"Chelsea Bridge" (1941) is an impressionistic jazz standard composed by Billy Strayhorn.
"Chelsea Bridge" (1941) is an impressionistic jazz standard composed by Billy Strayhorn.
The piece was originally recorded by the Duke Ellington orchestra on 2 December 1941, with Strayhorn (rather than Ellington himself) on piano and solos by tenor saxophonist Ben Webster and valve trombonist Juan Tizol. It has since been recorded by Webster several times, including with Gerry Mulligan in 1959, as well as by Vince Guaraldi (1956), Joe Henderson (1967), Kenny Burrell (1975), Bobby Hutcherson (1988), Stan Kenton (1978), Lew Tabackin (1989), Joe Lovano (1994), Ahmad Jamal (1995), André Previn (1999 and live in 2000), Keith Jarrett (1999), and Wynton Marsalis (1999), among many others. Strayhorn himself returned to the piece, recording it as an unaccompanied piano solo on his 1961 album The Peaceful Side. Another version appears on the posthumously released album Lush Life, issued by the Red Baron label.
In 1958, lyrics were written for the song by Bill Comstock, a member of The Four Freshmen for the group's album Voices in Latin. Ella Fitzgerald recorded a wordless vocal version with Ellington on her albums Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook (1957) and Ella and Duke at the Cote D'Azur (1967), and it has also been recorded by other vocalists such as Sarah Vaughan (1979), Cassandra Wilson (1991), Tina May (1995), [1] and Dianne Reeves with Daniel Barenboim (1998).
According to Ellington biographer James Lincoln Collier, during a trip to Europe, Strayhorn was inspired by a J. M. W. Turner or James McNeill Whistler painting of Battersea Bridge and perhaps mistakenly named the song after Chelsea Bridge. [2] Strayhorn biographer David Hajdu notes that "[u]nlike conventional tune-based pop and jazz numbers of the day, 'Chelsea Bridge' is 'classical' in its integration of melody and harmony as an organic whole." He also observes that it "vividly evokes the water below" the bridge rather than the bridge itself and that the piece is indebted to the work of Claude Debussy. Hajdu also quotes noted jazz arranger and composer Gil Evans as saying, "From the moment I first heard 'Chelsea Bridge,' I set out to try to do that. That's all I did ... tried to do what Billy Strayhorn did." [3]
In an analysis of the piece's haunting melody, Gunther Schuller writes: "What Strayhorn exploited in the theme of 'Chelsea Bridge' is the duality of its chromatic harmonies. The theme is set in its first three bars in minor sixth chords with an added major seventh. However, Strayhorn causes us to hear these harmonies as if they were whole-tone chords. He achieves this effect by two means: 1) through orchestrational and dynamic stressing of the three upper notes [and] 2) by setting these sixth chords in their third inversions. This latter device takes away the rootedness of the harmonies, letting them float, so to speak, more towards the top of their structure." [4]
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life.
William Thomas Strayhorn was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger, who collaborated with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly three decades. His compositions include "Take the 'A' Train", "Chelsea Bridge", "A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing", and "Lush Life".
Harry Howell Carney was a jazz saxophonist and clarinettist who spent over four decades as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He played a variety of instruments but primarily used the baritone saxophone, being a critical influence on the instrument in jazz.
"Take the 'A' Train" is a jazz standard by Billy Strayhorn that was the signature tune of the Duke Ellington orchestra.
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Ella at Duke's Place is a 1965 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington, accompanied by his Orchestra. While it was the second studio album made by Fitzgerald and Ellington, following the 1957 song book recording, a live double album Ella and Duke at the Cote D'Azur was recorded in 1966. Ella at Duke’s Place was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 1967 Grammy Awards.
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Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book is a 1957 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by Duke Ellington and his orchestra, focusing on Ellington's songs.
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Masterpieces by Ellington is the first LP album by American pianist, composer, and bandleader Duke Ellington, recorded for the Columbia label in 1950. It was one of the earliest 12-inch LPs to take advantage of the extended time available and consisted of four tracks, three of them "concert arrangements" of Ellington standards and one, "The Tattooed Bride," a recent tone poem.
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Something to Live For: A Billy Strayhorn Songbook is an album by the pianist John Hicks, recorded in 1997 and released on the HighNote label. The album contains ten compositions by Billy Strayhorn, along with two by Hicks.
Cue for Saxophone is an album by pianist and composer Billy Strayhorn's Septet comprising members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra recorded in 1959 and originally released on the Felsted label in 1959, then reissued by Vocalion in 1962.
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The Tommy Flanagan Tokyo Recital is an album by jazz pianist Tommy Flanagan. It is a trio album, recorded in 1975, with bassist Keter Betts and drummer Bobby Durham.
