Duke Ellington at Fargo, 1940 Live

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Duke Ellington at Fargo, 1940 Live
Live album by Duke Ellington

Publication
(s)

1978

Label (s) Book-of-the-Month Records, Storyville

Format (s)

LP, CD

Genre (s)

swing

Title (number)

45

occupation

production

Jack Towers

Location (s)

Crystal Ballroom, Fargo City Auditorium, Fargo ( North Dakota )

Broadway in Fargo

Duke Ellington at Fargo, 1940 Live is a jazz album by Duke Ellington , the November 7, 1940 at a dance in Fargo ( North Dakota was admitted and) 1978 first published by Book-of-the-Month Records in a club issue. In 2001, Storyville published an expanded and revised edition of the recording based on the original tapes.

The Duke Ellington Orchestra played some of their most popular pieces including Ko-Ko , Mood Indigo , Harlem Airshaft, Warm Valley, Caravan , Sepia Panorama, Rockin 'in Rhythm, Sophisticated Lady and Cotton Tail . With the soloists Ben Webster , Jimmy Blanton , Johnny Hodges , Rex Stewart , Tricky Sam Nanton and Ellington himself, it is one of the most important live documents of the Ellington band in its classical period.

Background of the recording

After the first creative period from 1927 to 1930, 1940 "another high point in Ellington's oeuvre was looming. Many critics even believe that the period from 1940 to the recording ban in 1942 was Ellington's absolute climax ”. The orchestra received its "rhythmic power" primarily from the new addition of the young bassist Jimmy Blanton, "who simply" pushed "the band from behind with his intelligent, intuitive and powerful playing. Other factors for this development were the work of Billy Strayhorn , the expansion of the sound spectrum through the entry of Ben Webster and the separation from Irving Mills , who had tried again and again to assert his musical ideas with Ellington. It was then managed by the renowned artist agent William Morris, who was "aware of Dukes' role as an artist".

In 1939, two former college students and Ellington fans, Jack Towers (1914-2010) and Richard Burris, sought permission from the William Morris Agency to record an upcoming Duke Ellington concert in Fargo , North Dakota . They were allowed to do so by Ellington and his manager prior to the event.

The concert in Fargo

The performance of the Ellington Orchestra took place on November 7, 1940 in the Crystal Ballroom, which was on the first floor of the Fargo City Auditorium, corner of First Avenue South and Broadway. The concert was planned as a dance event, which was a common act for the swing bands at that time, but a rather unusual setting for a live recording, as most of these recordings took place at concerts, in nightclubs or for radio broadcasts. In the Fargoer Crystal Ballroom , a glass ball more than half a meter tall hung from the ceiling, reflecting the light in the dance hall.

On that day, the band had arrived in Fargo, a medium-sized town with 32,500 inhabitants, by train from a gig in Winnipeg, Canada the night before. The musicians were tired, which occasionally showed up during the concert, as in the tempo of Boy Meets Horn .

As Ellington's other live recordings from clubs and ballrooms during this phase show, he generally used more complex music in his standard program than the popular swing bands of the time, such as Benny Goodman , Tommy Dorsey or Glenn Miller , and also played more difficult pieces. At the event in Fargo he therefore presented such a complicated piece as Ko-Ko , which, according to Collier, is "regarded as one of his best compositions", as well as Harlem Airshaft, Warm Valley or Clarinet Lament (Barney's Concerto) , the feature for Barney Bigard . Collier derives from the performance of the Ellington Band in the American province:

Ray Nance
"It is a fact that jazz was at the center of popular American culture in 1940 and Ellington became one of its beneficiaries."

Initially, Ellington's orchestra offered a number of pieces to warm up before Ellington got to his grand piano himself. The band then played Sepia Panorama , which was their signature tune at the time, before it became Take the 'A' Train in 1941 . The concert also marked the debut of trumpeter Ray Nance , who joined the band when Cootie Williams joined Benny Goodman . On the night of the concert, Ellington told John Towers that his trumpet group was in " rough shape ". At the concert, Ellington's musicians also played the Standard Star Dust for the first time .

The original recordings by Duke Ellington at Fargo were ultimately amateur in nature and were bootlegs . The equipment for the recording consisted of a portable, battery-operated Presto record player, which pressed the recording onto 16-inch, 33⅓ rpm acetate- coated aluminum discs. This equipment was in close proximity to Ellington's piano at the concert. They connected three microphones to this - one across from the band's wind section, one a little higher and another near the piano, bass and guitar. Five of the six discs with a recording capacity of 15 minutes per side were used for the recording; at the same time, the local radio station KVOX (today KVXR) broadcast the concert live. After the show, Towers and Burris Duke Ellington and his musicians performed parts of the recording.

Jack Towers later said:

"When Dick and I recorded this Fargo performance, we did it just for the excitement and pleasure of it all. We had no idea that people all over the world would be listening to it 60 years later."

In another 2001 interview with North Dakota State University magazine , he said:

"We just wanted to have the thrill of being there, recording it and having something that we could play back for our pleasure."

Release history

Musicians of the Ellington Orchestra at the time of the Fargo recordings: (from left) Joe Nanton, Johnny Hodges, Sonny Greer, Barney Bigard (top), Fred Guy (front), Ben Webster, Otto Hardwick, Harry Carney, Duke Ellington (with the back to the piano), Junior Raglin or Jimmy Blanton (hidden). Photo Gottlieb .

Burris and Towers had promised the William Morris Agency at the time of recording that they would not make any commercial use of the live recordings; The recordings of the original records were first heard in the 1960s. Towers had copied a tape for a friend, copies of which were then released as bootlegs in Europe. Towers worked during this time until 1974 at the radio station of the US Department for Agriculture ; However, he operated as a hobby of remastering historical recordings, with which he started a second career after his retirement.

After the Ellington family decided to publish the recordings commercially, Towers made a reproduction of the recordings for the first time in the 1970s; Towers' At Fargo master tape was officially released in 1978 on Book-of-the-Month Records as a Book-of-the-Month Club edition. The original acetate discs arrived later in the archive center of the Smithsonian Institution belonging to National Museum of American History . in the form of three LPs (30-5622) under the title Duke Ellington at Fargo, 1940 Live , the concert sequence being designed for a record changer (1/6, 2/5, 3/4). This version was also released by the Jazz Heritage label (913176A), under which it was awarded a Grammy .

In 1990 the recordings appeared for the first time in digital form as two CDs on Vintage Jazz (VJC-1019/20). In 1996 there was an edition as Fargo 1940 in Jazz Classics (5009).

Finally, on April 3, 2001 , the Danish jazz label Storyville released a new edition with additional pieces under the title The Duke at Fargo, 1940: Special 60th Anniversary Edition (8316). The second CD of this edition also appeared in the Storyville 2006 released eight CD box set The Duke Box . In 2002 an edition similar to the Storyville edition was published by Definitive (11207) as Complete Legendary Fargo Concert , which (despite the ambiguous title) does not contain all pieces of the concert.

Appreciation and awards

After the Fargo recordings first appeared in 1940, critics were delighted with the orchestra's rare live impression from a phase that many consider to be the pinnacle of the Ellington Band. Marked Dan Morgenstern , director of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University , the album as "a milestone in the recorded work of Ellington". In 1980 Duke Ellington at Fargo received the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Recording in the Big Band category.

Scott Yanow wrote in Allmusic : "At that time there was no better orchestra, and probably since then." It was a "very fortunate circumstance" that Jack Towers was there at a one-night stand that was otherwise would have been forgotten. The Jazz Times -author Harvey Siders wrote, "the real star is of course the band with their organized chaos, their sophistication , the Jungle -Heat and talent, the improvisational genius of Duke respond."

Will Friedwald , author of the liner notes of Storyville edition, argued that the Fargo-recording in a row with the largest concert recordings in jazz as Benny Goodman Carnegie Hall concert in 1938 , John Coltrane's concert at the Village Vanguard or Ellington's guest appearance in Newport in 1956 stand .

The critics Richard Cook and Brian Morton awarded the Storyville edition with the highest rating (crown) in their Penguin Guide to Jazz (2002) and emphasized the exceptional quality of this edition, even though the over two hours of material are amateur recordings acted. Of the numerous live recordings by the Ellington Orchestra from this phase, this is the very best. This “essential document of the swing era” reaches its absolute climax with the startling version of the St. Louis Blues .

In his Jack Towers obituary in the Washington Post , Matt Schudel mentions the “magical sound” of those Ellington recordings even after seventy years; with “tight ensemble playing and inspired solos” by saxophonists Ben Webster and Johnny Hodges, trombonist Joe “Tricky Sam” Nanton and Ellington on piano.

Pieces of the album

Musicians of the Ellington Orchestra at the time of the Fargo recordings: (from right) Barney Bigard, Ben Webster, Otto Hardwick, Harry Carney, Rex Stewart, Sonny Greer, Wallace Jones (?), Ray Nance.
Photograph from the Howard Theater (?) In Washington, DC, by William P. Gottlieb .
  • The Duke at Fargo 1940: Special 60th Anniversary Edition (Storyville 8316/7)
CD 1
  1. It's Glory (Duke Ellington) - (0:47)
  2. The Mooche ( Irving Mills , Duke Ellington) - (5:23)
  3. The Sheik of Araby ( Harry B. Smith , Ted Snyder , Francis Wheeler) - (2:55)
  4. Sepia Panorama (Duke Ellington) - (1:15)
  5. Ko-Ko (Duke Ellington) - (2:22)
  6. There Shall Be No Night ( Abner Silver , Gladys Shelley ) - (3:09)
  7. Pussy Willow (Duke Ellington) - (4:34)
  8. Chatterbox ( Rex Stewart , Irving Mills, Duke Ellington) - (3:22)
  9. Mood Indigo (Irving Mills, Barney Bigard , Duke Ellington) - (4:15)
  10. Harlem Air Shaft (Duke Ellington) - (3:42)
  11. Ferryboat Serenade ( Harold Adamson , Eldo DiLazzaro) - (1:33)
  12. Warm Valley (Duke Ellington) - (3:36)
  13. Stompy Jones (Duke Ellington) - (2:42)
  14. Chloe ( Gus Kahn , Neil Moret [Charles N. Daniels]) - (4:03)
  15. Bojangles (Duke Ellington) - (4:02)
  16. On the Air (Duke Ellington) - (5:08)
  17. Rumpus in Richmond (Duke Ellington) - (2:36)
  18. Chaser (Duke Ellington) - (0:15)
  19. The Sidewalks of New York (James W. Blake, Charles B. Lawlor ) - (5:07)
  20. The Flaming Sword (Duke Ellington) - (4:59)
  21. Never No Lament (Don't Get Around Much Anymore) (Duke Ellington, Bob Russell ) - (4:21)
  22. Caravan (Irving Mills, Duke Ellington, Juan Tizol ) - (3:44)
  23. Clarinet Lament (Barney's Concerto) (Barney Bigard, Duke Ellington) - (3:28)
CD 2
  1. Slap Happy (Duke Ellington) - (3:24)
  2. Sepia Panorama (Duke Ellington) - (5:11)
  3. Boy Meets Horn (Rex Stewart, Duke Ellington) - (5:36)
  4. Way Down Yonder in New Orleans ( Henry Creamer , Turner Layton ) - (1:27)
  5. Oh babe Maybe Someday (Duke Ellington) - (2:17)
  6. Five O'Clock Whistle ( Josef Myrow , Kim Gannon , Gene Irwin) - (2:00)
  7. Fanfare (Duke Ellington) - (0:32)
  8. The Call of the Canyon / All This and Heaven Too ( Billy Hill , Eddie DeLange , Jimmy Van Heusen ) - (1:33)
  9. Rockin 'in Rhythm (Irving Mills, Harry Carney , Duke Ellington) - (4:54)
  10. Sophisticated Lady (Irving Mills, Duke Ellington, Mitchell Parish ) - (5:11)
  11. Cotton Tail (Duke Ellington) - (3:06)
  12. Whispering Grass ( Fred Fisher ) - (2:29)
  13. Conga Brava (Duke Ellington, Juan Tizol) - (4:07)
  14. I Never Felt This Way Before ( Al Dubin , Duke Ellington) - (5:29)
  15. Across the Track Blues (Duke Ellington) - (6:44)
  16. Honeysuckle Rose ( Fats Waller , Andy Razaf ) - (5:08)
  17. Wham ( Eddie Durham , Taps Miller) - (2:49)
  18. Stardust ( Hoagy Carmichael , Mitchell Parish) - (4:15)
  19. Rose of the Rio Grande ( Harry Warren , Ross Gorman, Edgar Leslie ) - (3:33)
  20. St. Louis Blues ( WC Handy ) - (5:39)
  21. Warm Valley (Duke Ellington) - (0:50)
  22. God Bless America ( Irving Berlin ) - (0:28)

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ The building was demolished in 1962. See NDSU.
  2. ↑ James Lincoln Collier pointed out in his Ellington biography that in 1940 a new generation of jazz fans discovered Ellington after their interest in music had been awakened by the swing bands. In the Downbest survey of 1938, Johnny Hodges was ranked second in the alto saxophone category , while Ellington was fifth in the arranger category . The next year the band was listed sixteenth in the sweet band category , but sixth in the swing band category , and six of its musicians were among the top twenty in their instrument category. In the 1940 survey, the Ellington Orchestra came second behind Benny Goodman in the hot band category , and two-thirds of its musicians were voted top spots, which no other band has ever achieved. However, Collier also notes that the Ellington Band, as far as normal fans are concerned, "was never the second or third most popular band in the country"; Orchestras like that of Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, and Glenn Miller were high in popular taste; however, the Ellington Orchestra was also a popular band during this period. See Collier, p. 308 f.
  3. ↑ In the original: “We had no thoughts other than just the thrill of being there, recording, and having something we could play for our own amazement,” (..) “We had no thoughts whatsoever of recording anything that anybody would be listening to 40 or 50 or 60 years down the line. "
  4. ↑ Jack Towers said after receiving this award in an interview with the NPR in 1980 : “I just couldn't see this old 40-year-old recording really competing with these really top bands in the land right now. And I watched the Grammy program out of interest, and when they actually announced the Duke Ellington Fargo 1940 it just took the wind out of my sails. " Source: Slotnik: Jack Towers obituary in the NYT, January 13, 2011.
  5. ↑ In the original: “there was no better orchestra at the time, and rarely since”.
  6. ↑ In the original: “ the real star, of course, is the band, with its organized chaos, its sophistication, its jungle heat, its ability to respond to the improvisational genius of Duke ”. Source: Harvey Siders.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Ken Dryden The Duke at Fargo 1940: Special 60th Anniversary Edition at Allmusic
  2. ↑ See Cook & Morton, p. 455.
  3. ↑ Samuel Chell. Complete Legendary Fargo Concert in All About Jazz . 2006
  4. ↑ a b Ruland, p. 81 f.
  5. ↑ a b c Collier, p. 284.
  6. ↑ a b c d e f Matt Schudel: Jack Towers obituary in the Washington Post 2010.
  7. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Martin Fredricks: The Duke was Here . In: NDSU Magazine ( Memento of the original from June 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ndsu.nodak.edu
  8. ^ A b Whitney Ballet: Collected Works: A Journal of Jazz 1954-2001. St. Martin's Griffin, 2002. pp. 543.
  9. ↑ a b Review of Harvey Siders' album in JazzTimes
  10. ↑ November 4, 2000 Program Guide at WAMU ( Memento of the original from December 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / wamu.org
  11. ↑ a b c d e obituary for Jack Towers by daniel Slotnik in The New York Times January 13, 2011.
  12. ↑ a b Jack Towers Donates Fargo Discs to Smithsonian (PDF; 327 kB).
  13. ^ Scott Yanow : North Dakota, November 7, 1940 on Allmusic
  14. ↑ Information about the album at Allmusic (English). Retrieved January 17, 2011.
  15. ↑ Ken Dryden: Complete Legendary Fargo Concert at Allmusic
  16. ↑ Past Winners Search (English)
  17. ↑ Review of the album Fargo, North Dakota, November 7, 1940 by Scott Yanow at Allmusic (English). Retrieved January 21, 2011.
  18. ↑ Will Friedwald: A Masterpiece by Anyone's Standards at Storyville Records 2007 ( Memento of the original from December 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.storyvillerecords.com
  19. ^ Cook & Morton, (2002), p. 455.
  20. ↑ Chris Mosey: Review of the album Duke Ellington: The Duke At Fargo 1940 Special 60th Anniversary Edition (2013) on All About Jazz