“A
great thing Duke did, that was very supportive he said, Look, a lot of these musicians
really deserve to be featured in a different way. I
think his concept there was to just really go ahead and feature the musicians that he
loved, and give them the opportunity to play and stretch out a little bit more than they
do in the big band.”
3) Bradley:
BY
THE MID-1930S, DUKE ELLINGTON LED ONE OF THE MOST IMPRESSIVE ORCHESTRAS THAT JAZZ WOULD
EVER HEAR. THE BAND WAS FILLED WITH GREAT INSTRUMENTALISTS --- AND MANY WERE RESTLESS
INNOVATORS IN THEIR OWN RIGHT.
SO
ELLINGTON BEGAN A SERIES OF SMALL-GROUP RECORDINGS WHERE PLAYERS COULD STRETCH OUT,
EXPERIMENT AND TAKE THE REINS OF LEADERSHIP.
NOW,
MEMBERS OF THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA LOOK BACK TO THOSE SPIRITED SESSIONS. WYCLIFFE GORDON, VICTOR GOINES, JOE TEMPERLEY, AND
WYNTON MARSALIS OFFER THEIR OWN MODERN ARRANGEMENTS OF ADUKE IN SMALL DOSES@ B ON THIS
EDITION OF JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER. I’M
ED BRADLEY.
4) Bradley:
ELLINGTON’S
SMALL BANDS OFTEN FEATURED DUKE AS A SIDEMAN, PLAYING PIANO FOR "COOTIE WILLIAMS
& HIS RUG CUTTERS," AJOHNNY HODGES AND HIS ORCHESTRA,@ OR "BARNEY BIGARD AND
HIS JAZZOPATORS@ (jazz-oh-payters).
THESE
SMALL UNITS OFTEN PLAYED NEW ARRANGEMENTS OF THE LARGER ORCHESTRA’S REPERTOIRE. BUT ELLINGTON ALSO WROTE SPECIFICALLY FOR THEM,
CONCOCTING NEW THEMES AND MINIATURIZED ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE SIX- AND EIGHT-PIECE GROUPS.
ONE
SUCH TUNE WAS ARUBBER BOTTOM@, WRITTEN IN 1957 FOR AN ELLINGTON SEPTET, IT IS RE-CREATED
HERE BY THE WYNTON MARSALIS SEPTET.
5) Music:
Rubber Bottom (Marsalis Septet, JALC) 4:55
6) Bradley:
THE
ELLINGTON COMPOSITION ARUBBER BOTTOM,@ PLAYED BY THE WYNTON MARSALIS SEPTET FEATURING
FARID BARRON ON PIANO, VICTOR GOINES ON CLARINET, AND WYCLIFFE GORDON ON TROMBONE.
7) Vox:
Ted Nash
(INT 314
11/1/99, @ )
"Ellington’s
best known for his big-band writing; he has such a personal sound that comes out in the
big band."
8)
Music (under): Mood Indigo (Duke Ellington Orchestra)
9)
Bradley:
DUKE
USED INSTRUMENTS IN UNUSUAL COMBINATIONS AND IN UNCHARACTERISTIC ROLES. IN "MOOD
INDIGO",
A CLARINET PLAYS BASS NOTES WHILE THE TROMBONE CARRIES THE MELODY. THE
INSTRUMENTS
OF A BOISTEROUS NEW ORLEANS JAZZ BAND ARE USED TO CREATE A REFLECTIVE
MOOD
PIECE.
SAXOPHONIST
TED NASH
10)
Vox:
Ted Nash:
(INT 314
11/1/99, @ )
"And
what happens is when we do small-band versions of Ellington, we’re not dealing with
that sound anymore that he created with his big-band arrangements. What we then are left with is a skeleton of his
melodies, his themes, and his chord structuresY which are // remarkable."
11)
Bradley:
WYCLIFFE
GORDON USES THIS >REMARKABLE SKELETON’ TO CREATE A SPARE NEW ARRANGEMENT. HE TURNS THE PIECE INTO A TROMBONE SHOWCASE, WHERE
THREE BONES TRADE THE LEAD AND TAKE SOLOS.
FROM
ALICE TULLY HALL HERE’S "MOOD INDIGO."
12) Music:
“Mood
Indigo” (Gordon Sextet, JALC) 6:05
13) Bradley:
WYCLIFFE
GORDON, WITH FELLOW TROMBONISTS ANDRE HAYWARD AND RON WESTRAY LEADING HIS SEXTET ON
"MOON INDIGO"
14) Music:
TK
15)
Bradley:
THOSE
SMALL GROUPS OFTEN GOT THEIR START ON THE BANDSTAND WITH THE FULL ELLINGTON
ORCHESTRA---BUT NOT ALWAYS BY DESIGN.
16)
Vox:
Ted Nash (continued)
from
what I understand // if they were appearing in a nightclub for several days, a lot of
times it would start out as a small band, because a lot of people were late. So it might start out as a quintet or a septet,
and gradually people would start to show up, and by the second set it was the big band. So they were doing some small-band stuff whether
they meant to or not.
fade
music
17)
Bradley:
BARITONE
SAXOPHONIST JOE TEMPERLEY FIRST SAW THE ELLINGTON BAND IN SCOTLAND IN THE 1950'S. HE EVEN FOLLOWED THEM ON TOUR, LISTENING TO THEIR
MUSIC EVERY NIGHT. IN 1974, TEMPERLEY JOINED
THE ORCHESTRA, REPLACING HARRY CARNEY. IT
GAVE HIM A CLOSE LESSON IN DUKE’S SOUND.
18)
Vox:
Joe Temperley
(INT 314
11/1/99, @ )
".
. . when I play a small-group arrangement, I try to keep it as close to the larger
arrangement as I possibly can. I just
condense it."
19)
Bradley:
IN
THIS NEXT PIECE, TEMPERLEY HAS REDUCED DUKE’S ORCHESTRATION TO JUST BARITONE SAX,
BASS, AND DRUMS.
HERE’S
ASUNSET AND THE MOCKINGBIRD."
20)
Music:
ASunset &
The Mockingbird@ (Temperley Trio, JALC) 5:50
21)
Bradley:
THE
JOE TEMPERLEY TRIO, WITH RODNEY WHITAKER ON BASS AND
HERLIN RILEY ON DRUMS, PLAYING ASUNSET & THE MOCKINGBIRD."
22)
Music (under):
"Squatty Roo" (from Centennial
Edition, disc 12)
23) Bradley:
TRUMPETER
MARCUS PRINTUP FACED A CHALLENGE IN ARRANGING A SMALL GROUP VERSION OF AIN A SENTIMENTAL
MOOD.@ THE SONG HAS BEEN HEARD SO OFTEN IN SO
MANY DIFFERENT WAYS. ELLINGTON HIMSELF USED IT FOR BIG BAND ROMANCE AND AS A SPRIGHTLY
PIANO TRIO.
NOW,
PRINTUP USES RADICAL SHIFTS IN VOLUME, TONE AND MOOD TO FIND NEW DRAMA IN THE MELODY. THIS ALL PRODUCES A MODERNISTIC TAKE ON ELLINGTON’S
1945 MELANCHOLY MASTERPIECE.
IN
A SENTIMENTAL MOOD.
24) Music:
AIn A
Sentimental Mood@ (Printup Quintet, JALC) 9:00
25)
Bradley:
IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD,@ LED BY MARCUS PRINTUP ON TRUMPET - WALTER BLANDING JR. ON TENOR,
PIANIST FARID BARRON, BASSIST RODNEY WHITAKER, AND HERLIN RILEY ON THE DRUMS.
26) midbreak:
Raincheck J@LC concert
27)
Bradley:
SUPPORT
FOR JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER COMES FROM THE LILA WALLACE-READER'S DIGEST FUND,
HELPING PEOPLE TO MAKE THE ARTS AND CULTURE AN ACTIVE PART OF THEIR EVERYDAY LIVES.
OUR
CELEBRATION OF THE ELLINGTON CENTENNIAL IS MADE POSSIBLE WITH SUPPORT FROM THE DORIS DUKE
CHARITABLE FOUNDATION.
FOR
THE SCRIPT TO THIS PROGRAM AND OTHER JAZZ PIANO GREATS, CHECK OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.JAZZRADIO.ORG. SEND E-MAIL TO RADIO@JAZZATLINCOLNCENTER.ORG , OR WRITE TO US AT JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER, NEW YORK CITY
10023.
YOU'RE
LISTENING TO JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER. I'M
ED BRADLEY.
28)
Music:
29)
Bradley:
AFTER
THE ORCHESTRA HAD BEEN TOGETHER FOR ABOUT A DECADE, DUKE ELLINGTON BEGAN TO ENCOURAGE HIS
BAND MEMBERS TO LEAD THEIR OWN SMALL GROUPS. THIS
SERVED AS A CREATIVE OUTLET FOR THE MUSICIANS, AND PROBABLY HELPED KEEP THE BAND TOGETHER
FOR SO MANY YEARS.
NOW,
THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA IS TEN YEARS OLD, AND MANY OF THE MUSICIANS UNDERSTAND
THE IMPULSE TO BRANCH OUT.
30)
Vox:
Wycliffe Gordon
(INT 313 11/1/99, @ )
With
our big band situation // you may // get a chance to play for a night, to solo, for eight
bars, I mean one chorus of blues.
31) Bradley:
TROMBONIST
WYCLIFFE GORDON.
32)
Vox:
Wycliffe Gordon
(continued)
"And
// the band is full of musicians that can play, that // are great soloists. So when we get a chance to play, it does become a
time to blow some steam off, so to speak"
33) Bradley:
REEDMAN
VICTOR GOINES USED THIS SMALL BAND CONCERT AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO STRETCH OUT WITH HIS
ARRANGEMENT OF ELLINGTON’S AANGELICA.@ THIS
IS A TUNE THAT HAS CONTINUED TO GAIN IN POPULARITY SINCE IT WAS FIRST RECORDED IN 1962 BY
DUKE AND JOHN COLTRANE. GOINES GIVES IT NEW
LIFE WITH A LATIN BEAT AND INTRICATE HORN LINES. TRUMPETER
RYAN KISOR AND TED NASH ON ALTO TAKE HARMONIC LICENSE AND HELP BUILD MOMENTUM.
HERE’S ANGELICA.
34)
Music:
AAngelica@ (Goines Septet, JALC) 6:00
35)
Bradley:
VICTOR
GOINES WAS ON TENOR, TED NASH ON ALTO, WYCLIFFE GORDON ON TROMBONE, TRUMPETER RYAN KISOR,
FARID BARRON ON PIANO, AND BASSIST RODNEY WHITAKER. THE
DRUMMER IS HERLIN RILEY. DUKE ELLINGTON’S
"ANGELICA,@ ALSO KNOWN AS ATHE PURPLE GAZELLE."
THIS
IS JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER; I’M
ED BRADLEY.
35)
Bradley:
(continued)
NOW,
WYCLIFFE GORDON, ONE OF THE MOST ACTIVE ARRANGERS IN THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA,
RETURNS WITH HIS TROMBONE TO LEAD THE ENSEMBLE. HE
BRINGS WITH HIM TROMBONE COLLEAGUES ANDRE HAYWARD AND RONALD WESTRAY B TO MAKE THE LARGEST
OF OUR ELLINGTON SMALL GROUPS.
36)
Vox:
Wycliffe Gordon
(INT 313
11/1/99, @ )
“. . . I thought I would set the tone by playing something in the gospel
style that sounded like a church choir, you know, with the hand-clapping and whatnot, and
then go into the ballad. // When you
generally tend to deal with the // Black Baptist church, the choirs most of the time they
sing in three-part harmony. So // that’s
why I had six horns: the trombones function as the male choir and I had the saxophones
functioning as the female part of the choir, or the full choir coming in . . . .
37)
Bradley:
THE WYCLIFFE GORDON NONET PLAYS ELLINGTON’S REVERENTIAL HYMN, ACOME SUNDAY.@
38)
Music:
Come
Sunday (Gordon Nonet, JALC) 4:00
39) Bradley:
WYCLIFFE GORDON’S ARRANGEMENT OF ELLINGTON’S ACOME SUNDAY,@ FEATURING GORDON AND RONALD WESTRAY ON TROMBONES,
AND TED NASH ON TENOR SAX.
40)
Music (under):
ACome Sunday@ (from Centennial Edition, disc 18)
41) Bradley:
TED NASH SURPRISED MANY OF HIS COLLEAGUES WITH HIS ABILITIES ON TENOR SAXOPHONE. HE NORMALLY PLAYS ALTO FOR THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ
ORCHESTRA. BUT WHEN THE OPPORTUNITY CAME TO
PERFORM THE ELLINGTON REPERTOIRE WITH A SMALL BAND, HE TOOK UP THE TENOR FOR BILLY
STRAYHORN’S HAUNTING BALLAD "CHELSEA BRIDGE."
42)
Vox:
Ted Nash
(INT 314 11/1/99, @ )
“If you’re going to play a composition, whether it be your own or
somebody else’s, you need to know that song intimately. Then you can deal with it; then you can actually
express something of yourself using that song. It’s
like being in a relationship B I mean, you can spend years being in a relationship with
somebody and not even know that person initmately -- and that’s a shame. And it’s like that with music. If you’re gonna play a song, you’d
better take the time to know that song intimately.”