Recorded in New York City on February 15, 1933. This is take 2. Released as Columbia 35837 as part of Columbia’s Hot Jazz Classics series “The Duke” (C 38). Since this is the first issue of this take, it is the original issue. Take 3 was released in 1933 only on Columbia in Europe and Australia.
Credits: Duke Ellington – piano, arranger, director Arthur Whetsel Freddy Jenkins, Cootie Williams – trumpet Joe Nanton, Lawrence Brown – trombone Juan Tizol – valve trombone Johnny Hodges – clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax Harry Carney – clarinet, alto sax, baritone sax Otto Hardwick – alto sax, bass sax Barney Bigard – clarinet, tenor sax Fred Guy – banjo, guitar Wellman Braud – string bass Sonny Greer – drums
This week I’ll be highlighting some really lovely jazz vocal records – starting with a tune that was on the CD set that first turned me on to jazz back in the late 1980s: The Blanton–Webster Band by Duke Ellington, which collected together Duke’s singles from 1940-42.
I was working at photo-video checkout as a student at the Kansas City Art Institute and my boss, jazz musician Reverend Dwight Frizzell, would constantly play jazz at work – and narrate the history of the bands or comment on the arrangements of each tune. This set was one of the first that perked my ears up and I ended up buying a copy.
Reading the excellent liner notes of that set – which gave a historical background of the Blanton-Webster band, along with detailed notes on each of the sixty six songs – was like a master class in learning to listen to and understand jazz.
Decades later when I got into collecting 78s I have tried to find as many of the outstanding tunes on this release as I could on 78 rpm.
Here we have the lovely Ivie Anderson singing “So Far, So Good”. It was a song I often skipped in my younger years – wanting to focus on the instrumental numbers. This could have been influenced by the liner notes, which introduced this as “a pop song that had been previously recorded by several white artists” and went on to call the arrangement “workaday” and said the band “sounds ready to go home.”
But this perhaps misses the larger point: The star of this number is the delightful vocal performance by Ivie Anderson. I’ve grown to love it – and hope you do too.
Recorded in Chicago, Illinois on March 6, 1940. Released as Victor 26537.
Credits: Duke Ellington – piano, arranger, director Wallace Jones, Cootie Williams – trumpet Rex Stewart – cornet Joe Nanton, Lawrence Brown – trombone Juan Tizol – valve trombone Barney Bigard – clarinet Johnny Hodges – clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax Harry Carney – clarinet, alto sax, baritone sax Otto Hardwick – alto sax, bass sax Ben Webster – tenor sax Fred Guy – guitar Jimmy Blanton – string bass Sonny Greer – drums Ivie Anderson – vocals
The first jazz CD I ever bought was Duke Ellington’s “The Blanton-Webster Band” – a 3 disc set of one of Duke’s most polished and innovative bands. I listened to it countless times at work where my supervisor, jazz musician and artist Reverend Dwight Frizzell, would play it – often commenting on the tracks as they played. Noting a performer or a particularly interesting solo.
For a 19 year old whose taste in music was firmly in 70s and 80s punk and art rock, this music was a revelation. It was not at all predictable. The performances were absolutely perfect. Most importantly, it effortlessly and authentically expressed joy. To this day, the Ellington recordings from 1940-1942 on Victor remain favorites that I return to often.
Here we have one of the more interesting compositions to fit on a 78 rpm record: an ABCDDCBA song form.
0:00 A section (12 bars) 0:26 B section (16 bars) 1:01 C section (8 bars) 1:18 D section (12 bars) 1:45 D section (12 bars) 2:12 C section (8 bars) 2:29 B section (8 bars) 2:46 A section (12 bars)
The D section is the inner core of the tune – a 12 bar blues that features Ellington and Blanton in the first go round and a quiet lush Ben Webster in the second. The rest of the sections seem to arc us first toward and then away from that beautiful moment in the middle.
Recorded in New York City on July 24, 1940. Released as Victor 26731
Credits Duke Ellington – piano, arranger, director Wardell Jones, Cootie Williams – trumpet Rex Stewart – cornet Joe Nanton, Lawrence Brown – trombone Juan Tizol – valve trombone Barney Bigard – clarinet Johnny Hodges – clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax Harry Carney – alto sax, bass sax Ben Webster – tenor sax Fred Guy – guitar Jimmy Blanton – string bass Sonny Greer – drums
Earlier this year I posted the original recording of this Juan Tizol tune, “Caravan” on the Variety label from December of 1936 featuring a smaller subset of the Ellington orchestra billing themselves as Barney Bigard and his Jazzopaters: https://youtu.be/M17eZcf_hOw
Here, in this recording from about five months later, we hear the tune with the full Ellington orchestra with a few interesting differences. There is a more complex polyrhythmic introduction by Sonny Greer on drums that goes on for a few more bars, setting a tone that feels both Cuban and North African simultaneously. This is followed by Juan Tizol’s trombone laying down the theme, very softly accompanied by a reedman. The unmistakable growl of Cootie Williams’ trumpet then can be heard simmering in the background.
Barney Bigard’s clarinet then takes a solo, followed by Williams. All-in-all, this version seems to be more complex and subdued that the original, swinging a little less but more richly ornamental and evocative. Even though the entire Ellington orchestra is credited, this recording has a very intimate feel due to the focused arrangement.
Recorded in New York City on May 14, 1937. Released as Master MA 131. Later reissued as Brunswick m7997 and Columbia 36120.
The Master label was created in 1936 by Ellington manager Irving Mills (along with the Variety label). Only 40 records were issued by Master and it folded in 1937, with some of its masters then being reissued by Brunswick.
Credits (as per Brian Rust’s “Jazz and Ragtime Records, 1897-1942”, 6th Ed.) Duke Ellington – piano, arranger, director Wallace Jones, Cootie Williams – trumpet Rex Stewart – cornet Joe Nanton, Lawrence Brown – trombone Juan Tizol – valve trombone Barney Bigard – clarinet Johnny Hodges – clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax Harry Carney – clarinet, alto sax, baritone sax Otto Hardwick – alto sax, bass sax Fred Guy – guitar Hayes Alvis, Billy Taylor – string bass Sonny Greer – drums
