Vol 55 No.1 September 2013 -...

Vol 55 No.1 September 2013

The Newsletter of the Duke Ellington Society, Chapter 40, Toronto, Canada is mailed prepaid to members in good standing.

Further information pertaining to the Society’s activities may be obtained from the Editor.

1791 Pattinson Crescent, Mississauga, ON., Canada, L5J 1H6; Phone 905-823-1086; e-mail:[email protected]

Web site: www.torontodukeellingtonsociety.co

Minutes of the September 10th

General Meeting. To kick off our 2013 – 2014 season we were delighted

to welcome Tesseract, a Trio of Humber College

students who played Ellington music for us. We saw

this group at last year’s opening meeting. We had hoped that Lydia Persaud would be able to join the

group to provide the vocals but she was unavailable for

this evening. The members of the trio were Patrick

O’Reilly (Guitar), Leland Whitty (sax), and Julian

Anderson-Bowes (bass) and leader.

The location of the meeting had to be changed as

Montgomery’s Inn, our usual venue, was unavailable

due to uncompleted renovations. We went to nearby

Lambton House, an 1847 coaching inn and tavern. The facilities were excellent and the reception from the staff

warm. A great alternative to our usual venue. Well

worth a visit on its own. They hold several regular events there including Pub Nights featuring live music

provided by local musicians.

www.lambtonhouse.org

Martin Loomer opened the meeting to 30 members with

refreshments kindly provided by Norma Humphries

who was enthusiastically thanked. Judy Shiels informed the meeting that the Holiday Party ticket sales

were progressing well. She had sold 44 of the 90

available. Contact her soon for yours.

Irene Barton asked for volunteers to make

presentations; there were spots open for March and May

as of this writing.

Jim Northover announced that the long anticipated web

site was indeed up and running and current.

The meeting was then handed over to our musical

guests who led off by playing Billy Strayhorn’s U.M.M.G. This was followed by Ellington’s Isfahan.

To speed up the tempo the trio played Things Ain’t

What they Used To Be and reverted to a ballad with

In A Sentimental Mood. To conclude the first set the

trio played Juan Tizol’s Caravan.

To lead off their second set Tesseract played I Got it

Bad and that Ain’t Good followed by Ellington’s

Azure. From The Such Sweet Thunder Suite we heard The Star Crossed Lovers, referring of course to

Romeo and Juliet. To offer a change of pace the trio

played Cole Porter’s What is this Thing Called Love? Billy Strayhorn’s Lush Life followed, written when

Strayhorn was 18 years old. To conclude the evening’s

presentation the trio played Take the “A” Train,

written again by Billy Strayhorn. An outstanding outing by a trio of young musicians.

The formal vote of thanks was offered by

Patricia Poole –Crawley.

Tesseract will be performing around the Province in the

fall to introduce their new CD. They will be appearing at the Rex Tavern on Wednesday, November 13th 2013.

Upcoming TDES 40 Meetings

October 8th

– Recollections of the Big Band Era –

Presentation by Martin Loomer. October 8 is also our

Annual General Meeting. There will be no elections of officers necessary since we are in the second year of the

two year cycle. However, there will be the President’s

and Treasurer’s reports.

November 12

th – Colin Brown will make a

presentation, “Personal Paths and Outrageous

Opinions through My World of Jazz.” Music by Duke Ellington.

December 3rd

- The Holiday Party will again be at the Arts & Letters Club. The band will be a quartet led by

Brian Barlow with Alex Dean, Scott Alexander and

http://www.lambtonhouse.org/

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Robi Botos. Tickets are now available from Judy

Shiels. This promises to be a lively and exciting event.

January 14th

Bruce Barton Video presentation

February 11th

Jack Chambers will, once again, enthrall us, this year with Sweet and Pungent, Duke’s

Plunger Trombones.

March 11th

April 8th

– Bruce Barton will make a presentation on

“1941 – Year of Joy and Sorrow “

April 26th

Annual Fundraising Concert – Walter Hall.

Martin Loomer’s Orange Devils will be performing with music and arrangements by Duke Ellington and

Billy Strayhorn. Tickets are not yet on sale but do

please reserve your seats with Alan Shiels as soon as you can since the concert will sell out.

May 14th

June 10th

– The ever popular Member’s Choice.

Please bring music you wish to share with the group and

entertaining stories and anecdotes for our amusement.

Upcoming Events

There is tentatively scheduled an Ellington Conference in Amsterdam 14-18 May 2014. The program is not yet

finalized, but it will probably comprise the following

elements:

Presentations/lectures by the authors of four recent

books about Ellington: Terry Teachout (his book will

be published in November), Matt Cooper (his book on

Ellington the pianist will be published this fall), David

Schiff (‘The Ellington Century’), and Harvey Cohen

(‘Duke Ellington’s America’). Following the individual

presentations, the authors will discuss Ellington the

man and the musician, and share their views with the

audience.

A performance by the Big Band of the Amsterdam

Conservatory under the direction of David Berger. They

will perform one (or more) larger works by Duke,

possibly ‘Black, Brown & Beige’.

A new arrangement of Such Sweet Thunder, to be

performed by Calefax, the famous Dutch Reed Quintet.

Matt Cooper will give a piano recital of Ellington

compositions.

A performance by Dutch violinist and jazz award

winner Oene van Geel and his group, inspired by ‘The

violin in the music of Duke Ellington’, and the 1963

Paris violin session (with Ray Nance, Stephane Grapelli

& Svend Asmussen).

There will be, of course, an ‘open call’ to Ellington

scholars and enthusiasts to give presentations or

lectures. Ken Steiner will be among the Ellington

scholars making a contribution.

This news was provided by Louis Telvecchio in

Holland.

Newsletter Update

The May and June 2013 newsletter was a bit of a technical challenge since it had six pages and it did not

transfer to the printer accurately. In future I will publish

the newsletter in .pdf format (portable document format) so what you get is what I send.

As always, if you have any comments, please let me

know.

TDES 40 Web Site

Our web site is up and running as those of you on the

emailing list already know. The web site has been

redesigned and I can update it directly so it should be current at all times. If you have any suggestions please

let me know and I will consider them. Many thanks to

Marg Stowe who provided all of the technical input and most of the work.

Go to: http://torontodukeellingtonsociety.com

Book mark the link so you can refer back to it easily. I

hope you go back to the site frequently as it will be

changed and updated on a regular basis now.

The purpose behind the web site is to have an up to date

place that members can refer to for news of our meetings and other TDES 40 related events and a site

to which we can direct potential members and other

interested parties to learn about our society. It is not

meant to be a major source of information on Duke Ellington. There are already more than enough and

much better web sites to go to for this information.

Most of these are listed in our web site under the Links tab.

News and Updates

Ken Page Memorial Trust – Once again we were

pleased to be able to make a donation to the Ken Page Memorial trust of $500 in honour of the late John

http://torontodukeellingtonsociety.com/

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Norris. John was a great supporter of jazz in Canada

and we intend to do our small part in preserving his memory by making this annual donation.

Toronto Jazz Festival – on Sunday June 23 The Toronto

Duke Ellington Society sponsored a performance of Martin Loomer’s Orange Devils as part of the Festival’s

free lunch hour Big Band Series held in Nathan

Phillip’s Square. The band was tight and played an exceptional set of Ellington and Strayhorn music. The

play list was:

Chatterbox The Mooche

Black & Tan Fantasy (Lunceford)

Doin' the Voom Voom

Cotton Club Stomp A Lull at Dawn

Ducky Wucky

Grievin' Morning Glory

Sugar Foot Stomp (Henderson)

Slap Happy Let Me See (Basie)

Diminuendo & Crescendo in Blue

Dancing Dogs (Mills Blue Rhythm Band)

The performance of Diminuendo & Crescendo in Blue

was exceptional.

The band members were:

Guitar & Leader: Martin Loomer

Drums: Tom Jestadt

Bass: Rob Uffen Piano: Richard Whiteman

Soprano sax, alto sax, clarinet: Merlin Williams

Alto Sax, baritone sax and clarinet: Tom Skublics Tenor sax and clarinet: John MacMurchy

Alto sax and tenor sax: Kira Payne

Cornet 1: Alex Kundakcioglu Cornet 2: Jason Logue

Cornet 3: John MacLeod

Trombone 1: Scott Suttie

Trombone 2: William Carn

Another great performance by this band.

Martin Loomer and The Orange Devils at Nathan Phillips Square, July 2013. Image supplied by Chris McEvilly.

Many thanks are due to the TDES 40 volunteers who distributed flyers and information about our society at

Nathan Phillips Square during Martin’s concert.

Thanks go to Colin Brown, Margaret and Michael

Flower, Roslyn Harris, Mel Manley, Chris McEvilly, Ursula Nyga, Alan & Judy Shiels, David Stimpson and

Matt Wood. If there are any names that I have omitted,

I apologize.

Once we had listened to this concert we trekked north

to Christ Church, Deer Park to listen to a Jazz Vespers

featuring Brian Barlow’s Big Band playing selections from Ellington’s sacred music. Quite a day of jazz!

On subsequent days in this Big Band Series we heard John MacLeod’s Rex Hotel Jazz Orchestra who played

at our last Scholarship Fundraising Concert and Jim

Galloway’s Wee Big Band who we are expecting will play at our next.

On Monday, August 12 Martin Loomer’s Orange

Devils appeared at the Monarch Tavern in Toronto and played their 20’ and 30’s Big Band original

arrangement’s to a full house. The audience was

gratifyingly vocal in its appreciation. There is a general hope that The Orange Devils will be able to make this a

regular gig. The band made a successful reappearance

on Monday September 9.

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Philately.

Your philatelic correspondent has, as is often the case, not kept his eye on the ball. The Oliver Jones stamp

celebrating Black History month 2013 was issued on

February 1st. First Day Covers are still available from

Canada Post at a nominal price.

Last Post.

Regretfully we have to note the passing of two great jazz musicians.

Marion McPartland, wife of trumpeter and band

leader Jimmy McPartland, accomplished pianist and broadcaster whose syndicated NPR program, Marian

McPartland’s Piano Jazz, broadcast since 1978, died

Tuesday night at her home in Port Washington, N.Y.,

She was 95. Marion made a CD tribute to Billy Strayhorn – Marion McPartland Plays the Music of

Billy Strayhorn. She also interviewed Mercer Ellington

in one of her PBS broadcast for Piano Jazz in 1993. If you go to the NPR web site it is possible to find the

archived recording and listen to it.

Cedar Walton, a pianist of considerable strength and s

a small-combo arranger and melodic composer, died

Aug. 19 at his home in Brooklyn. Walton was 79. He

played with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in the ’60s,

when the band also included Wayne Shorter and

Freddie Hubbard. He was named a Jazz Master by the

National Endowment for the Arts for 2010.

Apocryphally, in 1955 he moved to New York, but was

called up for two years’ military service. A few days before his unit left for Germany, Duke Ellington’s

orchestra came to play at their camp.

Walton asked if he could sit in: “The last thing we

expected Duke to say was 'yes’, but he did. Duke said 'Go easy on those keys, young man’.” At the end of the

number Ellington smiled, saying: “I thought I told you

to go easy!” This, Walton later realised, was a “very

Ellingtonian” way of paying a compliment.

Meetings of the Toronto Chapter of the Duke

Ellington Society are held on the 2nd

Tuesday of each

month.

7:30 pm – 10:00pm

Montgomery’s Inn

4709 Dundas St. W

Visitors always welcome

Plenty of Free Parking

Annual Dues

The TDES 40 financial year runs from September

1st through August 31st of the following year. In

order to meet the Society’s obligations for

Montgomery’s Inn, rentals, postage, printing and

expenses in a timely fashion, it is imperative that

annual dues be paid as early in the year as possible.

Those who joined the Society subsequent to the

annual concert in April 2013 are exempt from dues

payment for the current year.

Dues are $35 for a single membership and $50 for

a family membership for payments made on or

before October 12th 2013. Payments made after

that date are subject to a $5.00 surcharge to offset

bank penalties for late deposits. If you have not

already made your payment, please mail your

cheques:

Chris McEvilly, Treasurer,

The Toronto Duke Ellington Society,

10 Edgemore Drive,

Toronto, ON.,

M8Y 2M8

Be sure to include your name, address, home

phone number and email address

Vol 55 No.2 October 2013





Minutes of the October 8th

General Meeting.

Martin Loomer opened the meeting promptly at 7:30

p.m. to 33 attendees in the temporary venue of the

Brierley Room since our usual meeting room was still being renovated. This room suited our needs admirably

and the seating was vastly more comfortable. Martin

made his President’s report since this was the Annual General Meeting. He said that the 2012 – 2013 season

had been once again, a successful one. The notable

achievements were the successful Annual Fundraising Concert held at Walter Hall on April 27th with John

McLeod’s Rex Hotel Orchestra and the Christmas party

held at the Arts and Letters Club where we were

entertained by the John Sherwood quartet. We also arranged to fully fund two scholarships each for York

University and Humber College for students studying

jazz performance. Since these scholarships are now funded we can devote some of our revenue to outreach

events to promote our society and attract new members

so that we can continue to fulfill our mandate and to fund further scholarships if we decide. In addition to

these significant achievements we managed to hold our

regular meetings throughout the year with, thanks to

Irene Barton, Chair of the Presentation Committee, interesting and enjoyable presentations from both

members and invited guests.

Chris McEvilly made his Treasurer’s report. He said that he had prepared a Financial Statement for the year ended August 31, 2013 with comparative figures for the

previous year. He provided copies of his financial

report for us to follow. The previous financial reports

have been presented on a cash basis without regard to the year to which income and expenses relate. He

changed this to the more normal accrual-basis

presentation in order to make year-to-year comparisons

clearer. For example:

In 2012, we received Members' dues to the tune of $495

that were for the following year. If that were shown as 2012 income rather than 2013 income it would be

entirely misleading.

In 2012, we paid $403 as a deposit for Montgomery Inn

2103 rent, but this year the deposit for 2014 wasn't paid

until September.

Similarly, the deposit to the Arts & Letters Club for the December 2012 holiday party was paid before the

August 2012 year-end. But this year, we haven’t yet

paid the deposit for the upcoming party.

Chris then gave us his report for the previous year: In 2012-13, April's Ellington concert made a net $$6,912,

just slightly less than the previous year's $7,228.The

Christmas Party is supposed to be a break-even event,

but 2012's party made $274 and 2011's made $587 profit. Interest income is down because we paid out

$40,000 in March 2012 to setup endowments at

Humber and York. Thereby reducing our investible funds. Membership dues are slightly higher this past

year due to the timing of the receipts. We have 61 paid-

up members, compared with 64 last year.

We gained 3 new members (John Morris, Ursel Nyga and Charles Stewart) and lost 3 (Al Basian, Helen Paul

- who returned this year, and Terry Sheard).

Furthermore, we lost honorary member Eileen Ward who passed away. We made John Hornsby and Judy

and Alan Shiels honorary members. Two members

(Brian Barlow and Paul Hollow) were continued on a

complimentary basis.

Donations comprise an annual payment of $500 to the Ken Page Memorial Trust in memory of John Norris

and the purchase of "The New DESOR" discography of

Ellington music that we donated to the Toronto

Reference Library.

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We paid a performance fee of $3,000 plus HST for

Martin's Orange Devils at this past summer’s Toronto Jazz Festival and $300 for a trio of students at

Montgomery’s Inn in September 2012.

Regarding "Postage, printing & stationery," in 2011-12

we bought 1000 envelopes for $212 (no such cost last

year).

Rent and refreshment costs were lower in the previous year because the November 2011 meeting was

cancelled in lieu of a public meeting at the Toronto

Reference Library.

By the way, despite complaints of the $2 charge for coffee, we paid out to Montgomery Inn $39 more than

we received — but this was an improvement of the prior

year when we lost $74!

Prepaid expenses for both 2012 and 2013 include the

deposit for Walter Hall but 2012 also includes the

deposit for the Arts and Letters Club holiday party.

After the Treasurer’s Report we moved onto Martin

Loomer’s presentation titled, Will the Big Bands

Ever Come Back? Between November 1962 and January 1963 Ellington’s

band made a number of recordings for the Reprise label

of tunes that were not his compositions but famous big

band numbers from the swing era. Although enough material was recorded for two LP’s only one was issued

by Reprise, three years later, titled Will The Big Bands

Ever Come Back? The remaining material was issued in 1974 by Atlantic under the title Recollections of the

Big Band Era. It looks as though with a couple of

notable exceptions that Will The Big Bands Ever Come Back? was composed of tunes played by “white” bands

while Recollections of the Big Band Era included

numbers by the “black” bands that had been omitted

from the first LP. Ellington and Strayhorn made most of the arrangements and did not necessarily follow the

direction of the original arrangements.

The band members for these recordings were:

Trumpets: Cat Anderson, Cootie Williams, Roy

Burrowes, and Ray Nance.

Trombones: Lawrence Brown, Buster Cooper, Chuck Connors.

Reeds: Russell Procope, Johnny Hodges, Paul

Gonzalves, Jimmy Hamilton, Harry Carney.

Rhythm: Duke Ellington, Ernie Shepherd, Sam

Woodyard, Billy Strayhorn.

Martin introduced the first number of the evening from

Recollections of the Big Band Era, Cab Calloway’s Minnie The Moocher, arranged by Eddie Barefield.

Lawrence Brown’s plunger muted trombone was

featured. This was followed by Jimmie Lunceford’s

For Dancers Only, arranged by Sy Oliver. We then heard a moody Ellington arrangement of It’s a Lonely

Old Town When You’re Not Around, originally

played by Ben Bernie’s band. There were ten takes of this number made before Ellington was satisfied!

Charlie Barnet’s Cherokee followed with features for

each of the reed section members, Carney, Hamilton,

Hodges and Gonzalves. We then heard a Quincy Jones ballad The Midnight Sun Will Never Set arranged by

Ellington showcasing Johnny Hodges. Chick Webb’s

Let’s Get Together closely following the original arrangement with Cootie Williams and Harry Carney

featured. Getting Sentimental Over You, originally

associated with Tommy Dorsey was then played with the reed section essentially playing the trombone part

played by Dorsey and featuring an excellent solo by

Ray Nance. To close the first half of his presentation,

martin played Chant of the Weed a 1931 Don Redman number originally arranged for Fletcher Henderson. A

spirited performance by the Ellington Orchestra.

Finally to end the first half of his meeting we heard Ciribribin, an arrangement in stark contrast to Harry

James’s and featuring all of the trumpet section, Roy

Burrowes, Cootie Williams, Ray Nance and Cat Anderson. We took a short break with refreshments

kindly provided by Roslyn Harris and Colin Brown.

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Martin started the second half of the meeting with

Ellington‘s arrangement of Christopher Columbus an

old Fletcher Henderson favourite with solos by Ray

Nance and Paul Gonzalves. A tribute to Guy Lombardo made it onto the recording, Auld Lang Syne played in

the original style. Martin then took us over to the other

LP, issued in 1967, Recollections of the Big Band Era. The first number on this issue was Erskine Hawkins’s

Tuxedo Junction with Cootie Williams playing a

strong plunger muted trumpet. Johnny Hodges was featured in the tribute to Glen Gray, arranged by Billy

Strayhorn, Smoke Rings. Strayhorn also arranged Stan

Kenton’s Artistry in Rhythm which we all thought

was Ellington’s attempt to satirize Kenton’s highly orchestrated arrangement. A Woody Herman tribute

followed with the band playing Woodchopper’s Ball

with blues tinted solos from each of Ray Nance on violin, Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams, Lawrence

Brown, Paul Gonzalves and Jimmy Hamilton. Martin

then selected Les Brown’s Sentimental Journey which though originally associated with Les Brown was

clearly and Ellington arrangement. Martin finished his

excellent presentation with Count Basie’s One O’clock

Jump, a seven minute rousing closer for the evening. Martin conclude his comments by saying that with one

or two exceptions, and in spite of the care taken in

making these recordings, Ellington never played them again. He said that they were great arrangements that

deserved to be heard live. Jim Galloway’s Wee Big

Band had most of these arrangements in its book so we

do have an opportunity to hear them from time to time.

The formal vote of thanks was offered by Al Crawford.


November 12

th – Colin Brown will make a presentation

- “Personal Paths and Outrageous Opinions through

My World of Jazz.” Music by Duke Ellington.

December 3rd

- The Holiday Party will again be at the Arts & Letters Club. The band will be a quartet led by

Brian Barlow with Alex Dean, Scott Alexander and

Robi Botos. Tickets are now essentially sold out. Please speak to Judy Shiels to get on the waiting list

should any tickets come free. This promises to be a

lively and exciting event. If you are driving please

park at Delta Chelsea and it will be authorised by The

Arts & Letters Club for free parking. January 14

th Bruce Barton Video presentation

February 11th

Jack Chambers will, once again,

enthrall us this year with Sweet and Pungent, Duke’s

Plunger Trombones.

March 11th

–To be announced

April 8

th – Bruce Barton will make a presentation on


April 26

th Annual Fundraising Concert – Walter Hall.

Martin Loomer’s Orange Devils will be performing

with music and arrangements by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. Tickets are not yet on sale but do

please reserve your seats with Alan Shiels as soon as

you can since the concert will sell out.

May 13

th – To be announced

June 10th




Upcoming Events

Jazz at R.Y.

Bill Wilson has organised a concert on Sunday

November 3, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. at Royal York Road United Church, 851 Royal York Road (3 blocks south

of Bloor Street/Royal York subway). The theme of the

concert will be “A Tribute to Peter Appleyard “ The

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band will be Don Thompson – vibes, Joe Sealy piano,

Michael Stewart – Saxophone and Neil Swainson – bass. Tickets cost $20 or $17 for Seniors (65+) and

Students. The net proceeds of the concert support

Royal York’s local outreach charities. This is expected

to be a popular event so please arrive early to avoid disappointment.

News and Updates

Herb Jeffries centenary. Herb Jeffries earned fame as a singer with Duke Ellington, and as an actor in

Hollywood westerns of the 1930s. He turned 100 on

September 24. One night in 1933, Jeffries was singing

in a little nightclub in Detroit, Michigan when jazz icon Louis Armstrong walked through the door. In an

interview by amateur jazz historian Tad Calcara,

Jeffries says Armstrong heard him sing, pulled him aside, and changed his life. “He said, ‘Well there's a

band in Chicago - that's where you should be now. And

he said 'I'm gonna write you a letter,’” Jeffries said. Then Armstrong pulled a cocktail napkin off the table.

“He just wrote down on there, said, 'You want to hear

this guy's voice. You'll love him. I do.’ And he put

down ‘Pops,’” Jeffries said.

Armed with only this special “calling card,” Jeffries

took the great man’s advice and headed for Chicago where he joined the band led by Erskine Tate. Soon he

was heard and hired by legendary band leader Earl

“Fatha” Hines. Singing with Earl Hines, Jeffries

traveled to California, where he would land a role and also sing the opening song in the Hollywood western,

“Two Gunmen from Harlem.”

With his long frame, rakish mustache and exotic good

looks, Jeffries capitalized on two unique styles of film

that Hollywood was cranking out at that time: “Race Films” - movies by and for African-Americans - and

“singing cowboy” pictures. On a promotional tour for

a film called “The Bronze Buckaroo,” Jeffries found

himself in the same theater as Duke Ellington. He was planning to head back to Hollywood that night, but The

Duke had other ideas. For the next two years, Jeffries

was lead singer in the Ellington band. He toured the world and starred in “Jump for Joy,” the musical

Ellington wrote and staged in Los Angeles. “Jump For

Joy” never made it to Broadway, as Ellington had hoped, but it helped cement Herb Jeffries as a bona fide

star.

Thanks to Voice of Americas for this material.

Last Post.

Peter Appleyard I saw Peter Appleyard play many times and loved every

one of his performances. The last time that I saw him

was at the 2012 Oakville Jazz Festival. He put on an energetic show, played the vibes, piano and drums

joshed with the crowd and related many anecdotes. The

crowd was enthusiastic and showed its appreciation for

a really good performance. It is hard to believe that such an energetic and vital person, no matter his age

should have left us. Thank you Peter for a wonderful

life, we will miss you.

Welcome New Members

Welcome to new member Karen Morris whom many of

you may know since she has attended several Spring

Concerts and our holiday party. Also welcome back to returning members Wilhelm Timner and Helen Paul



Tuesday of each

month.

7:30 pm – 10:00pm

Montgomery’s Inn, 4709 Dundas St. W

Annual Dues
















cheques:



10 Edgemore Drive,

Toronto, ON.,

M8Y 2M8


phone number and email address.

Vol 55 No. 3 November & December 2013





Minutes of the November 12th

General Meeting.

In the absence of Martin Loomer, Alan Shiels opened

the meeting to 31 members in the refurbished

Community Meeting room of Montgomery’s Inn. Irene

Barton introduced our speaker for the evening – Colin Brown whose topic was Personal Paths and Outrageous

Opinions through My World of Duke Ellington. Colin

opened right away with Night Creatures from the Symphonic Ellington album. Colin explained that he

was passionate about all forms of jazz, including Duke

Ellington, since grade 10. He said that he did not consider himself an expert in any way and was not a

musician. He does have an extensive collection of

tapes, CD’s LP’s, books and DVD’s.

From the Private Collection Series Volume 5, Colin chose The Sonnet from the Degas Suite and a selection

from The River.

Colin explained that the idea for his presentation came

from our Member’s Choice Meeting held in June of

each year. Instead of selecting one or two pieces as we do for that meeting he chose to present a whole evening

of personal favorites that with some exceptions, he

hadn’t heard at our meetings. Next he played from the

Rare Recordings – Live 1952 – 1953 album: The Hawk

Talks, I Got it Bad… with a vocal by Betty Roche and

VIP Boogie and Jam with Sam. At this point we broke for our intermission which this

evening was special since we celebrated Norma

Humphrey’s 90th birthday! She is a regular attendee

and makes her contribution to the society by being one of the phone committee. We were grateful to Jean

Griffiths who supplied the refreshments for the evening

including a beautifully decorated birthday cake.

Colin resumed after the celebratory break with Blues in

Orbit from the Private Collection Volume 6 followed by Second Line from the New Orleans Suite and

Everything but You from the Bethlehem recording

Duke Ellington Presents of February 1956 with Jimmy

Grissom providing the vocal. This was followed by In a Sentimental Mood from the Private Collection,

Volume 1 with Paul Gonzalves proving that he could

play ballads as well as the uptempo numbers. Colin

then played Circle Blues from Volume 7 of the Private Collection and then Rhapsody in Blue Colin’s

favourite tune from Recollections of the Big Band Era.

From The Stockholm Concert we heard Up in Duke’s

Place, as Ellington himself stated, better enjoyed than

discussed. Colin then selected Strayhorn’s Passion

Flower from the Private Collection Volume 7. To conclude the evening’s excellent entertainment we

heard Paul Gonzalves playing his Wailing Interval

from the Private Collection Volume 6.

Chris McEvilly made the formal vote of thanks to Colin

for providing a wonderful selection of music which

peaked his curiosity to go home and revisit some of the albums from which they were taken. Thanks Colin.

December 3

rd Holiday Party.

Once again and by popular demand we returned to the

Arts & Letters Club in Toronto for our annual Holiday Party. After a short social period, Alan Shiels opened

the proceedings at 7:00 p.m. A delicious dinner started

with a bocconcini salad followed by roasted herbed chicken and the meal concluded with tiramisu.

As we finished dinner the Brian Barlow Quartet led off with C Jam Blues. The band consisted of Brian Barlow

on drums, Robi Botos, piano, Scott Alexander, bass and

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Alex Dean on tenor sax. Alex Dean then featured on In

A Mellotone which was then followed by a ¾ time version of Take the A Train. Alex Dean showed his

mastery of the tenor in Isfahan a wonderful ballad

vehicle for him. The band followed this with

Ellington’s I’m Beginning to See the Light. The Quartet then played a number which they had never

performed previously, Tell Me It’s The Truth a gospel

tinged selection from Ellington’s sacred oeuvre. To finish the set we heard the old favourite, Satin Doll.

After the short break the quartet continued their presentation of Ellington/Strayhorn music with Billy

Strayhorn’s U.M.M.G. The group went on with their

tight but relaxed session with Do Nothin’ ‘til you hear

from me. An upbeat version of Don’t Mean a Thing

if it Ain’t got that Swing made all of the players work

and Robi Botos provided an outstanding solo. Another

ballad vehicle for Alex Dean, In Sentimental Mood, again showed us his skill. We then heard an

appropriately Middle Eastern sounding Caravan. The

set and the evening concluded with a tune whose title we all could sympathize with, Things Ain’t What they

used to be.

The Brian Barlow Quartet was given a standing ovation by a sold out audience of ninety TDES 40 members and

guests. The band had played two strong and very

entertaining sets, played tightly and relaxed with Alex Dean giving stellar performances on all of the numbers

played. Alan Shiels concluded the night’s festivities

with the announcement that the Arts & Letters Club had

been booked for the 2014 Holiday Party already and will be held on December 2 next year. Brain Barlow

thanked the audience for their attention and

appreciation of their music making.

We must all thank Judy Shiels who, once again made

all of the arrangements for the Holiday Party – Thank you Judy.

After the concert, Brian Barlow sent Alan & Judy Shiels

a short note which Brain has kindly allowed us to put in the newsletter.

Dear Alan & Judy, I want to thank you for giving us the opportunity to play

for your Christmas party at the Arts & Letters Club last

night. I know that I speak on behalf of each member of

the quartet when I say that it was a most enjoyable, and

gratifying evening.

The Toronto Chapter of the Ellington Society is

important for many reasons but I'm beginning to believe

that the most valuable and long-lasting work that the chapter has undertaken is the live presentation of

Ellington's music, whether it's the annual Walter Hall

engagement, the hiring of students or an event like last night. This music is meant to be performed. It's a

living, breathing art form and in these very difficult

times for musicians you are to be congratulated for providing performing opportunities for musicians in

this city.

If you're serious about next year we'd all be thrilled to return.

All the best for the upcoming holiday season.

Brian


January 14

th Bruce Barton Video presentation

February 11th

Jack Chambers will, once again, enthrall us, this year with Sweet and Pungent, Duke’s

Plunger Trombones.

March 11th

To Be Announced

April 8th – Bruce Barton will make a presentation on


April 26th



Billy Strayhorn. Tickets are on sale so please reserve

your seats with Alan Shiels as soon as you can since the

concert will sell out.

3

May 14th

To Be Announced

June 10

th – The ever popular Member’s Choice.



Upcoming Events

Martin Loomer’s Orange Devils now has a regular gig

at the Monarch Tavern, 12 Clinton Street in Toronto. The dates are the second Tuesday of each month. The

next dates are January 13 and February 10 2014. The

music starts at 7:30 and lasts until about 10:30 p.m. As you know the Orange Devils play the original

arrangements of Big Band music of the 20’s and 30’s.

A relaxed atmosphere and a relaxed band having fun.

Great stuff!!

Bill Wilson commented that the latest Jazz at Royal

York event was a great success – A Tribute to Peter Appleyard by Don Thompson, Joe Sealy, Neil

Swainson and Michael Stewart. Bill told us that the

next Jazz at Royal York will be on May 4th 2014.

Newsletter Update

This will be the last newsletter sent to those people who

have not renewed their membership for the 2013 – 2014 season. If you have not already done so, please renew

now. See the box below on Annual Dues and how to

renew your membership.

News and Updates

Those of you with more catholic and sophisticated taste

will be delighted to learn that the Anachronic Jazz Band has made a new recording after 37 years! Called Back

In Town! issued by Jazz aux Remparts.

Terry Teachout’s new book, Duke - A Life of Duke

Ellington continues to be reviewed well. Ron Woods sent this link to a New York Times piece:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/books/review/du

ke-a-life-of-duke-ellington-by-terry-teachout.html?nl=books&emc=edit_bk_20131206

There was also a recent review included in an article in

The Toronto Globe and mail:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/groovin-high-jazz-is-alive-and-well-on-the-

printed-page/article15801462/

If you want to purchase copies of this, or indeed any other book on jazz, then I suggest that you contact

TDES 40 member, David Stimpson who can provide

them.

The movie American Hustle, directed by David O Russell, is one that many of us would probably miss.

However, it does have an Ellington connection and may

well be worth seeing. From a review in the Los Angeles

Times –

Has Duke Ellington ever saved your life?

David O. Russell knows the answer to that particular

question because Ellington's music has rescued him

many times. It happened yesterday. It'll probably happen again tomorrow. And it also happens near the

beginning of Russell's latest movie, "American Hustle,"

when a couple of con artists, played by Christian Bale

and Amy Adams, plop down on the floor and listen to Ellington's slow-cooker classic "Jeep's Blues" and look

into each other’s' eyes and know they've found heaven

on a cracker.

"That's a piece of music I've held in my heart for over 30 years," Russell says over dinner at Ross 424, the

Hollywood Hills studio where, some 16 hours earlier,

he finished the final sound mix on "Hustle." "You have a secret treasure chest of magic, and one day you say,

'Maybe this magic belongs in this movie. I'm going to

share this beautiful thing, not knowing if anyone else is

going to feel about it the way I do.' That's the danger in sharing something you love. But I don't have a choice.

I need to convey that enchantment."

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/books/review/duke-a-life-of-duke-ellington-by-terry-teachout.html?nl=books&emc=edit_bk_20131206



http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/groovin-high-jazz-is-alive-and-well-on-the-printed-page/article15801462/



http://www.latimes.com/topic/entertainment/david-o.-russell-PECLB0000011274.topic

http://www.latimes.com/topic/entertainment/movies/american-hustle-%28movie%29-ENMV0002912.topic

http://www.latimes.com/topic/entertainment/movies/christian-bale-PECLB000324.topic

http://www.latimes.com/topic/entertainment/movies/amy-adams-PECLB005261.topic

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=85IqgqFBkb_o7M&tbnid=cwCI3LKOPqF28M:&ved=0CAgQjRwwAA&url=http://salon-litteraire.com/fr/musique/content/1845816-back-in-town-le-retour-de-l-anachronic-jazz-band&ei=UZaXUqyBEM7xoAStuoKoCg&psig=AFQjCNGb34dfnT1uPUJrkFoYTEAAyvG_Ag&ust=1385752529326503

4

Here is a link to the full review:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-david-o-russell-american-hustle-20131205,0,7768027.story#ixzz2mtxsNcmt

Last Post.

Allan (Pat) Paterson, longtime member of the Duke Ellington Society, died on 26 October. He was 86. Al

joined the Society with his first wife Dorothy after attending their first meeting at Jack Buckley’s home in

December 1981. During this time Al occasionally

appeared on CJQR-FM playing records from his own

library. He attended Duke Ellington conferences in Washington (1983), Chicago (1984) and Oldham,

Lancashire (1985), among others. In January 1983, he

presented a program to the Society on Johnny Hodges, his favourite soloist in the Ellington band. In 1985-87,

he served the Society as Program Coordinator, and in

1988-90 he was President. After 1999, health problems

prevented him from keeping up his active participation.

Al worked as technician for Bell Canada. He had several enthusiasms besides Ellington. He refereed high

school and college football games across Ontario. He

was especially prized for his documentary photographs of steam and diesel trains. He is co-author of Steam at

Oakville, and his large collection of prints and negatives

is housed at the Canadian Rail Museum in Montreal. He is survived by his wife Ruth, five children and six step-

children.

—John Hornsby and Jack Chambers



Tuesday of each

month.

7:30 pm – 10:00pm

Montgomery’s Inn

4709 Dundas St. W



Annual Dues
















cheques:



10 Edgemore Drive,

Toronto, ON.,

M8Y 2M8


phone number and email address




Vol. 55 No. 4 January & February 2014





Minutes of the January 14th

General Meeting.

Martin Loomer opened the meeting to 24 members and

one guest, Joan Wilson a guest of Liz Strathdee. Liz

also brought to our attention the Jazz Vespers which are

held at St. Philips Church in Etobicoke at 4:00 p.m. Go to their web site to get more information on times and

the bands – www.stphilips.net. Mel Manley

recommend the movie American Hustle which has some Ellington content.

Alan Shiels advised that the ticket sales for the Spring Scholarship Concert continue to move ahead. Please

contact Alan as soon as you can in order to reserve your

seats as, once again, it is sure to sell out.

Martin told us that this evening’s refreshments were

supplied by Sheila Northover and Patricia Poole who

were fulsomely thanked for their generous contribution to the meeting’s success.

Martin handed the meeting over to Bruce Barton who gave a video presentation on Ken Burns Jazz –

Ellington Excerpts. His selections were:

Blessed and New York from Volume two – The Gift: Duke Ellington, raised in middle-class comfort by

parents who told him he was "blessed," outgrows the

society music he learned to play in Washington, D.C., and heads for Harlem. There he absorbs the stride piano

rhythms of Willie "The Lion" Smith and forms a band

to create a music all his own - hot, blues-drenched, and

infused with the gutbucket growls of his new trumpet player, Bubber Miley.

Race Man from Volume 3 - Our Language: In New York, we follow Duke Ellington uptown to Harlem's

most celebrated nightspot, the gangster-owned, whites-

only Cotton Club, where he continues blending the individual voices of his band members to create

harmonies no one has imagined before, then gets the

break of a lifetime when radio carries his music into

homes across the country, bringing him national fame.

Elegance – from Volume 4- True Welcome: Describing

Duke Ellington in the 1930’s who was prospering in

spite of operating in the Depression era.

Tremendous Pride – from Volume 4 – True Welcome:

Duke Ellington takes jazz "beyond category," composing hit tunes with a new sophistication that has

critics comparing him to Stravinsky. Now the nation's

best-known black bandleader, Ellington tours in his own private railcar, transcending stereotypes with an

elegant personal style that disarms prejudice and

inspires racial pride.

Dreaming and The Road from Volume 5 – Swing Pure

Pleasure: Interview and discussion of Ellington rising

above the popular swing style and describing his

A Reason for Living from Volume 6 – The Velocity of

Celebration - describing Ellington’s tour of Europe in 1939, just prior to the outbreak of World War 2.

Finding each other from Volume 7 – Dedicated to

Chaos - In spite of the injustices that Negroes were subject to in America, jazz answers the call during the

war years. Duke Ellington sells war bonds and

premieres his most ambitious work ever, the tone portrait Black, Brown and Beige, as a benefit for war

relief. His band at a peak, Ellington is helped now by

the gifted young composer Billy Strayhorn and

continues manipulating his players' talents, turning his orchestra into an instrument with which he creates

music of astonishing perfection. Mercedes Ellington

comments on Ellington’s influence on Billy Strayhorn.

The selections totaled more than two running hours so

Bruce stopped his presentation before he was able to conclude it, leaving, perhaps, enough material for

another session which we will all look forward to. Jack

http://www.stphilips.net/

http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_ellington_duke.htm

http://www.pbs.org/jazz/places/spaces_cotton_club.htm



http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_strayhorn_billy.htm

2

Chambers made the formal vote of thanks to Bruce for

putting this presentation together and reminding us what a wonderful series the Ken Burns Jazz was.

Minutes of the February 11th

2014 General Meeting.

In the absence of Martin Loomer who had a gig that

night, Alan Shiels opened the meeting of 26 members

and guests. Alan reminded us that there were still approximately 80 seats still remaining to be sold for the

spring concert. He exhorted us all to find friends and

neighbours to purchase tickets. Alan then introduced Jack Chambers whose topic for this evening was Sweet

& Pungent – Ellington’s Plunger Trombones. Jack

led off with Sweet & Pungent, from which he took the

title of tonight’s talk from the1959 Blues in Orbit album with Booty Wood providing the plunger trombone solo.

At Booty Woods first recording session “Duke called

on Wood for the lengthy plunger treatment of Sweet and Pungent… Why would he have me play that? Wood

asked disgustedly. It is a different story today. Wood

declaims the dramatic plunger roles with zest and artistry… ‘Booty Wood is one of the best plunger

trombonists I’ve ever heard’ said Ellington. (From

Stanley Dance – The World of Duke Ellington 1970).

Jack explained that Ellington hired Bubber Miley

primarily for his plunger trumpet which had a

significant influence on Ellington’s Jungle style of the 20’ and 30’s. Tricky Sam Nanton learnt the plunger

technique from Miley. The first recorded use of the

plunger trombone was Black and Tan Fantasy from

1927 which Jack played for us. In the originally recorded version of October 26 1927, Miley is assigned

all of the plunger trumpet with a rather pale plunger

trombone from Nanton. In the version we heard, recorded November 3, “Jabbo” Smith and Nanton share

the plunger assignment that Miley originally played.

Tricky Sam’s masterpiece, according to Jack Chambers

was The Blues with a Feeling, recorded November

1928 which we heard. Eddie Lambert has written that

this was…”one of the great Ellington records…Over the somber sound of Braud’s close miked bowed bass,

Nanton’s trombone sings a beautiful twelve bar

melody… Hodges solos on soprano… before Miley introduces a second thirty two bar theme… With this

performance both Hodges and Nanton proclaim their

stature as jazz musicians of the first rank.”

Dan Morgenstern in Time- Life notes that Tricky Sam

was at “his most outrageous” in The Shade of the Old

Apple Tree, recorded Aug. 1933. A fairly bland affair

apart from Tricky Sam’s contribution. Jack then

selected two version of Ko-Ko for us. The original,

recorded March 1940 and the second February 1956 for the Historically Speaking album. “Tricky Sam” Nanton

provided the plunger effects in the 1940 recording while

the faster tempoed 1956 version, had “Butter” Jackson soloing.

To end the first half of the meeting we heard two

versions of Frankie and Johnny one from the RCA Victor Chatter Jazz album of 1959 which was intended

to be humorous, with Dickie Wells giving the plunger

effects. As a contrast we then heard the same number

from the 19 December 1944 Carnegie Hall concert. At the end of the concert the crowd wouldn’t let Ellington

off the stage so he played a final number featuring

Tricky Sam Nanton – a fitting end to an Ellington Concert.

We then took a social break with refreshments kindly provided by Irene Mottadelli, Sonya Taylor, Helen Paul

and Mel Manley. This evening a buffet was prepared

for our delectation by Irene Barton, Jean Griffiths and

Sheila Northover.

To start of the second half Jack reminded us that Tricky

Sam Nanton died in 1948 aged 44. His place in the band was taken by Tyree Glenn, not only a trombonist with

the ability to play effectively with a plunger mute but a

vibraharpist. We heard him in a 1947 recording of Hy’a

Sue from the Complete Duke Ellington 1947-52 Vol. 1 (CBS Fr.). Steve Voce, in discussion with Stanley

Dance said that “I suggested that Quentin Jackson was

my favourite re-creator of the Nanton role. Stanley preferred Booty Wood and told me that Duke’s

favourite was Tyree Glenn.”

http://ellingtonweb.ca/Hostedpages/Voce/

Jack then played for us Dance #5 from the Liberian

Suite of 24 December 1947 from the Ellington Uptown

album showing Tyree Glenn’s ability with the plunger style both playing solo and playing in unison with Ray

Nance.

Quentin “Butter” Jackson joined the Ellington orchestra

in 1948 and when Tyree Glenn left in 1950 he assumed

the plunger duties. So successful was Jackson in this role he suddenly became famous soloist. In place of his

http://ellingtonweb.ca/Hostedpages/Voce/

3

predecessors smooth sophisticated approach he restored

some of Nanton’s earthiness. (Lambert p 186). To demonstrate Jackson’s ability Jack played Black and

Tan Fantasy once again, recorded this time from the

Ellington’55 album. Ray Nance and Jackson shared the

plunger duties. Jackson was quoted in an interview for the Rutgers University Jazz Oral History Project –

“I’ve always been a melodic trombone player… with

the exception of when I get that plunger in my hand. Then my mind goes filthy”

http://newarkwww.rutgers.edu/IJS/OralHistory.html

To further demonstrate “Butter” Jackson’s skill we

heard To You, a ballad taken from the Duke Ellington

Meets Count Basie recordings of 1961 in which the

plunger technique was still skillfully and effectively used. Finally from “Butter” Jackson we listened to

Trombone Butter a recording made for Dinah

Washington Sings Bessie Smith album recorded in 1957. Originally composed by Fletcher Henderson and

called Trombone Cholly, a vehicle for trombonist

Charlie Green, but renamed Trombone Butter for Butter Jackson in this version.

We then heard the elegant Lawrence Brown in a

plunger assignment. There was no one to occupy the plunger chair in the early ‘60’s so Brown was given the

job. We find him playing plunger muted trombone in

Minnie the Moocher from the 1962 recording of Recollection s of the Big Band Era. Brown is quoted

as saying to Stanley Dance that “I don’t like the

plunger. It can really mess your lip so that you won’t

be able to play straight at all.”

Jack had us return to Mitchell “Booty” Wood whom we

heard from first this evening. He joined Ellington in 1959 and we heard from him on Solvejg’s Song from

Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite recorded by Ellington in 1960

for Columbia.

Art Baron was the last plunger trombonist and the last

trombonist Ellington ever hired, in 1973. We heard his

trombone plunger stylings on St. Louis Blues found in the Ellington in Sweden album of 1973. Baron said that

“… that plunger will kick your butt, but it’s also a lot of

fun to do. It’s a whole emotional thing. If you’re really communicating when you play, there’s a lot there for

you “– Bob Bernotas, Masterclass with Art Baron.

http://www.trombone.org/articles/browse.asp

To end the evening, Jack Chambers selected Sonnet for

Sister Kate from Such Sweet Thunder of 1957. Butter Jackson was given the role of soloist.

David Stimpson offered the formal vote of thanks in

which he complimented Jack on his “thoughtful, insightful and beautifully prepared presentation.” The

meeting enthusiastically endorsed David’s comments.

I need to thank Jack Chambers for the use of his notes

which I pillaged mercilessly in the preparation of this

report. All of the information above was provided by Jack. The quotes were selected by him as well. Thanks

Jack


March 11th

– Jordan Clappman- Toronto musician.

Jordan’s topic is "Duke Ellington and Billy

Strayhorn: The Men and Their Music".

April 8th – Vocal Ellington Revisited – Stephen

Cohen.

April 26th



Billy Strayhorn. Tickets are on sale so please reserve

your seats with Alan Shiels as soon as you can since the concert will sell out.

May 14th

- Bruce Barton will make a presentation on


June 10th


Please bring music you wish to share with the group and entertaining stories and anecdotes for our amusement.

Upcoming Events

Bill Wilson commented that the latest Jazz at Royal

York event was a great success – A Tribute to Peter

Appleyard by Don Thompson, Joe Sealy, Neil Swainson and Michael Stewart. Bill told us that the last

concert of the 20th season of “Jazz at RY” will be at 2:00

p.m. on May 4th 2014 with the band to be announced. All of the net proceeds support local charities.

http://newarkwww.rutgers.edu/IJS/OralHistory.html

http://www.trombone.org/articles/browse.asp

4

Newsletter Update

When the new postal rates go into effect next year, each copy of the newsletter will cost approximately $2.50.

We will, of course, continue to mail out copies to those

who need them in the hard form. Should there be any

member who is now able to receive the newsletter electronically please let me know. Most of the

newsletters are now sent via electronic means. One of

the benefits of the electronic newsletter is that the links provided are “live” meaning that one can click on them

and be directly taken to the web site indicated.

While I’m on the topic, at the most recent Executive

meeting it was decided that those members with

computers and email addresses need not receive

telephone reminders of meetings as the Phone Committee has so ably provided in the past. I will send

out reminders of each meeting via email to all those for

whom I have addresses. If you would still like to receive phone reminders please let Jim Northover or

Matt Wood know so that he can put you on his new

phone list.

This will be the last newsletter sent to members who

have not renewed for the 2013- 2014 season. If you

have not already done so, please mail your cheques to Chris McEvilly – see box at the end of this newsletter.

News and Updates

Jeff Healey Park.

Alan and Judy Shiels and Jim Northover met with

representatives of the City of Toronto Parks Department at Jeff Healey Park during the summer. It

was agreed to create a lilac grove in memory of Jeff

with a commemorative stone which TDES would purchase. The stone mason suggested two stones, one

in Braille. We will go ahead and will follow up as

needed in the spring. We’ll arrange at a time when the lilacs will be in bloom for an opening ceremony and

celebration at the park with additional invited guests.

We wish to formally thank Member Colin Brown who sends to members of TDES 40, cards of well-wishing

on behalf of us all to members who are ailing. I know

I received one myself when I was recovering from hip surgery and can say how heartening it was to receive

such good wishes.

Phil Dwyer Inducted as Order of Canada Member:

Several Canadian jazz musicians have received various Order of Canada distinctions. I hope this list is

complete but previous inductees have included: Oscar

Peterson, Oliver Jones, Phil Nimmons, Joe Sealy, Rob

McConnell, Archie Alleyne, Diana Krall, Lorraine Desmarais, Terry Clark, Don Thompson and Ian

McDougall, Ranee Lee, Jane Bunnett, Archie Alleyne,

and Dave Young. This year the honour was given to sax. player Phil Dwyer,

Last Post.

Swedish singer Alice Babs the renowned jazz singer

who collaborated with Duke Ellington in his Sacred

Concerts died on Tuesday afternoon February 11th 2114

at the age of 90.



Tuesday of each

month.

7:30 pm – 10:00pm

Montgomery’s Inn

4709 Dundas St. W

Visitors always welcome -Plenty of Free Parking

Annual Dues – Final Reminder

The TDES 40 financial year runs from September 1st through August 31st of the following year. In order to

meet the Society’s obligations for Montgomery’s Inn,

rentals, postage, printing and expenses in a timely

fashion, it is imperative that annual dues be paid as early in the year as possible. Those who joined the

Society subsequent to the annual concert in April 2013

are exempt from dues payment for the current year. Dues are $35 for a single membership and $50 for a

family membership for payments made on or before

October 12th 2013. Payments made after that date are subject to a $5.00 surcharge to offset bank penalties for

late deposits. If you have not already made your

payment, please mail your cheques:



10 Edgemore Drive,

Toronto, ON.,

M8Y 2M8

Be sure to include your name, address, home phone

number and email address

Vol. 55 No. 4 March/April 2014





Minutes of the March 11th

General Meeting.

Martin Loomer opened the meeting with 29 members

and guests in attendance. Irene Barton introduced

Jordan Klapman to the meeting. Jordan is a

professional music educator and performer. He has worked in a variety of settings, solo, and ensemble

pianist, accompanist, band leader music director,

composer, arranger, vocal coach and recording producer and has extensive experience performing in

several different genres of music ranging from jazz

standards to Latin, R & B, pop and Jewish music of all kinds. Jordan performs extensively at Jazz Festivals,

clubs and concert halls. He has worked on the radio,

including with Jeff Healey on JAZZ-FM on Jeff’s My

Kinda Jazz series. Jordan Klapman’s web site may be found at: http://www.jordanklapman.com/

Jordan’s topic for the evening was Duke Ellington and

Billy Strayhorn – The Men and Their Music. He said

that he felt a little uncomfortable talking to us since he

felt that the audience would know more than he about the subject. Jordan decided to focus more on Duke’s

early career and play recordings from his early days.

We started off by listening to a recording of Carolina

Shout by James P. Johnson who was a strong influence on the young Ellington. We then heard Duke’s first

composition, Soda Fountain Rag, which was

originally written during his early youth in Washington. The first recording that we heard was made in 1932

though we do not know what the original version

sounded like. This was a synthesis of all of the previous

performances. Parlour Social Stomp, another early Ellington composition and played by Duke Ellington’s

Washingtonians, recorded March 1926 was next. This

piece illustrated several of Duke’s compositional characteristics viz: breaks, trading melodies, voiced and

novelty instrumentation which appeared in many of his

subsequent pieces. However, this number, like many of Ellington’s recordings of this period, was only

mediocre in its performance compared to his work of

only a few months in the future. Jordan, in discussing the biography of Duke Ellington,

touched upon the recording industry of the time. He

discussed and played Crazy Blues, sung by Mamie

Smith and recorded in 1920 which was the first recording of vocal blues by an African American artist.

It sold more than one million copies in less than year.

We then heard East St. Louis Toodle-oo, recorded November 1926 which was the first of Ellington’s

recordings that reflected the style that he developed

throughout his career. At this point we took a short break with refreshments provided by Kaye Love and

Betty Waldie and organized by Jean Griffiths.

We resumed, after the break with Jordan playing, at the Grand Piano in our meeting room, Mood Indigo which

was co-written by Ellington and Barney Bigard in 1930,

though Lorenzo Tio, a New Orleans clarinet coach and tutor claimed to have a part in composing this tune also.

Jordan then took us to Black and Tan Fantasy

recorded for the first time in October 1927 that demonstrated Ellington’s development as a composer

and also was a vehicle for the instrumentalists in the

band, Bubber Miley, Tricky Sam Nanton etc.

As he became more confident in his composing skills, Ellington moved on to composing longer works, the

first of which was Black Brown and Beige, first

performed in Carnegie Hall at Ellington’s inaugural concert there in 1943. Jordan played Sophisticated

Lady of 1932 to round out this part of his discussion of

Duke Ellington’s career.

Billy Strayhorn joined Ellington in 1939 and got his career off to a flying start with him by writing a whole

new book of compositions and arrangements for the

band due to the dispute with ASCAP. The new book included such Strayhorn numbers as Chelsea Bridge,

After All and Take the “A” Train which we heard

from the 1941 recording. We then listened to Something to Live For, a piano solo by Billy Strayhorn

from the Piano Passion album. Billy Strayhorn sadly

http://www.jordanklapman.com/

2

died of oesophageal cancer in 1967 but not before he

and Ellington had developed such a musical partnership that produced some of the best music of the twentieth

century.

As a hark back to the “Jungle Style” that Ellington

originated during the Cotton Club days Jordan played the magnificent Ko-Ko recorded in 1940.

By the mid 1940’s Jordan explained, big band music

started to lose its general appeal. Bands shrunk in size, Ellington’s being no exception. However, as Duke

Ellington himself claimed, he “was born at Newport” in

1956 with the performance of Diminuendo and

Crescendo in Blue with the wailing interval provided

by Paul Gonzalves. We were told we'd listen to a short

excerpt but in the end we heard the whole 1956

Newport recording to which no one objected. Duke reclaimed his earlier public acclaim and continued his

remarkably successful career until the end. Jordan

closed his presentation of Duke’s life and music with a performance on the Grand Piano once again of Satin

Doll.

Martin Loomer thanked Jordan Klapman fulsomely for

his excellent presentation and insights into the life and

music of Duke Ellington. Martin reminded us that at

the Fundraising Concert in April his band will be playing Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue, which, as

far as this editor is concerned, will be worth the price of

admission alone.

Minutes of general Meeting of April 8 2014.

Alan Shiels opened the meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the absence of Martin Loomer. There were 34 members

and guests in attendance, seven of whom were guests of

the presenter, Stephen Cohen. Alan mentioned that there remain only 36 tickets left to sell for the Spring

Concert. He felt that ticket sales were lagging behind

previous years’ performance. We all feel that he and Judy have done a great job in selling the tickets.

Irene Barton baroquely introduced our speaker for the

evening, Stephen Cohen who was to continue with his

Vocal Ellington program started last year. He explained that in his previous presentation he played

numbers by his favourite vocalists while this year he

was going to try to cover the Ellington vocalists in order. Stephen detailed the band members throughout.

In the interests of saving space I have not done that. The

personnel can be found by referring to discographies.

Stephen started his talk with Adelaide Hall (1901-

1993), who, though not a member of Ellington’s band, did make several recording with the band during its

residency at the Cotton Club. She started her career in

the Shuffle Along review and her career blossomed in

the Blackbirds of 1928 review. She found herself on the same bill as Duke Ellington in 1927 where they

collaborated on three recordings, one of which, Creole

Love Call, recorded Oct. 26 1927, Stephen played to demonstrate Adelaide Hals’s wordless vocal technique.

We then heard from Ivie Anderson (1905-1949),

Duke’s most successful vocalist, hired when the band went on its first tour in 1931 when it was felt the band

needed a vocalist. She remained with the band until

1942 when her chronic asthma got the better of her. We

heard her first recording with Ellington, It Don’t Mean

a Thing if it Ain’t Got that Swing from February 2

1932. We also heard Raisin’ the Rent from May 9

1933 and Solitude recorded Feb. 14 1940 to further demonstrate Ivie’s style.

Herb Jeffries, born Umberto Alexander Valentino and

known as “The Bronze Buckeroo” as a result of his exceptionally mixed racial heritage, though he chose to

be taken as a man of colour, was born in 1913 and is

still with us, aged 102. The song he made very popular,

Flamingo, recorded Dec. 28 1940, was chosen to demonstrate his talents.

Joya Sherrill (1924-2010) began her career with

Ellington in 1942 and became a member of the orchestra in 1944 until 1946. She had a hit with

Ellington with I’m Beginning to see the Light,

recorded Dec 12 1944.

Ray Nance, (1913 – 1976) hired into the Ellington band to replace Cootie Williams in 1940 was not only a

trumpeter but also played the violin, sang and danced

which earned him the nickname “Floorshow”. Of course, though Nance is justly famous for his much

copied trumpet solo in Take the “A” Train we heard

another of his hits, It Don’t Mean a Thing… recorded April 21, 1945.

Stephen then introduced us to Betty Roche (1920 –

1999) who joined the Ellington band is 1943 as a direct

replacement for Ivie Anderson, who recommended her to Duke. She sang with Ellington in the 40’s and 50’s

but not continuously. Stephen used Go Away Blues to

illustrate her talents, from a Treasury Show recording of April 21 1945.

Al Hibbler (1915 – 2001) joined Ellington in 1943,

replacing Herb Jeffries, remaining for almost eight years and leaving in 1951 over a dispute with wages.

3

Though he was blind from birth and criticized for his

vocal peculiarities he was considered the best of Ellington’s male vocalists. His most well-known

number made with Ellington was I’m Just a Lucky So

and So recorded Nov 26 1945.

Kay Davis (1920 – 2012) obtained both her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Voice and Piano performance.

She joined the Ellington band in 1944 and sang beside

Joya Sherill and Al Hibbler. She was best known for her wordless vocals and was the only person whom

Ellington trusted to sing the Adelaide Hall part in

Creole Love call. We heard her wordless vocal in Tansblucency recorded July 9 1946. She left Ellington

in 1950. We then heard another vocal from Al Hibbler

Just Squeeze Me from the same recording session of

July 9 1946. At this point we took a short break for refreshments

kindly provided by Helen and Bob Hitchcock and Liz

Strathdee. Stephen resumed his session with Nat “King” Cole,

(1919 – 1965) not a vocalist with Ellington of course.

We were treated to Lush Life from The Forgotten Carnegie Hall concert of Nov 4 1946. “King” Cole

married Maria Ellington, a short time vocalist with the

Duke but no relation.

Blues at Sundown was played next, sung by Jimmy

Grissom (Strangely, no dates are available) He was the

nephew of Dan Grissom, vocalist with Jimmie

Lunceford. He started with Ellington’s orchestra in 1951 and stayed until 1958.

We returned to Ray Nance with I Let a Song Go Out of

My Heart, a feature for Harry Carney leading to Don’t

Get Around Much Anymore sung by Nance. Both the Grissom and Nance numbers were recorded March 22

1952 and appearing on the “Rare” Live Recordings

1952-3 triple CD set. Ozzie Bailey was with Duke Ellington April 1957 to

September 1959. He was of West Indian descent and

was brought in by Ellington to replace Jimmy Grissom. Unusually for Ellington’s male singers his style was

unaffected and straightforward. We listened to M.C.

Blue from the Salle Playel concert of 1958.

Lil Greenwood (1924 – 2011) was with Ellington from 1956 through the early 1960’s and was featured on

Ellington’s album My People. Stephen selected for us

to listen to Walking (and Singing the Blues) from the Famous Berlin Concert album of 1959.

We then heard from Milt Grayson (1937 – 2005)

singing The Lonely Ones from The Private

Collection #3 recorded 1962. Grayson was with

Ellington from March 1960 to May 1963. Another obscure singer, Trish Turner was featured on

Cool and Groovy of the Private Collections #9 of Dec

3 1968. She joined Duke in September 1967 XXXXX

To conclude his presentation Stephen played for us Come Sunday sung by Joe Williams from the 1969 All

Star White House Tribute to Duke Ellington and an

Ellington Medley sung by Mel Torme with Gerry Mulligan and George Shearing at Carnegie Hall June 29

1982.

Liz Strathdee made the formal thanks to Stephen for and outstanding evening’s entertainment taking us

through many of Ellington’s vocalists, both famous and

obscure. Thanks Stephen.


April 26th

Annual Fundraising Concert – Walter Hall. Martin Loomer’s Orange Devils will be performing

with music and arrangements by Duke Ellington and

Billy Strayhorn. Tickets are on sale so please reserve your seats with Alan Shiels as soon as you can since the

concert will sell out.

May 14th

– Rob Fogle, Radio personality and entertainment entrepreneur will talk on Duke, Sinatra

and More. His radio show is on CHRY 105.5 FM and

is titled Some Experiences in Jazz and can be heard 9 – p.m. to 12:00 a.m. Saturdays.

June 10th


Please bring music you wish to share with the group and entertaining stories and anecdotes for our amusement.

December 2nd

– The annual Holiday Party at the Arts & Letters Club in Toronto. Judy Shiels has told me that

people are reserving their tickets now!!

Upcoming Events

Bill Wilson announced that the last concert of the 20th

season of “Jazz at RY” will be at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday May 4th 2014 with the Robi Botos Quartet with Mike

Murley, Dave Young and Terry Clarke playing “Spring

Song Fever”. The Tickets were not yet available but may be purchased at the door. All of the net proceeds

support local charities.

4

Don’t forget Martin Loomer’s Orange Devils regular

gig at the Monarch Tavern on the second Monday of each month. Music starts at 7:30 p.m. and continues

until 10:00 or 10:30 p.m. Only a $10 cover.

On Saturday August 2 at The Charles W. Stockey

Centre for the Performing Arts in Parry Sound, Dave Young will lead a Quintet playing A Tribute to Duke

Ellington.

You may purchase tickets on line at http://www.festivalofthesound.ca/

News and Updates

There are many events scheduled to celebrate Duke Ellington’s birthday on Tuesday April 29th. Many radio

stations schedule special programming to mark the

occasion. Here are a few suggestions for finding jazz on the “radio”.

KUCR in Riverside California broadcasts excellent jazz programming from Noon – 6 p.m. EST every Tuesday

which you can get on line at www.kucr.org

The program – Jazz Explorations, from Noon to 2:00

p.m. is hosted by a Southern California DES member Lee Farley and is well worth listening to. He does an

excellent Ellington program which I expect to be

broadcast on April 29 this year.

WKCR in New York City broadcasts jazz

extensively. You will need to refer to their program

schedule and try the programs to find the ones and the hosts that are right for you. They devote extensive time

to one particular jazz artist on appropriate

anniversaries. On April 29 they devote the full day to Duke Ellington music. You can get the streamed signal

at www.wkcr.org.

On Saturday April 26 at 8:00 a.m. to noon WCDB in

Albany will broadcast its Ellington celebration hosted

by Bill McCann with guest Bill Saxonis, a New York

City DES member. This year will feature an interview with Ellington biographer Terry Teachout and a

segment on the late Alice Babs. Their stream is

available at www.wcdbfm.com.

Carl Woideck who broadcasts Wednesdays from 7:30 –

10:00 p.m. his Soul of Jazz program on KLCC in Oregon, says that he will broadcast Ellington on his

May 1st program. You can catch him at klcc.org 10:30

p.m. to 1:00 a.m.

The New England Public radio service broadcasts a

daily jazz program, Jazz a la Mode, hosted by Tom

Reney and heard from 8:00 ‘til 11:00 p.m. This year Tom will host a 115th birthday celebration program on

Ellington on April 29th which, this year, can be heard as

a podcast for one week, i.e., through May 5. The stream may be heard at www.nepr.net

There is also Colin Bray’s excellent classic jazz program, Sugar Foot Stomp, on CIUT which broadcasts

Thursdays from 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. We are able to listen

on the original steam radio at 89.5 on the FM band Of

course, the stream is available at www.ciut.fm. Colin does not do anything special for Duke Ellington’s

birthday but he does play his music frequently and

occasionally a special Ellington program during the regular schedule. One can listen to Colin’s program for

a week after its original broadcast date as a podcast

accessible through the CIUT web site

Our own JAZZ-FM at 91.1 FM will be broadcasting an

Ellington Anniversary program on Glen Woodcock’s

Big Band Show on Sunday April 27 from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. For those of you who cannot listen to this station

directly their stream may be accessed at

http://www.jazz.fm/

Some of the broadcast times may be inconvenient for

"live listening” and there will be lot of overlapping so

you may want to record some of these programs for listening at your convenience later, unless of course, a

podcast is available. All times quoted above are local

Toronto times.

I hope this information is useful to you. Please let me

know if you listen to any of these programs. I’d value your feedback. If anyone receiving this newsletter

knows of other Ellington Anniversary programming,

please let me know.



Tuesday of each

month.

7:30 pm – 10:00pm

Montgomery’s Inn

4709 Dundas St. W

Visitors always welcome -Plenty of Free Parking

http://www.festivalofthesound.ca/

http://www.kucr.org/

http://www.wkcr.org/

http://www.wcdbfm.com/

http://klcc.org/

http://www.nepr.net/

http://www.ciut.fm/

http://www.jazz.fm/

Vol. 55 No. 5 May & June 2014




Web site: www.torontodukeellingtonsociety.com

Scholarship Fundraising Concert April 26 2014.

Martin Loomer’s Orange Devils was, once again engaged to perform at our annual Duke Ellington

Scholarship Fundraising Concert. Alan Shiels opened

the proceedings with a welcome to a full house of 500

jazz fans and a few words describing the event and its goals. He thanked the members of the executive

committee who had helped him put together the concert

and he had a special mention for Judy Shiels who had worked very hard in assisting him. He handed the

concert over to Martin Loomer who got the concert off

in fine style with Billy Strayhorn’s Take the ”A” Train with Brigham Phillips featured on cornet. This was

followed by In A Mellotone again featuring Brigham

Phillips with Andy Ballantyne on Soprano sax.

Solitude followed with Tom Skublics on baritone sax. Martin then led the Orchestra in a 20’s number with an

updated late 30’s arrangement Cotton Club Stomp.

From 1938 we heard a nice uptempo version of Old

King Dooji. Our vocalist for the evening, Rita Di

Ghent joined the band with Do Nothing ‘til You Hear

from Me, When My Sugar Walks down the Street and Strayhorn’s atmospheric piece, Daydream. At this

point, Martin took the opportunity to introduce the band

members –

Martin Loomer - Leader, Arranger & Acoustic Guitar

Andy Ballantyne –Soprano, Alto Saxophones, Clarinet

Kira Payne - Alto and Tenor Saxophones, Clarinet John MacMurchy - Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet

Tom Skublics – Alto and Bari. Saxophones, Clarinet

Alex Kundakcioglu, Brigham Phillips and John

MacLeod - Cornets Scott Suttie and Tom Richards - Trombones

Richard Whiteman - Piano

Rob Uffen - Bass Tom Jestadt - Drums

Rita Di Ghent – Vocals

The orchestra got back on track with Sepia Panorama

featuring Rob Uffen on bass and Slap Happy

showcasing Tom Skublics once again. Martin Loomer

then introduced Showboat Shuffle which he said was one of his favourite Ellington pieces. This was

followed by the sensual Warm Valley which featured

a very strong solo by Andy Ballantyne on Alto. The

band really sang through this piece. To conclude the first half of the concert the orchestra played of Tootin’

through the Roof which, Martin explained was the full

length version, not the arrangement for the original 78 rpm recording.

After the audience took its time returning after the break the band played, appropriately Chatterbox with solos

by John MacLeod, Scott Suttie and Kira Payne. Martin

Loomer then introduced the next number, For Dancers

Only which, of course, Ellington did not compose but he did record it as part of his Recollections of the Big

Band Era album. As the ultimate compliment,

Ellington chose the original Sy Oliver arrangement for this piece rather than rearranging it for his band. Martin

Loomer dedicated the next piece, Mood Indigo, to

TDES member George Payne who was a great supporter of The Toronto Duke Ellington Society, jazz

in general and this concert, who left us a little earlier in

the year, far too soon. This featured the muted cornets

of John MacLeod and Brigham Phillips. Rita Di Ghent rejoined the band on stage to give us Alabamy Home,

Don’t get Around Much Anymore and Since I Fell

for You. Rita did a fine job with this number. John MacLeod was featured on Echoes of Harlem, doing full

justice to Cootie Williams with a first rate muted,

growling cornet. This was followed by Stompy Jones

with brief solos by Tom Skublics on clarinet, Brigham Phillips, Kira Payne on tenor and Scot Suttie. Tom

Skublics was then featured on Clarinet Lament.

Martin dedicated the next number Grievin’ to his late father who would have celebrated his 91st birthday the

day before the concert. We then heard the orchestra

perfume the much anticipated Diminuendo and

Crescendo in Blue. No matter how many times one

hears the recorded versions of this piece, there is

2

nothing like listening to it live. The band performed a

flawless and very exciting version with a “wailing

interval” supplied by Richard Whiteman on piano.

After a standing ovation Martin gave us his encore piece, King Oliver’s Sugar Foot Stomp. This was

Martin’s own arrangement in which he incorporated all

of this favourite features the many published arrangements of the 20’s and 30’s.

A wonderful concert – Thank You Martin for a great evening’s entertainment.

We also need to thank Judy and Alan Shiels without

whose effort these concerts would not take place. They

organize the band, the venue and the tickets and sell most of them. Thanks Judy and Alan. Additional

thanks should also go to Stephen Cohen and Mel

Manley whose generosity allowed two music students to attend this concert.

Here’s an image from the concert taken by Bruce Barton:

Minutes of the May 13th

General Meeting. Martin Loomer opened the meeting to 27 in attendance

and introduced Rob Fogle, Radio Jazz presenter on

York University’s radio station CHRY 105.5FM. Rob explained that he was going to present some music by

Duke Ellington for the first half of the meeting and then

cover Frank Sinatra’s association with Ellington after

the break which he called Duke, Sinatra and More. Rob started off by playing three selections for Duke’s Jungle

Band recorded May 1929 – Cotton Club Stomp, Misty

Mornin’ and Freeze and Melt, all introduced on record by Irving Mills. To illustrate Duke’s work in the

30’s we discussed his band’s trip to England and heard

Chicago and what is generally known as A Souvenir of

Duke Ellington, a stilted and scripted interview of

Duke by Percy Mathison Brooks who was the editor of

Melody maker. The single sided recording was offered

free to anyone buying six Duke Ellington recordings in

one order from Levy’s, a record store in London. Recorded July 1933. Rob offered some personal

anecdotes as he led us through the music he selected.

He had seen Ellington’s Orchestra in Toronto when but a lad of 15 at the late and lamented Colonial Tavern and

several times at Massey Hall. He also saw Duke as part

of a Jazz at the Symphony concert at Massey Hall during the 1968 – 69 season with the Toronto

Symphony Orchestra. Rob’s parents had married in

1938 and had visited the Cotton Club during their

honeymoon and Rob displayed a program, signed by Ellington that his mother had kept. We then heard, in

recognition of this visit, Dinah (‘s In a Jam) with vocals

by the band members recorded April 1938.

Moving to the forties Rob explained that there was a

movie, made in 1943, Reveille with Beverly, in which Beverly Ross played by Ann Miller hosts a 5:30 a.m.

radio show, playing “swing” music dedicated to

servicemen. Ellington “appeared” a couple of times on

this show and from one of his appearances we heard an early vocal version of Billy Strayhorn’s Take the “A”

Train. Again from the forties Rob selected Long, Long

Journey played by the Esquire All Star Jazz Poll Winners of 1946 with Louis Armstrong, Duke

Ellington, Charlie Shavers, Johnny Hodges Sonny

Greer.

Moving on to the 50’s Rob played How High the Moon

(Ornithology) in a be-bop arrangement taken at an

appropriately fast tempo followed by Ellington introducing Billy Strayhorn’s arrangement of George

Shearing’s Lullaby of Birdland. Recorded November

14 1952. From the same concert we heard Dizzy Gillespie featured with the Ellington Orchestra on Body

and Soul.

From the 60’s and 70’s Rob selected Take the “A”

Train once again but this time played by a string group

comprising Stephane Grapelli, Ray Nance (violins),

Svend Asmussen (viola), Ernie Shepherd, bass and Sam Woodyard, drums with Ellington on the Piano, recorded

February 1963 as part of the Jazz Violin Sessions

album. In the late 1960’s Ron Collier was involved with Ellington, arranging for the band. The band visited

Toronto in June 1972 and while here made several

recordings, one of which, Vancouver Lights was really

3

a very nice number indeed and one many of us had

never heard before. (It is available on a couple of

Laserlight albums).

Rob then played for us from his private collection an air check of Phil McKellar discussing Ellington with Oscar

Peterson leading in to Band Call which Oscar played

with Dave Young on bass. This was recorded after Ellington’s death in 1974. To bring the first half of his

presentation to and end Rob played another private

recording of Woody Herman’s Herd in a performance on a Cruise in December 1975 playing a medley of

Satin Doll and Don’t get Around Much Anymore.

After the break with refreshments kindly provided by Mel Manley, Rob switched his talk from discussing

Duke Ellington to Frank Sinatra’s association with

Ellington and his music. Sinatra recorded only four numbers written by Duke Ellington and there are a

couple of air checks also with Ellington on Broadway

Band Box, a radio show co-hosted by Frank Sinatra. Ellington was a guest on the June 25 1943 showin

which Sinatra introduces Duke Ellington at the solo

piano playing Solitude, the other air check the full band

playing Don’t get Around Much Anymore. Rob then gave us three double exposures of an original

Ellington recording followed by the Sinatra vocal

version. First we heard Mood Indigo, recorded by Ellington in 1930 followed by Sinatra’s vocal version

arranged by Nelson Riddle for the 1955 album, Wee

Small Hours. We then listened to I Got it Bad and

That Ain’t Good with Ivie Anderson doing the vocals on Duke’s 1947 recording and compared it to Sinatra’s

version again arranged by Nelson Riddle for the 1956 A

Swinging Affair album. The last comparison was I’m

Beginning to See the Light. We heard an Ellingtonian

version recoded by the Boston Pops Orchestra with

Duke Ellington from an unissued recording from 1955 and Sinatra’s version from his Sinatra and Swinging

Brass album of 1962 arranged by Neil Hefti.

Ellington and Sinatra did make one album together, Francis A and Edward K from 1968 for Sinatra’s

Reprise label. Only one of the numbers recorded was

written by Ellington, I Like the Sunrise.

Ellington did collaborate with Sinatra on the best

forgotten movie, Assault on a Queen in 1965. Sinatra made the Only the Lonely album in 1955 and had

intended to sing Strayhorn’s Lush Life. We listened to

the bootleg failed recording sung unsuccessfully by

Sinatra. The song was as not issued on the album. As a

contrast we heard Strayhorn’s vocal version. It is

interesting to compare an accomplished singer failing

to master Lush Life and a non-vocalist with albeit a pleasant voice mastering this difficult song.

Bruce Barton thanked Rob Fogle for his terrific

presentation which allowed us to hear many unissued and interesting recordings. We hope Rob can come

back again soon.

Minutes of June 10th.

2014 General Meeting.

In the absence of Martin Loomer, Alan Shiels opened

the Member’s Choice meeting at 7:30 p.m. with Chris

McEvilly acting as DJ. Refreshments were courtesy of Margaret and Michael Flowers. Alan Jones opened the

proceedings with Blue Reverie from the Benny

Goodman Carnegie Hall concert of 1938. He followed this with Loch Lomond with vocal by Martha Tilton.

Jim Northover offered the Steely Dan version of East

St. Louis Toodle O since he had played the original Ellington version at one of the previous Member’s

Choice meetings. Barry Tisdall played Digits from a

1957 recording of Johnny Hodges and a small group

setting with Clark Terry and Billy Strayhorn. Harold Swartz gave us Caravan from the Monk plays

Ellington album. This was followed by Matt Wood’s

selection of It Don’t Mean a Thing… from the Blue Rose album with Rosemary Clooney. Colin Brown

offered The Mooche played by a Dizzy Gillespie small

group in 1962 with a crackling solo by Gillespie. Colin

followed this with Things Ain’t What They Used to

Be with again Dizzy Gillespie. Bill Wilson played a

selection from his friend Hod O’Brian’s album Do

Nothing ‘til You Hear from Me. At this point we took a short break. Liz Strathdee brought us back with two

versions of Billy Strayhorn’s Passion Flower, an

Ellington solo and one by a Fred Hirsch trio. Guest Ted Ono offered a Gene Di Novi/Dave Young piece, Who

Knows. Chris McEvilly’s choice was UMMG from

His Mother Called him Bill. Maureen Kennedy played

My Little Brown Book played by the trio of Reg Schwager, Steve Wallace and Mike Murley. To close

the evening with a rousing send off, Bill Wilson played

Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass playing Don’t Get

around Much Anymore from the album of the same

name.

Upcoming TDES 40 Meetings:

The first meeting of the 2014/2015 season will be held

on September 9th

at Montgomery’s Inn, in the Tavern

4

where beverages will be served to lubricate the

proceedings. We have high hopes that Lydia Persaud

will visit us with a trio to give us some live music!

More to follow. The October 14

th meeting will be our Annual General

Meeting where we will need to elect a new Executive

Committee. Please consider standing for office. It’s great fun and certainly enhances ones enjoyment of our

group. For the health of the Society we need to see new

people in almost all of the roles. Please let me know if you wish to stand for office. Thanks

December 2nd

– The annual Holiday Party at the Arts

& Letters Club in Toronto. The music will be provided by the Nancy Walker quartet. Judy Shiels has told me

that the tickets will be available in September and

people are reserving now.

Upcoming Events:

Don’t forget Martin Loomer’s Orange Devils regular gig at the Monarch Tavern on the second Monday of

each month. Music starts at 7:30 p.m. and continues

until 10:00 or 10:30 p.m. Only a $10 cover.

July 6th - Mike Daley’s Trio performs at Local Gest, 424 Parliament at 4:30p.m presenting a Special Tribute to

Duke Ellington.

On Saturday August 2 at The Charles W. Stockey Centre for the Performing Arts in Parry Sound, Dave

Young will lead a Quintet playing A Tribute to Duke

Ellington.

You may purchase tickets on line at http://www.festivalofthesound.ca/

During the 2014-15 concert season, The Royal

Conservatory salutes the big bands with Rob

McConnell’s Boss Brass, The Count Basie Orchestra,

among others. The series kicks off on Saturday October 18 with a rare

reunion of Canada’s greatest big band, Rob

McConnell’s Boss Brass. McConnell passed away in

2010 and his family has agreed to let The Conservatory assemble 21 of his long-time band members, a who’s

who of Canadian jazz, including Guido Basso, Brian

Barlow, and Terry Clarke, to name just a few. For more details please go to:

http://performance.rcmusic.ca/event/boss_brass

Jazz Festivals:

At the time of writing there have been limited

announcements as to the line ups. I suggest you refer

to the individual web sites for detailed information as to

who is playing.

Ottawa - June 20 – July 1

Toronto – June 19 – 28 Stratford Summer Festival – July 14 – Aug 24. The

mighty Oliver Jones appears on July 19.

See - www.stratfordsummermusic.ca Toronto Beaches July 18 – July 27

Montreal – June 26 – July 6

Oakville – Aug 8 - 9 Prince Edward County – Aug 12 - 17

Markham – Aug 14 – 17

Welcome New Members Welcome to Dr. Robert and Mary Fielden, Joan

Fulford, Cathy Richardson and Pat Williams all

Scholarship Concert goers and now members and new member Audrey Ashbourne.

Name badges for members’ use at our meetings are

available. Please see Jim Northover if you would like one. We do encourage members to use name badges at

the meetings for ease of identification. Though the cost

of the badges has risen considerably they will cost

members $10 each. The balance of the cost will be borne by the Society.

Last Post: As most of you now know, Herb Jeffries, vocalist with

Ellington January 1940 to autumn 1942 died on May 25

aged at least one hundred. He is most well-known for

his version of Flamingo which he recorded with Ellington in December 1940. He also appeared in the

highly regarded but never recorded Jump for Joy

musical in 1941. There are many fine obituaries but one of the best is in the Globe and Mail/New York Times of

May 27 2014. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/herb-jeffries-known-as-

bronze-buckaroo-excelled-at-country-jazz/article18876948/

It is with great regret that we have to announce that Gerry Hornsby died on Sunday June 7. She will be

missed by us all.



Tuesday of each

month.

7:30 pm – 10:00pm

Montgomery’s Inn

4709 Dundas St. W



http://www.festivalofthesound.ca/

http://performance.rcmusic.ca/event/boss_brass

http://www.stratfordsummermusic.ca/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/herb-jeffries-known-as-bronze-buckaroo-excelled-at-country-jazz/article18876948/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/herb-jeffries-known-as-bronze-buckaroo-excelled-at-country-jazz/article18876948/

Vol 55 No.1 September 2013 -...

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