Vol 52 No. 1 September 2010
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]
Minutes of the September 14 General Meeting
President Alan Shiels opened the meeting at 7:35
p.m. to 30 members and guests. There were
several announcements from the floor.
Jean Griffiths requested volunteers for providing
refreshments for the meeting for the 2010 – 2011
season. She passed around a sign up sheet for the
volunteers.
Alan announced that the Holiday Party had been
arranged for Tuesday, December 7th at the Arts &
Letters Club – See below.
The Scholarship Concert has been booked for
Saturday, April 30th at Walter Hall in the
University of Toronto. The Dave Young/Terry
Promane band is confirmed for the evening. The
ticket price had not yet been set.
John Hornsby is looking for a volunteer to carry
the audio equipment to our meetings and to look
after the equipment between meetings. Please
talk to John if you feel you can help.
Bill Wilson announced that the 16th season of Jazz
at Royal York would commence on Sunday
November 7th with a performance by pianist Dave
Restivo. Bill told us that he had been able to
donate $2500 from the proceeds of Jazz at Royal
York to neighbourhood charities, in spite of
declining attendance due to the economic slow
down in 2010.
Irene Barton then introduced the speaker for the
evening, Jim Galloway. Irene briefly outlined
Jim’s international career and accomplishments.
We were indeed fortunate to have Jim speak to us
once again. He has always been a great friend to
our society.
Jim Galloway opened his presentation with the
happy news that Anne Page’s health was now
recovering though she was sorry that she was
unable to attend this evening’s presentation.
Jim said that his topic for the evening was
“nicknames” of the Duke Ellington band
members. He started with the maestro himself
who was given the nickname “Duke” by his friend
Edgar McEntree in 1913, for his aristocratic
bearing and natty dress. Jim illustrated Duke’s
playing by presenting Carolina Shout, instead of
the Kinda Dukish introduction to Rockin’ in
Rhythm from the 1965 Paris Concert. He also let
us hear Duke on the piano accompanied by Aaron
Bell and Sam Woodyard on I Can’t get Started
recorded in March 1961.
Jim then moved on to Joe “Tricky Sam” Nanton
who got his nickname during his early years with
Ellington. There are two versions of how he
earned his nickname, neither having anything to
do with his trombone technique. One story has it
that Nanton consistently beat his colleagues at
cards and was known as “tricky with a deck of
cards”. The other was that Toby Hardwick
always saw him “doing with one hand what
anyone else would do with two.” To illustrate
Tricky Sam’s playing Jim selected Jungle Nights
in Harlem from June 1930 and Double Check
Stomp recorded in April 1930. This number was
one of the very few in which Ellington included
and accordion player, Joe Smeiser, in the band.
We then moved onto Johnny Hodges who had
earned at least two nicknames, “Jeep’’ and
“Rabbit” or sometimes “Rab”. According to
Harry Carney, Hodges was called Rabbit for his
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love of lettuce and tomato sandwiches. Another
story has it that the nickname was due to his quick
trips to a room at sporting houses! According to
Johnny Griffin, Hodges earned his nickname
because he looked like a rabbit with no expression
on his face while he was playing all his beautiful
music. From October 1940 we heard Warm Valley
featuring Johnny Hodges on Soprano Sax and
Taffy from a recording done in Atlantic City in
August of 1966 with Wild Bill Davis and
Lawrence Brown, who had the nickname of “The
Deacon” due to his puritan behaviour.
Barney Bigard was next on Jim Galloway’s list.
He had the name “Creole” which, because of his
Creole background he looked almost white.
According to Sonny Greer, Bigard and Welman
Braud were sent into a restaurant on one occasion
when the band was touring The South to get food
for the band. They were chased out of the
restaurant by the owner while Bigard shouted
“I’m Creole, I’m Creole!” The owner shouted
back, I don’t care how old you are, you can’t eat
in here!” To illustrate Bigard’s clarinet, Jim
played Harlem Airshaft from a NYC July 1940
recording and Bojangles of Harlem recorded in
1945 with Joe Thomas t, Johnny Guanieri p, Billy
Taylor b and Cozy Cole d.
We then took a short break. Alan Shiels thanked
Norma Humphries for supplying the evening’s
refreshments.
After the break Jim described Ben Webster whose
nicknames were “Frog” and The Brute” He was
known as Frog because of his somewhat bulging
eyes which caused him to look like a frog from
some angles. Jim played Lafayette recorded in
1932 while Webster was with the Bennie Moten
Orchestra, featuring a young Count Basie on
piano, Hot Lips page on trumpet and Eddie
Barefield on clarinet. We also heard Ben Webster
on tenor playing After You’ve Gone recorded in
NYC in March of 1944 with Sidney de Paris, Vic
Dickenson, James P Johnson, Jimmy Shirley,
John Simmons and Syd Catlett. Jim Galloway
said that he had to play a ballad by Ben Webster
since he was unsurpassed in playing them. Jim
played Time on My Hands from October 1957
with Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown and Herb Ellis
and Stan Levey.
When he heard a musical performance as a child,
Charles “Cootie” Williams was asked what is
sounded like. He said “cootie, cootie, cootie” and
the name stuck. We heard Tootin’ Through the
Roof recorded on October 14 1939 featuring both
Rex Stewart and Cootie Williams who traded
solos throughout.
His multiple talents of playing the trumpet and
violin and singing and dancing well earned Ray
Nance the nickname “Floorshow”. He was the
only violinist featured in the Ellington Orchestra.
He was hired to replace Cootie Williams in 1940.
He was given the trumpet assignment on the first
recorded version of Take the A Train and his
solo, one of the most copied and admired in jazz,
was copied by Cootie Williams almost note for
note twenty years later! Jim played Lay By from
Suite Thursday recorded October 1961 to
illustrate Nance’s trumpet playing.
William “Cat” Anderson was sent to live in
Jenkins Orphanage in Charleston S.C. where he
learned to play the trumpet. Classmates gave him
the nickname “Cat” based on his fighting style.
Anderson was a high note specialist in Ellington’s
band but, Jim explained, he was much more than
that. He was a wonderful trumpet player with
great range and nuance as Jim learned from his
own experience in playing with him. From Such
Sweet Thunder, Jim played Madness in Great
Ones recorded in May 1957.
Jimmy Woode was given the name Herr Fix It by
Lester Young. Apparently, during an overnight
train ride from New York to Boston, whenever
Lester had a problem Jimmy always managed to
come up with a solution. He joined the Ellington
band in 1955 and left in 1960. Jim Galloway
played Sonnet in Search of a Moor again from
Such Sweet Thunder which featured Woode on
Bass.
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Mumbles, the nickname given to Clarke Terry
was given to him when he was making the album
Oscar Peterson Trio Plus One. The assignment
was completed but there was time left on the date
so Clark Terry wanted to make a personal party
record for his own use. Oscar gave him an
introduction and Clarke Terry imitated the
vocalists of his youth by singing unintelligibly.
Oscar thought it so amusing he cut Clarke Terry
off and insisted that he record it properly and
included the resulting tune in the album. We
heard the unintelligible and very amusing
Mumbles recorded in Toronto in 1964.
Jim concluded his review of the Ellington band
members by remembering Paul Gonsalves. He
was named “Mex” since band members thought
he was Hispanic but he was actually from the
Cape Verde Islands. He was also called
“Strolling Violins” because he sometimes walked
through the audience while soling on tenor.
Gonzalves loved to play ballads but had the
Newport Jazz Festival thrust upon him which he
had to reprise for the rest of his career. We heard
Body & Soul which featured Gonzalves ballad
playing as well as an up tempo passage. It was
recorded in April of 1958.
Alan Shiels moved the official vote of thanks
which was seconded by warm and enthusiastic
applause from the audience. Jim had interspersed
his presentation with anecdotes of his direct
knowledge of the players that he featured which
were enlightening and amusing. Thank you Jim.
The Editor thanks Jim Galloway for allowing him
to use his notes freely in the preparation of this
newsletter
*** Upcoming Events
Koerner Hall – Stanley Cohen informed the group that a series of concerts, Three Aspects of Oscar were
scheduled for the upcoming season at Koerner hall.
Concert dates were Oct 30, Dec 11, Jan 29, 2011, March 5 and April 2. In addition there is a concert
schedule to be played on Dec 17 by The Manhattan
Transfer. I suggest you go to The Royal Conservatory of Music’s web site for details. www.rcmusic.ca
University of Toronto has a series of concerts for the
2010 – 2011 season. Concerts presented by the Jazz Faculty and by the 10 o’clock jazz orchestra as well as
vocal and small jazz ensembles. Again, I suggest you
visit their website for details. www.music.utoronto.ca
Upcoming TDES 40 Meetings
October 12 – AGM & Martin Loomer will make
a presentation.
November 9 – To be announced.
December 7. The 2010 Holiday Party will again
be held at the Arts & Letters Club, 14 Elm Street,
Toronto. Doors open at 6:00 p.m., dinner will
commence at 7:00 p.m. and the music at 8:00 p.m.
PLEASE NOTE: This is the first Tuesday of
December. Tickets are now available for sale to
members. The price is $70.00 for members and
$75.00 for one guest. Ticket sales will be open in
October to non-members so that members have
the first opportunity to purchase tickets. A quartet
led by Richard Whiteman will present the musical
entertainment.
April Fundraising Concert – The Dave
Young/Terry Promane Big Band will play on
April 30, 2011 at Walter Hall. Please see Alan
Shiels for tickets.
Society News Alan Shiels and John Hornsby have selected for the
society a compact stereo system to replace the aging
and cumbersome equipment that has been in use at our
meetings. It is a Denon CD Player/Receiver RCD M 37 John Hornsby will provide a carrying
case for this equipment.
TDES 40 Welcomes New Members:
Meetings of the Toronto Duke Ellington
Society, Chapter 40, 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
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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 2010 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 2010. 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 Duke Ellington Society,
10 Edgemore Drive,
Toronto, ON.,
M8Y 2M8
Be sure to include your name, address, home phone number and email address.
NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
In accordance with its By –laws, the Annual General Meeting of the Duke Ellington Society, Toronto
Chapter 40 will be held at 7:30 PM, Tuesday October 12 th, 2010, in the meeting room at Montgomery’s
Inn 4709 Dundas Street West, Ontario, Canada.
The purposes of the meeting are:
(1) To elect a slate of new officers of the Society for the upcoming year,
(2) To receive reports of the President and Treasurer in respect of the Chapter’s 2009 – 2010
fiscal year and
(3) To deal with any business carried over from prior meetings, or properly introduced at this
time.
Any paid up member may bring before the meeting any matter of business properly pertaining to the
manner on which the affairs of the Society are conducted or suggest ways of improving the Society
for the benefit of all.
Vol 52 No.2 __________ October 2010
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]
Minutes of the October 2010 meeting.
Alan Shiels opened the meeting at 7:35 p.m. to 26
members and guests. The first part of the meeting
was the Annual General Meeting. Alan started with a
review of the 2009/10 activities. In September 2009
Vivienne Muhling offered her “Reminiscences of
Duke including video clips of Ruth Ellington’s
Apartment. In October Ron Woods gave us “Billy
Strayhorn’s Music”. Dr. Robert Tiegrob, History
Professor from Ryerson University talked about
“Ambassador Duke Ellington: Jazz and the Cold War
– Cultural Exchange Programmes 1956 – 1973” In
December we held the Holiday Party once again
organised by Judy Shiels and held at the Arts &
Letters Club in Toronto. Jim Galloway’s Quartet
(Don Vickery drums, Neil Swainson bass, and John
Sherwood piano) provided the music for the evening.
Moving on to 2010, in January Chris McEvilly talked
about “Duke Ellington and Contemporaries in 1959”.
Jack Chambers once again took the February meeting
and described “Accidental Suites – Ellington’s
Hollywood Soundtracks”. In March John Hornsby
gave us all a challenge with the “Metronome and
Downbeat Blindfold Test”. Bill Wilson gave us
another of his excellent presentations on the theme of
“Duke Ellington Played by Others”. Also in April we
held the Scholarship Fundraising Concert, ably
arranged by Alan Shiels, where we were treated, to a
concert played by Martin Loomer’s Orange Devils,
returning by popular demand. Stan Schiff made an
excellent presentation in May, “Duke Reborn – The
Ellington Band August 1955 – September 1959”.
The Final meeting of the year, Members Choice saw
13 members play their favorite selections for the
benefit of the whole group. At this meeting Greg
Elgstrand demonstrated the new TDES 40 web site
that he had prepared –
www.torontodukeellingtonsociety.com.
Alan then talked about the TDES 40 Scholarship
programme. Seven $1000 scholarships were awarded
in the 2009/10 year, two to U of T, two to York and
three to Humber College. In no case was an
acknowledgement received from any of the recipients.
Alan had received guidance from a previously held
Executive meeting to write a new letter to these
institutions outlining our requirements for
acknowledgement.
Alan finished his President’s Report by thanking all
of those who had contributed to the continued success
of the society. Specifially, Tim Elliott for another
year of wonderful programming, Chris McEvilly as
Treasurer, Jim Northover as Secretary and editor of
the newsletter, Martin Loomer for his concert
presentation and aiding and abetting Alan’s
participation in the Society by being a music
consultant and energetic member, Irene Barton and
Jean Griffiths who co-ordinated the refreshments for
the monthly meetings, John Hornsby for keeping the
meetings running and skills as D.J. and Matt Wood
and his telephone committee of Barry Tisdall, Norma
Humphries and Al Basian.
Alan also wanted to thank Judy Shiels for arranging
another successful Holiday Party and signing up 90
members and guests.
Alan thanked all of the members for attending and
contributing to the meetings and particularly to those
who brought guests.
Chris McEvilly gave his Treasurer’s report which is
included with this Newsletter.
Jim Northover indicated that about half of the
distribution of the Newsletter was now done
electronically which was more convenient and saved
the Society considerable amount of money. The cost
of the newsletter was now about half of the original
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wholly mailed version. Jim also asked for a couple
more volunteers to take notes of the meetings to cover
for him should he be absent.
There was some business that arose from the floor.
Stan Schiff said that at the last AGM he has enquired
about the large reserve of money that the society had
at its disposal and wondered if anything had been
decided, subsequently, as far as its disposition. There
was much discussion from the floor as to legitimate
uses for the money – funding Jazz Safaris to New
York or Chicago for members and perhaps students,
sponsoring a concert at the Toronto Jazz Festival,
reduced membership costs, elimination of the fee for
refreshments at the meetings, purchasing several sets
of the new Mosaic set, The Complete 1932-1940
Brunswick, Columbia, and Master Recordings of
Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra,
sponsoring a concert by each college or university for
which we provide scholarships. All of these
suggestions had merit and we should take careful note
of them for future decisions. It had previously been
discussed at the previous AGM and at Executive
Meetings that the money be allowed to grow and be
“topped up” when appropriate, to be used to provide
an endowment fund for scholarships in the future. It
was unlikely that the Scholarship Fundraising Concert
would be able to be organised and continue
indefinitely and an alternative source for the
scholarships would be needed. Bruce Barton pointed
out that we should follow the guidance of our
constitution which calls for us “to preserve the
musical legacy of Duke Ellington …” It was then
decided to instruct the Executive Committee to
examine the issue and to recommend specific action.
At this point Alan pointed out that next year’s
fundraising concert ticket price would be $35 prior to
March 31 and $40 thereafter.
Alan then turned the meeting over to the Past
President, Bruce Barton, who had been charged with
the responsibility of preparing a slate of candidates of
officers for the coming two years. He offered the
following:
President – Martin Loomer.
Past President – Alan Shiels. Alan kindly offered to
help Martin in chairing the general meetings should
he be working on meeting evenings.
Vice President - Open
Secretary & Newsletter Editor – Jim Northover
Treasurer – Chris McEvilly
Program Chair – Irene Barton
Telephone Committee - Matt Wood
Refreshments – Jean Griffiths
It was moved by Stan Schiff and seconded by Stephen
Cohen that the slate of candidates be adopted as
presented. The motion was carried unanimously.
It was then moved by Chris McEvilly and seconded
by Bruce Barton that the AGM portion of the meeting
be closed to allow us to move on to the evening’s
presentation by the new President, Martin Loomer.
Martin entitled his talk – “Duke Ellington Plays the
Music of Others” The early Ellington oeuvre
consisted of stock arrangements, focusing on Duke’s
original work and relying heavily on the stars of the
orchestra. The first example of Ellington’s Orchestra
playing the music of others selected by Martin was
Rose Room, written in 1917 by Harry Williams and
Art Hickman. Ellington recorded this version for
Brunswick in Feb 11 1932. Ellington used the chord
progression of “Rose Room” for his standard “In a
Mellotone”. Will Hudson’s Moonglow was next,
again recorded for Brunswick, September 12 1934.
The introduction’s opening few notes from this
arrangement was subsequently used in “Serenade to
Sweden” and material from the fully scored bridge
was later used in “Concerto For Cootie” illustrating
how long Ellington could hold onto an idea before
fully developing it in the time honoured way that all
composers have “borrowed” from themselves. Martin
then played for us When My Sugar Walks Down
the Street, originally written by Gene Austin, Irving
Mills & Jimmy McHugh, recorded by Ellington for
Brunswick, June 7 1938. Martin called this a “real”
arrangement including a vocal by Ivie Anderson.
Martin said though this recording was not from the
Cotton Club era it illustrated the complex
arrangements that were used for the seven to eight
3
minute floor shows which were heavily edited and
reduced in length for the typical three minute
recordings such as this.
At this point we took a short break to socialize and to
enjoy the refreshments provided by Jean Griffiths.
In the 1940’s Billy Strayhorn joined the band and
started to contribute significantly to the book. The
flip side of the Dec 28 1940 Victor recording of
“Take the A Train” was The Sidewalks of New
York, originally a waltz and written in the 1890’s by
Charles B Lawlor and James W Blake. This
recording featured Barney Bigard, Tricky Sam
Nanton and Ben Webster. From the same recording
session Martin selected Flamingo, written by Ted
Grouya and Edmund Anderson in a classic Billy
Strayhorn arrangement which became a popular hit.
The vocal is by Herb Jeffries and the piano, in this
case, played by Strayhorn himself. From Music is
My Mistress, Ellington is quoted as saying that
Flamingo was “a turning point in vocal background
orchestration, a renaissance in elaborate
ornamentation for the accompaniment of singers”
Ellington paid tribute to W.C. Handy in the next
selections made by our presenter Martin Loomer.
From an August 26 1946 recording session for Victor
we heard Beale Street Blues with Shorty Baker
featured on a muted trumpet solo and Ray Nance on a
plunger solo. From the September 3 1946 recording
session, again for Victor, we heard Memphis Blues
and St. Louis Blues with a vocal by Marion Cox
followed by yet again another recording from the
September 3rd session, Royal Garden Blues, written
by Clarence and Spencer Williams. Martin instructed
us to listen for the luxurious and harmonically
sophisticated reed arrangement by Billy Strayhorn.
Moving onto the 1950’s Martin selected another
Strayhorn arrangement, Deep Night with the score
originally written by Charles Henderson and the lyrics
supplied by Rudy Vallee. Interestingly there is no
piano on this recording for Columbia made on August
8th 1951. Billy Strayhorn arranged Kurt Weil’s
September Song for the Ellington Orchestra which
was recorded in Chicago October 8th 1954 for Capitol
though issued on Pickwick Records. It was a
dramatic arrangement with dark trombones and rich
reed voicings.
From the 1956 album “Duke Ellington Presents”,
issued by Bethlehem Records, we heard Indian
Summer, recorded 7th or 8th February. The song was
originally written by Victor Herbert as a piano piece
in 1919.
Martin then changed gears and played Artistry in
Rhythm recorded by the Stan Kenton Orchestra in
1946 as a comparison to a version of the same song
arranged by Billy Strayhorn for the Ellington
Orchestra recorded January 3 1963 for the album
“Will the Big Bands Ever Come Back”. The Kenton
version was the usual florid and bold arrangement
while Strayhorn’s was a slow ballad.
To conclude his evening’s presentation Martin played
three selections of tunes recorded in the 1960’s by the
Ellington Orchestra, Sentimental Journey, written
by Les Brown, Bud Green and Benjamin Homer and
recorded Dec 13 1962 again for the album “Will the
Big Bands Ever Come Back”, The Masquerade is
Over recorded May 19 1964 and written by Allie
Wrubel and Chim Chim Cheree written by the
Sherman Brothers and recorded by Ellington
September 6-8th 1964 for the “Mary Poppins Album”
for Reprise. For his conclusion Martin selected
Goodbye, the Benny Goodman closer with words and
music by Gordon Jenkins recorded by the Ellington
band November 29 1962 for “Will the Big Bands
Ever Come Back” in which, in the words of Eddie
Lambert, “Hodges once more weaves his melodic
spells.” It was a slow and moving piece and a fitting
end to the evening
Alan Shiels made the formal thanks to Martin Loomer
for his enlightening presentation. It was always
interesting to get the insights of a musician on
Ellington’s music.
In writing up these notes I stumbled across an
interesting web site www.jazzstandards.com which
gives detailed descriptions of many jazz standards.
New Mosaic Ellington Release.
Mosaic has announced that they are working on an 11
CD collection, The Complete 1932-1940 Brunswick,
Columbia, and Master Recordings of Duke Ellington
and His Famous Orchestra. It is expected that the set
will be available by Christmas 2010. The price is
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announced as U.S. $179. The code number for this
limited edition of 5000 is MD11- 248.
Addenda:
In the October edition of WholeNote, Jim Galloway
has written a column briefly describing the history of
the Toronto Duke Ellington Society and a small
review of his presentation to us on the Nicknames of
Duke Ellington’s band members as he described to us
a the September 2010 meeting . Thanks Jim!
Ted O’Reilly pointed out a correction from the
minutes of the September meeting that “before that
Toronto recording session Clark was already called
Mumbles by friends, for that blues-parody singing he
used to do even on the Tonight Show band. You may
recall that Johnny Carson used to work the audience
with Stump The Band contests (Win a canned ham!)
and whenever the guys couldn't come up with the
right song, Clark would always say "I know that
one!" and go into the mumbling. The recording of it
with OP was, as Jim Galloway said, done just to
document the fun as a private joke”. Thank You Ted.
Newsletter update
The editor receives electronic copies of Duke
Ellington Society Newsletters from the New York,
Southern California and Washington chapters. It will
be my practice to forward these newsletters to all
TDES 40 members electronically. If you would like
to receive these very interesting newsletters please let
me have your e mail address.
Upcoming Events
Jazz at RY opens its 16th season on November 7 at
2:00 p.m. with a concert by Dave Restivo (piano)
accompanied by Jim Lewis (trumpet), Artie Roth
(bass) and Morgan Childs (drums). Net proceeds
from the concert support the Royal York’s Church
local outreach charities. Tickets are $20 and $17 for
seniors and students.
Upcoming Meetings
November 9 – Video evening presented by Bruce
Barton. There is a chance that Dr. Robert Teigrob
will be able to make a presentation.
December 7 – Holiday Party at The Arts & Letters
Club. Doors open 6:00 p.m. dinner will be served at
7:00 p.m. and the music at 8:00 p.m. If you do not
have your tickets yet please contact Judy Shiels.
Last Post Joya Sherill – Died on June 28 2010 aged 83.
Joya Sherrill was a vocalist in the Ellington/Strayhorn
piece "A Drum Is A Woman" as well as "Hey Buddy
Bolden", "Rhumbop" and "Caribee Joe” Sherrill was
briefly with Duke Ellington in 1942, and then became
a member of his orchestra from 1944 to 1946. She
had a hit with Ellington's tune "I'm Beginning to See
the Light". Subsequently, she worked as a soloist,
performing with Rex Stewart and Ray Nance, and
others into the 1960s. She returned to Ellington in
1959 for A Drum is a Woman.
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
2010 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 2010. 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 Duke Ellington Society,
10 Edgemore Drive,
Toronto, ON.,
M8Y 2M8
Be sure to include your name, address, home phone
number and email address.
GUESTS WELCOME Meetings of the Toronto Duke Ellington Society,
Chapter 40, 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
Vol 52 No. 4 _______________________ _________ January 2011
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: torontodukeellingtonsociety.com
Minutes of the January 11 2010 General Meeting President Martin Loomer opened the meeting at 7:35
p.m. to 27 members. He welcomed everyone and
thanked them for coming especially in view of the impending weather. Martin especially wanted to thank
Judy Shiels for arranging the 2010 Christmas Party at
the Arts & Letters Club in December. The meeting
showed the appropriate appreciation by warm applause. Many Thanks Judy. Judy Shiels told us that
next year’s Holiday party will be held on December 6th
2011 again at the Arts & Letters Club in Toronto. Members are asked to make suggestions regarding the
selection of the band.
There were a few announcements from the floor.
Bill Wilson said that his long running series of jazz concerts at Royal York United Church continued with
a Salute to Basie and The Duke presented by a band
led by Martin Loomer himself. He would be accompanied by Merlin Williams and Tom Skublics
on reeds. There would a bass but the player has yet to
be announced. The date of this concert is Sunday March 20th at 2:00 p.m. The next concert date is
Sunday May 1st with a band led by P.J. Perry and with
Neil Swainson on bass and Mark Eisenman on Piano.
Alan Shiels told us that ticket sales for the Scholarship
Concert scheduled for April 30th continue to sell
steadily though there remained about a hundred tickets still unsold. We were exhorted to strongly sell the
remaining tickets as soon as possible. Please speak to
Alan for any information regarding ticket sales.
Program Director Irene Barton said that there were
opportunities to make presentations to the group in
March and in April this year. Anyone interested in making a presentation should speak to her right away.
Martin Loomer then introduced the presenters for this evening, Mel Manley and Harold Swartz. These two
members of TDES 40 had known each other for the
past six years since they both attended a senior’s
program at Ryerson University on Jazz appreciation. They presented a video – Duke Ellington at the Cote
D’Azur with Ella FitzGerald and Joan Miro. If time
permitted at the end of the video, Mel and Harold would present some music from some CD’s. The
video material was from a concert recorded live at the
Antibes-Juan Les Pins Jazz Festival between June
26 and July 29, 1966. Originally the concert was
presented on a series of Verve LP’s but Norman
Granz intended to make a movie of the concert
too.
The video opened with a brief explanation by
Ellington himself of the concert and the music
was led off by a rousing version of The Opener
by the full band. Ellington then introduced Such
Sweet Thunder from the suite of the same name.
Ellington then introduced the medley, this time of
Black & Tan Fantasy, Creole Love Call and
The Mooche.
A trio of Duke Ellington, John Lamb on bass and
Sam Woodyard, drums played two pieces in a
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sculpture garden. Joan Miro gave Ellington a tour
of the sculptures and then watches as the three
musicians play Kinda Dukish and The Shepherd
while the camera contrasts the music to the stark
modern sculptures.
We were then returned to the full band in a
rehearsal performance of The Old Circus Train
Turn - Around Blues a very simple number but
one that swung hard with help from Johnny
Hodges. From the rehearsal it switched
seamlessly to the concert version for a very
satisfying performance indeed. Ellington then
introduced La Plus Belle Africaine in which
John Lamb bowed a solo and Jimmy Hamilton,
Harry Carney and Sam Woodyard featured.
Ella FitzGerald then joined the Ellington band on
stage with her own musicians, Jimmy Jones on
Piano, Grady Tate drums and Jim Hughart bass.
The Ellington band accompanied Ella with her
trio on Satin Doll, I want Something to Live
For and Jazz Samba.
The movie of the concert on The Cote D’Azur not
generally released. Perhaps in part due to the fact that shortly before the concert Ella Fitzgerald had leanrned
of her sister’s death and was understandably under
some stress and was distraught. Though it did not
appear to affect her performance, she was not able to participate in the concert finale as scheduled. Duke
Ellington closed the concert with Things Ain’t What
They Used To Be and used it as a vehicle for his Finger Snapping routine.
The band consisted of Cootie Williams, Cat
Anderson, Mercer Ellington, and Herbie Jones
Trumpets, Lawrence Brown, Buster Cooper and
Chuck Connors trombones. Featured throughout
the program was Johnny Hodges, with Paul
Gonsalves, Harry Carney, Jimmy Hamilton and
Russell Procope Reeds, Sam Woodyard drums,
John Lamb bass and the Duke himself. We then took a short break. Refreshments were
generously provided by Bill and Mary Wilson and
Gary Vivian.
After the break Mel and Harold introduced several
Ellington related numbers. They started with another short video of Wynton Marsalis at Lincoln Center with
Willie Nelson singing Don’t Get Around Much Any
More. This was followed by Jo Stafford singing Day
Dream and Just Squeeze Me from the 1961 album Jo & Jazz. She was backed by a band containing several
Ellington Alumni including Johnny Hodges and Ben
Webster. From the Sing a Song With Mulligan
album of Annie Ross sang
Bing Crosby and Duke Ellington did not record much together but from 1932 we heard The Louis Blues, “a
somewhat pretentious arrangement” but demonstrating
Crosby’s strong voice. The Boswell sisters were next
singing Mood Indigo with the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra including Bunny Berigan from 1933.
From Ellington’s 1953 album Piano Reflections we heard Reflections in D and Retrospection. The
evening was rounded off by Ellington playing Billy
Strayhorn’s Passion Flower.
Matt Wood proposed the formal vote of thinks in
which he complimented Mel Manley and Harold
Swartz for providing a very enjoyable evening of music.
*****
Upcoming TDES 40 Meetings
February 8th – Jack Chambers will present.
March 8 – TBA April 12 -TBA
April 30th – Fundraising Concert. The band will be the
Dave Young/Terry Promane Big Band and will include Gary Williamson on Piano, Terry Clark
playing drums, Kevin Turcotte, Chase Sandborne,
Brian O’Kane and John MacLeod on trumpets, John Johnson and Perry White on Reeds. The band will be
enhanced by students from the Jazz Faculty of U of T.
Upcoming Events
Quotes Bar & Grill – 220 King Street East will be presenting every Friday evening during the winter The
Canadian Jazz Quartet with a different guest artist
each week. The web site has all of the details and it
3
looks like a great deal to me. There is no cover
charge, Fridays 5:00 to 8:00p.m.
www.barootes.com
The Rex Jazz & Blues Bar will be presenting in February The Dave Young Octet with Terry Promane
– an opportunity to see much of the band that will be
playing at the TDES 40 Scholarship Fundraising Concert. Please check the web site for the date of this
performance.
www.jazzintoronto.com
Mezzetta Restaurant & Tapas Bar is presenting
Concert Wednesdays with shows at 9:00. and 10:15
p.m.. People such as Dave Young, Mike Murley and Lorne Lofsky will be appearing. I suggest visiting
their web site for more details:
http://www.mezzettarestaurant.com
Last Post
Jack Towers passed away Dec 23 2010 at 5:10 A.M.
He had been ill with Parkinson’s Disease at the time of
his death. He had recently turned 96 on November 16.
On Nov. 7, 1940, Jack Towers and his friend Dick
Burris arrived early at the Crystal Ballroom in
Fargo, N.D., to set up their recording equipment.
The Duke Ellington Orchestra, their favorite jazz
band, was scheduled to play that night. Mr.
Towers and Burris were young radio broadcasters
and engineers who, in the days before tape
recorders had been invented, hauled bulky tape
recording equipment from the trunk of their car
into the ballroom. Duke Ellington allowed them to
record the evening's performance, a dance for
more than 600 young people, as long as it was not
sold commercially.
It was one of the first live jazz recordings and
captured Ellington and his band at their artistic
pinnacle. Before the performance at the Crystal
Ballroom in Fargo, Ellington told Mr. Towers that
his trumpet section was in "rough shape." Ray
Nance, who became a longtime mainstay in the
trumpet section, was making his first appearance
in the band that night.
At the time, 78-rpm commercial recordings could
contain only about three minutes of music on a
side. Mr. Towers's discs could capture 15 minutes
of music per side. It revealed the Ellington band
in its full glory, stretching out in extended solos
on 45 tunes that sometimes reached nearly seven
minutes.
Billy Taylor, one of the musical treasures of
Washington and the world, died Dec. 28, at a hospital
in New York City. He was 89 and died of a heart
attack.
Dr. Taylor was a first-rate jazz pianist who grew up in
Washington and moved to New York in the early
1940s and was present at the birth of bebop, the new
vernacular of music that transformed jazz. He played
alongside Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles
Davis and became a protégé of the great Art Tatum.
In the 1950s, Dr. Taylor began to branch out into
broadcasting with a television series, "The Subject Is
Jazz," and with radio programs. He appeared on CBS
over the years, particularly on "CBS Sunday
Morning," interviewing and performing many of the
great artists in jazz.
For several years, he was the host of an NPR series,
"Billy Taylor's Jazz at the Kennedy Center," and many
people considered him the foremost jazz educator of
his time.
Dr. Taylor received every award there is in jazz and
the arts, including the National Medal of Arts in 1992,
and was designated a Jazz Master by the National
Endowment for the Arts in 1988.
The Editor acknowledges the Washington Post from
which this was extracted.
New & Interesting
In spite of the fact that we have JAZZ-FM in Toronto
it is often necessary look for jazz elsewhere. Since many of us have computers, it is possible to give
ourselves some alternates by listening to remote radio
4
stations around the world. Jazz programming may be
found at the following web sites. If any member listens to any not mentioned please let me know and I
will list them in upcoming newsletters.
CIUT – www.ciut.fm University of Toronto community radio. Colin Bray plays jazz from the 20’s
& 30’s. Thursdays at 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. There is also a
link to the most recent program so that you can listen at your convenience.
CIXX – www.1069fm.ca. Fanshawe College London.
Al Burton of the London Jazz Society has a Sunday morning jazz show from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
CHRY – www.chry.fm. York University community
radio. Some Experiences in Jazz programmed by Rob
Fogle on Friday evenings 9:00 pm. to midnight. WBFO – www.wbfo.org The closest NPR station in
Buffalo has a variety of jazz and blues programming
throughout the week. WFCR – www.wfcr.org Massachusetts college station
featuring jazz programmed by Tom Reney, Monday
to Friday 8:00 – 11:00 p.m. WCDB – www.wcdbfm.com Albany University
station. Bill McCann hosts a jazz program Saturday
mornings 9:00 a.m. to Noon.
A new CD from John Lamb
John Lamb has made a CD with some Canadian musicians - Conversations North of the Border. The
CD includes Mark Eisenman, piano, Brain Barlow,
drums, Michael Stuart, tenor, Russ Little, trombone,
with additional help from Scott Alexander, bass, on one track.
From the liner notes by Tim Elliott - “Jazz is a
conversation. Here we have five musicians one May
day in Toronto having conversations with each other.
This recording was done with no rehearsal and only a few charts. What you’re hearing is mostly the first or
second takes. This is a rarity to hear “live” undoctored
music these days. And what a treat it is to hear bassist
John Lamb in conversations with his Canadian friends north of the border”.
The Johnny Hodges/Wild Bill Davis Project. In a Mellotone, the newsletter of the Southern
California Chapter of the Duke Ellington Society there
is an excellent review of four CD’s from Lonehill Jazz in the of recordings made by Johnny Hodges and Wild
Bill Davis. Between 1961 and 1966 Johnny Hodges
and Wild Bill Davis teamed up to record nine LP
albums. All of these have now been released by Lonehill Jazz in four CD’s three single and one double
CD package.
In fact Lonehill Jazz has twenty one CD’s featuring Johnny Hodges. They may be obtained directly from
the distributor Absolute Distribution:
This review appears in the Fall 2010 issue of In a
Mellotone. If you have trouble accessing this issue,
please let me know and I can get you a copy.
www.freshsoundrecords.com
Newsletter Update.
The Editor of this newsletter welcomes and
encourages any and all comments. If any member
has a suggestion or contribution please let me
know.
Toronto Duke Ellington Society
Chapter 40
Meetings 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
Vol 52 No. 5 _______________________ February & March 2011
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.com
Minutes of the February 8th
2011 General Meeting
President Martin Loomer opened the meeting at 7:35
p.m. to 38 members and guests. Among the guests we were pleased to welcome Jim Galloway.
Ted O’Reilly announced that he and Jim Galloway had
produced a limited edition CD of music he had
recorded in 1973 of Jim Galloway and Vic Dickenson playing at Daniel’s in Toronto. During the course of
the evening Jim sold many copies. Further copies may
be obtained, while supplies last, directly from Jim Galloway at www.jimgalloway.ca
Martin introduced the speaker for the evening, Jack
Chambers. Jack’s topic was – Not Ben, Not Mex –
Ellington’s Other Tenor Sax. Players.
Jack explained that he was not going to focus on Ben
Webster or Paul Gonzalves as Tenor soloists but on the other tenor soloists used by Duke in his Orchestra.
Jack opened with a rousing version of How High the
Moon from the recently released album Live in Switzerland recorded in 1950. At that time Don Byas
was Duke’s solo tenor player who joined the band for
a limited time in 1950 for Ellington’s tour of Europe.
Ellington was, at that time trying to update the sound of his band by bringing in bebop influenced players, of
whom Byas was one. How High the Moon was, of
course, widely used in bebop compositions.
The most prominent tenor player that Ellington
employed was Ben Webster who joined the band in 1940. Ellington waited almost 15 years before he
hired a tenor sax soloist. He had many tenor players in
the band who were ensemble players but no soloists
He did use Prince Robinson occasionally in 1925 - 1927 but essentially as an ensemble player. Robinson
played with McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, Roy Eldridge
and Louis Armstrong and Claude Hopkins. Coleman Hawkins regarded Robinson as among the keenest of
his early rivals (Eddie Lambert). Jack selected I’ve
Found a New Baby from a McKinney’s Cotton
Pickers record of April 1929 to illustrate Robinson’s solo work on the tenor sax.
Barney Bigard was in the Ellington orchestra for 25 years and was highlighted on the clarinet. He was
though, used as a tenor soloist infrequently. Ellington
was slow to adopt the tenor as a solo instrument. To
illustrate Barney Bigard on the tenor we heard Bugle
Call Rag from a 1928 recording which can be found
in The Okeh Ellington album.
Joe Garland replaced Barney Bigard on one record
session for three tracks he arranged for Ivie Anderson.
His hot tenor solo predates Ben Webster by seven
years. We heard Happy as the Day is Long, recorded by the Ellington Orchestra May 1933. Jack said that
this hot solo was the only one recorded by Ellington in
the 1925 – 1940 period during which the tenor sax was becoming much more widely and expertly played. As
an example of how the tenor was being played at that
time Jack played a piece recorded by the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra featuring Coleman Hawkins.
Queer Notions recorded in August 1933 showcased
Hawkins’s talent and ability. Ellington did not appear
to catch on or feel that he needed the tenor solo’s dimension in his colour palette. There were many
expert players of the tenor at that time including Lester
Young but Ellington did not employ a tenor soloist which, for him was unusual since he kept on top of or
led most musical developments at that time.
Al Sears was hired as essentially Ben Webster’s
replacement. Skippy Williams was Webster’s direct
replacement but only for a few moths in 1943 – 44.
After Ellington Al Sears managed Johnny Hodges Band and then became a music publisher. We heard a
1945 recording of Carnegie Blues featuring Al Sears
on tenor. Carnegie Blues was originally titled The Blues and was taken from the Black, Brown and Beige
Suite. Al Sears stayed with Ellington for five years
and was widely used as a hot soloist. We then heard
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Riff Staccato recorded in May 1945 with Sears
playing a hot tenor. Sears said that he was a salesman for Duke. He played two or three notes and stomped
his foot and stopped the show for Ellington every
night. – quoted by Joe Goldberg in the liner notes for
Swing’s the Thing.
As further example of Sears’ work we heard Swamp
Fire recorded in 1946 and Castle Rock from the Johnny Hodges led band on March 1951. This number
was a great success and almost became a hit for the
Hodges band but interestingly Sears played the only solo and Hodges was not featured as a soloist.
At this time we took a short break with refreshments
kindly provided by Sonya Taylor and Helen Paul.
After the break Jack introduced Harold Ashby who
played in his native Kansas City after serving in the U.S. Navy and then moved to Chicago for a while,
playing R & B before he moved to New York City
where he was mentored by Ben Webster. He subbed for Ellington from 1960 and then joined the band on a
permanent basis in 1968. Ashby joined the Ellington
band as a replacement for Jimmy Hamilton but not as
a clarinet soloist, Russell Procope became the principal clarinet soloist. With Ashby and Gonzalves
the band has two tenor soloists. To demonstrate
Harold Ashby’s talent Jack played B.P. Blues, recorded one year after Ashby joined the band,
November 26 1969 for the album, Duke Ellington’s
70th Birthday Concert. We then heard Fajista recorded
in 1958 from the Soul of Ben Webster album. This number demonstrated how similar Ashby and
Webster’s styles were, though Harold Ashby was very
early in his career compared to Webster and he sounded a little tentative in comparison..
Eddie Lambert claimed that Ashby was the last man to join the band whose personality Duke used in the old
way as a specific element within his compositions.
A much more confident Ashby was presented in Thanks for the Beautiful Land from The New
Orleans Suite album recorded in April 1970. From the
Private Collection Vol. 9 Just Squeeze Me was played as an example of Ellington using Ashby,
playing in a relaxed and confident mood as the only
soloist even though Paul Gonzalves was in the band. The final tenor soloist that Jack Chambers introduced
was Jimmy Hamilton. Hamilton played with a number
of bands before he joined Ellington in 1943 as a replacement for Chauncey Haughton who had replaced
Bigard the previous year. His “conservatory” clarinet
sound drew criticism at first but he was featured for 25
years. However, Duke told Hamilton that he would have to play tenor. Hamilton’s formal clarinet sound
was completely different to his more relaxed tenor. To
demonstrate, we heard Hy’a Sue from the Cornell University Second Set album recorded December
1948. Hamilton played the longest tenor solo for
Ellington, five choruses, until the Gonzalves 27 choruses at Newport. As a further example of his
playing Jack played for us Gone with the Blues
recorded in 1961 by a Hamilton led small band in the
Album, It’s About Time.
Jack ended his excellent presentation with a tenor
extravaganza, In Triplicate, featuring three Ellington tenors, Paul Gonzalves, Norris Turney and Harold
Ashby from Duke Ellington’s 70th Birthday Concert. It
was symbolic of the strong place that the tenor soloist had finally achieved in Ellington’s band.
Jack Chambers’s final comment was that Duke
Ellington had a strange history with tenor soloists. During 1925 – 1940 there was no tenor soloist in the
band at all. In the 1940’s the band had some
wonderful tenor soloists namely Ben Webster and Al Sears. Finally, from 1950 to 1974 when Ellington died
the orchestra included at least two tenor soloists.
Once again we were treated to an excellent presentation from Jack Chambers, entertaining,
enlightening and offering, once again, fresh insights
into Duke’s music. Martin Loomer made the vote of thanks official.
The editor wishes to thank Jack Chambers for the generous use of his notes and his review of the
minutes in the preparation of this piece.
***
Minutes of the March 8th
2011 General Meeting Martin Loomer opened the meeting at 7:40 p.m. to 24
members. There were a few announcements from the
floor. Alan Shiels happily announced that the Scholarship Concert to be held on April 30 at Walter
Hall was now fully sold out. As usual, there was a
waiting list so Alan asked members to make sure that
3
they were going to attend. Alan would like any tickets
that would be unused to be returned to him for resale. Alan also announced that The Toronto Duke Ellington
Society, Chapter 40 will be holding an “Open House”
at the Toronto Reference Library on Friday November
18th 2011 at 7:30 p.m. This will replace the regularly scheduled meeting of November 8th. The intention of
the Open House is to attract new members to the
Society. There will be a short presentation describing the
Society and its goals and objectives followed by a
concert played by The Jim Galloway Quartet. Everyone is invited. Please make a note in your
calendars and join us for a great evening of Jazz.
Martin Loomer shamelessly mentioned Bill Wilson’s Jazz at R.Y series in which he will be performing in a
quartet with Merlin Williams, Tom Skublics and Jack
McFadden playing a Salute to The Count and Duke. To be held Sunday march 20 at 2 p.m. at Royal York
United Church. For tickets, please contact Bill Wilson
at 416-231-1207. All of the proceeds, after expenses, go to local charities.
Bruce Barton then introduced the speaker for the
evening’s presentation, David Basskin, who is well known to JAZZ-FM listeners as the presenter of
“Stolen Moments” a weekly jazz show on
JAZZ-FM 91 heard on Fridays between 10:00p.m. and 1:00 a.m.. He is also trained as a lawyer and in his day
gig heads up the Canadian Musical Reproduction
Rights Agency Ltd. (CMRRA), Canada's largest music
licensing agency. The topic of David’s talk was “Touring the World for the Department of State.”
David introduced his topic by explaining that the U.S. State Department sponsored tours by jazz musicians
was relatively unknown story in the history of jazz.
David explained that the reason the State Department sponsored the Jazz Ambassador’s Tours was that the
U.S.A.’s image around the world was suffering due to
the increasing civil rights struggle that started in the
1950’s. There were many race related incidents in the U.S.A. during the 1950’s – 1970’s period and the rest
of the world did take notice. Of course, during the
Cold War, the USSR took full advantage, criticizing the USA for their poor domestic race relations.
The Eisenhower administration decided that steps had to be taken to counter the effect of TASS and The
USSR propaganda and present the U.S.A. in a positive
light. Louis Armstrong and his All Stars Band made their
first unofficial ambassadorial trip to the British Gold
Coast in 1956, soon to become the newly independent
nation of Ghana, where they were sponsored by Edward R. Murrow and CBS. We heard “When it’s
Sleepy Time Down South” played by Louis
Armstrong which was the first piece of music he played on this tour. Though they did not sponsor this
tour the State Department was very pleased.
In March of 1956, bebop trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie
and his racially integrated band embarked for Southern
Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia on the first
U.S. State Department jazz tour and the U.S. State Department was delighted with the result.
David played a video of Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong playing Umbrella Man to show two of the
State Department’s stars in action.
David explained that the State Department wanted the
tours and concerts targeted at elites and opinion
shapers in foreign lands. The musicians wanted to
play for a broader audience and so tensions started to develop.
The 1958 State Department tour of Dave Brubeck and his integrated Quartet, with saxophonist Paul
Desmond, drummer Joe Morello, and bassist Eugene
Wright, marked the first foray of the Jazz
Ambassadors across the Iron Curtain. Keen observers of the State Department jazz tours and first-hand
participants, Dave and his wife Iola later celebrated
and satirized these trips in their 1961-1962 musical The Real Ambassadors, a collaboration undertaken
with Louis Armstrong. As writer and lyricist Iola
emphasised, “the entire American jazz community was elated with the official recognition of jazz and its
international implications.” Yet as the charismatic
ambassadors, many of them African Americans,
returned to the United States, the country’s racial problems had not been resolved. Within this context,
the Brubecks wanted to honor Armstrong’s
contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, and also to emphasize his key role as a musical diplomat. The
Real Ambassadors was performed at the 1962
Monterey Jazz Festival to great critical acclaim, and the recorded album and subsequent CD continue to be
4
widely appreciated. It was never presented n
Broadway, the intended destination, since it was viewed as too controversial. We saw the Dave
Brubeck Quartet playing Blue Rondo a la Turk in a
contrived video from a July 1962 broadcast.
In 1963 Duke Ellington became a Jazz Ambassador
when the civil rights struggle was intensifying. Many
ugly scenes depicting the struggle that were broadcast during this time damaged the image of the U.S.A.
many musicians were sent abroad during this period
by Duke seemed to have the most impact. Duke Ellington toured for the State Department more than
any other musician. He began with his orchestra’s
three month tour through the Middle East and South
Asia in 1963 and ended with performances in Eastern Europe, Ethiopian and Zambia in 1973. Ellington did,
of course, tour in Europe in 1933 and later,
introducing American Jazz to new audiences.
There were State Department appearances in 1966 to
Senegal and tours of Latin America and Asia in the early 1970s, but Ellington’s greatest diplomatic
triumph came in 1971 when his orchestra toured the
Soviet Union. Subsequent to this trip and during the
last three years of his life, Ellington’s activities for the State Department accelerated. The seventy-two-year-
old Duke immediately followed the Soviet tour with
performances in Eastern Europe and a tour of Latin America in late 1971. He visited Asia in 1972,
including concerts in Vientiane, Laos, while the
Vietnam War unfolded around them. In late 1973, he
made his final State Department appearances in Zambia and Ethiopia.
Duke’s tours had a great influence too on his music,
The Far East Suite and The Afro Eurasian Eclipse albums being two of the best known results. David
showed for us a video of Billy Strayhorn’s
composition, Isfahan played by the Ellington Orchestra with Johnny Hodges’s exquisite solo.
The jazz tours were an important channel for
expressing jazz to the rest of the world and created a
market for jazz. Many jazz musicians though were unhappy with presenting the U.S.A. in such a positive
light when the reality at home was so at odds with the
image the State Department wanted to portray.
David concluded his discussion by saying that there
was a great deal more to learn about the State Department tours. Good sources for material were a
book by Penny M von Eschen, Satchmo Blows up the
World: Jazz Ambassadors Play the Cold War and a web site www.meridian.org/jazz ambassadors/ from
which I obtained additional material.
Bruce Barton offered the group’s thanks to David Basskin for his excellent presentation. We then
adjourned for a break with refreshments kindly
provided by Brad and Lee Perkins.
Upcoming TDES 40 Meetings
April 12th
– Dr. Mike Daley of U of T’s Living & Learning educational series.
April 30th
– Annual Scholarship Concert. Walter
Hall, University of Toronto. Dave Young/Terry
Promane Big Band. May 10
th – Not Yet announced
June 14th
– Member’s Choice.
Upcoming Events
April 30th
– Saturday. Fortieth Annual Canadian
Collectors’ Congress. A conference specifically planned for record collectors and
discographers/researchers interested in ragtime,
vintage jazz, blues, gospel, hot dance music and
Canadiana. Please contact Gene Miller for more details.
Last Post It is with great regret that we note the passing of
Eileen Ward, long time member of TDES 40,
previously holding the position of treasurer of our
society as well as being Conference Coordinator for the Ellington Conferences held in Toronto in 1987 and
1996.
George Shearing passed away February 14, 2011 in
New York City aged 91. He was the first postwar
British jazz musician to move permanently to the US to build a solid career there, effectively clearing the
way for a host of other players to follow the same
path. This was in 1947. He was knighted in 2007.
Meetings 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
Vol 52 No 6. ________________________________ March &April 2010
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]
Minutes of the April 12, 2011 Meeting
Martin Loomer opened the meeting at 7:35 p.m. to 28
members. There were a few announcements from the floor. Alan Shiels announced that, once again, the
Scholarship Fundraising concert was sold out. We are
also organising an event to be held on November 18, 2011. As part of our outreach efforts in 2011 our
regular November meeting will be moved to
November 18 for this special event. Together with the Toronto Reference Library, we are presenting “Duke
In Canada”, featuring Jim Galloway’s Quartet.
7:00 – 9:00 p.m. at the Toronto Reference Library, 789
Yonge Street, at Asquith. Bloor is the closest subway station. More details to follow closer to the event.
Our goal is to attract 150 attendees to the meeting.
Alan also announced that five former TDES 40 Scholarship winners would be playing a couple of
numbers in the upcoming Scholarship Fundraising
concert on April 30.
Irene Barton introduced the speaker for the evening,
Dr. Michael Daley, a music educator who teaches
regularly at Innis College (U of T), George Brown College, Glendon College (York) and the Harris
Institute for the Arts, among others. In addition Mike
plays both the guitar and banjo and worked with Jeff Healey. Mike’s PhD was in Ethnomusicology. Mike
told us that his theme for the evening’s presentation
was The Ellington Guitarists and Banjoists. Mike
said that he had researched several discographies in order to identify those guitarists and banjo players who
had recorded with Duke so he was likely to have
omitted some players who had played with Duke but not recorded with him.
The role of the guitarists and banjo players was almost
exclusively supportive in the band, not generally heard as soloists. Originally, guitars were used in early jazz
bands but were superseded by the banjo, probably
because, as bands got bigger the banjo was able to be
better heard and could cut through the sound of the band. When the new electrical recording technology
was introduced in 1925, it was possible to hear the
instrument on recordings since the guitar could be
played directly into the microphone.
The first banjo player who Duke Ellington used was Sterling Conaway, a teenager who played with Duke
in the 1918 – 1919 period in Washington. Conaway
went on to play with Carroll Dickerson in 1925, Eddie South in 1930 and Noble Sissle in 1931.
Elmer Snowden played the banjorine, a short necked
banjo, and led the Washingtonians before Duke took over. He was born in Baltimore in 1900 and moved to
New York City in about 1923. They recorded together
in July 1923 though the recordings were lost. Mike
showed us a video of Elmer Snowden from a 1933 clip entitled Smash Your Baggage. Snowden originally led
the Washingtonians but when he left after a
disagreement with the musicians Duke Ellington took over the leadership of the band. Snowden moved to
California in 1963 and taught music. From 1967 we
saw a video clip of Elmer Snowden playing Up a Lazy
River with a trio. He moved back to Philadelphia in 1969 and died in 1973.
The next banjoist was the most obscure – George
Francis. He played with Duke's band briefly in 1924 and appeared on a few recordings of that year. We
heard Choo Choo from a November 1924 recording by
The Washingtonians. The definitive Ellington banjoist and guitar player was
Fred Guy. He was born in Georgia but moved to New
York City and joined the Ellington band in the spring
of 1924. He started with the band playing banjo then began to incorporate guitar in 1931, then switched
altogether to guitar in 1931. Fred Guy stayed with
Ellington for 24 years, typifying the sort of loyalty Ellington inspired in his players. He essentially never
took a solo and was used as a rhythm player only. He
was never replaced. He remained with Ellington most importantly to keep time since Sonny Greer tended to
rush the time. With the arrival of Jimmie Blanton,
Fred Guy’s time keeping role was minimized.
Though not soloing per se, he can be briefly heard on a couple of recordings, Echoes of the Jungle recorded in
2
June 1931 and taking a break in The Sergeant Was Shy
recorded in August 1939. He left the band in May of 1949 though Ellington remained a friend until Fred
Guy committed suicide in 1971. He was the last
guitarist to hold a permanent place in the Ellington
band. Many other guitarists did play with the band but were session players only. Those that recorded with
Ellington were:
Lonnie Johnson, born in 1899 and went to Europe 1917 – 1918. He recorded with many people in the
1925 – 1930 period including Louis Armstrong, Bessie
Smith and Eddie Lang. Eddie Lang’s pseudonym when playing with Lonnie Johnson was Blind Willie
Dunn. He first recorded with Duke Ellington in 1928
The Mooche with, incidentally, Fred Guy on banjo.
Mike Daley played this number for us. Regretfully, Lonnie Johnson was lost in obscurity for many years
until rediscovered in the late 1950’s but subsequently
played in many jazz and blues festivals. He was videoed in a 1963 American Folk and Blues Festival
playing Another Night to Cry which Mike played for
us. Lonnie Johnson moved to Toronto and opened a club, Home of the Blues. He was severely injured in a
road traffic accident in 1969 and died in 1970 as a
result.
We took a short break at this point with refreshments kindly provided by Laurence and Heidi Buchanan and
Norma Crawford.
After the break Mike Daley continued with Duke Ellington’s session players. Teddy Bunn, born in
1909 in Freeport, Long Island, made his recording
debut with Ellington’s band on September 16 1929,
with four tunes including Swanee Shuffle which Mike played for us. Bunn went on to be one of the busier
session guitarists and played with a wide variety of
bands including Bechet, Mezz Mezzrow and Lionel Hampton. He toured throughout the 1960’s and died
in 1978. During the 1940’s Ellington had several
guitarists play in the band, in 1945 with Al Casey and in 1946 Django Reinhardt the gypsy guitarist. He
played in the night clubs of Paris with the Quintet of
the Hot Club of France. His playing is still of
significance today and in Toronto there are several Django inspired groups playing the music in the style
of the Quintet of the Hot Club of France. In the Fall of
1946 he toured the United States as a special guest
soloist with Duke Ellington though he played
accompanied by the rhythm section only, not with the whole band. Apparently his tour was not well
publicized and only one session was recorded, that of
the Chicago concert of November 10, 1946. Mike
Daley played from that concert A Blues Riff. Django Reinhardt played in Toronto during this tour at the
Mutual Street Arena. He returned to France and died
at the age of 43 in 1953 of a brain hemorrhage.
Several minor appearances by guitarists were made, Malcolm Mitchell recorded with Duke, Ray Nance
and Kay Davis in 1948. He claimed to be the first
Englishman to play with Ellington and be paid! Les Spann, 1932 – 1989, recorded with Ellington and
Johnny Hodges and Jimmy Gourley 1926- 2008,
recorded with Ellington in Paris but the recording remains unissued. The last guitarist to record with
Ellington was Freddy Green of the Basie band in the
album The Count Meets the Duke for the First Time
recorded in July of 1961. Mike Daley ended the evening with a lively question
and answer session. The first question posed was
“Will you play for us?” Mike responded by playing a delightful short guitar solo of In a Sentimental Mood.
It was asked if Ellington ever recorded with Joe Pass.
Of course all of our memories failed us but Jack Chambers was the first to research the answer and
pointed out that indeed Joe Pass did record with Duke
in The Duke’s Big Four, with Ray Brown and Louis
Bellson in 1973. That brought the evening to a close. Martin Loomer
made the formal vote of thanks which was
enthusiastically endorsed by us all. Ed.-Many thanks to Mike Daley who reviewed these
notes and corrected my errors.
*****
2011 Scholarship Fundraising Concert Martin Loomer made the opening announcements to a
sold out audience in U of T’s Walter Hall and
introduced the band for the evening, the David Young/Terry Promane Big band. Proceeds of the
concert, after the band has been paid go to funding the
seven scholarships that The Toronto Duke Ellington Society funds for Jazz students at The University of
Toronto, York University and Humber College. Terry
Promane told us that the band was composed of staff
and students of the University of Toronto jazz faculty and one of its mandates was to perform music
composed and arranged by Canadian composers.
Since this evening’s concert was to be of music composed by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, he
was using arrangements made by Canadian arrangers
only. The band members were Co Leaders Dave Young on Bass and Terry Promane on trombone with
3
Gary Williamson on Piano; Terry Clark, Drums;
Kevin Turcotte, Chase Sanborn and John MacLeod Trumpets; John Johnson, Mike Murley and Dave
Neill Reeds with U of T Students Shannon
Graham,Tenor Sax, Taylor Cook Alto Sax, Paul
Tarrusov Trombone, R.J. Satchithananthan, Trombone, Alex Duncan, Bass Trombone and, called
up from the audience at the last minute to fill the
place of one of the trumpeters who could not make it, Benjamin Promane . The band kicked off with a Phil
Nimmons’ arrangement of In A Mellotone followed by
Andy Ballantyne’s arrangement of In A Sentimental Mood featuring Fourth year student Taylor Cook on
Soprano. The band then played Prelude to a Kiss
arranged by John McLeod. He has his own big band,
The Rex Hotel Orchestra which plays at the Rex Hotel on the last Monday of each month. This band recently
won a Juno for the best Traditional Jazz Album of
2011. Terry Promane was featured in his own arrangement of Mood Indigo. The set closed with
John McLeod’s arrangement of It Don’t Mean a
Thing… featuring Second Year student R.J.
Satchithananthan’s trombone. The band took a short
break after which we were entertained by a Quintet
composed of previous winners of the scholarships that The Toronto Duke Ellington Society funds for Jazz
students at The University of Toronto. The band
members were: Mark Laver Alto Sax, Gordon Hyland Tenor Sax, Chris Donnelly Piano, Brendan McElroy
Bass and Max Roach on drums all of whom were
now professional musicians. They played Isfahan and
Caravan. The full band then returned to the stage and played two Phil Nimmons’ arrangements, Band Call,
featuring Gary Williamson on piano and Paul Tarrusov
on trombone and All too Soon featuring Paul Tarrusov again. The set and the concert concluded with a
rousing version of Take the A Train arranged by Rob
McConnell and featuring one of his alumni, Mike
Murley on Tenor. The band received a well deserved standing ovation to conclude a wonderful evening of
jazz. Terry Promane performed most of the evening’s
emceeing in a style and with the humour clearly learnt from the master of such things, the late Rob
McConnell.
Many thanks are due to Alan and Judy Shiels who arranged the evening and to the ticket purchasers who
once again provided a full house and an appreciative
audience.
***
Upcoming Events May 28th. At Hugh’s Room, the Dave Young/Terry Promane Octet will present an evening of jazz.
This year’s Toronto Jazz Festival will run from June
24 to July 3. Tim Elliott advised that Brian Barlow's big band with
Heather Bambrick will be playing selections from
Duke's Sacred Concerts on Sunday July 3 at 4:30 p.m. at Jazz Vespers at Christ Church Deer Park 1570
Yonge St. as part of the Toronto Jazz Festival.
September 15 2011, Thursday.
Ken Page Memorial Trust Fundraising Gala and Jazz
Party at The Old Mill, Toronto.
2012 Ellington Conference.
An Ellington Conference in London is in the
conception stage. Tentative dates are 17-23 May 2012. Organizers say that details will follow in due
course.
*****
Last Post
Drummer Joe Morello, one of jazz's under-sung
heroes, has died. He was best known as the rhythmic
timekeeper of multiple times in Dave Brubeck's famed quartet, when the quartet made some of its best-known
recordings. Joe Morello, born July 17, 1928, in
Springfield, Massachusetts and died on March 12, 2011, at his home in New Jersey. He was 82 years old.
After a period playing in Marion McPartland's trio,
Morello declined invitations to join both Benny
Goodman and Tommy Dorsey's band, favoring a temporary two-month tour with the Dave Brubeck
Quartet in 1955. Morello remained to play with
Brubeck for well over a decade—helping the Brubeck quartet score its biggest hits, including the well-known
“Take Five" from the 1959 album Time Out—only
departing in 1968.
Renowned jazz guitarist, Herb Ellis,88, died at his
home in Los Angeles on March 28 2011. he had
Alzheimer’s disease. Herb Ellis was a member of the Oscar Peterson Trio in the 1950’s which recorded
many classic albums and accompanied many of the
contemporary jazz greats.
*****
4
Upcoming TDES 40 Meetings
May 10th Jim Kidd, a life time jazz collector and
enthusiast will give an illustrated talk on the Harlem of
yesterday and today.
June 14th
– The ever popular Member’s Choice.
Please bring music or videos to entertain your fellow members.
Friday November 18, 2011.
The Toronto Duke Ellington Society together with the Toronto Public Library invite you to “Duke In
Canada” featuring Jim Galloway’s Quartet, 7:00 –
9:00 p.m. at the Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street at Asquith. This meeting will replace the
regularly scheduled November 8th meeting.
December 6th
Annual Holiday Party.
The Arts & Letters Club, 14 Elm Street, Toronto Doors 6:00p.m.
Dinner 7:00 pm
Music 8:00pm Nancy Walker and a trio will provide the music for the
evening.
This event is always sold out so please contact Judy Shiels for tickets promptly at 416-239-2683
April 28 2012. Annual Scholarship Concert.
Once again, a sell out in 2011! To make sure that you
have the best seat selection for the 2012 concert call Alan Shiels, after the Thanksgiving Holiday 2011 at
416-239-2683
New & Interesting During April there are many celebrations of Duke
Ellington’s birthday, including our own concert.
Several radio stations have jazz programming devoted
to Ellington’s music. This year KUCR – FM. 88.3, the radio station of the University
of California, Riverside had two hours of Ellington’s
music from Noon to 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday April 25.
The stream can be reached at: www.kucr.org. They
have extensive jazz programming on Tuesdays from
Noon until 7:00 p.m. EST but please be careful since their schedule is, of course, PST. I listened to an
excellent interview on a previous programme by the
host of the Jazz Exploration program at Noon, Lee Farley, of Steven Lasker who made significant
contributions to the new Ellington Mosaic set, The
Complete 1932 – 1940 Brunswick, Columbia and Master Recordings.
Other Ellington birthday Celebration “radio
broadcasts” may be heard at WKCR, the Columbia
University radio station 89.9 FM which provides a full day of Ellington music and WCDB the university
at Albany, New York station at 90.9 FM which
provides four hours of Ellington music and comment on the Saturday prior to April 28th from 8:00a.m. to
noon. The commentary and background information
provided in these programs is first rate and well worth
listening to. Of course, all of this broadcast material is accessible to us on the web.
***
The U.S. Postal service pays tribute to jazz and the
musicians who play it with a new postage stamp. The
U.S.P.S. had art director Howard Paine design the stamp to showcase the work of Paul Rogers, an artist
living in Pasadena Ca. Rogers explores the way in
which images can become visually equivalent to jazz
music. He was inspired by the cover art from vintage jazz record albums. The stamp was issued March 16
2011.
This jazz stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp which retains the value of the current First Class Mail
one ounce rate.
***
Some members of The Toronto Duke Ellington Society attended Bill Wilson’s latest Jazz at R.Y.
Concert on Sunday March 20th. Martin Loomer,
President of the society, Tom Skublics and Merlin Williams on reeds with Jack Mc Fadden bass, played a
tribute to The Count and The Duke. This was a very
enjoyable and worthwhile concert and everybody had a great time.
Meetings 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
Vol 52 No. 7 _______________________ May & June 2011
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.com
Minutes of the May 10th
2011 General Meeting
Alan Shiels opened the meeting at 7:35 p.m. to 26
members and guests, in the absence of our President, Martin Loomer, who sent his apologies. Alan thanked
those members who had made the Scholarship fund raising
concert such a success. Guests at tonight’s meeting were
Joan Landry, introduced by Sally Shaw and Jack Livesley, introduced by Judy Shiels. Jack Livesley had attended the
concert and had been so excited by what he had seen and
heard he was moved to compose a short piece of poetry to celebrate the occasion. Jack read the poem “Slice” for us
with verve and élan. We hope that Jack will be able to
allow us to reproduce it here sometime in the future.
Bruce Barton introduced the speaker for the evening,
James Kidd. Jim had a long career in broadcasting in
Toronto, Montreal and The West Indies and had interviewed many jazz luminaries including Ella Fitzgerald
and Duke Ellington. He grew up in Manitoba and
developed a love for jazz as a teenager. He became a dedicated record collector and musicologist and is now
involved in many activities including involvement in
record collectors conferences and as a member of the
obscure but active Mississauga Jazz Muddies. Jim explained that he had devoted many years to research into
the locations and current state of the old recording studios
and jazz clubs of Harlem which was once a dark, dirty and dangerous place. It is now, bright, clean and safe thanks to
enlightened New York City management and well worth a
visit by jazz enthusiasts. Jim showed us pictures of many of the old jazz clubs in Harlem: The Apollo Theater, The
Alhambra Theater, Small’s Paradise, Connie’s Inn and The
Lafayette Theater from old photographs in their original
state. Many of these locations had been torn down and replaced by schools, churches or left to deteriorate and
were now used for a variety of purposes. A couple of
interesting locations that he showed were Baron Wilkins’s Exclusive Club where Duke Ellington first played when he
went to New York. He played from 11:00 p. m to 10:00
a.m. the following day! Jim also showed us photographs
of The Nest where Ellington first heard Barney Bigard and offered him a job on the spot! Jim showed us photographs of
the Cotton Club, The Savoy Ballroom, Minton’s Playhouse ,
the home of be bop. All of the photographs that Jim Kidd showed us of the current state of the buildings he had taken
himself. Jim Kidd explained that he was only a foreign
white guy showing interest in these historic and interesting
old buildings. He explained that there does not seem to be the appropriate level of interest in the U.S. A. in preserving
their jazz heritage or even marking the locations with
plaques.
We then took a short break with refreshments provided by
Irene Mottadelli, Harold Swartz and Colin Brown.
In the second part of his presentation, Jim Kidd reviewed
some of the old recording studios in New York including the
Vocalion recording studio where Duke Ellington and his Kentucky Club Orchestra made its first recordings in 1926.
Jim also showed us images of the R.C.A. recording studios,
the Brunswick and Victor studios and the Liederkranz Hall and Webster Hall (which is where the Wilshire Apartment
building now stands). Many fine recordings were made at
these locations and Jim thought it a pity that there is little or
no recognition of their contribution to the fabric of American life.
Jim concluded his valuable and interesting review by presenting three short videos, Record Making with Duke
Ellington, featuring Ivie Anderson, a Johnny Hodges medley
and wrapping up with the full Ellington Orchestra playing, appropriately, Things Ain’t What They Used To Be.
Mel Manley moved the vote of thanks to Jim Kidd and was
soundly supported by the audience members.
Jack Chambers has pointed out that TDES members will be
interested to know that there is a Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival, May 9 – 15, 2011 which tours many of the
locations that Jim Kidd covered. Go to
www.harlemjazzshrines.org for details.
2
Minutes of the June 14th
2011 General Meeting
President Martin Loomer called the meeting to order at 7:40 p.m. and welcomed everyone to the final meeting of
the 2010 – 2011 season, Members’ Choice. Brad Perkins
opened the proceedings with Blood Count from the
Album …And His Mother Called Him Bill. He followed that with Don’t Get Around Much Anymore from The
Complete Louis Armstrong - Duke Ellington Sessions.
George Davis explained that his previous selections in
other years had been based on connections to our society.
This year he wanted to go for a more obscure recording and played Just A-Sittin’ and A-Rockin’ from a 2010
release, A Handful of Stars by Adam Schroeder on baritone
sax and John Clayton playing bass. An interesting duet
recording.
Jim Northover stepped up to play, once again, music from
the 1920’s since, he said we hear this music from Duke infrequently but it is still so good and sophisticated even
though from such an early period in Duke’s career and
indeed in the history of jazz. He played Flaming Youth
from January 16 1929 and Black Beauty recorded March
26 1928.
Bruce Barton took from his new Mosaic acquisition of The Complete 1932 – 1940 Brunswick, Columbia and Master
Recordings of Duke Ellington & his Famous Orchestra,
two selections, I Can’t Give You Anything but Love and Porgy recorded December 22 1932. Ethel Waters took the
vocal assignments in both cases. These two tunes were
originally written by Dorothy Fields and Jimmie McHugh
for the musical revue, Blackbirds. This was the only occasion where Ellington recorded with Ethel Waters.
Irene Mottadelli gave us a change of pace with her selection of Sunday played by Ben Webster and Oscar
Peterson from the Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson
album of 1959.
Colin Brown had two selections for us from the Concert in
The Virgin Islands 1959 album Strayhorn’s Chelsea
Bridge and Ellington’s Big Fat Alice’s Blues. Eddie Lambert explains that several of the tunes on this album
reflected Duke’s interest in the Broadway season of 1965.
The title, Big Fat Alice’s Blues was a word play on the Broadway production of Tiny Alice.
At this point we took a brief break with refreshments
provided by Irene Barton and Jean Griffiths. After the break we started back with selections by Martin Loomer. He said
that he liked the Strayhorn arrangements of insignificant pop
tunes since they developed the unique Ellington sound . He
played The Lady in Red featuring Clark Terry on flugelhorn from the 1958 Bal Masque album. From the
Midnight in Paris album we heard a Strayhorn composition
of the same name. Incidentally, if you would like to obtain a copy of this album, a new copy is available on Amazon for
$195.00!!!
Our disc jockey for this evening and every other evening of
this season, John Hornsby, selected from the 1960 album,
The Unknown Sessions, Something to Live For followed by
Creole Blues, a Duke and Lawrence Brown duet performance, featuring a lovely trombone solo.
To round the evening off, Bruce Barton selected from his Mosaic set, Merry Go Round, Sophisticated Lady and
Drop Me Off in Harlem.
Many thanks, once again, to John Hornsby for his sterling
work in performing the technical work of playing the music
at this and every other meeting. He takes the sound
equipment home, brings it to the meetings, sets it up and repacks it ready for the next meeting. He’d really like some
help. Please contact John if you can provide any assistance.
Also, appropriate thanks are due to the refreshment
committee lead by Jean Griffiths. She organizes the
volunteers for each meeting and arranges the food for our
enjoyment. Thanks Jean.
Matt Wood and his telephone committee of Al Basian,
Norma Humphries and Barry Tisdall are due recognition and thanks for calling to remind members of upcoming meetings.
Irene Barton, in her first year as program chair has done a great job of finding interesting and entertaining speakers and
topics for us. Thanks Irene. The schedule for the 2011 –
2012 season looks exciting too.
Alan Shiels organised the usual sellout at the Scholarship
Concert this year. A great event and not to be missed.
Thanks Alan.
Judy Shiels organized the Holiday Party which again is
always fully attended and provides a first class party with
3
first class entertainment. Thank you Judy. It’ll come
together next year with no problem either.
Martin Loomer was presidential all year, Chris McEvilly
looked after the finances and Jim Northover bent his
inconsiderable talents to the newsletter. Thanks to everyone.
***
Upcoming TDES 40 Meetings The 2011 – 2012 season has been taking shape very well,
thanks to Irene Barton’s efforts. So far it looks like this:
September 13, 2012 – Johnny Hodges – Harry Nerlich October 11 – Tim Elliott and Brian Barlowe
November 18 – Duke in Canada – Jim Galloway, 7:00
p.m.at the Toronto Reference Library. December 6 – Holiday Party at the Arts & Letters Club,
Music by Nancy Walker Quartet with Kieren Overs bass,
Pat Labarbera sax. Tickets go on sale in September. I suggest you reserve a space now, as many already have,
since this event always sells out.
January 10 2012 - TBA
February Jack Chambers – The obscure “Girls Suite” and the famous women it celebrates
March 13 – Jim Northover – Ivie Anderson.
April 10 – TBA April 28 – Scholarship Fundraising Concert – We
anticipate that The Brain Barlowe Orchestra will play for
us. Though the arrangements are not yet finalised we hope
to have the former World Tap Dance Champion David Cox and a vocalist provide part of the entertainment.
May 8 - TBA
June 12 – Members’ Choice
***
Upcoming Events
Summer is the season of the Outdoor Jazz Festivals. Local
to the Toronto area we are lucky to have many festivals
which we can enjoy:
Ottawa Jazz Festival – June 23 – July 3
Toronto Jazz Festival - June 24 – July 3 Montreal Jazz Festival – June 25 – July 4
Beaches Jazz Festival – July 15 – July 24
Oakville Jazz Festival – August 5 – August 7 Brampton Jazz Festival – August 11 - 14
Prince Edward County Jazz Festival –August 16 – 21
Markham Jazz Festival – August 19-21 Guelph Jazz Festival – Sept 7 - 11
Anthony Pepper of the organising committee for the
proposed 2012 Ellington Study Group in London passed on this update of their progress:
They are now exactly one year out from the planned Study Group in London!
The schedule is:
Wed 23rd May 2012: Evening reception & registration.
Thu - Sun, 24th - 27th: Daytime conferencing, evening concerting.
They hope for around 100 delegates, as in '08.
As before, they need your commitment and ask you now to
send a £40 deposit (refundable) to reserve your place. Fees are expected to be £175; they may well be less but will not
exceed £200. But they do need you to pledge £40 as your
expression of intended attendance. This will be returned if
they do not receive sufficient support to enable them to go ahead (our minimum will be about 50). Those responding to
this appeal will become our "founding delegates" and receive
due credit in the programme.
They have yet to finalise a venue. They will have excellent
facilities and accommodation and at a cost less than in
central London, while allowing for easy and quick transport to and from the centre, and with airports and other transport
links.
To reserve your place please send £40 via Paypal to
[email protected] or contact Anthony Pepper directly
if you wish to send a cheque or money order.
***
Newsletter Update
The printed copy of this newsletter may be a little delayed due to the Canada Post lockout. The electronic version has
been sent to those members who have given me their email
addresses. To avoid delays I suggest that you let me have your email address, if you have one. In addition to receiving
the TDES 40 newsletter, members who are on the electronic
mailing list also get emailed to them copies of the
4
newsletters of the New York, Washington and Southern
California Chapters of TDES.
***
New & Interesting As you may recall, Mike Daley gave us an enlightening
talk at our April meeting. He said that he has a newsletter
which many of you may find interesting. If you are interested in receiving Mike Daley’s newsletter, you may
get on his mailing list by sending him an email at
Jim Galloway, in his Jazz Notes in the May – June issue
of The Whole Note announced that he will be presenting a
series of 13 one hour programs from 4 – 5 p.m. on JAZZ-FM called “Journeys in Jazz with Jim Galloway” starting
Sunday June 5th. He says that he will be playing music
from his own collection and that much of the music will be played by musicians he knows or knew with anecdotes
about some of them. I think it will be well worth listening
to.
On June 5th 2011, the City of Toronto renamed a park in Etobicoke in honour of jazz and blues great Jeff Healey.
Woodford Park, on Delroy Drive in the Queensway and
Royal York Road area, is in the neighbourhood where three generations of the Healey family lived. Healey grew
up in Etobicoke and played in the park, both as a teenager
and as a father with his own young children.
***
Last Post
Snooky Young died on 5th May. He was 92. He was in the Basie Band when it recorded with the Ellington
Orchestra in July 1961 and sat in with an orchestra of
some Ellington alumni when it appeared on the TV programme "Duke Ellington - We Love You Madly"
recorded on 10th January 1973. and broadcast the
following day according to NewDESOR.
Jazz pianist, Ray Bryant, died on Thursday June 2nd.
He was 79. His wife said that he died at New York
Hospital Queens after a long illness. Ray Bryant was
born on Dec. 24, 1931, in Philadelphia, and made his
name in that city during its considerable postwar jazz
boom. Along with his wife, Mr. Bryant is survived by a son,
Raphael Bryant Jr.; a daughter, Gina; three grandchildren; and two brothers, Leonard and Lynwood. Mr. Bryant’s
sister, Vera Eubanks, is the mother of several prominent jazz
musicians: Robin Eubanks, a trombonist; Kevin Eubanks,
the guitarist and former bandleader on “The Tonight Show
with Jay Leno”; and Duane Eubanks, a trumpeter.
Dave McMurdo, one of Canada's top jazz musicians passed
away on Monday, June 13th, 2011 at the age of 67.
McMurdo was born in England but spent most of his childhood in Victoria B.C. After studying music at UBC and
playing in a variety of bands in B.C., Dave moved to
Toronto where he joined Rob McConnell and The Boss Brass, and played lead trombone in Nimmons 'n' Nine Plus
Six. (from JAZZ-FM).
Trumpeter Alan Rubin died Wednesday of lung cancer at
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City,
said his wife, Mary Moreno Rubin. He was 68. He played with the Ellington orchestra in 1970, on the New Orleans
Suite album and other studio recordings . He was in the 1980
Blues Brothers movie along with Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Cab Calloway, etc. Rubin was born Feb. 11, 1943,
in New York City and took up the trumpet when he was
about 10 and entered the Juilliard School at 17. At 20, he
dropped out of Juilliard to go on the road with singer Robert Goulet. Rubin would go on to record and perform with
Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, Blood Sweat & Tears,
Aerosmith, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Billy Joel, the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton, and many others
The Editor of this newsletter and the members of the
Executive of TDES40 wish all members and friends a safe
and healthy summer and we look forward to seeing you all next season. The next meeting will be held on September
13, 2011.
Meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month.
7:30 pm – 10:00pm
Montgomery’s Inn4709 Dundas St. W
Visitors always welcome
Plenty of Free Parking
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