Jazz From Lincoln Center

In the Spirit of Place

by Peter Keepnews

(c) & (p) 1994 Jazz From Lincoln Center, all rights reserved

1) Music: Sepia Panorama

2) Vox: David Berger: (Int #61 07 00:15

"Duke Ellington did a lot of traveling...I think he really enjoyed travelling. I think he liked the feel of being in a new place....This was his way of sending home picture postcards."

3) Bradley:

IF EVER A JAZZ MUSICIAN DESERVED TO BE CALLED WELL-TRAVELED, IT WAS DUKE ELLINGTON. AND IF EVER A COMPOSER HAD A KNACK FOR CAPTURING THE ESSENCE OF A PLACE IN MUSIC - THAT WAS ELLINGTON, TOO.

IN THE NEXT HOUR, WE'LL HEAR THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA

PERFORMING ELLINGTON'S MUSICAL PICTURE POSTCARDS, PORTRAITS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD---"IN THE SPIRIT OF PLACE"---ON THIS EDITION OF JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER.

I'M ED BRADLEY.

4) Bradley:

DUKE ELLINGTON WAS A CITIZEN OF THE WORLD. AND WHEN HE VISITED CITIES AND THE COUNTRYSIDE, MET PEOPLE AND SHARED THEIR FOOD AND THEIR STORIES, IT ALL ENDED UP IN HIS MUSIC. HIS RHYTHM AND TUNES BECAME AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE BRINGING WHAT HE LEARNED TO ALL WHO COULD HEAR IT.

IN AUGUST 1993, THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA BROUGHT THIS MUSIC TO A FESTIVAL IN THE SMALL VILLAGE OF MARCIAC, FRANCE.

ALBERT MURRAY, ADVISER TO LINCOLN CENTER'S JAZZ PROGRAM, HELPED DEVELOP THE IDEA FOR THE CONCERT.

5) Vox: Albert Murray (Int #61 10 00:09)

"The broad range of Ellington's concerns and the broad range of materials that he processed into musical statement makes it possible for you to deal with him in terms of themes, in...terms of the way he actually processed the experience of his time into esthetic statement. And I came up with the idea of the spirit of place, in music."

6) Bradley:

ONE OF THE PLACES DUKE ELLINGTON KNEW BEST IN SPIRIT WAS NEW YORK CITY. HE LOVED ITS SPEED, ITS ENERGY, ITS STONE, GLASS AND STEEL.

WE HEAR ALL THIS IN ELLINGTON'S MUSICAL PORTRAIT OF BROADWAY: "MAINSTEM."
 

7) Music: Mainstem (Ellington) 2:45

8) Bradley:

DUKE ELLINGTON'S "MAINSTEM,"---PERFORMED BY THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA. THE SOLOISTS WERE NORRIS TURNEY ON ALTO SAXOPHONE, HERB HARRIS ON TENOR SAXOPHONE, MARCUS PRINTUP AND NICHOLAS PAYTON ON TRUMPETS, BILL EASLEY ON CLARINET, ART BARON AND BRITT WOODMAN ON TROMBONES.

(cont.)

8) Bradley: (cont.)

IF YOU TAKE THE "A" TRAIN UPTOWN, YOU'LL COME TO HARLEM, A JEWEL OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN CULTURE. RALPH ELLISON CALLED IT, "AN OUTPOST OF AMERICAN OPTIMISM, A GATHERING PLACE FOR THE AVANTGARDE..." IT CERTAINLY WAS INSPIRATIONAL FOR ELLINGTON. WE'LL HEAR TWO OF HIS VALENTINES TO HARLEM, BOTH OF THEM FEATURING WYNTON MARSALIS ON TRUMPET.

FIRST, "ECHOES OF HARLEM," WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY A FEATURE FOR THE DISTINCTIVE PLUNGER-MUTED STYLE OF COOTIE WILLIAMS. THEN A PIECE DEDICATED TO THE SPOT WHERE ELLINGTON LIKED TO SAY YOU COULD SEE, HEAR AND SMELL THE FULL ESSENCE OF THE COMMUNITY: "HARLEM AIRSHAFT."

NOW, "ECHOES OF HARLEM."

9) Music: Echoes of Harlem (Ellington) 3:50

Harlem Airshaft (Ellington) 3:50

[NOTE: "HARLEM AIRSHAFT" IS ERRONEOUSLY LISTED IN THE MUSIC COMPILATION LOG AS THE SECOND "HARLEM SPEAKS."]

10) Bradley:

DUKE ELLINGTON'S "ECHOES OF HARLEM" AND "HARLEM AIRSHAFT." THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA, FEATURING WYNTON MARSALIS WITH MARCUS ROBERTS ON PIANO AND BILL EASLEY ON CLARINET.

THIS IS JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER. I'M ED BRADLEY.

DUKE ELLINGTON LOVED THE SOPHISTICATION AND THE FAST PACE OF

THE BIG CITY. BUT HE COULD ALSO FIND PLEASURE IN THE MORE RELAXED RHYTHMS OF THE COUNTRY. HIS EARTHY TONAL PANAROMAS EVOKE FIELDS OF WILD FLOWERS, RICH SUNRISES, SCENES OF LABORERS IN THE FIELD AND OLD FOLKS ROCKING ON A FRONT PORCH. YOU CAN SMELL BUTTER BEANS AND CHICKEN FRYING, HEAR ASCENDENT SINGING IN A RURAL CHURCH AND THE WHINE OF A TRAIN PASSING BY. (cont.)

10) Bradley: (cont.)

HERE'S SOME COUNTRIFIED ELLINGTON. WITH SOLOS BY MARCUS PRINTUP ON TRUMPET, BRITT WOODMAN ON TROMBONE AND BILL EASLEY ON CLARINET, THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA PERFORMS "ACROSS THE TRACK BLUES."

11) Music: Across the Track Blues (Ellington) 2:44

12) Bradley:

DUKE ELLINGTON'S "ACROSS THE TRACK BLUES" PERFORMED BY THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA IN CONCERT IN MARCIAC, FRANCE.

THE CONDUCTOR OF THE ORCHESTRA, DAVID BERGER, WAS ALSO THE TRANSCRIBER OF MOST OF THESE COMPOSITIONS. HE HAS SPENT THOUSANDS OF HOURS WITH ELLINGTON'S MUSIC.

13) Vox: David Berger: (Int #61 04 00:49)

"He was forever experimenting...And he would do things that nobody would ever think to do. .He just had, oh, the most imagination of anyone I've ever witnessed."

16) Bradley:

HERE'S AN EXAMPLE OF THAT IMAGINATION - ONE OF THE BEST-KNOWN PIECES IN THE ELLINGTON BOOK. A THREE-MINUTE JOURNEY TO AN EXOTIC LAND, CO-WRITTEN BY DUKE ELLINGTON AND TROMBONIST JUAN TIZOL (TEE-zoal).

PLAYED BY THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA AND SUNG BY MILT GRAYSON----"CARAVAN."

17) Music: Caravan (Ellington-Tizol) 3:16

18) Bradley:

"CARAVAN"---SUNG BY MILT GRAYSON WITH THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA. THE CLARINET SOLOIST WAS BILL EASLEY.

(cont.)

20) Bradley: (cont.)

IN 1960, DUKE ELLINGTON AND HIS LONGTIME COLLABORATOR BILLY STRAYHORN WERE COMMISSIONED TO WRITE THE SCORE FOR "PARIS BLUES," A MOVIE ABOUT THE LIVES AND LOVES OF TWO AMERICAN JAZZ MUSICIANS IN PARIS.

DAVID BERGER.

19) Vox: David Berger: (Int #61 07 00:40)

"It's not as if he goes to France and tries to write French music. It's like this is how an American views Paris...It's through his eyes. And that's what makes it so interesting!"

21) Vox: Albert Murray: (Int #61 11 3:06)

"The whole of an experience in Paris was captured in this."

20) Bradley:

ALBERT MURRAY.

Alternate intro:

ALBERT MURRAY EXPLAINS HOW ELLINGTON CAME UP WITH A THEME THAT BLENDED ELEMENTS OF PARIS AND AMERICA.

21) Vox: Albert Murray: (Int #61 11 3:06)

"And then underneath it was this locomotive onomatapaeia, which is a basis of jazz language to begin with...When the lovers are parting at the end of the summer...they are boarding the boat train, and they are at the Gare St. Lazare in Paris. And you have this, this "Paris Blues" theme coming up, which is fully orchestrated...and the train pulls off, and...it moves on out and they wave. And then Duke picks it up, and, and you've got that railroad onomatapaeia. And then, put on out...you hear the beat, and the beat is, is a European gauge train...but it's got that traditional blues-oriented American train whistle."

22) Bradley:

HERE'S WHAT ALBERT MURRAY IS TALKING ABOUT. THE THEME FROM "PARIS BLUES," AS PERFORMED - IN FRANCE - BY THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA.

23) Music: Paris Blues (Ellington-Strayhorn) 4:25

[This is the fifth of the six movements.]

24) Bradley:

DUKE ELLINGTON'S "PARIS BLUES."

[Applause fades - crosses to music under as Bradley continues]

25) Music: "Delta Serenade" (Ellington) (MIDBK MUSIC)

26) Bradley:

PRODUCTION FUNDS FOR JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER COME FROM THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING, THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS, AND A MAJOR GRANT FROM THE LYLA (LYE-la) WALLACE READER'S DIGEST FUND - CONNECTING ARTISTS AND COMMUNITIES THROUGH JAZZ. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT COMES FROM THE NORMAN AND ROSITA WINSTON FOUNDATION, THE TRIBUNE NEW YORK FOUNDATION AND NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO MEMBER STATIONS, THROUGH THE N-P-R CULTURAL PROGRAMS FUND.

YOU CAN WRITE TO JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER AT: 70 LINCOLN PLAZA, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10003.

YOU'RE LISTENING TO JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER. I'M ED BRADLEY.

[Midbreak (ca. 26 min.) - (:10 bed for local station ID's]

27) Vox: Albert Murray (Int #61 12 00:14)

"He didn't believe in protest art. He believed in doing it...Counterstating and counteracting whatever restrictions he felt, not just belly-aching about them...He was not a victim. He was a hero. And an epic hero at that. "

26) Bradley:

ONE OF DUKE ELLINGTON'S MOST AMBITIOUS EXTENDED WORKS WAS HIS "DEEP SOUTH SUITE." IT PREMIERED AT CARNEGIE HALL IN 1946 BUT WAS NEVER RECORDED IN ITS ENTIRETY.

NOT SUPRISINGLY, THE AMERICAN SOUTH PRESENTS A COMPLICATED SUBJECT FOR ANY AFRICAN-AMERICAN ARTIST. BUT ELLINGTON EXPRESSED THE SUMPTUOUSNESS, THE THREAT AND DREAD, AND THE HUMOR OF THE SOUTH---AND AVOIDED THE TEMPTATION TO REDUCE IT TO ITS SEGREGATED POLITICS. ELLINGTON GIVES US THE SOUTH IN ALL ITS CONTRADICTORY CHARM.

ALBERT MURRAY.

27) Vox: Albert Murray (Int #61 12 00:14)

"So if you listen carefully, you'll hear little, little snatches of things that, that deal with the South...You've got the 'Swanee River,' you've got all those Southern things in there that are worked into that. And jazz can do that so well, and nobody could do it better than Duke."

28) Bradley:

THE SUITE IS IN FOUR PARTS. THE FIRST SECTION, "MAGNOLIAS DRIPPING WITH MOLASSES," PAINTS A COMICALLY IDEALIZED PICTURE OF THE DEAR OLD SOUTHLAND. "HEARSAY," A BALLAD FEATURING RYAN KISOR (KYE-zer) ON TRUMPET, TAKES A STARKER LOOK AT REALITY.

"NOBODY WAS LOOKING," PLAYED BY MARCUS ROBERTS, IS A SOLO PIANO MEDITATION ON FORBIDDEN ROMANCE. AND THE FINALE OF THE "DEEP SOUTH SUITE" IS A ROUSING, OLD-FASHIONED TRAIN BLUES CALLED "HAPPY-GO-LUCKY LOCAL."

AT THE JAZZ FESTIVAL IN MARCIAC, FRANCE, THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA PERFORMS DUKE ELLINGTON'S "DEEP SOUTH SUITE."

29) Music: Deep South Suite (Ellington) 22:13 [in four parts]

30) Bradley:

DUKE ELLINGTON'S "DEEP SOUTH SUITE," PERFORMED BY THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA ON TOUR UNDER THE DIRECTION OF DAVID BERGER.

THIS IS JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER. I'M ED BRADLEY.

WE CONCLUDE OUR ELLINGTON PROGRAM WITH A RETURN TRIP TO PARIS AND A FINAL EXCERPT FROM THE SCORE OF THE MOVIE "PARIS BLUES." THIS ONE WAS ORIGINALLY A SHOWPIECE FOR THE GREAT LOUIS ARMSTRONG, WHO APPEARED IN THE FILM.

THREE DECADES LATER, IT'S A SHOWCASE FOR WYNTON MARSALIS - AND FOR THE ENTIRE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA.

THE ELLINGTON-STRAYHORN COMPOSITION, "BATTLE ROYALE."

32) Music: Battle Royale (Ellington-Strayhorn) 6:00

[This is the sixth of six parts]

33) Bradley (as applause fades under):

THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA, ON TOUR IN MARCIAC, FRANCE, CONDUCTED BY DAVID BERGER AND FEATURING WYNTON MARSALIS ON TRUMPET.

THE ORCHESTRA INCLUDES LEW SOLOFF, NICHOLAS PAYTON, RYAN KISOR, AND MARCUS PRINTUP ON TRUMPET; BRITT WOODMAN, ART BARON AND RONALD WESTRAY ON TROMBONE; BILL EASLEY ON CLARINET AND TENOR SAXOPHONE; NORRIS TURNEY ON CLARINET AND ALTO AND SOPRANO SAXOPHONE; JERRY DODGION ON ALTO SAX; HERB HARRIS ON TENOR SAXOPHONE; JOE TEMPERLEY ON BARITONE SAXOPHONE; MARCUS ROBERTS ON PIANO; BEN WOLFE ON BASS; HERLIN RILEY PLAYED THE DRUMS; AND MILT GRAYSON WAS THE VOCALIST.

THE MUSIC OF DUKE ELLINGTON - "IN THE SPIRIT OF PLACE."

34) Music: Uptown Downbeat (Ellington) (as necessary)

35) Bradley: (Credits)

JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER IS PRODUCED BY JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER AND MURRAY STREET ENTERPRISE, NEW YORK. OUR PROGRAM WAS WRITTEN BY PETER KEEPNEWS (KEEP-nooz) AND EDITED BY LAUREN KRENZEL. SENIOR PRODUCER IS STEVE RATHE.

THE MUSIC WAS RECORDED BY RADIO FRANCE. DIGITAL POST

PRODUCTION BY RICK BRADLEY AND STEPHEN ERICKSON. OUR PRODUCTION TEAM INCLUDES BILL BROWER, EILEEN DELAHUNTY, ROB GRADER, JANA JEVNIKAR (JEV-nih-car), HOWARD MANDEL (MAND - del)`, JERRY LA ROSA AND CLAUDIA SAARE (SAR).

THE DIRECTOR OF JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER IS ROB GIBSON. ADVISORS ARE STANLEY CROUCH AND ALBERT MURRAY. THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR IS WYNTON MARSALIS.

I'M ED BRADLEY.