DUKE ELLINGTON - Rotterdam 1969
Storyville 101-8440
Cat Anderson, Cootie Williams, Ambrose Jackson, Mercer Ellington, Nelson Williams, Benny Bailey: trumpets; Russell Procope, Johnny Hodges, Norris Turney, Harold Ashby, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney: saxophones; Duke Ellington: piano; Victor Gaskin: bass; Rufus Jones: drums; Tony Watkins: vocals.
All admirers of the Ellington orchestra knew that the end was coming and each European tour in the late sixties and early seventies was relished. The 1968 tour was special; it was the last for Johnny Hodges. He died in 1970 and in his eulogy Ellington said that the band would never sound the same again and he was right, it never did, which makes this recording particularly valuable. This band at Rotterdam was also the post Strayhorn band and it is interesting to listen to the difference in sound and outlook. Strayhorn could be over sentimental.
Unsentimental, the magnificent ‘La Plus Belle Africaine’ is pure Ellington: structurally imposing, simple, soaked in jazz and unforgettable. If there is a better tribute to African roots in the Ellington library? I do not know it. The main soloist is Russell Procope with Harry Carney, Victor Gaskin on bass and Rufus Jones on drums playing important parts.
One premiere on the album is R.T.M. by Wild Bill Davis who had recently joined the band for a short stay. Davis was responsible for the arrangement of ‘April in Paris’ that the Count Basie band was condemned to play for the rest of its life. Here R.T.M. is a simple blues graced by Hodges.
Hodges also plays ‘Black Butterfly’; it was first played in 1936 and revived for this tour. The band then goes into the hard hitting ‘Things Ain’t What They Used to Be’ giving Hodges an opportunity to display his more rhythmic side.
Keeping a band together and touring for almost 52 weeks a year now seems to be beyond everyone. Ellington managed it without Arts Council grants or subsidies. It was a great achievement and it was achieved by compromising with his audience. Ellington knew that some people came to hear the newer pieces, others came to hear the classic popular pieces. He did both. and we have that in this concert: ‘Caravan’, ‘Mood Indigo’ and ‘Sophisticated Lady’ duly appear.
The most forgettable music on the album comes from vocalist Tony Watkins. Ellington seems to have felt that Watkins might be attractive to a younger audience and the piece ‘Be Cool And Groovy For Me’ is the Ellington equivalent of dad-dancing jazz.
The music on the album is the whole of the second concert played at the De Doelen Hall.
Finally, Bjarne Busk in his sleevenotes mentions that Ellington, after the concert, took part in a jam session. Busk more than hints that the music from that session could well be issued on the near future. Storyville has, of course, access to the stockpile of pieces that Ellington recorded in his final years and they have been carefully curating and issuing it over the years since Ellington’s death in 1974 so that 42 years later we can still look forward to new Ellington music. Extraordinary.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
Storyville 101-8440
Cat Anderson, Cootie Williams, Ambrose Jackson, Mercer Ellington, Nelson Williams, Benny Bailey: trumpets; Russell Procope, Johnny Hodges, Norris Turney, Harold Ashby, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney: saxophones; Duke Ellington: piano; Victor Gaskin: bass; Rufus Jones: drums; Tony Watkins: vocals.
All admirers of the Ellington orchestra knew that the end was coming and each European tour in the late sixties and early seventies was relished. The 1968 tour was special; it was the last for Johnny Hodges. He died in 1970 and in his eulogy Ellington said that the band would never sound the same again and he was right, it never did, which makes this recording particularly valuable. This band at Rotterdam was also the post Strayhorn band and it is interesting to listen to the difference in sound and outlook. Strayhorn could be over sentimental.
Unsentimental, the magnificent ‘La Plus Belle Africaine’ is pure Ellington: structurally imposing, simple, soaked in jazz and unforgettable. If there is a better tribute to African roots in the Ellington library? I do not know it. The main soloist is Russell Procope with Harry Carney, Victor Gaskin on bass and Rufus Jones on drums playing important parts.
One premiere on the album is R.T.M. by Wild Bill Davis who had recently joined the band for a short stay. Davis was responsible for the arrangement of ‘April in Paris’ that the Count Basie band was condemned to play for the rest of its life. Here R.T.M. is a simple blues graced by Hodges.
Hodges also plays ‘Black Butterfly’; it was first played in 1936 and revived for this tour. The band then goes into the hard hitting ‘Things Ain’t What They Used to Be’ giving Hodges an opportunity to display his more rhythmic side.
Keeping a band together and touring for almost 52 weeks a year now seems to be beyond everyone. Ellington managed it without Arts Council grants or subsidies. It was a great achievement and it was achieved by compromising with his audience. Ellington knew that some people came to hear the newer pieces, others came to hear the classic popular pieces. He did both. and we have that in this concert: ‘Caravan’, ‘Mood Indigo’ and ‘Sophisticated Lady’ duly appear.
The most forgettable music on the album comes from vocalist Tony Watkins. Ellington seems to have felt that Watkins might be attractive to a younger audience and the piece ‘Be Cool And Groovy For Me’ is the Ellington equivalent of dad-dancing jazz.
The music on the album is the whole of the second concert played at the De Doelen Hall.
Finally, Bjarne Busk in his sleevenotes mentions that Ellington, after the concert, took part in a jam session. Busk more than hints that the music from that session could well be issued on the near future. Storyville has, of course, access to the stockpile of pieces that Ellington recorded in his final years and they have been carefully curating and issuing it over the years since Ellington’s death in 1974 so that 42 years later we can still look forward to new Ellington music. Extraordinary.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
