"I only play the PIANO.
But tonight,
GOD's in the house."
( Fats Waller )
Let's re-visit the night club UNIVERSE.
And let the MUSIC Play.
Harlem Night, it is.
And our spotlight is 'The Cotton Club'.
"Don't mean a thing
If you ain't got that Swing.
It don't mean a thing,
All you got is SWING."
(Duke Ellington )
"Take an 'A' Train" is what we do.
Through the 'roaring 20s' we ride.
And re-open the gates of the New Negro Movement, otherwise called the Harlem Renaissance.
What we SEE, is what we GET:
ENLIGHTENMENT.
It's a re-awakening of the GOD-Light which has slept in us.
In the Harlem Renaissance, we re-visit the Genesis of All Things...created:
"LET THERE BE LIGHT".
At this juncture, we take our illumination from the genre of negro music called JAZZ.
Aristocratic Jazz...is the sort of jazz which expresses the sentiment:
"Beyond Category".
And the Voice in the Spotlight, is none other than that of 'The DUKE'!
Hold on. Count Basie was an Aristocrat. At least, in the WORLD of JAZZ.
And so was The Duke -
Otherwise known as Edward Kennedy Ellington. Blue blood!
By the way, an Aristocrat is a member of the Ruling Class. Distinguished!
Early Greek civilization defined 'Aristocratia' in terms of the root words 'Aristos' ( meaning 'Best' ) and 'Kratios' ( meaning 'Rule' ).
In mundane terms therefore, only the best people, rule.
In the same manner that the Kingdom of God ( Heaven ) recognizes 'Light';
so does the World of Man ( Earth ) recognize the 'Light' or the so-called 'Gift' / 'Genius' in men.
"ART should TEACH SPIRITUALLY, by showing a person a portion of himself that he would not discover otherwise", opines Bill Evans, a jazz great.
The Soul of Man that serves and drives the genius, approximates the Infinite SOUL( or GOD );
in sharp contrast to those of the remainder of the human race.
The ultimate aim of the genius at work therefore, is to replicate the 'likeness' of Heaven here on Earth:
"Thy will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven"!
He who seeks to excel at whatever he does, is invariably seeking:
'To Be Like God'.
The JAZZ Aristocracy began humbly from the stables of New Orleans, Louisiana.
Like the Messiah-nic Story, which originated way back in a lowly manger in Bethlehem;
the jazz narrative is the manifold unveiling of ( the journey of ) men;
who would rather be like God!
Thus they become the Sons of God:
And the Light of our WORLD.
"CHANGE will not come
If we wait;
For some other person,
Or some other time.
WE ARE THE ONES
WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR;
We are the change
That we SEEK."
( Barack Obama )
Right from the get-go, the mortal men who mastered 'instrument and music', to bequeath to us the evergreen memories of JAZZ, had sought to spite the Adamic Fall ( of Eden ).
In order that they may 're-create immortality' for all mankind.
And along the line, TITLES afforded a special way to recognize their contributions to JAZZ;
as well as to capture their 'God-like Spirit'.
Roll Call (of exemplary titles ) in the annals of jazz include:
*Miles Davis ( The Prince )
*Charles Mingus ( The Baron )
*Thelonious Monk ( High Priest of Bop )
*Nina Simone ( High Priestess of Soul )
*Albert Ammons ( King of Rythym )
*Artie Shaw ( King of the Clarinet )
*Bessie Smith ( Empress of the Blues )
*B.B King, Albert King, and Freddie King ( 'Three Kings' of the Blues )
*Sarah Vaughan ( The Divine One )
*Django Reinhardt ( King of Jazz Guitar )
*Benny Goodman ( King of Swing )
*Ella Fitzgerald ( First Lady of Song ; Queen of Jazz )
*Billie Holiday ( Lady Day; The Duchess )
In JAZZ, Edward K. Ellington was The DUKE!
"Music is all.
Music is my mistress...
And she plays
second fiddle to no one"
( Duke Ellington )
AMERICA's Lady of Song ( same as the Queen of jazz ), Ella Fitzgerald, is full of sugar and spice, when she sings in memory of 'The DUKE':
"Forgive me if I don't have the words ", she says. "May be I can S-I-N-G IT and you'll understand."
DUKE ELLINGTON wrote nearly 2000 compositions before his demise in 1974.
He penned music sheets for all manner of settings or platforms: the Night club, the Comedy stage, the Cinema, the Theatre, the Concert hall, the Ballroom, and the Cathedral.
"From the Cotton Club to Carnegie Hall, he could set a "Mood Indigo" or set the hall hopping.
"Miles Davis said all musicians should get down on their knees and THANK Duke Ellington", recounts T. Ashbrooks.
Ellington raised the skyline on American popular music, including jazz - with a special touch of elegance and with a band so great.
His was such that, as he created, he invited the droves.
His music was A VARIETY. His audience, A MULTITUDE.
"We are each other's HARVEST,
Each other's business men;
Each other's magnitude,
And BOND."
( Gwendolyn Brooks )
The Duke of Jazz had his finger on a sizeable portion of the American music pie: Ragtime, Tin Pan Alley tunes, or the Blues, as well as the Minstrel's Song.
"Makes no difference
If it's sweet or hot.
Just give that RHYTHM
Everything you've got.
It don't mean a thing
If you ain't got that SWING."
( Ellington )
Edward Kennedy Ellington was born on April 29, 1899 in Washington D.C, USA.
His father was James Edward Ellington, and his mother was Daisy ( Kennedy ) Ellington.
While the former was into 'operatic arias', the latter played 'parlour songs'.
Residing in a West End neighbourhood, his family showed RACIAL PRIDE, like other negro families of the 'Jim Crow' Era.
That aside, in the context of a lifetime musical achievement, Ellington would naturally belong in the big league;
standing side-by-side with the likes of Gershwin, Copland, or Igor Stravinsky.
But 'Jim Crow' or Racial Prejudice would rather limit his aplomb and stature.
Time, however, does heal wounds.
Today, many musical pundits and critics alike, would concede to the Ellington appelation: "African Stravinsky".
"To be A TRUE ARTIST,
You'd have to play
The way YOU FEEL.
Not the way others think
You should feel."
( Don Ellis )
"Strolling up to the corner, attired in a shinning black herringbone suit", Ellington Duke was the 'epitome of elegance', enthused one trumpeter.
'Duke' was an accolade which suggested not only his musical stature, but also a personal sense of grandeur.
Greatly nurtured in the vein of 'Stride Pianists' such as Fats Waller, Willie 'The Lion' Smith and James Johnson;
the Duke was a JAZZ INNOVATOR and CONSUMMATE ENTERTAINER.
A Pianist, Composer, and Band Leader.
"It bugs me when people
Try to analyze J-A-Z-Z
As an intellectual theorem;
It's not!
It's a F-E-E-L-I-N-G."
( Bill Evans )
He represented the Golden Age of Jazz: beginning from the Swing Era of the 40's,
to the cushioned ease and rebellion of the 50's; add to it, the Rock rave of the 60's.
A natty dresser who changed appearance between tweeds, black or white neck-ties, top hats and Italian loafers;
Duke Ellington saw the 'jazz mode' as a process of 'blending' a mosaic of black, brown and beige;
together with white, red and blue - to deliver a memorable musical persona, both for pedagogy as well as pleasure.
He believed MUSIC should be 'On Exhibition'! . To him, JAZZ was 'For Show'!!
"The Jazz Age
Became less and less an affair
Of youth.
The sequel:
Was like a children's party,
Taken over by the ELDERS."
( F. Scott Fitzgerald )
Duke whose autobiography is titled "Music Is My Mistress" ( 1973 ), started his PIANO lessons at the age of 7years.
His tutor was Marietta Clinkscales.
Although his attitude was initially lackadaisical, his LOVE for JAZZ altered on seeing Frank Holiday play the PIANO in a poolroom.
Other pianists he listened to included:
Lester Dishman, Louis Brown, Turner Layton, Eubie Blake, Harvey Brooks, Sticky Mack, Caroline Morton and Oliver 'Doc' Perry.
In addition, his mother Daisy suffused him early in life with the company of dignified women, in order to improve his manners and art of living.
Equipped with easy graces and style, his childhood playmates saw in him, the trappings of a nobleman.
Consequent upon this, they called him "Duke".
"Greatness can be captured
In one word:
L-i-f-e S-t-y-l-e.
LIFE is God's Gift to us,
STYLE is what you make it."
( May Jemison )
In later years, "Duke" Ellington assembled a Big Band or Orchestra, comprising some of the creme de-la-creme of Jazz:
for example John Hodges, Cookie Williams, Ben Webster, Clark Jerry, Ray Nance, Sonny Greer and Harry Carney.
His productions ranged from funky jungle stomps, to perfect pop songs, to swinging band chants, sacred songs, suites ( or long compositions ), and jazz symphonies.
Musicologists like Ralph Ellison, Gunther Schuller, Stanley Couch, and Gary Giddins have evaluated Ellington.
They considered his music style to be at once serious and frivolous, meditative and dance-able.
Altogether it had an 'esoteric' and changing commercial value.
"CHANGE is ALWAYS
Happening.
That's one of the
WONDERFUL THINGS
About Jazz."
( Maynard Ferguson )
ELLINGTON readily changed his playing style:
from the Hot Jazz of the 1920's...all the way...to the Swing music of the1930's.
Part of The PASSION of the DUKE, which the listener or the jazz afficionado bought, included:
#Solitude
#Mood Indigo ( 1930 )
#The Sheik of Araby
#Choo Choo ( Gotta Hurry Home )
#Rainy Nights ( Rainy Days )
#Creole Love Call
#Black and Tan Fantasy
#Black Beauty (1928 )
#Jig Walk ( 1926 )
#A Bundle of Blues ( 1933 )
#Hot Chocolate ( 1941 )
#Cabin in the Sky (1843 )
#A Date with Duke ( 1947 )
The Cotton Club orchestral nights...were a date...with the Duke.
Duke's conception of the big band included the idea of forging musical collaborations or 'collabos'.
Sometimes:
'a double' big band, with Count Basie; or 'a trio', with Charles Mingus and Max Roach.
Other times:
'a quartet' with John Coltrane; or a Louis Armstrong ALL STARS.
Everything said and done, the genius of Duke Ellington abounded in his ability to take 'contrariness' of form or style, and convert it to a collabo.
A joint. A collabo, that was The Duke's strong point.
Little wonder his band-mates called him "The Guv'nor".
"We write for the individual
In the band,
Not the instruments...
For UNAMIMOUS INSPIRATION."
( Duke Ellington )
After a career spanning roughly six decades, The Duke succumbed to cancer in 1974.
Geniuses falter, we know. Only because, they are human.
Nonetheless, their mistakes lead us somewhere -
Somewhere worth going, after all:
The FUTURE.
"There's always this SOUND,
Out there;
That's just a little BEYOND,
My reach;
That just sort of
KEEPS ME GOING."
( Bill Frisell )
ONCE Upon A Time, this man "worked like a longshore man".
His hotel suite was loaded with paraphernalia:
pencil stubs, writing pads...amidst cigarette butts...then sheet music, a record player, and the PIANO.
He considered his kind of music, not merely JAZZ, but AMERICAN MUSIC.
"True Music must repeat
- the THOUGHT -
And inspirations of
- the People -
- and the Time-
My People are AMERICANS..."
( George Gershwin)
This man who coined the term "Beyond Category", was Duke Ellington.
And JAZZ to him, was a " Liberating Principle".
While Count Basie would engage your ear with a jazz riff that 'grounded';
Ellington would lift your spirit on a 'take off', at any moment.
HAPPY is rather a state of "FLOW", according to Csikszentmihaly Mihaly, a Culture Scholar.
Hello?
J*A*Z*Z was the Power of GROOVE, which only the "Duke" could...sell, at the price of...L*O*V*E.
"Keep searching:
- For that SOUND -
You hear in your head,
Until it becomes a REALITY."
( Bill Evans )
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