A few years ago, New York Times critic and editor Zachary Wolfe asked the following question: How long would it take you, five minutes, to convince a friend to get into classical music? What about Mozart? Or a violin? Or opera?
Over the course of over 25 entries, dozens of writers, musicians, critics, academics and other music lovers have tried to answer, shared their passions with readers and with each other.
Now we’re shifting our focus to jazz – and what better place to start than Duke Ellington? I arrived in New York from Washington DC when I was a kid. Soon the Duke Ellington Orchestra became the soundtrack of his time. He has grown to become a black icon on the national stage and has since become a premier ambassador of American culture around the world. Jazz’s status as a global music has a lot to do with Ellington. In particular, his skills as a leader, collaborator, and spokesman have inspired his audience to say, “We love you madly.
Here are 13 songs that will make you fall in love with Ellington. Enjoy listening and leave your favorites in the comments.
◆◆◆
Darcy James Urg, bandleader
An underrated part of Ellington’s artistry is his mastery of misdirection. I think you know where the music is going…and you blink to realize Duke has taken you on a wild detour.This sleight of hand is Ellington’s Energizing his A-side of his 1937 reverse-arched masterpiece, Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue. Blues. What could be easier? But Ellington stretches bobs and weaves, chords and turnarounds, undoes his 12-bar form like Ouroboros, and caresses through a dizzying array of modulations. Within 3 minutes he is 5 keys. But the journey is more than just going from loud to soft. ’56 live version from Newport Saxophonist Paul Gonçalves’ immortal 27-chorus “Lamentation Interval” is legendary, but it is “Diminuendo” that sets the stage.
◆◆◆
Ayana Contreras, critic
Mahalia Jackson’s resonant yet winged vocals drift deftly into the expressive string and horn arrangements of “Come Sunday,” while Ellington is historically a Sunday best-wearing black worker sweating. It is an ode to the peculiar day when I was able to abandon the grit of labor. , gathered to praise the Lord. According to the liner notes to Irving Townshend’s 1958 album Black, Brown and Beige, Jackson “was humming an extra chorus, as if aware of the power of his performance, and he was humming it.” I wanted it to last a little longer.” Of course she knew. “Come Sunday” conveys with great clarity Ellington’s admiration for workers and his elegant insistence on unconditional respect.
◆◆◆
Giovanni Russonero, Times Jazz Critic
Johnny Hodges delivers four minutes of one of the most seraphic alto saxophone recordings on this Chestnut from Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s “Far East Suite.” That title is more or less a misnomer. Nearly every piece in the suite has a Middle Eastern inspiration. Strayhorn — Ellington’s composing and arranging partner for over 25 years — actually wrote “Isfahan” (originally titled “Elf”) before they visited the Iranian city in 1963. was). It’s an Ellington ballad at its peak, with a sumptuously dragged tempo and a drum-like dub of trombone harmonies. As usual, it’s his members of the featured band who actually do the recording. This time, Hodges hugs each note between his teeth, firm but not too tight, giving it all sorts of feel without smudging or masking anything. Classic, but when was the last time you heard a pianist cover this song? That’s the Hodges way.
◆◆◆
Billy Childs, pianist
To listen to the first 50 seconds of the opening credits of “Anatomy of a Murder,” you can’t help but look at the shape. In a Cubist form, like Picasso’s painting, fragmented sonic shards from different sections of the band are punctuated by stippled drum patterns. From the opening “wah” of the cup trombone, to the glowing trumpet bursts, to the saxophone mini-cadenza, this piece grips me like a vise. The body of the song, a gutbucket blues passacaglia with trumpet, clarinet, sax and piano solos, evokes a sublime anticipation in my mind that perfectly sets the mood for the entire film.
◆◆◆
Marcus J. Moore, jazz writer
Duke Ellington always had a way of extracting strong emotions from the piano keys. On the 1962 version of “Solitude” featuring bassist Charles Mingus and drummer Max Roach, Ellington aptly evokes a sense of isolation through dark and spacious chords, reflecting dark and light textures. . Whereas the 1934 original elicited a certain optimism, this song from the album Money Jungle sounds more bleak — headphone music made for bad weather. By the time Mingus and Roach appear near the song’s back end, Ellington has locked into the upper register of the solo, shifting the sound from ambient to a bluesy number with light drums and his brush and subtle bass. . It was an epic triumph lap for one of his jazz music pioneers.
◆◆◆
Harmony Holiday, Poet
Mingus and Roach accompanied Ellington on the first recording of “Fleurette African” for “Money Jungle”.left alone with his reflection in this solo version, Duke’s shaking and almost smiling face evokes longing and memory. He plays with the ghosts of his friends and spares his dull nostalgia. He hesitates as he approaches the sacred altar of sound, surrenders to solitude, and is haunted by their absence, but is not weakened by it. Ellington confronts the missing tone by blurring it with his own tone. For a man who has maintained for years a large orchestra that can reproduce sounds he hears in his head, Ellington seems most comforted by being alone. It is as if all the time spent in public, either as a soloist or with the ghosts of a few friends in the garden he invented, pursued this spiral of isolation. He’s playing solo here, but he’s not alone.
◆◆◆
Maurice Jackson, jazz historian
“Black, Brown, Beige” encapsulates the complete orchestration of Ellington’s work. Black suffering through the laments of trumpeter Rex Stewart. Their struggle through the musings of saxophonist Harry Carney. Win using the drum “Tum-Tum”. Duke called it “a tone that rivals black American history” and dedicated it to the Haitians who fought to save Savannah, Georgia from the British during the Revolutionary War. “I tried to go back to my racing history and put it in rhythm,” said Ellington. “We used to have a little something in Africa, a ‘something’ that we lost. One day we will have it again.”
◆◆◆
David Berger, musician and scholar
Recorded March 6, 1940 — The first Ellington recording session, with Ben Webster’s tenor sax and Jimmy Blanton’s propulsive bass, completed what I call the greatest band in jazz history. If Ellington’s work can be reduced to the marriage of the uneducated and the sophisticated, “Ko-Ko” is his best example. A three-chord minor blues that firmly unfolds the motif introduced in the first bar through six dissonant chords, a wild and imaginative chorus. , will draw the attention of jazz composers and arrangers for decades to come. Modern jazz exploded here.
◆◆◆
Jon Pareles, Times Chief Pop Music Critic
Ellington’s music remained open to the younger generation of jazz. “Sentimental Mood,” from an album recorded with John Coltrane and his quartet in 1962, leans into the ambiguity of a song first heard in 1935. Coltrane’s sax wafts away as if the melody is too subtle to disturb. Then Ellington’s piano his solo evokes and dissolves a unique hint of his 1930s swing, and Coltrane returns to his original melodic grace before returning to his own sound on his sheet. just to make fun of the approach of . The track is a paragon of mutual respect and shared nuanced exploration.
◆◆◆
Bandleader Miho Hazama
The happiest music in the world! I have had the privilege of conducting the Nutcracker Suite several times, and I always hope to continue performing it each Holiday season. With huge credit to Ellington and Strayhorn for writing specific notes for each band her member, the score is amazingly complete. The record’s performance is rocking, exhilarating, and authentic from one of the orchestra’s late golden years.
◆◆◆
Fredara Hadley, Professor of Ethnomusicology
“A Rhapsody of Negro Life”, from Ellington’s score 1935 film “Black Symphony” It shows a deep connection with the moods and shades of black life. In nine minutes, he musically moves us from the rolling heartbeat of a work song to his 1930s Harlem to his nightclub swing. He reconciles the drama and lamentation of “The Saddest Tale” with the beauty and contemplation of “Hymn of Sorrow.” This music is not a thesis. It’s a rhapsody in the best sense, with each musical vignette filled with heart and a deep understanding of the joys and pains of black humanity.
◆◆◆
Guillermo Cline, bandleader
I was instantly captivated by the song’s storytelling. Simple yet profound and witty. The heart of Searching (Pleading for Love) relies on the conclusion he made at the beginning of the piece. As it is an intro, in a prologue the narrator shares everything.The theme follows a standard model: his triple of ideas and conclusions. The song’s bridge modulates his twice, and its concluding motif is present throughout. At the climax he changes it, giving it a sense of supplication. His use of sound and space is truly unique. Even in a trio recording like this, you can definitely hear the big band playing.
◆◆◆
Seth Colter Walls, Times Music Critic
We recommend including this 1936 masterpiece in your party playlist. As “Exposion Swing” begins, Ellington’s locomotive-like writing draws the listener in. Watch your guests lean toward the speaker. Harry Carney then opens with a strutting descending baritone saxophone signature. To do. After another minute of his dexterous soloist-orchestral interplay, Ellington strides his piano and blues accents to bring the work’s climax to his phase. It’s the perfect hangout for microcosms.
Song excerpts from Spotify and YouTube.
