2009 Holiday Party: Will be held at the Arts & Letters ...torontodukeellingtonsociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/2009... · Vol 51 No. 1 September 2009 The Newsletter of the Duke

Vol 51 No. 1 September 2009

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 Sept 8th, 2009 Meeting

President Alan Shiels opened the meeting of 31

members and guests at 7:35 p.m. and welcomed

everyone to the first meeting of the new season.

Guests were introduced, Daniela, daughter of

Vivienne Muhling, presenter for this evening and

Dr. Robert Tiegrob of Ryerson University who

will be presenting in November.

Alan covered the main points discussed at the

Executive meeting held in June 2009:

Tim Elliott will be stepping down as Program

Chair at the end of this season and needs to

have an assistant to train for the future.

Volunteers needed please.

Next month‘s meeting will include the AGM

at which Alan will present his President’s

report on the previous year’s activity and the

Treasurer, Chris McEvilly will present his

financial report.

Scholarships:

TDES40 provides money for three $1000

scholarships to Humber College, annually and we

are working with York University to provide two

$1000 scholarships, annually. An endowment

fund was established in the name of TDES 40,

which provides for two $1000 scholarships

annually though this year the fund did not yield

sufficient to provide the full amount. Alan Shiels,

Bruce Barton and Chris McEvilly visited Tyler

Greenleaf and Bruce Blandford of the U of T to

discuss ways in which TDES 40 could further

support jazz programming. A suggestion of

sponsoring a Duke Ellington Master Class was

explored though it needs further discussion.

Further, at the Executive meeting it was suggested

that we approach Jim Galloway to see if we could

sponsor an event at the Toronto Jazz Festival.

Tim Elliott outlined the TDES Programme for

the 2009/10 year. Our next meeting will be:

October 13th – Ron Woods “Strayhorn – Lush

Life”.

Details of the full program schedule will be

presented in the October newsletter.

Tim also announced that he expected Father

Gerry Pocock to visit the next meeting from

Ottawa.

Alan continued:

We should approach JAZZ-FM to see if they

can present, perhaps a one-hour weekly

programme devoted to Duke Ellington. It was

suggested that we approach Jaymz B.

Alan stated that the newsletter costs the

organisation approximately $1000 per year to

publish and distribute. It was decided at the

Executive Committee meeting that those

members who had provided email addresses

would get their copies of the newsletter

electronically. This would immediately save

approximately $500 per year.

Timner’s Ellingtonia: We have provided

copies of the latest edition to The Toronto

Reference Library, York University and

Humber College. A further copy is on hand to

be donated to the Royal Conservatory of

Music as soon as their library construction has

been completed. Letters of thanks have been

received from the three institutions who have

received their copies.

2009 Holiday Party: Will be held at the

Arts & Letters Club, 14 Elm Street,

Toronto on December 8th, 2009. PLEASE

2

NOTE: This is the first Tuesday of

December. Tickets are now on sales to

members. The price is $65.00 for members

and $70.00 for one guest. Ticket sales will

be open in October to non-members so

members have the first opportunity to

purchase tickets now. A quartet led by Jim

Galloway will present the musical

entertainment.

April Fundraising Concert – Tickets are on

sale now at $30.00 each for a concert provided

by Martin Loomer’s Orange Devils on April

24, 2010 at Walter Hall.

Video projector – Bruce Barton was offered

the task of purchasing for the organisation a

video projector. Since the response to his

questionnaire had been so positive on the

potential presentation of music videos it was

thought prudent to buy a projector. Bruce has

managed to purchase one for half of the

budgeted price!

John Hornsby is still looking for someone to

assist in transporting and storing the audio

equipment between meetings. Volunteers

please.

Bill Wilson is again organising Jazz at R.Y.

which many of our members enjoy. Held at

Royal York Road United Church, 851 Royal

York Road. The next concert will be held on

November 8 at 2:00 p.m.and will feature the

Richard Whiteman Quartet. Net Proceeds

from the sale of tickets support Royal York’s

Local Outreach charities.

Metro Jazz Club meets on the fourth Sunday

of each month at The Pauper’s Pub, 539 Bloor

Street West.

***

Tim Elliot then introduced our speaker for this

evening, Vivienne Muhling. She had been invited

to provide some personal reminiscences of Duke

Ellington and illustrate some of the ways in which

Duke was ahead of his time not only musically

but also in his approach to life and the racial

difficulties of his time.

Vivienne explained that her father, Daniel Jessel,

had a cousin, Daniel James who married Ruth

Ellington, Duke’s sister. Hence, Vivienne was

part of Ellington’s family.

In 1941, Ruth graduated from University and had

intended to teach. Her brother persuaded her to

become President of Temple Music, the company

he had formed to look after his music interests.

The location was 333 Riverside Drive, NY.

Mildred Dixon, with whom Duke had a

relationship lived in this same building with Ruth.

When Duke left Mildred for Evie (Bea Ellis) he

continued to provide for her until she

subsequently married.

Vivienne Muhling finally met Duke Ellington in

1953 when she went to a concert and met him

backstage.

Vivienne played several pieces selected from A

Drum Is a Woman. Her first selection was

Madame Zajj. She also played Solitude, which

Ella Fitzgerald had sung at Duke’s funeral

service. Since a recorded version of that

performance is not available, she played a version

sung by Ivie Anderson.

In 1962, Vivienne had been asked by Ruth

Ellington to represent her at the dedication of the

new Coventry Cathedral, which had been built

next to the one bombed by the Nazis in 1940. In

1987, the silver jubilee of the dedication, Johnny

Dankworth had presented a Silver Jubilee

Celebration on Jazz including Praise God and

Dance from one of Ellington’s Sacred Concerts.

Vivienne played this selection from a DVD of

Ellington Sacred Concerts.

We then moved to an intermission during which

Vivienne provided photographs and other

ephemera for us to look at.

Alan offered the thanks of the members to Norma

Humphries for providing the refreshments for this

evening.

Following the break Vivienne continued her

presentation looking at another aspect of Duke

Ellington. She said that he not participate in the

3

Civil Rights movement. This is correct from the

point of view of public speaking but he did

participate in his own way, musically that is. For

example Pretty and the Wolf, a tongue in cheek

story but obliquely conveying a message.

Vivienne played the version recorded at Stratford

in 1956. In 1941 Duke joined with other

Hollywood writers aiming to address the race

problem in the U.S.A. by writing and staging the

musical revue, Jump for Joy, called a “Sun

Tanned Revu-sical” premiered at the Mayan

Theatre in Los Angeles. Each of the numbers

carried a message. It ran for three months and

never got to Broadway. Vivienne played for us I

Got it Bad and that Ain’t Good from this

musical recorded at the Stratford Festival in 1956.

Duke was also first to bring colour-blind casting

to a Broadway production in “Beggar’s Holiday”,

a new production of John Gay’s “A Beggar’s

Opera” in 1947. It played for 108 performances

only but it was picketed nightly since it had a

racially mixed cast.

Vivienne brought her presentation to an end with

selections from “ A Drum is A Woman” a fanciful

tale of Carribee Joe and his drum, which evolved

into a woman known as Madam Zajj from the

1957 Columbia recording. She played A Drum is

a Woman, parts I & II and Zajj’s dream.

Vivienne closed to warm applause for a

thoughtful and informative presentation. The

formal thanks were eloquently offered by Sally

Shaw.

***

Last Post

Eddie Preston, trumpet player, died on June 22,

2009. He was 80 years old. Eddie did two stints

with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, April-July,

1962 and January-December 1971.

Steve Race, long time BBC jazz radio host and

musician aged 88. He can be heard introducing

the band on the album Ellington: The Great

London Concerts recorded in 1963.

***

TDES 40 Scholarship

The Etobicoke Guardian of August 7, 2009

carried an excellent front-page article under the

headline “Bassist’s Career Takes Flight” that

described one of the TDES 40, 2009 scholarship

winners, Scott Foster. Alan Shiels was also

interviewed for the piece.

The full text can be found at

http://www.insidetoronto.com/article/73781.

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

http://www.insidetoronto.com/article/73781

Vol 51 No. 1 September 2009




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 2008 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 9th 2009. 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 13 th, 2009, in the meeting room at Montgomery’s

Inn 4709 Dundas Street West, Ontario, Canada.

The purposes of the meeting are:

(1) To receive reports of the President and Treasurer in respect of the Chapter’s 2008 – 2009

fiscal year,

(2) 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 51 No. 2 October 2009




Minutes of the October 16, 2009 general

Meeting.

Since this was the Annual General Meeting,

President Alan Shiels opened the meeting of 35

members and guests with his review of the year’s

activities. This was not an election year so there

would be no election of officers but Alan noted

that we would need and Election committee to put

together a slate of candidates for next year’s

AGM. Alan recognised Father Gerry Pocock from

Ottawa who attended this evening’s meeting.

Alan first asked Chris McEvilly to present the

financial statement for 2008/9. The statement is

attached to these minutes. Stan Schiff questioned

the purpose of the capital fund since it has now

reached a significant amount. Alan responded

that the fund was from the proceeds of the two

Ellington Conferences held in Toronto together

with accrued interest. The intention was to use

the capital for two endowment funds to provide

scholarships to Humber College and York

University since at some time in the future the

fundraising concerts will no longer be held. Stan

Schiff suggested that the funds be used to

purchase recordings for the Toronto public

library. There was some discussion on the future

of recorded music and there were several

suggestions as to what else the funds could be

used for. – Membership enhancement in TDES 40

for example. Alan Shiels decided that the

Executive Committee needed to clarify the

purpose of the capital fund and advise the

membership.

Alan Shiels reviewed the previous year’s

activities of TDES 40.

In September 2008 we were to have Andrew Scott

of Coda present to us but he was unable to make

it. John Norris ably substituted for him with a

presentation of Sackville artists playing Duke’s

music.

Al & Norma Crawford presented in October with

a talk entitled “The Duke Of Washington”

Jamyz Bee of Jazz FM enthusiastically presented

“Duke’s Intro’s” in November.

December saw us at the Arts & Letters Club in

Toronto for the Holiday party with Mark

Eisenman’s quartet providing the music.

In January we viewed a video provided by Gary

Vivian which he obtained from his contacts at the

Billy Strayhorn booth at the IAJE Conference

earlier in the year – “Billy Strayhorn – Lush

Life”.

Jack Chambers presented his review of the Afro-

Asian Eclipse in February.

March saw Brian Barlow present Duke

Ellington’s Sacred Concerts.

Bill Wilson presented a selection of Ellington’s

music played by others for the April meeting.

In April too we had the Annual Scholarship

Fundraising Concert at which Martin Loomer’s

Orange Devils presented an outstanding evening’s

entertainment.

We had Jane Vollmer visit from Buffalo to offer

some “Reminiscences with Duke “ in May.

The final meeting of the year, in June, was the

ever popular Member’s Choice.

For the first meeting of the New Year in

September we had Vivienne Muhling offer her

“Reminiscences with Duke”

Alan then moved on to review the Scholarship

that he is trying to arrange with York University.

2

The arrangements are almost completed and

should be in place for the upcoming year.

Alan thanked the volunteers who had made such a

valuable contribution to the running of the

Society:

Jean Griffiths and Irene Barton for organising the

refreshments.

Matt Wood and his Telephone Committee.

Bruce Barton for the video presentations. Alan

noted that we now have our own video projector.

John Hornsby disc jockey extraordinaire.

Tim Elliott for his sterling work on the Program

committee.

Judy Shiels for the Holiday Party arrangements.

This year we celebrated 50 years of the TDES 40

and we needed to thank Bob Hitchcock and Gary

Vivien for arranging the celebratory cake.

Finally, Alan thanked Patricia Poole Crawley and

Al Coward for providing this evening’s

refreshments.

Tim Elliott outlined the TDES 40 program for the

rest of the year:

November 10th – Dr Robert Teigrob, from the

Department of History at Ryerson University will

discuss “Duke Ellington and the Cold War”

December 8th – Annual Christmas Party

January 12th – Chris McEvilly “Duke Ellington

1959”

February 9th – Jack Chambers Accidental Suites –

Ellington’s Hollywood Soundtracks.

March 9th – John Hornsby –

Metronome/Downbeat Blindfold tests.

April 13th – Bill Wilson – The Ellington Legacy

Band

April 24th – Scholarship Concert, Walter Hall.

May 11th – Stan Schiff – Duke Reborn August

1955 - 1959.

June 8th – Members’ Choice.

Annual Christmas Party

The Annual Christmas Party will once again be

held at the Arts & Letters Club, Toronto. The

music will be provided by a quartet led by Jim

Galloway with John Sherwood on piano, Neil

Swainson on bass and Don Vickery on drums.

The Party, Judy Shiels was delighted to report,

was now sold out and there is now a waiting list

for tickets.

Alan Shiels then introduced the speaker for the

evening, Ron Woods, who had chosen to give us

an evening of Billy Strayhorn’s music.

Ron opened with Take The A Train from the

1974 Pablo album of Oscar Peterson In Russia,

probably Strayhorn’s most well known

composition. Take the A Train ultimately

replaced East St. Louis Toddle O and Sepia

Panorama as Ellington’s signature tune.

Ron Woods suggested that the best guide to Billy

Strayhorn and his music was the book Lush Life

by David Hadju.

Ron then played The Intimacy of the Blues from

Volume 2 of a Harry Allan & Keith Ingham

Quintet Progressive album of the same name

recorded in 1993. Strayhorn was 23 years old in

1938 the year he was hired by Duke who was

himself 39 at the time. Ellington hired Strayhorn

during the ASCAP embargo. Next we had

Something to Live For played by Art Farmer

playing flugelhorn recorded in 1987 from a CD of

the same name from the Contemporary label.

This was the first composition that Billy

Strayhorn wrote for Duke and was recorded by

him in March 1939.

Johnny Come Lately, originally titled Stomp

played by Ken Peplowski and Friends from a

Concord Jazz album Steppin’ with Duke was

given next followed by Chelsea Bridge. It was

originally recorded in 1942 and became a feature

for Ben Webster. This evening we heard Dizzy

Gillespie’s version from A Portrait of Duke

Ellington, a Verve album recorded in 1960.

Ron then took from a Joe Temperley Naxos

recording of 1998 Rain Check. After Harry

3

Carney’s death, Temperley replaced him in the

Ellington band for a few weeks.

Lush Life was Strayhorn’s most recorded

number. It was written when he was only 17. It

was heard in and around Pittsburg in many guises

and arrangements for several years beginning in

1933 before the completed version was available

in 1936. The sophistication of the music and the

words belies the composer’s age. Duke Ellington

never recorded it. From the many recordings

available Ron Woods selected the John Coltrane

and Johnny Hartman MCA album of 1963. Ron

speculated that this was the first time that John

Coltrane had been played at a TDES 40 meeting.

He finished the first half of his presentation with

another version of Lush Life, this time with the

composer providing the vocal, accompanying

himself on the piano. Taken from the Red Baron

album, Billy Strayhorn Lush Life, recorded in

1964.

After the break, Ron continued with his

presentation. Strayhorn was born in Dayton Ohio

but grew up in Pittsburg . In 1935 he wrote a

show while still in high school called “ Fantastic

Rhythm” Strayhorn provided the storyline and

composed the music and lyrics. It had been

playing in the theatres for black audiences in the

Pittsburg area and had become a sizeable hit by

1937. Many people had played in the show

including Billy Eckstein. However, by then,

Strayhorn had lost interest in the show. The big

song to come out of this show was My Little

Brown Book. Ron played the version recorded

by the Harry Allen & Keith Ingham Quintet from

Volume 1 of the 1993 The Intimacy of the Blues

album. Rob McConnell’s Boss Brass then

provided a Rick Wilkins arrangement of Day

Dream from the Concord Album, Rob

McConnell and the Boss Brass Play the Jazz

Classics, recorded in 1997.

One of Strayhorn’s lesser known compositions

was I’m Checkin’ Out, Goo’m Bye originally

recorded by Duke Ellington in 1939 with vocals

by Ivie Anderson. Ron presented a version again

by the Duke Ellington Orchestra but with

Rosemary Clooney providing the vocal. The tune

was taken from “Blue Rose” an album recoded

with Duke Ellington in 1956. The Ellington

Orchestra was recorded in New York City and

Clooney added the vocals at a later date,

recording in Los Angeles. This was a very early

example where a dubbed recording of this nature

was done. We then heard Lotus Blossom, a

staple of the Ellington band, taken from a Lars

Erstrand International All Stars Live in Uttersberg

1998 recording.

Ron Woods said that the relationship between

Ellington and Strayhorn was difficult to describe,

the financial relationship was undefined and

Ellington often took credit for Strayhorn’s song

writing. However, it appears as though Strayhorn

did do well financially and Ellington offered him

10% of the royalties from his Temple Music

Publishing Company.

Upper Manhattan Medical Group was a tune

composed by Billy Strayhorn and dedicated to Dr.

Arthur Logan, Ellington’s and later Strayhorn’s

medical advisor. We listened to a version from a

Verve album of 1991, Lush Life, The Music of

Billy Strayhorn played by Joe Henderson with

Wynton Marsalis on Trumpet.

Strayhorn’s last known composition, Blood

Count, written a month before he died in 1967.

We listened to a Stan Getz Anniversary recording

of 1987.

Ron concluded with the comment that most of the

evening’s music were from albums dedicated

exclusively to the music of Billy Strayhorn. He

felt it surprising that there were so many CD’s of

his music available.

Earl Armbrust offered a whole hearted vote of

thanks which the audience strongly seconded with

warm and enthusiastic applause.

4

Newsletter update

Many of you will have noticed that the September

edition of the newsletter was distributed

electronically to those for whom I have an email

address. If you prefer to have the hard copy

mailed please let me know and I will be happy to

do so.

Errata: I misquoted Vivienne Muhling in the

September newsletter. There was a reference to

Mildred Bailey. I should have said Mildred

Dixon.

The September edition was labeled as Volume 2.

Of course it was Volume 1 of the 2009 – 2010

Season. This edition is Volume 2. Many

apologies for these errors.

New and Notable

Backstory in Blue: Ellington at Newport by John

Fass Morton.

TDES 40 member Morley Wolfe sent me a review

by Stanley Crouch of this book in Harper’s

magazine of June 2009. The review is titled “The

Electric Company.” The description below was

taken from Amazon.com

"Backstory in Blue" is a behind-the-scenes look at

"Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue," recorded at

the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival. It is the story of

who and what made Ellington's composition so

compelling and how one piece of music reflected

the feelings and shaped the sensibilities of the

postwar generation. As John Fass Morton

explains, it was music expressed as much by those

who performed offstage as by those who

performed on. Written from the point of view of

the audience, this unique account draws on

interviews with fans and music professionals of

all kinds who were there and whose lives were

touched, and in some cases changed, by the

experience. Included are profiles of George

Avakian, who recorded and produced Ellington at

Newport 1956; Paul Gonsalves, the tenor sax

player responsible for the legendary twenty-seven

choruses that enabled the rebirth of Ellington's

career; and the "Bedford Blonde," Elaine

Anderson, whose dance ignited both the band and

the crowd. Duke Ellington once remarked, "I was

born at Newport." Here we learn that Newport

was much more than the turning point for

Ellington's career. It was the tipping point for a

generation and a musical genre.

******


Society, Chapter 40, are held on the 2nd

Tuesday of each month 7:30 pm – 10:00pm

Montgomery’s Inn

4709 Dundas St. W



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 2009 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 9th 2009. 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,


10, Edgemore Drive,

Toronto, ON.,

M8Y 2M8

Be sure to include your name, address, home

phone number and email address.

Vol 51 No. 3 November 2009




Minutes of the November 10th

General Meeting:

Alan Shiels opened the meeting of 40 members and

guests at 7:35 p.m. Tim Elliott introduced our speaker for this evening, Dr. Robert Teigrob, Professor of

History at Ryerson University. We were fortunate that

Judy Shiels met Robert at Learning Unlimited and

encouraged him to speak to us. The title of Robert’s talk was: Ambassador Duke Ellington: Jazz & Cold

War Cultural Exchange Programs 1956 – 1973.

Robert illustrated his talk with PowerPoint images.

Both Superpowers spent considerable resources on the

Cultural, Diplomatic and Economic struggle for

supremacy during the cold war. Racial discrimination in the U.S.A was particularly exploited by the

Communist Bloc countries, which the State

Department attempted to negate by sending The Harlem Globetrotters, Olympic athletes and jazz

musicians on cultural exchanges. Jazz was

particularly successful and was able to prove that integrated bands could make music countering the

racial discrimination argument of the eastern Bloc.

The first musician sent on a cultural exchange tour

was Dizzy Gillespie in 1956. Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Oscar Peterson, Benny Goodman and Duke

Ellington followed him, among others. The U.S. State

Department had three targets for their Cultural Exchange Program, Eastern Europe where jazz was

always popular, though considered subversive during

the 1950’s. Secondly Western Europe where jazz reinforced loyalties and muted anti American

sentiment. Thirdly, emerging former colonial nations

where jazz helped to make the U.S. appear to be a

country that the new nations could do business with and countered perhaps previously held racial feelings

by proving that people of colour could be appreciated

and celebrated.

The U.S. State Department faced two dilemmas in the

use of jazz for cultural exchanges. Though Congress

was the body that made policy decisions it did not

respect jazz. Ultimately, Congress grudgingly accepted the benefits of jazz in the Cultural Exchange

program since jazz could be viewed as a home grown

cultural export, as a metaphor for freedom in a democratic society and as a paradigm for society not

merely an expression of it. In addition, jazz was

becoming increasingly respectable at home and

particularly abroad. However, the State Department was concerned that jazz musicians were going to

express freely their opinions about life for coloured

people in the U.S.A.

At this point we took a brief social break during which

John Hornsby played a version of Black and Tan

Fantasy taken from the Live in Mexico Video.

Alan Shiels thanked Kathleen Love and Betty Waldie

for providing this evening’s refreshment.

Once the break was concluded, Robert continued with

his presentation. The second dilemma was the motivation of the black musicians who were asked to

go on tour. Why did they participate? Of course,

the musicians needed the work so they had an

economic motive for participating in the Cultural exchange program. Clearly, touring expanded their

fan base and listenership while their audience at home

declined due to competition from TV. and other music styles such as Rock & Roll, Rhythm and Blues and so

on.

Touring for jazz musicians was expensive and risky.

Sponsorship by the State Department eliminated the

risks and financial concerns. In addition, touring

musicians realised increasing popularity and critical resurgence both at home and abroad. This resulted in

more and better gigs.

The status of musicians both internationally and

domestically improved and the level of appreciation of

their music improved because of their international

success in touring.

2

The fondest recollections of many musicians’ careers were from their tours particularly regarding the fresh

and new sounds they heard while touring in exotic

parts of the world. This resulted in new music

influenced by the new sounds heard on tour. New albums from Duke Ellington for example were Togo

Brave Suite, The Far East Suite and the Latin

American Suite.

Duke Ellington made his first tour for the State

Department in 1963. However, the 1971 tour by Duke Ellington of Russia prior to a visit by President Nixon

was considered by Duke his greatest touring success .

Leonard Feather considered it the greatest coup in the

history of musical diplomacy.

In conclusion, Robert asked if the jazz tours met the

objectives of the State Department in the U.S.A. being viewed more positively in the wider world? It was

difficult to assess but perhaps it was a success.

What were the results for the musicians who went on

tour? The musicians wanted a wider audience for

their music, to connect with their distant homelands

and wanted respect for their music and craft. The State Department gave legitimacy to the jazz music. Were

these goals realised? Most definitely.

To conclude the presentation John Hornsby played Isfahan from the Far East Suite

Alan Shiels proposed the official vote of thanks to Dr.

Teigrob, seconded enthusiastically by the audience.

*****

Upcoming Meetings

December 8th – Annual Christmas Party

January 12th – Chris McEvilly “Duke Ellington

1959”





April 13th – Bill Wilson – The Ellington Legacy

Band



1955 - 1959.


TDES 40 Welcomes New Members:

The following are new members who have not been

previously acknowledged: Ross Lawrence & Sy Moskowitz.

*****

Meetings are held on the 2nd

Tuesday of each

month.

7:30 pm – 10:00pm

Montgomery’s Inn

4709 Dundas St. W



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 2009 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 9th 2009. 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 to:

Chris McEvilly,


10, Edgemore Drive,

Toronto, ON.,

M8Y 2M8



Vol 51 No. 3 December 2009 / January 2010



1791 Pattinson Crescent, Mississauga, ON., Canada, L5J 1H6; Phone 905-823-1086; e-mail: [email protected]

2009 Holiday Party

Ninety members and guests of the Toronto Duke

Ellington Society, Chapter 40, attended the 2009

Holiday party which was held, once again, at in

the Great Hall of the Arts and Letters Club.

Members and guests socialized until 7:00 pm

when Alan Shiels made the formal welcome. A

delicious dinner was served immediately which

consisted of a tomato and boconicci salad, roast

chicken breast with tomato and white bean ragout

and a desert of tiramisu.

The Musical entertainment for the evening started

at 8:15 pm, supplied by the Jim Galloway Quartet

with Don Vickery on drums, Neil Swainson, bass

and John Sherwood on the piano.

The Quartet opened the evening with their version

of a 1942 Ellington composition What am I here

for? with Jim Galloway playing the baritone Sax.

This was followed by a swinging version of The

Jeep is Jumpin’, an Ellington and Johnny Hodges

number with Jim playing the soprano sax. Jim

stayed with the soprano for the next number, I let

a Song Go Out of My Heart composed by Duke

Ellington in 1938. Next, the trio played Sweeping

the Blues Away a Hodges number that he first

recorded in 1952 with Jim Galloway playing the

soprano sax once again. Ellington visited Sweden

in 1939 and composed Serenade to Sweden as a

tribute to his hosts. Tonight, Jim Galloway

Quartet with Jim returning to the baritone sax

played it. The final piece played in the first set

was the gospel tinged Saturday Night Function

and first recorded by the Duke Ellington

Orchestra in 1929 as a hard driving piece. Jim

Galloway, playing baritone, played it at a more

leisurely pace. The Quartet stopped for a short

intermission at this point.

After the break the Quartet opened with Take ‘em

Off, a Johnny Hodges piece from 1967. Jim

Galloway played soprano on this number as he

did on the following tune, The Last Time I Saw

Paris. Though not an Ellington composition

(Hammerstein & Kern) it was played by Johnny

Hodges and recorded on his Not So Dukish album

of 1958. Jim dedicated this number to his partner

Anne Page who is at present in hospital. Jim then

played the baritone sax on a very beautiful

Ellington composition of 1936 Black Butterfly.

With a slight nod to the holiday season, the band

then played Ring Dem Bells composed in 1930 by

Duke Ellington. Jim announced that he could not

play with musicians of the calibre of this quartet

without playing Azure, a 1937 Ellington

composition. It was beautifully played by the

quartet with Jim on baritone. The quartet ended

the second set with Goin’ Out The Back Way a

Hodges jump tune recorded n 1941. As a brief

coda the band treated us to few bars of Good King

Wenceslaus to send us on our way after an

evening of Mello and entertaining Ellington

music, well played by world class musicians.

Minutes of the Duke Ellington Society -

Meeting of January 12, 2009.

Alan Shiels opened the meeting to 34 members

and guests at 7:30 p.m. Alan immediately thanked

Bill Wilson and Bob Hitchcock for this evening’s

refreshments. Alan then reported that ticket sales

for the Spring concert were going well with only

about 60 tickets remaining unsold.

Chris McEvilly and Alan had visited York

University to finalise setting up the two

scholarships TDES was funding.

2

The Christmas Party was again a success. It

appears as though members wanted to remain at

the Arts & Letters Club again for the 2010 party if

at all possible. The price has not yet been set for

2010.

Tim Elliott once again asked for a volunteer to

help him on the Program Committee before he

retires in September of 2010. In addition, John

Hornsby is still looking for assistance in carrying

and storing the sound equipment used at our

meetings.

Alan then passed the meeting over to Chris

McEvilly who was going to discuss the year 1959

in a general jazz context and specifically with

reference to Duke Ellington.

In 1929 Duke had just turned 30. From May 3 of

that year Chris played Cotton Club Stomp.

In 1939 Duke turned 40 and from October 16 we

heard Country Gal.

In 1949 Duke was 50 years old and we heard

Billy Strayhorn’s Snibor from September 1.

Chris said that he would return to Duke’s music in

the second half of the meeting but he wanted to

put 1959 into context.

John Diefenbaker was Prime minister of Canada,

Harold McMillan was the British Prime Minister

and Dwight Eisenhower was the U.S. President.

Turning to musical events Chris felt that the most

momentous event of 1959 was the release of Kind

Of Blue becoming the best selling record of all

time. We heard from Miles Davis a selection

from the Sketches of Spain album again recorded

in 1959.

John Coltrane, who also played on Kind of Blue,

recorded Giant Steps in 1959 from which Chris

played a couple of selections, Cousin Mary and

Naima.

In 1959 too, many of the old jazz giants were still

with us as the famous January 1959 Esquire

photograph of A Great Day in Harlem reminds us.

Chris played a track, Eventually, from Ornette

Coleman’s The Shape of Jazz to Come recorded

in 1959. Further from 1959 we heard the Theme

from TV’s Peter Gunn and then moved onto Blue

Rondo a la Turk from Dave Brubeck’s Time Out

album which was known for its unusual time

signatures.

One of Chris’s favourites from 1959 is Charles

Mingus’s. He recorded several albums that year,

Jazz Portraits, Blues and Roots, Mingus Ah Um,

and Mingus Dynasty. From the Blues and Roots

album Chris played Wednesday Night Prayer

Meeting.

Many other significant albums were recorded in

1959:

Bags & Trane from Milt Jackson and John

Coltrane, Bill Evans recorded at least 18 albums,

Ella Fitzgerald recorded the George and Ira

Gershwin Songbook and Horace Silver Finger

Poppin’ and Blowin’ the Blues Away, Ray

Charles recorded What’d I Say, and Thelonius

Monk In Person at Town Hall , New York. Oscar

Peterson had a very prolific 1959. He recorded 16

albums that year. To close the first half of the

meeting we heard from O.P’s 1959 recording of

the Duke Ellington Songbook Do Nothin’ ‘til

you Hear from Me.

In the second part of the evening Chris moved

back to more comfortable material. 1959 was

another busy year for Ellington. He recorded at

least 9 albums for major labels as well as the

material he was always recording for himself.

On Feb 19 he recorded much of Jazz Party. We

listened to UMMG from that album. The next day

Duke recorded Back to Back and some of Side by

Side with Johnny Hodges. We listened to

Loveless Love from the Back to Back album. On

March 27 Duke recorded New York 1959 from

which Chris selected Night Stick to play. On April

14 Duke recorded The Queen’s Suite from which

we listened to The Single Petal of a Rose.

Another significant event to for Ellington in 1959

was the movie, Anatomy of a Murder starring

James Stewart and Lee Remick. There was

subsequently an album released of the music from

this movie from which Chris selected Happy

Anatomy.

On August 9 of 1959, Duke recorded Live at the

Blue Note. Among the audience that evening was

Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker,

3

who, Robert Traver, had written Anatomy of a

Murder. The movie derived from this book had

been premiered in Detroit the month before so in

acknowledgement of the author’s presence,

Ellington played four numbers from the movie’s

soundtrack. We listened to one of these, Almost

Cried as well as Newport Up from the same

session.

On September 8th, Duke Recorded Festival

Session, from which we heard Idiom ’59 Part 1 –

Vapor and on September 20 Ellington recorded

Live in Paris 1959 and Chris selected Jam with

Sam for us to listen to.

December 2 & 3 saw Duke in the studio once

again, this time recording Blues in Orbit. We

heard from this session Brown Penny.

Chris concluded his presentation with a a few

thoughts. He wondered to what extent Ellington

was influenced by the “New Waves” that

appeared in 1959. He thought that he was largely

unmoved although he did later record with John

Coltrane and Charles Mingus where it appeared as

though Coltrane and Mingus both moved closer to

Ellington than the other way around.

(Editor’s Note – Chris McEvilly kindly provided

me with his notes for the evening’s presentation.

They are, of course much fuller than my minutes

can cover. It is my intention to post them on our

new website once it is completed.)

Upcoming Events The remaining schedule for the next meetings of

the TDES 40 is:





April 13th – Bill Wilson – Ellington by Others



1955 - 1959.


Jazz at RY Since 1995 Jazz at The Royal York United

Church has presented top professional jazz

musicians in concert. All of the net profits

support local outreach programs such as LAMP,

LOFT, Amnesty International, Women’s Habitat,

Out of the Cold and several others. Jazz at RY

will start its 2010 schedule on April 11th with a

Colin Bray led band playing a Classic jazz

Concert. The following concert will be on May 2

with Gene Di Novi. Doors open at 1:15p.m. for a

2:00 p.m. start and the concerts generally finish

by 4:30p.m. Regular tickets are $20.00 with

seniors (65+yrs) and students $17.00. Tickets are

available at the door or at the church office 2

weeks prior to the concert. The concert location

is Royal York United Church, 851 Royal York

Road (3 blocks south of Bloor/Royal York

subway). For further information contact Bill

Wilson at 416-231-1207

*****

Last Post Ed Thigpen passed away on 13 January 2010.

The drummer was for a period member of the

Oscar Peterson trio, and appeared on the album

“Night Train”. Later he also played with Ella

Fitzgerald. Already in the 1960’s he had made

some recordings in Europe, and in 1972 he settled

in Copenhagen, where he made a comprehensive

number of recordings.

New & Notable Jazz videos have been available on the YouTube

website since its inception. However, this web

site is now very large and cumbersome for the

average user. Mosaic Records has created a

website: www.jazzvideocafe.com where Mosaic

has selected what they consider the most

worthwhile videos. There are currently about 150

clips, which include not only band performances

but also interviews and documentaries. Well

worth at least an introductory visit if not repeated

http://www.jazzvideocafe.com/

4

visits to see what is new. Search for Duke

Ellington and you’ll find a wealth of interesting

videos.

Another web site new to me is www.Wolfgang’s

Vault.com. They have acquired the rights to about

1500 tracks taken from several Newport Jazz

Festival recordings and are making them available

for either listening by streamed audio or for

purchase. I particularly liked the Count Basie

Concert of 1959.

Congratulations:

Jack Chambers, internationally recognised

sociolinguist and the leading authority on

Canadian English and a member of the Toronto

Duke Ellington Society was elected as a fellow of

the Royal Society of Canada in August 2009.

Professor Chambers has had a long involvement

with Woodsworth College Council and currently

chairs the College’s Academic Advisory

Committee.

The Royal Society of Canada now known as the

RSC: Academies of Arts, Humanities and

Sciences of Canada (SRC: Académies des Arts,

des Lettres et des Sciences du Canada), is the

oldest association of scientists and scholars in

Canada. The RSC is dedicated to encouraging

education and the advancement of knowledge in

the natural and social sciences and the humanities.

Election to Fellowship in the Society is the

highest academic accolade available to scientists

and scholars in Canada.

John Hornsby was recognized in Ellingtonia, the

newsletter of the Washington Chapter. The article

says:

A number of photographs taken by John Hornsby

at the International Association of jazz Record

Collectors’ Convention in Minneapolis are

featured in the current issue of the IAJRC Journal.

In the same issue, he contributes a short

commentary in the “Discographical Forum”. A

resident of Toronto, Canada, John is one of the

trustees of the association.

Get Well Soon. A number of TDES 40 members and friends have

been ill recently. Best wishes for speedy

recoveries to: Cece Davidson, Gerry Hornsby,

Larry Kaiser, Ann Page and George Siems.

Last Call for Membership Renewal

There remain a few people who have not yet

renewed their memberships for the 2010 – 2011

Season. Please renew promptly. Dues are $35 for

a single membership and $50 for a family

membership for payments made on or before

October 9th 2009. Payments made after that date

are subject to a $5.00 surcharge to offset bank

penalties for late deposits. Regrettably, further

issues of the Newsletter will be sent to only those

members in good standing as of the meeting date

in February If you have not already made your payment,

cheques may be mailed to:

Chris McEvilly,


10 Edgemore Drive,

Toronto, ON.,

M8Y 2M8



Meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesday of each

month

7:30 pm – 10:00pm

Montgomery’s Inn

4709 Dundas St. W

Plenty of free parking

Guests always welcome

Vol 51 No. 4 February 2010



1791 Pattinson Crescent, Mississauga, ON., Canada, L5J 1H6; Phone 905-823-1086; e-mail: [email protected]

Minutes of the Duke Ellington Society -

Meeting of February 9th 2010

Alan Shiels opened the meeting at 7:35p.m. to 40

members and guests. In attendance were David

Tims from York University and Murray Ginsberg

who had played his trombone with The Royal

Canadian Army Show, The Toronto Symphony

Orchestra, and The CBC Symphony Orchestra

and had accompanied many musical stars and

performers. He is also the author of They Loved

to Play – memories of the Golden Age of

Canadian Music. Murray was introduced by Al

Basian.

Alan Shiels mentioned the sad fact that we all

knew that John Norris had passed away recently.

John was a good friend to TDES 40, being a very

early member and having made several

presentations to us. He asked that members pass

onto him suggestions for ways in which TDES 40

should remember John. Members should send

suggestions to the [email protected] email

address within the coming month and the

Executive committee will review and decide on

the appropriate memorial tribute.

Alan announced that the Holiday party for 2010

was to be held on December 7th (first Tuesday of

December) at the Arts & Letters Club again since

the venue has been so popular. The ticket prices

will be $70 for members and $75 for non

members.

There remain only a few tickets for the Spring

Concert so Alan encouraged those who had not

yet purchased theirs to contact him soon.

Jim Northover announced that most of the

Newsletters were now being sent by email to

members and friends. This method of delivery

had been well received. Jim suggested that he

would send the occasional item of news to

members as he may come across them. Items of

news published in the Newsletter were often out

of date before members received them. There

was no reason why all members should not send

to each other items via email that would be of

general interest.

Alan suggested that thanks for refreshments this

evening were due to Brad Perkins. Many Thanks

Brad.

Alan then introduced Jack Chambers, long time

member of TDES 40 and presenter. Jack’s topic

this evening was Accidental Suites: Ellington’s

Hollywood Soundtracks.

Jack said that he had an interest not only in Duke

Ellington but also in Hollywood soundtracks so

tonight’s topic was a happy coincidence of

interests. Jazz and film had a parallel history

since both art forms originated early in the 20th

century as had musicals (Showboat etc.) and

popular songs. Both jazz and movies were

essentially American in origin and development.

Early movies during the first half of the 20th

century had little jazz content apart from the

soundies and occasional documented jazz such as

A Symphony in Black – A Rhapsody of Negro

Life written by Ellington. Later in the Century

jazz was used much more extensively in the

soundtracks of movies such as No Sun in Venice

(John Lewis and The MJQ) and The Man with the

Golden Arm. Jazz has been used in the

soundtracks of T.V. programs – Peter Gunn for

example with music by Henry Mancini and The

Asphalt Jungle with music by Ellington.

Duke Ellington composed music for four

Hollywood movies:

mailto:[email protected]

2

Change of Mind – 1969

Assault on a Queen – 1966

Paris Blues – 1961

Anatomy of a Murder – 1959

These films vary in quality, Jack pointed out,

Change of Mind was one that had limited

original distribution was directed by

Robert Stevens (Sagittarius Production released

Oct 1969). It was filmed in Hollywood and

Toronto. It is unavailable in any format currently.

Plot: The brain of a white liberal Southern DA is

transplanted into a black man’s body (Raymond

St. Jacques). He is rejected by both the D.A.’s

wife (Susan Oliver) and his own wife (Janet

McLauchlin). His first case as D.A. involves an

interracial murder charge against a sheriff (Leslie

Nielsen). Citizens of all colours distrust him. He

leaves town. Stratemann quotes Monthly Film

Bulletin: “a progressively glib and at times

offensive series of heavily underlined messages

about racial harmony.”

Up in Duke’s Workshop (Pablo) includes three

tracks that are pre-recordings for the movie:

Wanderlus,Black Butterfly and Neo Creole which

Jack played for us. Neo Creole was a theme

based on Creole Rhapsody. What Good am I

Without You appears on The Intimate Ellington

album (Pablo) as Edward the First . Otherwise,

music from this movie is unavailable in recorded

form.

Assault on a Queen (Paramount Pictures,

released July 1966) Directed by Jack Donahue.

Screenplay Rod Serling. Filmed in Paramount

Studios, Hollywood, late 1965. This movie is

unavailable in any format though it occasionally

appears on T.V.

Plot: A version of the Rat Pack (Frank Sinatra,

Verna Lisi, Anthony Franciosa, Richard Conte)

restore a submarine and hijack the Queen Mary to

empty her safe. They are discovered by a Coast

Guard cutter (captained by Reginald Denny). All

but three of the pirates end up dead.

Norman Granz made the deal for Ellington:

$25,000 including expenses. Ellington pre-

recorded the soundtrack Paramount Studios 19-20

January 1966 with seven band members (Cat

Anderson, Cootie Williams, Jimmy Hamilton,

Johnny Hodges, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney

and John Lamb) and some Hollywood studio

musicians including Murray McEachern, tb.

Duke Ellington revived two compositions from

this soundtrack for his European tour 14th Jan to

24th Feb 1967. “Blessings on the Night” and

“Beautiful Woman Walks Well” (BWWW).

Neither was recorded in the studio.

Fortunately, Jack was able to play Beautiful

Woman Walks Well as John Hornsby had a taped

copy in his archive, recorded at the Salle Pleyel,

Paris, 31st January 1967.

Jack was also able to play for us Blessings on the

Night (John Hornsby archive) recorded at the

Teatro Lirico, Milan 15th Jan. 1967. John Hornsby

noted that the background is noisy with,

coughing, talking, etc. which is too bad since

Carney's bass clarinet & Hamilton's clarinet create

a nice mood.

Paris Blues (United Artists, released September

1961)Directed by Martin Ritt. Filmed in Paris

Nov. 1960-Jan 1961. This movie is available in

VHS and the soundtrack is available in C.D.

format.

Plot: Expatriate trombonist Ram Bowen (Paul

Newman) and tenor saxophonist Eddie Cook

(Sidney Poitier) play at Marie’s Cave at night and

compose by day. Greeting jazz star Wild Man

Moore (Louis Armstrong) at Gare St. Lazare, they

run into holidaying American schoolteachers

Lillian Cornell (Joanne Woodward) and Connie

Lampson (Diahann Carroll). They have a fling

and the women pressure them to return home.

When Ram’s concerto is rejected by concert

promoter, he agrees but then changes his mind.

The women embark broken-hearted.

Ellington score was nominated for Academy

Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture.

3

Ellington made three variations on the Paris Blues

Theme Paris Blues, Nite and Paris Stairs. For

the movie, the Ellington orchestra was augmented

by, among others, Toronto native Murray

McEachern tb (= Ram Bowen). Jack played three

tracks from the movie soundtrack:

Paris Blues with a clarinet opening (Hamilton), a

Hodges melody, then McEachern on trombone.

Nitedominated by woodwinds and on Paris Stairs

where Ellington’s intro. is followed by a swinging

version of the theme.

Anatomy of a Murder (Columbia Pictures 1959)

Directed by Otto Preminger, screenplay by

Wendell Mayes based on best-selling novel by

Robert Traver (Michigan Supreme Court Justice

John D. Voelker). Filmed in Ishkeming and

Marquette, MI. This movie is available on DVD.

Plot: Lt. Frederick Manion (Ben Gazzarra) shoots

a tavern owner because his wife Laura (Lee

Remick) says he beat and raped her. Local lawyer

Paul Biegler (James Stewart) agrees to defend

him. Laura is flirtatious and her husband

possessive, and there is suspicion that she might

have been received her bruises from her husband

when he discovered the affair. Biegler enters plea

of temporary insanity, but all appears lost when

bigwig prosecutor Claude Dancer (George C.

Scott) argues his side. In the end, the murdered

man’s daughter Mary Pilant (Kathryn Grant) takes

the stand and supports the plea. Manion is

discharged; he and his wife run off without paying

the attorney’s fee.

Anatomy of a Murder is noteworthy for being one

of the first films to extensively feature jazz in the

musical score – the entire musical soundtrack was

composed by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn

and played by his orchestra. Ellington himself

appears briefly as "Pie-Eye," the owner of a

roadhouse where Paul Biegler (Stewart) and

Laura (Remick) have a confrontation.

Jack played several of the tracks from this movie.

Happy Anatomy was played by the P.I. Five The

movie also included a big band version.

Ellington produced three main themes for the

soundtrack and had them recur throughout the

movie in various ways.

The Flirtibird Theme first appears as Almost

Cried with Shorty Baker tp and recurs as

“Flirtibird” featuring Johnny Hodges and “Way

Early Subtone” featuring Procope cl and as

“More Blues”.

The Polly Theme appears as Haupe featuring

Johnny Hodges and recurs as “Hero to Zero”,

“Low Key Lightly,” “Midnight Indigo,” “Grace

Valse” and finally “Polly”.

The Anatomy Theme appears first as Anatomy of

a Murder which Jack played in the 2:43 min.

(stereo single) version with solos by Woode bass

vamp, Nance, Gonsalves, Nance muted trumpet

and Ellington at the fade. This theme recurs as.

“Main Title and Anatomy of a Murder.”

Peggy Lee put words to the Anatomy of a Murder

theme in “I’m Gonna Go Fishin’” which we

heard from the album, The Best of Peggy Lee

(Capitol CD 1997 with the Bill Holman

Orchestra, 26 July 1960) .

Jack concluded his presentation by playing

Flirtibird from the Anatomy of a Murder

Columbia CD and Upper and Outest featuring the

Anatomy theme then segueing to the Flirtibird

theme featuring Ray Nance and Cat Anderson.

Don Cooper presented the formal vote of thanks

for Jack Chamber’s usual excellent and

informative presentation.

Upcoming Events The remaining schedule for the next meetings of

the TDES 40 is:



April 13th – Bill Wilson – Ellington by Others



1955 - 1959.

4


The University Of Toronto Faculty of Music is

presenting a concert on Wednesday March 31 at

Walter Hall in which recipients of the Duke

Ellington Society Jazz Scholarships will be

performing. Mackenzie Longpre will be

performing in a concert starting at 5:15 p.m. and

Brendan McElroy will be performing in a concert

starting at 7:30p.m.

*****

Last Post John Norris, long time friend of TDES 40 and

passed away on Jan 31 aged 76. He was the

cofounder of the Canadian jazz magazine CODA,

Sackville Records and was a great friend to all in

the jazz community. He was an early member of

the Toronto Duke Ellington Society and had made

several presentations to the group. There have

been excellent obituaries in both the Toronto Star

and the Globe & Mail.

John Dankworth passed away on February 6th

aged 82. Sir John Dankworth, had a 60 year

career and was a pioneer of modern jazz in

Britain, a leading composer of film music, a

tireless champion of musical education, regardless

of genre, and a superb instrumentalist in his own

right. Many of us grew up listening to Johnny

Dankworth on the radio and bought his records.

Again, several obituaries are available in the

British press.

Jake Hanna was born 4 April 1931, Roxbury,

Massachusetts, USA. and died

February 12, 2010 from complications of a blood

disease.

He began playing drums in a marching band at the

age of five in Dorchester, Massachusetts. In his

youth he played in and around the Boston area, a

territory where many fine jazz musicians were to

be found. During the late '40s and early '50s he

played in bands led by Tommy Reed and Ted

Weems; in the late '50s he worked with pianists

Marion McPartland and Toshiko Akiyoshi, and in

the big bands of Maynard Ferguson and Woody

Herman. He rejoined Herman in 1962, staying for

two years in the band. Otherwise flitted briefly

through the bands of Duke Ellington, Harry James

and Boston-based teacher and rehearsal band

pioneer Herb Pomeroy. What Hanna has

described as the best time in his life came when

he played with George Wein's band at the

impresario's Storyville Club in Boston. In the

band were Buck Clayton, Bud Freeman, Pee Wee

Russell and Vic Dickenson with Jimmy Rushing

on vocals. In 1964 Hanna became a member of

the studio band for the Merv Griffin television

show, based in New York.

When the show moved to California, Hanna was

one of several musicians who were given the

opportunity of moving with it, provided they

made their minds up fast. Along with Bill Berry,

Richie Kamuca and others, Hanna made the snap

decision and ever since has been located on the

west coast, even though the Griffin job ended in

1975. Since then he has worked with numerous

bands, including Supersax, Count Basie, Herman,

Berry, and co-led an occasional small group with

Carl Fontana. Although highly skilled in all

aspects of his work, Hanna is one of the most self-

effacing drummers in jazz, happy to urge a band

along with subtlety and discrete dynamics.

Any band with which he played is guaranteed to

swing and to have a good time because, apart

from his superb musicianship, Hanna was also a

witty and gifted raconteur.

(From www.drummerworld)

*****


Society are held on the 2nd Tuesday of each

month.

7:30 pm – 10:00pm

Montgomery’s Inn

4709 Dundas St. W

Plenty of free parking

Guests always welcome

Vol 51 No.5 __________ March/April 2010




Minutes of the Toronto Duke Ellington Society

Meeting held on March 9th 2010.

President Alan Shiels opened the meeting at 7:35 p.m.

to 32 members. We were delighted to welcome back

David Montgomery whom George Payne had

introduced at the February 2010 meeting. Alan

announced that there were about 12 tickets remaining

for the April Scholarship Fundraising Concert and

there was not a waiting list for tickets as there had

been in previous years.

Alan also announced that the New York Chapter of

The Duke Ellington Society will be celebrating their

50th Anniversary this year.

Alan then introduced our speaker for this evening,

John Hornsby, long time member and frequent

presenter. John’s topic was The Metronome and

Downbeat Blindfold tests which had been

administered to jazz musicians over the years by

Leonard Feather. Leonard Feather was born in

England but eventually emigrated to the U.S.A. where

he started to work for Metronome as an Assistant

Editor. His initial Blindfold test appeared in the

September 1946 issue with Mary Lou Williams as his

first guest. Metronome had a long and uneven history

and closed down in 1961. Down Beat magazine

began publication in July 1934 and is still going

strong today. Feather joined Down Beat and

continued with his Blindfold test feature. His first

guest was Terry Gibbs in the 23 March 1951 issue.

John selected blindfold tests from both Metronome

and Down Beat magazines in which Jazz musicians

were asked to identify and comment on Ellington and

Strayhorn music.

John started his look at the Blindfold tests with two

from Metronome. He played I’m Just a Lucky So

and So, featuring Lawrence Brown on trombone and

a vocal by Al Hibbler, recorded on 26th November

1945. Jack Teagarden was asked to comment in the

April 1947 issue of Metronome. Jack said “Listen to

the band drowning out that trombone! Don’t like the

singer or anything else about this. I never did like

Ellington….I don’t like Lawrence Brown either. One

Star.”

Next, John played Passion Flower, featuring Johnny

Hodges, recorded 3 July 1941 and asked Charlie

Parker to comment in the August 1948 issue of

Metronome. Parker said “That was Duke - featuring

Johnny Lily Pons Hodges! I always took my hat off

to Johnny Hodges ‘cause he can sing with the horn.

That record deserves all the stars you can muster.”

John then moved to the Blindfold tests that appeared

in Down Beat magazine with All Too Soon recorded

22 July 1940 with Lawrence Brown and Ben Webster

soloing. Flip Phillips was asked to identify it in the

15 June 1951 issue of the magazine and did so

immediately, identifying the soloists too. He gave the

recording four stars.

The second Metronome Blindfold test was

administered to Roy Eldridge with Tonk, a duet

recording of Duke and Billy Strayhorn, recorded 10

January 1946. Eldridge called it a “nice little ditty”

but could not identify the pianists. He gave it two

stars in the 13 July 1951 issue.

Midnight Fiesta, a Billy Strayhorn composition, was

played next. It was recorded by The Bigard

Syncopaters on 16 June 1937 and was played for

Simon Brehm, a Swedish jazz musician. Both Duke

and Billy played piano and the soloists on this

occasion were Juan Tizol and Willie Smith. Brehm

easily identified the Ellington sound but could not

readily indentify the soloists. However he did like the

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piece and gave it two and a half stars. From the 30

November 1951 issue of Down Beat

Lena Horne was given a chance in the 28th December

1951 issue with Please Be Kind, recorded by Duke, 7

August 1951 with Willie Smith soloing and Wendell

Marshall on bass. She thought that there were some

Ellington men in the orchestra but could not indentify

the alto player but did like the bass. She gave it three

stars.

Leonard Feather gave a “Tour of Ellingtonia” to

Morton Gould, a classical composer and conductor in

the 5 November issue of Down Beat. John Hornsby

selected Smada for us to listen to, recorded by Duke

7 August 1952. Morton Gould loved it and gave it

five stars though he had trouble accurately identifying

Ellington’s orchestra and thought that the clarinet

(Jimmy Hamilton) may have been Benny Goodman’s.

Moon Over Cuba was then played for Percy Faith in

the 19 November issue of Down Beat. This was

recorded by Ellington 2 July 1941 with Ben Webster

and Juan Tizol, the composer, soloing. Percy Faith,

who at the at time had become closely identified with

Latin rhythms and themes, thought that the band was

either from Brazil trying to play American jazz or else

an old band trying to play Latin music 20 years

previously! He thought it was corny and didn’t do a

thing for him. He gave it one star.

Leonard Feather then gave the blindfold test to Ted

Heath, the British dance band leader and trombonist

in the 7 April 1954 issue. He played Boo-Dah which

Duke recorded on 9 April 1953. Ted Heath thought it

was an old fashioned arrangement and gave it two

stars.

In the 11 August 1953 issue of Down Beat Louis

Armstrong was given the chance to identify some

music and offer his comments. Feather played

Stormy Weather, recorded by Ellington 7 April 1953

with Ray Nance and Cat Anderson on trumpets.

Louis immediately gave it five stars and said that it

was well played, even the trumpets (!) He thought it

sounded like Duke Ellington’s band. At this point

John Hornsby called for a brief break in his

programme which resumed after the social time with

One O’clock Jump recorded by the Ellington

Orchestra on 2 January 1954. This version was

arranged by Buck Clayton. In the 8 September 1954

issue, Pete Rugolo though that it was a very confusing

record. He could not indentify the band nor any of

the players though he thought that the piano player

was trying to imitate Basie. Rugolo thought that it

deserved no more than two stars. In the 2 November

1955 issue Jo Jones was given the blindfold test with

several tunes with a Basie angle. Again, the same

One O’clock Jump recording was played. Jo Jones

immediately identified Ellington and though that it

deserved five stars!

The Isle of Capri was played for Oscar Pettiford in

the 20 October issue of Down Beat. Recorded by

Duke Ellington on 26 April 1954, Pettiford originally

thought that it was played by Stan Kenton but quickly

recognized Ellington. He thought that it was a good

arrangement except where it sounded like Kenton and

gave it three stars!

John then spun Stompin’ at the Savoy which was

played by Leonard Feather for Benny Goodman in the

29 December 1954 issue. This was a recording of 28

December 1953 and featured Jimmy Hamilton and

Harry Carney. Goodman immediately recognized

Ellington but gave it only one star. He said that it was

not one of his favourite recordings of Duke but did

like the clarinet and baritone.

It was Clifford Brown’s turn next in the 22 February

1956 issue of Down Beat, Leonard Feather played for

him Orson, an Ellington – Strayhorn piece recorded

on 7 April 1953. Brownie said that he didn’t

recognize the musicians, did like the tenor solo

(Gonzalves) a little bit, didn’t care for the

composition and gave it only one star.

Serious Serenade, a piece that is not heard often,

recorded by Ellington 21 December 1953 was played

for Dick Hyman for the13 June 1956 issue of the

magazine. Hyman liked the composition, recognised

Harry Carney immediately and gave it four stars.

Dick Hyman was 29 years old in 1956.

For Urbie Green’s Blindfold test Leonard Feather

played Theme for Trambean a composition of

Jimmy Hamilton recorded by Ellington’s Orchestra

18 May 1955. Green immediately identified

Ellington’s Orchestra but was a little confused by the

trombonist, initially thinking it was Lawrence Brown

but finally was unable to pin down the trombonist.

3

Green thought that the composition was in bad taste

and the trombonist played a lot of baloney. He gave

it two stars.

Leonard Feather played a 7 February 1956 recording

of My Funny Valentine for Ernie Wilkins in the 9

January 1957 issue. Jimmy Hamilton cl., Ray Nance

Trumpet, Quentin Jackson Trombone and Harry

Carney Baritone, soloed. The piece was arranged by

Billy Strayhorn. Ernie Wilkins thought that the

recording could have been a lot better, sounded shrill

especially the clarinet, he liked Carney and Quentin

Jackson and thought Nance’s solo was shaky. He

gave it three stars though.

The bassist Paul Chambers was given a 24 July 1940

recording of Sepia Panorama to identify in the

Down Beat issue of 27 July 1957. Chambers quickly

identified Jimmy Blanton as well as Ben Webster and

Harry Carney. He thought the recording was worth

five stars, at least!

The youngest ever Blindfold test subject was Andy

Marsala at 15 years of age in the 3 October 1957 issue

of Downbeat. Marsala had made a name for himself

playing alto in the Farmington High School band’s

appearances at the 1956 – 1958 Newport Jazz

Festivals. He was played Day Dream, a 8 February

1956 recording featuring Johnny Hodges on alto. He

identified Hodges right away and gave it four stars.

Finally, we were played Sugar Rum Cherry, an

Ellington recording from 3 June 1960 played for

Shorty Rogers in the 27 April 1961 issue of

Downbeat. It was the first time Rogers had heard this

piece and thought it fabulous. He thought that

whether Duke or Swee’Pea wrote the interpretation it

was worth five stars.

This piece ended the evening’s entertainment. Bruce

Barton moved the official vote of thanks for John,

ably assisted by Jack Chambers at the sound controls

Bruce thought that John’s performance warranted five

stars!

The Editor of this newsletter wants to thank John

Hornsby for the generous loan of his notes and

resource material for his presentation which were

invaluable in creating these minutes.

Minutes of the Duke Ellington Society - Meeting of

April 13th 2010.

President Alan Shiels called the meeting to order at

7:35 p.m. There were 33 members in attendance.

James Sutherland introduced his friend Jim Riley.

Alan thanked Colin Brown, Sally Shaw and Harold

Swartz for providing the evening’s refreshments.

CBC Radio 2 has indicated that they will be airing the

2008 TDES 40 Mark Eisenman Holiday Concert on

the Canada Live program on April 28 or 29. As of

this writing, the schedule has not been confirmed. I

will try to alert members by email should I learn of

the broadcast date but it would be wise to follow up

frequently on the CBC website. This concert is now

available on the CBC Radio2 Web site as a Concert

on Demand.

Alan then introduced our speaker for this evening,

long time TDES 40 Member, Bill Wilson. Bill has

long been a strong supporter of jazz and jazz

musicians and has a wealth of knowledge and

anecdotes for our entertainment. Bill made another of

his Duke Ellington Played by Others presentations,

demonstrating the extent to which Ellington’s music

has become part of the repertoire of many musicians.

Bill started his program with Moon Mist from the CD

Thank You Uncle Edward recorded in 2007 by the

Duke Ellington Legacy Orchestra co - led by Virginia

Mayhew (reeds) and Edward Kennedy Ellington II on

guitar. Bill then moved onto I’m Beginning to see

the Light featuring the Paul Grosney All Stars from

the 1990 LP Swing That Music. We next heard Jump

for Joy played by the Gene DiNovi Trio from the

Sackville album The Three Optimists at The Old Mill

which was recorded in 2007. The other two optimists

were Andrew Scott (guitar) and Dave Young (Bass).

Bill then played Solitude from the album, Ruby &

Woody - It Had to be Us featuring Ruby Braff and

Woody Herman. We then moved onto a selection

played by the Full Faith and Credit Big Band from

their 1988 FF&C III album – Perdido. A Billy

Strayhorn composition, Lotus Blossom was sung by

Carla White from her 1991 album Listen Here

featuring Peter Madsen on piano. The lyrics were by

Richard Shore. We reverted to a favourite Ellington

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composition, C Jam Blues played by the Hod

O’Brian Trio with O’Brian on piano, Ray Drummond

Bass and Kenny Washington on drums from their

album, I’m Getting Sentimental Over You recorded in

2006. Bill closed the first half of his presentation

with Rockin’ in Rhythm played by the fabulous

local group Time Warp from their 1998 CD Time

Warp Plays the Music of Duke Ellington.

Bill started the second half by selecting Take the “A”

Train from an Oscar Pettiford album, First Bass

recorded for the IARJC in 1956 featuring Lionel

Hampton on vibes and a vocal group, a precursor to

the Manhattan Transfer style of signing. We were

then treated to a medley of Warm Valley, Star

Crossed Lovers and Isfahan as a tribute to Johnny

Hodges played by Phil Woods (reeds) and Jim

McNeely ( piano) from their 1991 album, Flowers for

Hodges. We were then treated to Just Squeeze Me, a

Paul Desmond Quartet piece, featuring Ed Bickert

(guitar), Don Thompson (bass) and Jerry Fuller

(drums) from their live album recorded at Bourbon

Street in 1975, Like Someone in Love. Bill then

played Cottontail, a piece by the two trombones of

John Allred and Wycliffe Gordon and John Sheridan

(piano) on their Arbors CD, Head to Head of 2002. A

Pee Wee Russell and Coleman Hawkins 1961 album

– Jazz Reunion offered an Ellington piece All Too

Soon and Bill concluded the evening’s entertainment

with a vocal piece by Stephanie Nakasian, Maybe a

Strayhorn composition from Thrush Hour, an album

featuring great lady singers of jazz.

Colin Brown offered the formal vote of thanks to Bill

Wilson for once again sharing his personal

experiences of many of the jazz musicians he knows

and his s opinions of the music. Thank You Bill.

***

Welcome New Members

David Montgomery has joined the Toronto Chapter of the

Duke Ellington Society – Welcome David.

Newsletter update

We sent out 92 copies of the TDES 40 January 2010

Newsletter of which 60 were mailed electronically.

In addition I sent to members who have provided me

with their email addresses a couple of interesting web

sites as well as the Washington DES March

Newsletter.

The web site that I drew to people’s attention was: A

Newport Jazz Festival Concert played by Gerry

Mulligan. To investigate, Google: Wolfgang’s vault.

Upcoming Events

The York Jazz Ensemble will perform a concert of

George Gershwin music on Friday April 30, 2010 at

7:30 p.m. The concert location is Grace Church on the

Hill, 300 Lonsdale Road. The cost is $15 for general

admission and $10 for Students and Seniors. For

further information call 416-488-7884 Xt 333.

Upcoming Meetings

The remaining schedule for the next meetings of the

TDES 40 is:


May 11th – Stan Schiff – Duke Reborn: The Ellington

Band August ‘55 – September ‘59.


Obituary

Sadly, Edythe Nerlich, wife of long time and stalwart member of TDES 40, Harry Nerlich, passed away on

March 15. We extend to Harry and his family our sincere

condolences.

***

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



Vol 51 No.6 __________ May/June 2010




Annual Scholarship Fundraising Concert

Once again this year, Martin Loomer’s Orange Devils

played to a capacity audience in Walter Hall on Saturday April 24th 2010 celebrating the 111th anniversary of Duke

Ellington’s birth. The proceeds of this concert will be

used to fund the scholarships that TDES 40 supports. The

Orange Devils kicked the evening off with a Count Basie number, Riff Interlude which featured Kira Payne ts, John

McLeod cornet, Andy Ballantyne, ts and Richard

Whiteman p. Reed player Merlin Williams arranged the next piece, Five O’clock Drag, an Ellington number from

1941. We then heard a piece recorded by the Fletcher

Henderson orchestra in 1937, originally written by Sam

Coslow featuring Kira Payne once again with Charles Grey cornet and Tom Skublics, clarinet - Sing you Sinners.

At this point Martin Loomer pointed out that the band

featured cornets rather than trumpets to more closely mirror 1930’s practice. Martin introduced the vocalist for

the evening, Rita Di Ghent, who was featured in a request

by several TDES 40 members who wanted to hear Take the A Train. They played the version arranged for Ella

Fitzgerald who recorded the number with Duke in 1957.

Rita remained on stage for another Ellington hit, Do

Nothin’ ‘til You Hear from Me with an arrangement based on a 1962 recording. Martin Loomer told us that in last

year’s concert he had tried to feature as many black bands

as he could. He admitted that he had missed several, one of which, Louis Armstrong, was a great oversight. To

correct his omission cornetist Charles Grey was featured in

When It’s Sleepy Time Down South. We returned to an Ellington piece, Ducky Wucky, originally recorded in 1932

and featuring Scott Suttie on trombone taking the

Lawrence Brown solo. From the Count Basie repertoire

again we were treated to a version of Red Bank Boogie with Richard Whiteman on piano followed by a seldom

performed ballad by Ellington, Moon Mist featuring Andy

Ballantyne on tenor, reprising the Paul Gonzalves solo in the 1956 recorded version of this 1942 number. A Count

Basie piece arranged by Don Redman, Exactly Like You,

on which A Train was based, was performed with Rita Di

Ghent featured on the vocal. Martin singled out Will

Hudson, an arranger for many bands of the 1930’s and 40’s for several numbers during the evening. The first

selection arranged by Hudson was Love Song of a Half Wit

which featured the close ensemble playing by the reed section and closed the first half of the concert.

Martin Loomer’s Orange Devils opened the second half of

their concert with Cotton Club Stomp, a 1939 arrangement

of the tune originally recorded by Duke’s band in 1929. This was followed by an ensemble piece, Doin’ the Voom

Voom based on an Ellington arrangement from 1929.

Martin left Ellington temporarily with a Benny Goodman tune with an arrangement for the Cab Calloway Orchestra,

A Smoooth One. Merlin Williams recreated a Fletcher

Henderson arrangement of a Will Hudson number, Hocus

Pocus. The Orange Devils then played a piece by a band which they had not played previously, Trouble in Mind as

arranged for the Lucky Millinder band with Rita Di Ghent

handling the vocal. We were then treated to Jack The Bear, a well known Ellington piece written in 1940 for

Jimmy Blanton. Rob Uffen handled the bass assignment.

Martin then dedicated the next piece to his recently deceased father, a great jazz fan and supporter of his

musical career. It was the Merlin Williams arrangement of

The Mooche. This was followed by a piece arranged by

Will Hudson for the Hudson-DeLange Orchestra – Star Dust written by Hoagy Carmichael, featuring Martin

Loomer on guitar. A popular number recorded by many

orchestras in the 1930’s was a Leon “Chu” Berry piece, Christopher Columbus. The Orange Devils played the

version that Andy Kirk and His Twelve Clouds of Joy

recorded in1936. Rita Di Ghent then gave us a version of Gee Baby Ain’t I Good to You, a popular Count Basie

arrangement for Jimmy Rushing. Rita stayed on stage to

sing Don’t get Around Much Anymore, an Ellington

arrangement for Al Hibbler in which Merlin Williams played a strong Tenor solo. The last piece on our program

was an Ellington classic from 1940, Bojangles, depicting

the dancer Bill Robinson. Merlin Williams arranged the piece for the Orange Devils. From the reaction of the

audience throughout and at the end of the concert, the band

was not going to be able to leave the stage without an

encore. They played a piece composed and arranged for

2

the Mills Blue Rhythm Band by Will Hudson, Dancing

Dogs. It was clear from the pleasure that he showed on stage that

the band leader, Martin Loomer was enjoying himself and

the music of his band. They were clearly having a great

time. Apparently more than a couple of the band members had chosen not to play previously scheduled gigs in order

to play in the band on this evening. A great concert –

Thank You Martin!

***

Minutes of May 11 2010 General Meeting.

President Alan Shiels opened the meeting at 7:35p.m. to 28 members and guests. Alan announced that he and Chris

McEvilly had attended the Humber College prize giving

concert where the three TDES 40 scholarships had been

awarded. The recipients were very grateful. For the final meeting of the year on June 8th Alan suggested that we all

bring items from our jazz collections, records, CD’s, books

etc. which we no longer need and offer them for exchange or as gifts to young people in order to help develop an

interest in jazz music. He suggested that we arrive early,

at 7:00 p.m. for this event.

Chris McEvilly said that there will be an Executive

meeting in June and that we would be looking for ideas for meetings for the next year and new members for the

committee. Please let any member of the Executive

Committee know if you have any suggestions.

Tim Elliott, as one of his last actions as Program Chair, announced that he has arranged for Jim Galloway to

present to the September meeting. Tim then introduced

the presenter for this evening, long time member Stan Schiff who was going to talk on Duke Reborn: The

Ellington Band August ’55 to September ’59. Stan

began his topic by telling us that Duke’s band in the

1950’s had been essentially languishing due to the death of big bands in general, due to the high cost of operation and

the trend in popular music to Rock & Roll. In the 50’s too

three senior members of Dukes band had left the organisation, Johnny Hodges, Lawrence Brown and

drummer Sonny Greer. Duke raided the Harry James band

for replacements though Hodges returned in August 1955.

Also in 1955 Sam Woodyard joined the band as well. John Sanders joined in 1954. The band that resulted in 1955

was one of the best bands Duke ever had. Stan said that he

listened to all of the Ellington albums he had of that period

and was impressed by the consistent quality of the band.

To demonstrate this Stan played a wide variety of music of the band of this period. He illustrated his own comments

with comments from Eddie Lambert’s Duke Ellington – A

Listener’s Guide. His first selections were from 1956. To

start, he played a piece from the “stockpile” recorded on January 3 from The Private Collection, Volume 1: Feet

Bone which was a great introduction with strong

drumming from Sam Woodyard. January 23 and 27 saw the band in the Columbia studios recording the Strayhorn

arrangements for the vocal album Blue Rose with

Rosemary Clooney. The vocals were added by Clooney on Feb 8 or 9. From this album Stan selected Hey Baby

which Ellington had composed specifically for this album.

Nelson Riddle, who would know, thought that this album

was the finest writing for a singer and band that he had ever heard. Duke Ellington Presents was one of the albums

from the two record deal that Ellington signed with

Bethleham. Stan selected My Funny Valentine, recorded on February 7 or 8. From the famous Ellington at Newport

of June 9 of the same year we heard Newport Jazz Festival

Suite, Part 1. This version was not recorded at the concert. Intended to be the centerpiece of the concert it was

eclipsed by Diminuendo & Crescendo in Blue. Duke’s

first visit to Stratford, Ontario was recorded on August 7.

From the album Such Sweet Thunder we heard Half the Fun. (This is a painting of Cleopatra on the Nile, exotic

barge and all, of typical Ellingtonian sensuality. The

Woode – Woodyard team is very important here as is the brief but heady solo by Hodges, but most important of all

is the rich, many – colored and beautifully shaded

orchestration (Lambert)). From December 6 Stan selected

from the Drum is a Woman album You Better Know It.

We then moved onto selections from 1957. From the March 13 Album Complete Ellington Indigos we heard

The Sky Fell Down. Lambert states that “The writing here

is superficially conventional … but the playing of the musicians makes for a performance beyond the grasp of

any other band.” The band was back in the Columbia

recording studio on April 24 to conclude the Such Sweet Thunder album started in August of the previous year. Stan

played Lady Mac. Lambert’s comments on this album

were that “Such Sweet Thunder must be accounted the

most successful of all Ellington-Strayhorn concert pieces. It was recorded at a time when the orchestra was in

peerless form and the performance is one of the

justifications for the view that this particular orchestra was Ellington’s finest since the early forties.” From the All

Star Road Band Vol. 1 we were treated to a nice solo from

3

Johnny Hodges in All of Me. On June 25 1957 Duke was

in the Verve studios to record the Duke Ellington Songbook with Ella Fitzgerald from which Lost in

Meditation was selected. Lambert’s view was that “with

more rehearsal and preparation this could have been a near

perfect collection. As it is we hear them setting the perfect mood and time again and again by the skill and strength

and personality of the soloists. The band is revealed as an

ensemble which can, with just a brief outline from its leader, set up any mood or emotional climate.” Finally

from 1957 we listened to Willow Weep for Me from the

October 10 recording session concluding the Ellington

Indigos album.

We broke off to have a brief intermission with

refreshments supplied by Jim Northover.

After the break Stan moved us onto 1958 and the first

selection, Early Autumn was from the Duke Ellington

Spacemen: The Cosmic Scene album recorded on April 3. From a July 3 Columbia recording, Newport 1958 we

heard Just Scratchin’ the Surface. 1958 saw Ellington’s

band touring Europe once more. One of the dates was recorded: In Concert at the Salle Pleyel and Stan selected

Stompy Jones.

The last year that Stan Schiff covered in his review was

1959 and the first recording highlighted was Frillie Trillie

from the Columbia Jazz Party Album recorded on February 19. We also heard from the same album

Tymperturbably Blue recorded on February 25. This

number demonstrated Duke’s sense of humour but was never again recorded or played by him. During the

European tour of 1958 Ellington was presented to Queen

Elizabeth and was immensely impressed by her. He and

Billy Strayhorn wrote several pieces which comprised The Queen’s Suite. Duke presented one of the only 2 LP’s

made of this suite at the time to Her Majesty and kept one

for himself. After Duke’s death, Pablo released the suite as part of the Ellington Suites Album. From it we heard

Sunset and the Mockingbird. Lambert stated that “…in

The Queen’s Suite the Ellington band demonstrates why it was still an ensemble of the very highest quality.”

Referring back to Jack Chambers’s talk of the previous

month on Ellington’s film studio work we heard

recordings of June 1, Flirtibird and Almost Cried from Anatomy of a Murder. The finale to this excellent

presentation was Things Ain’t What They Used To Be from

the Columbia Festival Session recorded on September 8.

Jack Chambers offered the formal vote of thanks to Stan

Schiff for his excellent presentation. It was clear from the quality of his talk that a lot of preparation had gone into

this comprehensive tour through a very special time for

Duke Ellington and his Band. Stan did provide a complete

list with details of the recording and band members which

was very helpful in preparing these notes.

Minutes of the June 9, 2010 General Meeting –

Members’ Choice. Alan Shiels opened the meeting at

7:40p.m. to 20 members. He handed the meeting over to John Hornsby who was going to manage the evening’s

entertainment. The first member’s choice was I’m

Beginning to See the Light, a piano solo, selected by George Payne. George pointed out that this selection had

several connections with TDES 40. The piano was the one

used in the Imperial Room at the Royal York Hotel in

Toronto, the producer of the album was a member of TDES 40 and leading Toronto musician, Brian Barlow and

the pianist was long time TDES 40 member Tim Elliott.

Paul Hollow, our member in Newfoundland sent two selections, a vocal by Carmen McCrae - Come Sunday and

a vocal by June Christie – Prelude to a Kiss. Colin Brown

then presented two interesting selections. Tonight I Shall

Sleep played by the Ellington band with a trombone solo by Tommy Dorsey and The Minor Goes Muggin’ played

by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra with the piano played by

Duke Ellington. Chris McEvilly provided a selection in order to thank to Jim Galloway for the Holiday Party last

December when he performed under difficult personal

circumstances, to Martin Loomer for his Scholarship Concert performance and in memory of John Norris. He

played Jim's Wee Big Band version of Duke's "Someone"

that was transcribed by Martin and produced by Jim and

John. It was recorded at the Montreal Bistro, the location of previous TDES 40 Christmas events. Patricia Poole

selected Prelude to a Kiss from the Digital Duke album.

John Hornsby generously allowed Patricia to play an addition number, Billy Strayhorn’s Lush Life, sung by

Johnny Hartman which he made with John Coltrane.

Prior to the social break, Greg Elgstrand demonstrated the

Toronto Duke Ellington web site that he prepared. Greg

admitted that the web site still required some fine tuning so

all members were asked to send suggestions, corrections and links to him for inclusion. A super web site for us all.

I’d suggest you bookmark the site since we should all be

going to it frequently. Thank you Greg! Please go to: www.torontodukeellingtonsociety.com

http://www.torontodukeellingtonsociety.com/

4

Patricia Poole kindly provided the refreshments for the

evening.

After the break, Allan Jones played for us Just Squeeze

Me, a duet with John Lamb on bass and Heather Bambrick

singing, recorded at the Price Edward County Jazz festival and taken from an anthology of the festival 2008 – 2009.

Jim Northover said that the Duke’s most highly rated

bands were the so called Jungle Band of 1927 – 1934, the Blanton Webster band of 1940 – 1942 and the band of

1955 – 1959 which Stan Schiff so ably discussed at a

previous meeting. Since we hear a lot of the later bands and little of the early bands Jim thought it only fitting that

he play something from one of the early bands and

selected Main Stem, recorded in 1940 and described in the

liner notes as “an exuberant celebration of rhythm.” Laurence Buchanan told us that in the first version of

Black Brown & Beige, performed for the second time and

recorded for the first time at Carnegie Hall in 1943, there were no lyrics. Laurence played for us “Come Sunday”

from the Black Brown & Beige album Duke made with

Mahalia Jackson. Laurence wondered who wrote the lyrics. Greg Elgstrand selected The Sound of Love from a

Charles Mingus album sung by Jackie Paris since Greg’s

son has a preference for this tune. Mel Manley selected

“My Ideal” played by Art Tatum and Ben Webster. There was no Ducal connection as far as this editor could see

apart from the fact that Webster played with Duke in the

1940’s. However, the music from the Art Tatum Group Masterpieces album is some of the best jazz music one is

ever likely to hear. Bruce Barton then played “Pyramid”

played by Artie Shaw, an interesting and lively

arrangement by Lenny Parton of the dark and somber Duke original. Bill Wilson chose an instrumental version

recorded in 1938 by Ellington - “Prelude to a Kiss.” John

Hornsby brought the evening to an end as he often does, with a vocal version of what was originally Concerto for

Cootie but with the lyrics, “Do Nothin’ til You Hear from

Me” played by Stan Kenton and sung by Red Dorris and recorded in 1943, some years before Duke Ellington

recorded a vocal version, (1947 with Al Hibbler)

Alan Shiels offered thanks to all of the members who had presented a wide selection of music. Alan exhorted us to

have a safe summer and to get out and listen to lots of live

jazz.

***

Newsletter update

The Editor thanks all of the presenters for providing him

with their notes and background material which helped enormously in preparing the minutes of our meetings and

all of the members who contributed items for the

newsletter. In particular warm thanks go to John Hornsby

for providing not only his notes but for the additional note taking during the meetings which was invaluable. I need

also to thank my wife, Sheila, for proof reading these

newsletters and making sure that I did not publish any egregious errors.

Most of the newsletters are now sent by email. If you would like you copy sent electronically, please let me

know.

Upcoming Events

Many of us have attended the JAZZ – FM sponsored concerts at the Old Mill. Judy Shiels has reported that

Michael Kalmar, owner of the Old Mill, has extended his

support of jazz to allow registered music students to listen to the concerts from the back of the room, free.

Martin Loomer’s Orange Devils who provided the

excellent music at our last two Scholarship Concerts will be playing at The Trane Studios, 964 Bathurst St. Toronto

on July 29 and August 26, 2010. Check with the venue for

the start times.

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 24 – July 4

Toronto Jazz Festival - June 25 – July 4 Montreal Jazz Festival – June 25 – July 6

Beaches Jazz Festival – July 16 – 25

Burlington Jazz & Blues Festival – July 23 -25 Oakville Jazz Festival – August 6 - 8

Markham Jazz Festival – August 20 - 22

Prince Edward County Jazz Festival – August 13 – 22 Guelph Jazz Festival – Sept 8 - 12

Upcoming Meetings

The first Toronto Duke Ellington Society meeting of the 2010 – 2011 season will be held on September 14. The

presenter will be Jim Galloway.

At the upcoming Annual General Meeting which will be

held in our October 12, 2010 meeting we will need to

5

nominate a new Executive Committee. We urge you to

give some thought to taking a role in the running of your Society. If you think that you can help, please contact

Alan Shiels.

The Annual Christmas party is scheduled for Tuesday December 7th 2010 at the Arts & Letters Club in Toronto.

The band this year will be the Richard Whiteman Quartet with Perry White (reeds) Steve Wallace (bass) and Barry

Elmes (drums). Please speak to Judy Shiels to order

tickets. Tickets will go on sale in September for members and one guest each. Tickets will go on general sale in

October. Prices are $70 for Members and $75 for Guests.

The 2011 Scholarship Concert will again be held in Walter

Hall, on April 30. The band has yet to be selected.

Suggestions are welcome. The price is likely to again be

$30 per ticket.

GUESTS WELCOME

***

Last Post

Gene Lees - Canadian-born jazz authority, author, singer, songwriter Gene Lees died at his home in Ojai, Calif., at

the age of 82. Born Frederick Eugene John Lees, he began

as a freelance journalist in the late 1940s, working for the Hamilton Spectator, the Toronto Telegram, and the

Montreal Star, and for several American magazines and

newspapers including Down Beat magazine. A versatile writer, Lees wrote liner notes for many musicians,

including Stan Getz, John Coltrane and Quincy Jones. He

published two novels as well as many other books on jazz, biographies of Oscar Peterson, Lerner and Loewe, Woody

Herman, and collaborated with Henry Mancini on

Mancini's autobiography. He also had his own late-night

CBC TV show in 1971, appeared as a commentator or singer on other CBC stations and hosted a jazz show for

Toronto radio station CKFM-FM. This was extracted

from the Globe and Mail of April 24, within which is a full

obituary.

Rob McConnell – There is really nothing that I can add to

the many tributes and reminiscences that have been

published since Rob’s death. I am not up to the task

except to say that jazz fans worldwide will miss him badly. There was an excellent obituary in the Globe and Mail on

June 9th. On June 24, as part of the Toronto Jazz Festival,

the Rob McConnell Tentet will regroup for a tribute

concert.

Hank Jones - pianist and jazz legend who was inspiration

to countless musicians, died May 16 in New York City

after a brief illness. He was 91.

New and Interesting.

Queenie Pie

Edward "Duke" Ellington's (1899-1974) last large-scale work and only opera, Queenie Pie, was written as a tribute

to Madame C. J. Walker. The daughter of slaves, Madame

Walker invented a hair straightener and discovered the virtues of mail order and door-to-door sales, thereby

allowing her clients to buy cosmetics and hair products

without leaving their homes. For this innovation she

became the first female African-American millionaire. Queenie Pie, the story of a Harlem beauty queen, was

originally commissioned by Public Television for the

WNET Opera program and designed to be an hour-long work, with Ellington as narrator. The idea for the work

was not new, Ellington had begun the opera several times,

in varying versions, since the 1940’s. Even after the telecast fell through, Ellington continued to work on the

piece until his death in 1974. He left the work unfinished

and had been reconstructed from his sketches by Butler

School of Music faculty members.

In the opera, Queenie Pie is a champion beautician whose

reign is threatened by a young upstart, Café Olay, who gets involved in a torrid affair with the main contest judge, Holt

Faye. It becomes considerably less of a contest when Olay

kills Faye, and Queenie Pie decamps to a mysterious island to retrieve a magic formula for “everlasting anythingness.

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The opera was recorded for the first time by The Butler School of Music in Texas. CD’s of the opera are now

readily available. It was released by Longhorn Music in

2010.

The review in Toronto’s Whole Note Magazine said “that it was originally envisioned as a television production; Queenie Pie was a work in progress at the time of Duke

Ellington’s death in 1974. There were only lead sheets,

lyrics and basic harmonic outlines to work from and the resulting arrangements were created in the style of

Ellington, not by the master himself. The music does

indeed capture the Ellington sound and at times even uses musical quotations from the Duke’s library. For example,

the Duke’s intro for Such Sweet Thunder shows up in the

middle of track 12, Commercial Medley. In this 2009

production from the Butler School of Music the orchestra plays extremely well throughout, but in the solo

department one can’t help but wish for the warmth of a

Hodges or the authority of a Jimmy Hamilton.

The principal vocalist on the CD is Carmen Bradford who has had a distinguished career. She was a feature of the

Basie band for several years and has since worked with a

very substantial list of great performers ranging from

George Benson to the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.

It had clever lyrics, some catchy melodies, although less than memorable, but there is no denying that the

posthumous construction of Queenie Pie is indeed an

ambitious project and worthy of a listen.”

Duke Ellington’s America (University of Chicago Press,

720 pages) by Harvey G. Cohen is both a biography of Ellington and a study of the context of his long musical

career. From the book’s jacket: ―With Duke Ellington’s

America, Harvey G. Cohen paints a vivid picture of Ellington’s life and times, taking him from his youth in the

black middle-class enclave of Washington, D.C., to the

heights of worldwide acclaim. Mining extensive

archives…Cohen illuminates [Ellington’s] constantly evolving approach to composition, performance, and the

music business—as well as issues of race, equality and

religion.

You Tube.

I have not heard much discussion in our group of the many Duke Ellington videos available on the You Tube web site.

Members should explore this web site and view Ellington

almost throughout his long career. www.youtube.com. There are also videos of many other bands on this web site

which are worthwhile investigating.

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



The Executive committee of The Duke Ellington

Society, Chapter 40 wishes to thank the Chair of

the social committee and all of the members who

provided refreshments during the 2009 – 2010

season.

Thanks are also due to the Chair and the volunteers

of the Telephone committee who remind members

of upcoming events.

We hope all members have a safe and healthy

summer and will see you all again at our first

meeting of the 2010 – 2011 season.

http://www.youtube.com/

Documents

2009 Holiday Party: Will be held at the Arts & Letters ...torontodukeellingtonsociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/2009... · Vol 51 No. 1 September 2009 The Newsletter of the Duke