The Music of Duke Ellington
by: Rick Holland
This month I’m starting a series of historical articles on Jazz most influential personalities. Duke Ellington embraces so much of the music’s ideals. I love to teach about his music and listen to his many wonderous recordings.
Needless to say, many feel in Jazz circles that Duke Ellington was Jazz greatest composer. I not only feel this way, but elevate Ellington to one of the greatest American composers/arrangers in American musical history. This article is going to focus on the many contributions and personalities of Ellington and hopefully focus on the many contributions he has made to the musical canon.
I. Composer and Arranger
The Composer
Ellington began composing before 1920, and continued until his death in 1974. He was the single most creative and prolific composer and arranger in jazz history. He wrote more than 2,000 compositions, as well as many arrangements and re- arrangements for them.
Their were specific types of compositions in which Duke’s had specific purpose and outcomes. Therefore, I’d like to specify a few types of compositional goals of Duke during his career.
The first type were popular songs. Although some of these were composed originally as instrumentals, many of Ellington’s compositions became popular songs when lyrics were added (i.e. “Solitude”, “Mood Indigo”, “Satin Doll” and “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore”) Although Ellington was a prolific and creative composer, his band played many of these more popular titles up to the time of his death. These tunes were so good, they still had demand from audiences on a world-wide scale up to the time of his death in 1974.
Another group of compositions were known as three-minute instrumentals – which were the length of a standard side of a 78-rpm record. Many of these were painted musical portraits of famous personalities (i.e. Willie “The Lion” Smith – “Portrait of a Lion”; comedian Bert Williams – “Portrait of B. Williams”) A handful of these can be heard on the famous Blanton-Webster band in the late 1930’s.
He also wrote a variety of longer extended pieces. He is widely acclaimed for having taken jazz into the format of “extended works” (i.e. “Creole Rhapsody”, “Diminuendo in Blue”) Maybe his most respected long work, “Black, Brown & Beige”, is a 50 minute tone parallel to the history of the American Negro. Many times in one of his peaks of popularity, Duke would be commissioned to write extended works to be premiered at Jazz Festivals.
Some of his longest works were film scores. A favorite of many critics and musicians is his music for “Anatomy of a Murder”; an Otto Preminger movie starring Jimmy Stewart.
Another interesting category can also be called experimental composition. This way of thinking was widely accepted in the 1960’s when classical and jazz music’s merged in the borrowing of harmonic and tonal languages. Duke was partaking in these types of experiments back 3 to 4 decades before.
For example, the composition’s like “Creole Love Call” and “Transbluency” were stretching the boundaries of east and west many years before. By the 1960’s, creative musicians were borrowing tonal and atonal languages from the classical and jazz genres commonly. The name for this “new” music was labeled “Third Stream”. A term coined by Schuller in a lecture at Brandies University.
Ellington was one of a few composers who already were pushing the boundaries of these two music’s. “Creole love Call” and Transbluency are great examples of this on many levels. What really fascinated Duke however was color. He experimented with timbre his entire career.
Kay Davis and Adelaide Hall were two vocalists who were classically trained. Duke brought in an operatic vocalist and used this color in a variety of ways with his instrumentalists. It opened many to new ideas on how a voice could be scored for large ensmble writing. It also helped to create a whole new way of thinking of how classical and Jazz genre could be combined. Furthermore, showed many how these two great music’s could be blended.
The Arranger
Duke’s greatest skill was how he capitalized on the uniquely personal sounds of his individual players. So much so, that this is one of the reasons his music is so hard to recreate.
Ellington wrote parts suited to the particular sound and capabilities of each player in the band (i.e.-Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams, Rex Stewart, just to name a few).
He would distribute the different parts of the chord to particular players in the band (instead of score order)based on their individual talents, not necessarily what textbook arranging would have you suggest.
Trumpets with mutes would be mixed with those with no mutes to create color. This way, only Ellington’s band really sounded authentic playing Ellington’s music.
Voicing across the sections – Ellington would routinely write sections that would pit one section of the band against another (i.e. “Mood Indigo” – trumpet and clarinet; “Concerto for Cootie – Bass and trumpet). Later, scholars came up with a term that dealt with Ellington’s unique combinations of instrumentation called entitled cross-voicing. Essentially, for Duke it was combining colors and the uniqueness of his bands talents.
Another unique trademark of Ellington, was his use of “Growl” , which was created by plungers at the end of one’s bell. Plungers were not the only homemade mutes many of these instrumentalists used. Tradition suggests that brass players used everything from hats to broken glasses to search for uniques and interesting colors. As far as who suggested this first, it was more than likely the players themselves. But Duke loved the unique color that these sounds brought to the music, and later incorporated this into the “Duke” sound. Some of the more original players who mastered this technique were--Created growl style – Tricky “Sam: Nantan, Bubba Miley, and Cootie Williams. Some of Ellington pieces that trademark this style were:
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“East St. Louis Toodleloo”
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“Creole Love Call”
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“Concerto for Cootie”
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“Caravan”
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“Harlem Airshaft”
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“Harlem Suite”
Duke also incorporated every instrument in his band for melody and scoring. For example, Ellington spotlighted bassist Jimmy Blanton in solo roles and arranged parts for Blanton’s bass, as if writing for a horn, as in his famous “Jack the Bear” and “Harlem Airshaft”.
Later, voicing pizzicato bass with horns became a common feature with band leader Thad Jones.
Finally, I want to mention Ellington was always able to incorporate the Blues in nearly everything he arranged. This was done by creating a voicing on the dominant chord that utilized the #9 extension. This simply translates to a flat 3rd in the tonic key, which gives the music a sense of the blues. This is essentially Ellington, and was one of his many signature sounds in his music.
 Duke and Ron Carter
It should be noted that this part of the discussion is as important to Duke as anything else in this article. For Duke’s music so much hinged on the meaning his individual players brought to his arrangements and his compositions. Furthermore he wrote with the m in mind. I’ve heard many great arrangers in our era talk about how important it is to write for specific players in mind. The music will sound more genuine and real to many listeners. Duke always did this, and is a trademark of his career. In fact, that was the reason many believe Duke was able to bring the great Ben Webster on the band, because Webster knew he would featured to feature his great sound and talent.
I will do this next section by categories, trumpet players, saxophonists, etc.
A) Trumpeters
Bubba Miley & Cootie Williams (“Concerto for Cootie”) introduced
Growl style and plunger techniques and were masterful solists. They can be heard on these features:
“Cottontail”
“East St. Louis Toodleloo”
“Creole Love Call”
Cootie Williams became Ellington’s main trumpet artist between 1929-40, 1962-74, please check out:
“Echoes of Harlem”
“In a Mello Tone”
“Harlem Airshaft”
Clark Terry (1951-59) – “Intimacy at the Blues” was one of Duke’s great trumpet solists in the 1950’s. He was unique in the sense that he was one of the musicians that bridged the swing and be-bop eras. He also was one of the first to popularize the flugelhorn.
B) Saxophonists
Alto Sax
In many ways this begins and ends the great Johnny Hodges. He played with a beautiful melodic and rich sound. Nearly every album features Hodges Had a way of gliding from note to note smoothly – using a technique called portmento. This is much like a like trombone slide or smearing effect. By using this technique he became a master of inflections of pitch and his syncopations were especially well-timed. Some of his famous pieces include:
“Isfahan”
“Prelude to a Kiss”
“I Got it Bad and That Ain;t Good” (Just to name a few!!!)
Sidney Bechet was said to be a big influence – he often displayed flashy double-time figures like Bechet (“Blue Horizon” & “Prelude”) and in “I Got it Bad” He may be considered ( along with Benny Carter)the most influential alto player from the swing era.
Alto comparison of Carter & Hodges:
Carter Hodges
Full-bodied sounds Placement was far less obvious than
Different rhythmic styles Carter, floated around the beat
Even 18th notes Original way of striking accents
Both swing easily
Listen to “Mello-Tone” compared to “Can’t Believe You’re in Love with me”.
Tenor Saxophonists
Many will break this down two of Ellington’s greatest, Paul Gonsalves (1920-74) and Ben Webster (1909-73).
Ben Webster was greatly influenced by Coleman Hawkins and Hodges. Webster improvised so effectively in this period, many quotations can be heard in improvisational solos by later musicians. I consider Webster, Lester Young and Coleman Hwkins to be among the leading soloists in the Swing era. Webster became a model for playing ballads with his uniquely big and lush sound. A classic of Webster with the Ellington band is “Cottontail”.
Paul Gonsalves was the feature tenor soloist in the 1950’s & 70’s;. He was known for his softness of tone and great imagination.
Paul was an originator of jazz tenor styles and choice of notes – no one had such a command of jazz harmony as Gonsalves. He may best be remembered for performing with Duke at the Newport Jazz Festival with an arresting, 27-chorus solo, in the middle of Duke Ellington's performance of "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue".
Trombone
For some this begins and ends with Joe “Tricky Sam” Nanton, who wad a master of the growl-style. He can be heard on:
“Harlem Airshaft”. But I just loved Lawrence Brown. Check him out on“Golden Cress”, “Blue Cellaphone”, “Transbluency in Blue”, and how he composed a theme in his improvisation.
Drummers
They were primarily timekeepers, but wouldn’t you like to have
Sonny Greer (1919-51), Louie Bellson (early 50’s), Sam Woodyard (1955-66) and Rufus Jones (1968-73) in your rhythm section?
 Duke and Ron Carter
I mentioned Blanton earlier, but need to specify under a category. Blanton clearly executed, melodic solos demonstrated that, in the hands of a virtuoso demonstrated the string bass could contribute more than a timekeeping role, but also that of a soloist. He could be heard in:
“Harlem Airshaft”
“Cottontail”
“Pitter Patter”
Final Summary
To summarize, Ellington contributed in these ways.
Diversity of Ellington’s Music
1) Emphasis on colors of music (like colors that a symphony orchestra could make) yet retaining swing
2) He Wrote many romantic ballads, including;
“Prelude to a Kiss”
“Sophisticated Lady”
“I’ve Got it Bad”
(“Passion Flower” & “Chelsea Bridge”, Strayhorn)
3) Created many extended works – some with much less improvisation
“Black, Brown & Beige”
“Diminuendo & Crescendo in Blue”
4) A book of solo pieces (Concerto) was aimed at featuring his sideman “Concerto for Cootie” Cootie Williams
5) A book of sacred music using choirs, new vocal soloists, organ and dancers. It inspired writing for different moods, such as prayer. It also inspired extensive lyrics (i.e. Duke Ellington’s Concert of Sacred Music & Second Sacred Concert)
6) A book of many swinging instrumentals with jazz solos and catchy ensemble themes; i.e.”Cottontail”, “Mainstem” (Blanton/Webster Band)
7) Also composed over 2000 compositions including several operas, a couple of ballets and 10 musical shows. Creative energy for over four decades
Summary:
1) Ellington is among the most significant of all figures in jazz
2) As a pianist, in the beginning, he was influenced by James P. Johnson, but he also
devised his own original style, which was the pace and mood for his pieces and ornamented the solos of his musicians
3) Outstanding band leader, maintaining a large ensemble for 54 years
4) Composed more than 2000 compositions, frequently in collaboration with his musicians
5) A few pieces became popular songs – “Satin Doll”, “Mood Indigo”, “I’m
Beginning to See the Light”
6) Extended works which extended the brief time limit of many compositions (“Black, Brown & Beige”, “Diminuendo in Blue”)
7) As an arranger:
a) Used a number of themes within a single piece
b) Voicing across sections
c) Used wordless vocals
d) Wrote pieces for each individual member
e) Mixed improvised pieces with pre-existing written parts
8) In 1939-41, he and Jimmy Blanton revolutionized the bassist’s role by playing melodic lines by himself and with horns in the band.
9) Most famous saxophonists were Johnny Hodges and Ben Webster
10) Featured brass players with the grow-style (Cootie Williams)
11) In the 1950’s, two of the biggest soloists were Paul Gonsalves and Clark Terry.
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Rick Holland |
| About the author: |
| A versatile musician and veteran performer in organizations such as the Louie Bellson Big Band (Chicago Based Band), Jimmy Dorsey, Mike Pendowski, Rob Parton , Buddy De Franco, Buselli-Wallrab and Terry Gibbs Bands, Rick Holland brings a wealth of experience and musicality to each performance. |
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