# Duke Ellington



## Romantic Geek

With our...fiery...debate going on the validity of George Gershwin as a classical composer, I bring another composer who is still today one of the most prolific composers in America's history. Known mostly for his jazz, Duke Ellington did write some "classical" works and also did some arrangements of "classical" works as well. He wrote three sacred concerts, which even though Duke didn't want them to be called Masses...they certainly resemble them. He has a few orchestral pieces and at least one musical of which I know of - "Beggar's Holiday" which is based on John Gay's "Beggar's Opera." His arrangements of Grieg's "Peer Gynt Suite" and Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite" are also quite intriguing.

It's well documented that Ellington loved classical music and what many composers were writing, who were composing at the time he was. (You're not going to see this in a Wiki article, but read his letters and books about Ellington.) He just simply loved music.

While undoubtedly Duke Ellington will always be known for being one of the greatest jazz pianists, band leaders, and composers for big band, I think we should really celebrate him for his contribution to music in general, which spans a breadth of genres, including classical.


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## regressivetransphobe

It seems like a couple hundred more years need to pass before any artists associated with jazz will be unanimously accepted by classical buffs as Serious Art Music Composers(tm). Eurocentrism and all that. That's the way she goes. In the end, though, it's all art and it's all human.

I tend to like the later smaller band side of jazz, but out of Ellington's piles and piles of recordings, I've never heard a bad or stagnant sounding one, even when the genre was getting stripped down, free, and essentially leaving his stuff behind. That says a lot about the integrity of his ideas.


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## Aramis

I must confess that I don't like it.


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## Vazgen

Here's something a lot more tasteful from the Duke:





I love Ellington. He and Charles Mingus were truly visionary composers, not just fine musicians and bandleaders.

-Vaz


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## Argus

regressivetransphobe said:


> I tend to like the later smaller band side of jazz.


Money Jungle is a great trio album.


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## Romantic Geek

You don't like Bli-Blip?  I had a fun time playing that one in the band.

This one is my favorite Duke piece though:


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## StlukesguildOhio

Yes _Money Jungle_'s a classic. I also love his _Piano on the Foreground_:











And what of the great _Afro-Eurasian Eclipse_:






And here's a classic among classic songs... and performances... _Live at Newport 1956_:


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## norman bates

Argus said:


> Money Jungle is a great trio album.


i must say that i've always thought that Fleurette africaine is the only great track on a weak work. The greatness of the musicians is out of question, but i want to quote the words of Miles Davis about the album:



> What am I supposed to say to that? That's ridiculous. You see the way they can **** up music? It's a mismatch. They don't complement each other. Max and Mingus can play together, by themselves. Mingus is a hell of a bass player, and Max is a hell of a drummer. But Duke can't play with them, and they can't play with Duke.
> 
> Now, how are you going to give a thing like that some stars? Record companies should be kicked in the ***. Somebody should take a picket sign and picket the record company.


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## Vazgen

I'm glad I'm not the only one who found _Money Jungle_ one of those odd mismatches that's sometimes hypnotic in its awkwardness. Could these three amazing musicians have demonstrated _less _chemistry than they did on "Switch Blade"?






Ouch.

-Vaz


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## Argus

norman bates said:


> i must say that i've always thought that Fleurette africaine is the only great track on a weak work. The greatness of the musicians is out of question, but i want to quote the words of Miles Davis about the album:


When did Miles say that? It could have been during his smashed off his face on heroin period or his angry man period. I'd rate Money Jungle up there with a mid-level Miles record.

If we're talking about albums that don't work that should, what about On The Corner. I love pretty much everything Miles did between In a Silent Way and his hiatus after Agharta and Pangea, but On The Corner is a total mess of editing and production. Nothing flows, the best track is too short, and just when a groove gets started on the tabla or bass it fades into another dub. It's okay but it could have been much better.

Vazgen - that sounds like a decent jazz blues, maybe I like sloppy playing, plus it wasn't on the original LP. I'd say it's a good solid album. The title track, Very Special, Caravan, Solitude are all good tracks, the rest are decent and Mingus bass playing is top notch. I like how it just sounds like a jam session. I can't think of any piano-bass-drums albums that better it.


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## Vazgen

Argus said:


> Vazgen - that sounds like a decent jazz blues, maybe I like sloppy playing, plus it wasn't on the original LP. I'd say it's a good solid album. The title track, Very Special, Caravan, Solitude are all good tracks, the rest are decent and Mingus bass playing is top notch. I like how it just sounds like a jam session. I can't think of any piano-bass-drums albums that better it.


I think it's a missed opportunity, that's all. By '62, Duke was trying to keep up with a jazz world that had passed him by, but the strategy doesn't work. The old-fashioned cuts sound okay, but they're just rote bebop. Duke doesn't sound very confident on the more contemporary numbers, because Mingus's style is just way too aggressive.

As far as jazz trio stuff, there's lots better.




-Vaz


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## Argus

I've got four Monk albums, including Monk Plays the Music of Duke Ellington. They're good, but I can't say they are any better or worse than Money Jungle, and thats with the fact that the trio setup is more Monk's territory.


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## regressivetransphobe

norman bates said:


> The greatness of the musicians is out of question, but i want to quote the words of Miles Davis about the album:
> 
> What am I supposed to say to that? That's ridiculous. You see the way they can **** up music? It's a mismatch. They don't complement each other. Max and Mingus can play together, by themselves. Mingus is a hell of a bass player, and Max is a hell of a drummer. But Duke can't play with them, and they can't play with Duke.
> 
> Now, how are you going to give a thing like that some stars? Record companies should be kicked in the ***. Somebody should take a picket sign and picket the record company.


With that said, Miles wasn't infallible. 




Record companies should be kicked in the *** indeed.


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