "OH, holy crap!" moment I had when I listened to "Anatomy of a Murder". On the last cut, "Upper and Outest", it starts so cooool with a funky figure in the sax section, and you can really hear Carney too, then it just switches gears and here comes Cat Anderson. And it's not some gauche Maynard Ferguson-esque, hey-look-me-over, spectacle. Just so tasty and so right. I find myself holding my breath at the end of that. The little staccato squeaks and the oh-so-soft sustained chord under Anderson, all perfectly balanced. It just dissipates into some other part of the universe. Just amazing. Carney is featured on "Hero to Zero" with Gonsalves. That band had so many good musicians, it was like one of these basketball teams where you can't find enough playing time for everyone. The movie is good. And great art work by Saul Bass. They don't make them like that any more, and they never will. Where was Anatomy of a Murder recorded?
Phillip
Tom Fine wrote:
Some jazz fans find his music too stuffy or dated, but then I can't get into the disorganized non-melody-based stuff of later on (later on to me is the stuff after bebop and before fusion, all the stuff that led to dead ends and killed off jazz for most people). All that stuff is mostly forgotten, except among critics, but you can play Duke Ellington for almost anyone and they'll soon be smiling and feet tapping. If they're a musician, they'll still understand how hard it is to write and play what Duke was up to and they'll be impressed.
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message ----- From: "phillip holmes" <insuranceman@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, February 04, 2007 2:45 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Harry Carney
Thanks for the leads. I'll start searching. I'm amazed by the number of Ellington dates/sides/albums. I've got quite a few, but they tend to be from the late '50s and on. "Festival Junction" is amazing. It was so good my wife took notice. That whole album is amazing.
Michael Fitzgerald wrote:
At 11:18 PM 2/3/2007, you wrote:
Someone on this list probably has encyclopedic knowledge of Duke Ellington. In all my Ellington stuff, I can only think of two records with solos by Harry Carney. Any recommendations?
There are a bunch - some briefer than others. The following is by no means complete.
Sophisticated Lady (many - but not all - recordings) Frustration (many recordings) Got Everything But You (1928) I Must Have That Man (1928) Stepping Into Swing Society (1938) Jack The Bear (1940) So Far, So Good (1940) Cotton Tail (1940) Blue Goose (1940) At A Dixie Roadside Diner (1940) My Greatest Mistake (1940) Sepia Panorama (1940) Five O'Clock Whistle (1940) Sidewalks Of New York (1940) Jumpin' Punkins (1941) John Hardy's Wife (1941) Chocolate Shake (1941) The Brown-Skinned Gal (1941) I Don't Know What Kind Of Blues I Got (1941) Perdido (1942) I Don't Mind (1942) Work Song (from Black, Brown, & Beige) (1944) Prelude To A Kiss (1945) Black And Tan Fantasy (1945) In A Sentimental Mood (1945) Blues Is The Night (1946) Just You, Just Me (1946) My Honey's Lovin' Arms (1946) Memphis Blues (1946) Royal Garden Blues (1946) Golden Feather (1946) Progressive Gavotte (1947) Ultra Deluxe (1953) Falling Like A Raindrop (1954) Festival Junction (1956) Prima Bara Dubla (1958, with Gerry Mulligan) Villes Ville Is The Place, Man (1959) In A Mellotone (1959) Stay Awake (from Mary Poppins) (1964) Agra (from Far East Suite) (1966) A Chromatic Love Affair (1967)
Carney also was featured clarinet soloist on Rockin' In Rhythm. He can be heard on bass clarinet on I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart and Black Beauty (both 1945). Early on he played alto and soprano as well and solos on alto on What Can A Poor Fellow Do and on soprano on Blue Bubbles (both 1927). Be careful in this early period since Otto Hardwick also played baritone (and bass sax) and some baritone solos are by him.
I believe the DESOR discography - Duke Ellington's Story On Records - by Massagli, Pusateri and Volonte indicates soloists, so if you really want a comprehensive list, it should be able to supply the information.
Lastly, FWIW, Carney led a few dates - 1946 for HRS (now on a Mosaic boxed set); 1947 for WAX (now on a Storyville CD); 1947 for Clef (on the Verve CD The Jazz Scene); 1954 for Clef (now on a Ben Webster Verve CD); and 1960 for Columbia.
Mike
mike at jazzdiscography.com www.jazzdiscography.com