… And His Mother Called Him Bill

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… And His Mother Called Him Bill
Studio album by Duke Ellington

Publication
(s)

1968

Label (s) RCA Records

Format (s)

CD, LP

Genre (s)

jazz

Title (number)

12 or 16

running time

(CD)

occupation

production

Brad McCuen , Steve Backer (reissue)

Studio (s)

  • RCA Studio A New York City
  • Coast recorders. San Francisco
chronology
Collages
1967 		… And His Mother Called Him Bill Second Sacred Concert
1968

… And His Mother Called Him Bill is a jazz album by Duke Ellington , recorded in four recording sessions from August 28, 1967 to November 15, 1967, released by RCA Victor in 1968. It is a tribute to the recently deceased Billy Strayhorn .

The album

... And His Mother Called Him Bill was recorded three months after the death of Billy Strayhorn, Duke Ellington's closest collaborator. The album contains a series of Strayhorn compositions, including "Rain Check" and "Day Dream", " Snibor " and some pieces that had not been recorded by the Duke Ellington Orchestra before.

Most moving is the title "Blood Count"; it was the last piece Strayhorn wrote when he was dying of cancer. It's a feature for Johnny Hodges , “played practically at a standstill with typically dense harmonies. At the center is a melancholy little character in sixteenth notes who could break your heart with what was to come for Strayhorn, and Hodges played her in a way that she did, ”notes Ellington biographer JL Collier.

The title "The Intimacy of the Blues" is also one of Strayhorn's last works. The title "UMMG" ( Upper Manhattan Medical Group ), a facility in which Ellington's long-time friend Arthur C. Logan worked , also refers to his illness . "UMMG" has the haunting quality through sounds, similar to driving ambulances, "note Richard Cook and Brian Morton in their review of the album. There they also highlight the title "All Day Long"; they consider it one of the most daring orchestral pieces in modern jazz.

One of the most haunting moments of the album is the end of the album, when Duke “sat down at the piano again after the actual recordings and, in the midst of the happy optimism after the work was done, took his very personal farewell to“ Sweet Pea ”with“ Lotus Blossom ”. The conversation of the musicians packing the suitcases, which can be heard in the background and gradually falls silent, doesn't bother in the least, actually increases the dramatic effect of this unspectacular and yet so exciting, because moving and thoughtful, breathtaking solos, ”says Ellington biographer Hans Ruland.

Impact history

Richard Cook and Brian Morton awarded the album the top four stars in their Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD . The album won the Down Beat Critics Poll for Record of the Year in 1969. In the same year, the album was awarded a Grammy for best jazz instrumental performance.

Edition history

The album was released in 1968 as a long-playing record (RCA LSP 3906), then released several times as a compact disc; first with RCA Records / Bluebird Records in 1987 , then with Flying Dutchman Records in 1993 , and finally with BMG in 2000 . The CD editions contain additional alternate takes .

The titles

Billy Strayhorn in the 1940s.
Photo: William P. Gottlieb .

Title of the original edition from 1968

  1. "Boo-Dah" ( Strayhorn ) - 3:32
  2. "UMMG (Upper Manhattan Medical Group)" (Strayhorn) - 3:13
  3. "Blood Count" (Strayhorn) - 4:19
  4. "Smada" ( Ellington , Strayhorn) - 3:20
  5. "Rock Skippin 'at the Blue Note" (Ellington, Strayhorn) - 3:02
  6. "Rain Check" (Strayhorn) - 4:37
  7. "Midriff" (Strayhorn) - 4:31
  8. "My Little Brown Book" (Strayhorn) - 4:13
  9. "Lotus Blossom" (Strayhorn) - 3:57
  10. "Snibor" (Strayhorn) - 4:19
  11. "After All" (Strayhorn) - 3:48
  12. "All Day Long" (Strayhorn) - 2:57
  13. "Lotus Blossom" (Strayhorn) - 5:01
  14. "Day Dream" (Ellington, Latouche , Strayhorn) - 4:20
  15. "The Intimacy of the Blues" (Strayhorn) - 3:02
  16. "Charpoy" (Strayhorn) - 3:07

The titles of the CD edition

  1. "Snibor" (Strayhorn) - 4:16
  2. "Boo-Dah" (Strayhorn) - 3:28
  3. "Blood Count" (Strayhorn) - 4:18
  4. "UMMG" (Strayhorn) - 3:14
  5. "Charpoy" (Strayhorn) - 3:07
  6. "After All" (Strayhorn) - 3:52
  7. "The Intimacy of the Blues" (Strayhorn) - 2:58
  8. "Rain Check" (Strayhorn) - 4:37
  9. "Day Dream" (Ellington, Latouche, Strayhorn) - 4:25
  10. "Rock Skippin 'at the Blue Note" (Ellington, Strayhorn) - 3:02
  11. "All Day Long" (Strayhorn) - 2:58
  12. "Lotus Blossom" (Strayhorn) - 3:54
  13. "Eight O'Clock Rock" (Ellington) - 2:23
  14. "Rain Check [alternate take]" (Strayhorn) - 5:22
  15. "Smada [alternate take]" (Ellington, Strayhorn) - 3:21
  16. "Smada [alternate take]" (Ellington, Strayhorn) - 3:20
  17. "Midriff [alternate take]" (Strayhorn) - 4:35
  18. "My Little Brown Book [alternate take]" (Strayhorn) - 4:13
  19. "Lotus Blossom [alternate take]" (Strayhorn) - 4:56

Information on the occupation of the individual sessions

For the original take of "Lotus Blossom" Ellington was recorded solo (August 30, 1967); the alternate take (No. 16) is also with Harry Carney and Aaron Bell (September 1, 1967). The trombonist John Sanders also plays on the tracks "Rain Check" and "Midriff". Harry Carney is missing from these titles as well as the title "Blood Count". At the last recording session on November 16, 1967 ("Daydream" / "The Intimacy Of The Blues" / "Charpoy" / "Eight O'Clock Rock"), which was the only one in San Francisco, played Jeff Castleman and Sam Woodyard instead by Aaron Bell and Steve Little.

Literature / sources

Remarks

  1. ↑ Strayhorn's best known track, Take the “A” Train , was not used on this record.
  2. ^ Strayhorn wrote the composition from the bedside for Duke Ellington's Carnegie Hall concert in March 1967.
  3. ↑ Collier, p. 400.