DUKE ELLINGTON REISSUES
Ellington Uptown 
Ellington Uptown features the fruits
of that plundering of the Harry James band, with Tizol and
Bellson playing major roles, though Hilton Jefferson was
the new lead alto player by then. Like Masterpieces, Uptown
features a number of well-known numbers from the Ellington
book, some re-arranged as lengthy concert arrangements,
as well as the recently-minted “Tone Parallel to Harlem
(Harlem Suite).” The opening track, Louis Bellson’s
“Skin Deep” is hard-edged, swinging, and totally
modern, laced with the peppery firepower of Bellson’s
two-bass drum kit, an innovation not seen in again in popular
music until the advent of rock. From there the group launches
into a hot rearrangement of “The Mooche” which
features both Jimmy Hamilton and Russell Procope on clarinet.
The opening thematic statement is reminiscent of a clarinet
trio, a device often heard to great effect on a variety
of Jelly Roll Morton recordings, which was almost certainly
the source of Ellington’s inspiration. Though Ellington
considered Morton’s music to be dated and felt that
he was the more modern arranger, even during his Cotton
Club days, there can be little doubt that Morton, as the
chief composer and arranger of the New Orleans style of
jazz, was influential on Ellington, though it always remained
a debt Ellington was unwilling to acknowledge. Hilton Jefferson
is also heard here, and though his bright sound is not a
match for the dusky romanticism of Johnny Hodges, he is
an able and effective addition to the band.
It would seem that no Ellington number has
been recorded more often—even by himself—than
the signature tune “Take the ‘A’ Train.”
It has generally been accepted that the piano work here
(a nearly two minute intro) is played by Billy Strayhorn,
though that has been contested by Clark Terry and others
who were at the sessions. We will likely never know for
certain, as the two pianists use to sometimes trade places
during the same track, but it hardly matters—both
pianists were excellent and both played in the service of
the tune rather than for personal glorification. Vocalist
Betty Roche enters quickly, singing lyrics loosely based
on the original Strayhorn lyrics, but heavily infected with
scatting (including some Louis Jordan-style call-and-response
with the band). Following her statement, the piece goes
into a half-tempo section that features a dreamy Paul Gonsalves
solo perhaps meant to evoke a late night ‘A’
train ride to Harlem. That reverie is quickly snapped in
the last two minutes of the piece, where Gonsalves continues
his solo at breakneck pace, ending with a solo cadenza.
The piano intro and Gonsalves’ solo work make this
one of the best recordings of the piece. “A Tone Parallel
To Harlem,” a concert hall work, and a reprise of
returning bandmember Juan Tizol’s composition ‘Perdido’
rounded out the album’s original release.
The reissue features two additional Ellington
suites that certainly fit the “Uptown” theme
of this collection. “The Controversial Suite”
demonstrates the beginnings and the most recent developments
in jazz music at the time in its two movements, “Before
My Time” and “Later.” “Before My
Time” is Ellington’s tribute to the New Orleans
style of jazz as well as another round in his attempts to
prove himself a more serious composer and arranger than
Jelly Roll Morton. Had Morton lived longer, it is quite
possible that he would have been producing works for the
concert hall much like Ellington, indeed some of his newly
discovered late works point in this direction. Nonetheless
the section is a beautiful tribute to the early jazz styles
of New Orleans, and Ellington demonstrates his deep understanding
of the tradition. “Later” is a full-tilt large
ensemble blast of sometimes strident harmonies that evokes
the experiments of Stan Kenton, among others. The reissue
of Ellington Uptown also contains the complete “Liberian
Suite,” a piece that the orchestra debuted at Carnegie
Hall in 1947. Consisting of one song, “I Like the
Sunrise” (featuring vocalist Al Hibbler) and five
Dances (which were choreographed in 1952 by Lester Horton)
the piece utilizes modern arrangement techniques and harmonies
and is Ellington’s first composition to follow the
formal suite format. It’s a sumptuous piece of music
heard here precisely as originally recorded for the first
time since 1949.
>>Festival
Session
