Release Date: 06 January 2003
Label: Naxos - Jazz Legends / Naxos Jazz Legends
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 636943268223
Genres: Jazz
Description
DUKE ELLINGTON Vol.4'Echoes of Harlem' Original Recordings 1936-1938By the early 1930s Duke was established as a top bandleader,a celebrated arranger and a respected composer in his own right, and would inall probability have preferred the more creative route of 'serious' jazz,suites and the like. However, with the swathes of Swing which followed BennyGoodman's breakthrough at the Palomar in Los Angeles in August 1935, theEllington Orchestra, notwithstanding its great ensemble, virtually overnightjoined a growing legion of bands vying to cash in on the new big band craze andfrom 1936 a combination of factors, some personal, some economic, forcedEllington to adopt a more commercial approach.Born 29 April 1899 in Washington, DC, White House butler'sson Edward Kennedy Ellington enjoyed the benefits of a genteel, respectableupbringing and education. Afterhis first piano lessons at seven, he was inspired to study and master harmonyand by his teens was already honing tunes for his instrument and had made theHoward Theatre a \second home where he could feast his ears and eyes on the"acrobatic" playing of Luckey Roberts and other exemplars of post-ragtimestride. His father, James EdwardEllington, hoped that his son would keep the piano as a pastime and become aprofessional graphic artist instead. Duke left technical college in 1917 and briefly ran his ownsign-painting business but later that year made his solo piano debut and wassoon gigging in Louis Thomas's band at society venues. In 1918, he formed a trio, Duke'sSerenaders, which offered sophisti-cated jazz to Washington's "select patrons"and in 1922 he moved to New York where he could observe at closer quarters thestride playing of James P. Johnson and Willie 'The Lion' Smith. By the close of 1923 he had formed the Wash-ingtonians withtrio colleague Elmer Snowden (1900-1973) and scored the revue ChocolateKiddies. By the late 1920s theall-black Ellington outfit had become a society band par excellence, virtuallyexclusive to prestigious venues whose all-white clienteles were not inclined tofraternise with Negroes. However, through his residencies at New York's HolidayInn (and, briefly, the Kentucky on 49th Street and Broadway) and wider exposureon radio, he was able, without abandoning his 'Jungle'-style hot jazztrademark, to exploit the public's growing interest in dance music. At theCotton Club, his elegant twelve-piece largely satisfied a demand for both and astring of hits, beginning in 1930 with Mood Indigo, secured his name. By thetime 'Harlem's Aristocrat of Jazz' had left to tour the States in early 1931,it not only catered to the dance market but was also a top concert attraction.Salaried on a par "approximately equal to the best symphonic wages" it grossedalmost $50,000 per week and, while breaking all previous box-office records, offeredthe more thoughtful listener essays in instrumental tone-painting throughwhich, Duke hoped, jazz might finally acquir
Tracklisting
Various
Waller, Fats
Waller, Fats
Venuti, Joe
Vaughan
Various Artists
Various
Various
