Duke Ellington at Fargo, 1940 Live
Occupation
- Piano: Duke Ellington
- Trumpet: Wallace Jones, Ray Nance
- Cornet: Rex Stewart
- Trombone: Tricky Sam Nanton, Lawrence Brown
- Valve trumpet Juan Tizol
- Clarinet: Barney Bigard
- Alto Saxophone: Johnny Hodges
- Tenor Sax: Ben Webster, Otto Hardwick
- Baritone saxophone Harry Carney
- Guitar: Fred Guy
- Bass: Jimmy Blanton
- Drums: Sonny Greer
- Vocals: Ivie Anderson, Herb Jeffries
Duke Ellington at Fargo, 1940 Live is a jazz album by Duke Ellington, which was taken at a dance event in Fargo (North Dakota) on 7 November 1940 and in 1978 first published by Book -of- the-Month Records in a club edition. Appeared in 2001 in Storyville an expanded and revised edition of the live recording on the basis of the original tapes.
The Duke Ellington Orchestra played some of their most popular pieces as Ko - Ko, Mood Indigo, Harlem Airshaft, Warm Valley, Caravan, Sepia Panorama, Rockin ' in Rhythm, Sophisticated Lady and Cotton Tail. With the soloist Ben Webster, Jimmy Blanton, Johnny Hodges, Rex Stewart, Tricky Sam Nanton and Ellington himself, it is now one of the most important live documents of the Ellington band in its classical period.
Background of the live recording
After the first creative period from 1927 to 1930 is paved in 1940, " another high point in the work of Ellington. Many critics even believe that the time from 1940 to 1942 Ellington recording ban was absolute highlight. " The " rhythmic force " was the orchestra mainly through the signing of the young bassist Jimmy Blanton, " with his intelligent, intuitive, and powerful playing from behind the band simply" anschob " ". Other factors for this development was the work of Billy Strayhorn, the Erweitung of the sound spectrum by the entry of Ben Webster and the separation of Irving Mills, who had repeatedly tried to impose his musical ideas at Ellington. He was then Managed by the renowned artist William Morris agent who was " the role Dukes as an artist deliberately ".
In 1939, the two former college students and Ellington fans Jack Towers ( 1914-2010 ) and Richard Burris sought after by the permission of the William Morris Agency for insurgents an upcoming Duke Ellington concert in Fargo, North Dakota. This has allowed them by Ellington and his manager before the event.
The concert in Fargo
The appearance of the Ellington orchestra then took place on November 7, 1940 at Crystal Ballroom instead, which was located on the first floor of the Fargo City Auditorium, corner of First Avenue South and Broadway. [A 1] The concert was planned as a dance event, which in this time was an ordinary act for the swing bands, but for a live recording of a rather unusual environment, because most of these recordings took place at concerts, in nightclubs or for radio broadcasts. In Fargoer Crystal Ballroom was a large glass sphere over half a meter from the ceiling, the reflected light in the dance hall.
On this day the band by rail from a gig in Winnipeg, Canada at night was previously arrived in Fargo, a medium-sized town with 32500 inhabitants. The musicians were tired, which then occasionally during the concert showed how the pace of Boy Meets Horn.
Like the other live recordings Ellington's show from clubs and ballrooms this stage, he generally used in its default program more complex music than successful in the general listener favor swing bands of that time, such as Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey or Glenn Miller, [A 2] and also played more difficult pieces. At the event in Fargo, he presented, therefore, such a complicated piece as Ko-Ko, which is " considered one of his best compositions," according to Collier, as well as Harlem Airshaft, Warm Valley or Clarinet Lament ( Barney's Concerto ), the feature for Barney Bigard. Collier derives from the appearance of the Ellington band in the American provinces from:
First Ellington's orchestra offered a number of pieces to warm up before Ellington himself came to his wings. The band then played the piece Sepia Panorama, of whose signature tune was at this time, before this was 1941 Take the ' A' Train. The concert was also the debut of trumpeter Ray Nance, who was then a member of the band was, as Cootie Williams joined Benny Goodman. On the night of the concert, Ellington said to John Towers, that his trumpet group in " lousy shape " [en: rough shape ] was. At the concert Ellington's musicians played for the first time the standard Star Dust.
The original recordings of Duke Ellington at Fargo had ultimately amateur character and were bootlegs. The equipment in the recording consisted of a portable, battery -operated Presto disc player pressed the Mitschitt to 16- inch, 33 ⅓ rpm acetate - coated aluminum discs. This equipment was at the concert in the immediate vicinity of Ellington's piano. This she joined three microphones - one against the brass section of the band, one slightly higher and another close by piano, bass and guitar. Here, five of the six discs with a capacity of 15 minutes per side were used for the recording; simultaneously transferred the local radio station KVOX (now KVXR ) the concert live. After the show, Towers and Burris led before Duke Ellington and his musicians parts of the live recording.
Jack Towers said later:
In another 2001 interview with the magazine of the North Dakota State University, he said:
Publication history
Burris and Towers had promised at the time of recording of the William Morris Agency to make any commercial use of the live recordings; first time, were heard the recordings from the original plates in the 1960s. Towers had dubbed copies of which then appeared in Europe as bootlegs for a friend a tape. Towers was active at this time to 1974 on radio station of the U.S. Department for Agriculture; However, he ran as a hobby, the remastering of historic recordings, which he started a second career after his retirement.
After the Ellington family had decided to publish the recordings commercially, Towers set in the 1970s, for the first time a reproduction of the photographs here; Towers ' master tape of At Fargo then appeared in 1978 officially the label Book-of - the-Month Records as a Book-of - the-Month Club edition The original acetate discs came afterwards in the archive center of belonging to the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History. in the form of three LPs ( 30-5622 ) under the title of Duke Ellington at Fargo, 1940 Live, the concert series was designed for a disc changer (1/6, 2/5, 3 /4). This version was also released from the label Jazz Heritage ( 913176A ), under which it was awarded a Grammy.
In 1990, the recordings were released for the first time in digital form as two CDs with vintage jazz ( VJC-1019/20 ). In 1996 the output as the Fargo 1940 at Jazz Classics ( 5009 ).
Finally, the Danish jazz label Storyville brought on 3 April 2001 a new edition with additional pieces under the title The Duke at Fargo 1940: Special 60th Anniversary Edition ( 8316 ) on the market. The second CD of this edition was published in 2006 by Storyville brought out, eight CDs included Box Set The Duke Box. 2002 the Storyville output similar Definitive Edition on ( 11207 ) was published as a Complete Legendary Fargo Concert, but (despite the ill -understand title ) does not contain all the pieces of the concert.
Findings and Awards
After the first appearance of the Fargo recordings of 1940, the critics were enthusiastic about the rare live impression of the orchestra from a phase, which is considered by many to be the highlight of the Ellington band. So Dan Morgenstern, director of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University described the album as " a milestone in the recorded works of Ellington ". " In 1980 was named Best Jazz Instrumental -taking on Big Band Duke Ellington at Fargo with the Grammy Award. [A 4]
Scott Yanow assessed in Allmusic: " At that time there was no better orchestra, and probably hardly ever since. " It's been a "very fortunate " that Jack Towers has been in a moment of a one-night stand is in, the otherwise would be forgotten. [A 5] The Jazz Times writer Harvey Siders wrote: " the real star is of course the band with their organized chaos, its sophistication, the jungle heat and talent to respond to the improvisational genius of Duke [A 6].
Will Friedwald, author of the liner notes of the Storyville edition, argued that the Fargo - recording in a row with the largest concert recordings in jazz, including Benny Goodman's Carnegie Hall concert in 1938, John Coltrane's concert at the Village Vanguard or Ellington's guest performance at Newport in 1956 stand.
The critics Richard Cook and Brian Morton recorded the Storyville issue in their Penguin Guide to Jazz ( 2002) with the highest rating (with crown ) and highlighted the exceptional quality of the output produced, although it is of material around at the over two hours of amateur recordings acted. Of the many live recordings of the Ellington orchestra from this phase this was the very best. With the rousing version of the St. Louis Blues reach this " essential document of the swing era ," his absolute peak.
In his Jack Towers obituary in the Washington Post Matt Schudel mentioned the " magic sound " that Ellington recordings even after seventy years; with " taut ensemble and inspired solos " the saxophonists Ben Webster and Johnny Hodges, trombonist Joe " Tricky Sam" Nanton and Ellington on piano.