Duke Ellington's Sacred Concerts

Last updated

In the last decade of his life, Duke Ellington wrote three Sacred Concerts:

Duke Ellington American jazz musician, composer and band leader

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and leader of a jazz orchestra, which he led from 1923 until his death over a career spanning more than fifty years.

Contents

Ellington called these concerts "the most important thing I have ever done". He said many times that he was not trying to compose a "Mass" (liturgy). The critic Gary Giddins has characterized these concerts as Ellington bringing the Cotton Club revue to the church. [1]

Gary Giddins American director and writer

Gary Giddins is an American jazz and film critic, author, and director, best known for his longtime work with The Village Voice. Born in Brooklyn, and raised on Long Island, Giddins graduated from Grinnell College, Iowa, in 1970. After some freelance work as a music and film critic, in 1974 he started writing his column "Weather Bird" for the Village Voice, which he ended in December 2003. In 1986 Gary Giddins and John Lewis created the American Jazz Orchestra which presented concerts using a jazz repertory with musicians such as Tony Bennett.

Concert of Sacred Music

A Concert of Sacred Music
A Concert of Sacred Music.jpg
Live album by
Duke Ellington
Released1966
RecordedDecember 26, 1965
Genre Jazz
Label RCA
Duke Ellington chronology
Ella at Duke's Place
(1965)		A Concert of Sacred Music
(1966)		 The Stockholm Concert, 1966
(1966)

As early as October 1962, the Reverend John S. Yaryan approached Ellington about performing at the new Grace Cathedral in San Francisco when it opened in 1965.[ citation needed ] The cathedral planned a "Festival of Grace", with a variety of cultural works and speakers, to occur during the first year the cathedral was open, and Ellington's concert was to be a part of it. [2] (The "festival" also included a performance by Vince Guaraldi. [3] )

Grace Cathedral, San Francisco Gothic cathedral in San Francisco

Grace Cathedral is an Episcopal cathedral on Nob Hill, San Francisco, California. It is the cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of California.

Vince Guaraldi American musician

Vincent Anthony Guaraldi, born Vincent Anthony Dellaglio, was an American jazz pianist noted for his innovative compositions and arrangements and for composing music for animated television adaptations of the Peanuts comic strip, as well as his performances on piano as a member of Cal Tjader's 1950s ensembles and for his own solo career which included the radio hit Cast Your Fate to the Wind.

The concert premiered on September 16, 1965, and was recorded by KQED, a local public television station. [2] The performance was released on CD as A Concert of Sacred Music Live from Grace Cathedral and on DVD as Love You Madly/A Concert of Sacred Music at Grace Cathedral. The official album on RCA, A Concert of Sacred Music, was recorded at two concerts at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York on December 26, 1965. Additional material from these concerts, not found on the original album, can be found on the 24-CD box set The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (1927-1973). The concert mixed existing and new material, with "New World A-Commin" and "Come Sunday" from Black Brown and Beige and "Heritage (My Mother, My Father)" from the show My People. A new piece, the song "In the Beginning God", was awarded a Grammy Award in 1967. [4] It was performed again at Grace Cathedral on its 25th and 50th anniversaries, in 1990 and 2015. [2]

KQED, virtual channel 9, is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States and serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The station is owned by Northern California Public Broadcasting, through subsidiary KQED, Inc., alongside fellow PBS station KQEH and NPR member radio station KQED-FM (88.5). The three stations share studios on Mariposa Street in San Francisco's Mission District; KQED and KQEH share transmitter facilities atop Sutro Tower.

Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church Church in New York, United States

Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church (FAPC) is a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) church in New York City. The church, located on Fifth Avenue at 7 West 55th Street in Midtown Manhattan, has approximately 2,200 members and is one of the larger PCUSA congregations. The church, which was founded in 1808 as the Cedar Street Presbyterian Church, has been located at this site since 1875.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Richard S. Ginell awarded the album five stars and stated "the concert taps into Ellington's roots in showbiz and African-American culture as well as his evidently deep religious faith, throwing it all together in the spirit of universality and sealing everything with the stamps of his musical signatures". [5]

Ebony magazine called the piece "historic", situating it as part of a larger movement in the mid-60s that brought together jazz and religion. [3]

<i>Ebony</i> (magazine) magazine

Ebony is a monthly magazine for the African-American market. It was founded by John H. Johnson in Chicago and has published continuously since the autumn of 1945. A digest-sized sister magazine, Jet, was founded by the Johnson Publishing Company in 1951. After 71 years, in 2016, Johnson sold the publications to private equity firm Clear View Group. The new publisher is known as Ebony Media Corporation.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [5]

Track listing

All compositions by Duke Ellington
  1. "In the Beginning God" - 19:36
  2. "Will You Be There?" - 1:23
  3. "Ninety Nine Percent" - 2:23
  4. "Ain't But the One" - 3:31
  5. "New World a'Coming" - 9:56
  6. "In the Beginning, God II" - 4:31
  7. "Heritage" - 3:42
  8. "The Lord's Prayer" - 3:16
  9. "Come Sunday" - 5:30
  10. "David Danced Before the Lord With All His Might" - 9:00
  11. "The Lord's Prayer II" - 4:56

The album was recorded at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church on December 26, 1965.

Personnel

Second Sacred Concert

Second Sacred Concert
Second Sacred Concert.jpg
Studio album by
Duke Ellington
Released1968
RecordedJanuary 22 & February 19, 1968
Genre Jazz
Label Prestige
Duke Ellington chronology
Yale Concert
(1968)		Second Sacred Concert
(1968)		 Studio Sessions New York, 1968
(1968)

Ellington's Second Sacred Concert premiered at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York on January 19, 1968, but no recording of this actual performance has surfaced. The Second Sacred Concert was then recorded on January 22 and February 19, 1968, at Fine Studio in New York and originally issued as a double LP on Prestige Records and reissued on one CD, minus the tracks, "Don't Get Down On Your Knees To Pray Until You Have Forgiven Everyone" and "Father Forgive". [6] All the tracks can be found in the 24-CD box set The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (1927-1973).

This concert is the first time Swedish singer Alice Babs recorded with the Ellington Orchestra. In the concert she sang "Heaven" and the wordless vocal, "T.G.T.T. (Too Good to Title)". Cootie Williams has a "growl" trumpet feature on "The Shepherd (Who Watches Over the Night Flock)". This piece is dedicated to Rev. John Garcia Gensel, Lutheran pastor to the jazz community. The climactic ending is "Praise God and Dance", which comes from Psalm 150.

At the invitation of the Harvard Episcopal Chaplaincy, Ellington gave the concert again at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Boston on April 20, 1969.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Richard S. Ginell awarded the album 4 stars and stated "the material is fresh, not a patchwork of old and new like the first concert — and in an attempt to be as ecumenical as possible, Ellington reaches for novel techniques and sounds beyond his usual big band spectrum". [7]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [7]

Track listing

All compositions by Duke Ellington
  1. "Praise God" - 3:09
  2. "Supreme Being" - 11:45
  3. "Heaven" - 4:55
  4. "Something About Believing" - 8:12
  5. "Almighty God" - 6:32
  6. "The Shepherd (Who Watches over the Flock)" - 7:10
  7. "It's Freedom" - 13:00
  8. "Meditation" - 3:10
  9. "The Biggest and Busiest Intersection" - 3:57
  10. "T.G.T.T. (Too Good to Title)" - 2:25
  11. "Don't Get Down On Your Knees To Pray Until You Have Forgiven Everyone" - 5:13 Omitted from CD reissue
  12. "Father Forgive" - 2:49 Omitted from CD reissue
  13. "Praise God And Dance" - 10:49
    • Recorded at Fine Studio in New York on January 22 (tracks 3, 5, 7, 10 & 13) and February 19 (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11 & 12), 1968.

Personnel

Third Sacred Concert

Third Sacred Concert
Third Sacred Concert.jpg
Live album by
Duke Ellington
Released1975
Recorded24 October 1973
Genre Jazz
Label RCA
Duke Ellington chronology
It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing
(1973)		Third Sacred Concert
(1975)		 Eastbourne Performance
(1973)

The Third Sacred Concert was built around the skills of Alice Babs, Harry Carney, and Ellington himself on the piano. It was premiered at Westminster Abbey in London, United Kingdom on October 24, 1973, and released on LP in 1975 but has only been issued on CD as part of the 24-disc The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (1927-1973) collection. [8]

At this point in his life, Ellington knew he was dying. Author Janna Tull Steed has written that of all the concerts that Ellington is addressing God facing his mortality. [9] Alice Babs sings Is God a Three Letter Word for Love? and My Love. Tenor saxophonist Harold Ashby is featured on The Brotherhood, which is a tribute to The United Nations.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Richard S. Ginell awarded the album 3 stars and stated "the weakest of the sacred concerts. It lacks the showbiz kick and exuberance of the first concert and even more eclectic impulses of the second, now burdened with a subdued solemnity and the sense that the ailing Ellington knew his time was drawing to a close (he would be dead exactly six months later)". [10]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [10]

Track listing

All compositions by Duke Ellington
  1. Introduction By Sir Colin Crowe - 1:28
  2. Duke Ellington's Introduction - 1:26
  3. "The Lord's Prayer: My Love" - 7:49
  4. "Is God A Three-Letter Word For Love? (Part I)" - 4:27
  5. "Is God A Three-Letter Word For Love? (Part II)" - 3:46
  6. "The Brotherhood" - 5:46
  7. "Hallelujah" - 3:32
  8. "Every Man Prays In His Own Language" - 11:10
  9. "Ain't Nobody Nowhere Nothin' Without God" - 4:20
  10. "The Majesty Of God" - 7:27
    • Recorded at Westminster Abbey, London on October 24, 1973.

Personnel

Notes

  1. ↑ Giddins, Gary Visions of Jazz: The First Century ( ISBN   0195076753) p. 491.
  2. 1 2 3 "From the Club to the Cathedral: Revisiting Duke Ellington's Controversial 'Sacred Concert'". KQED. 2015-09-14. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  3. 1 2 Johnson, David Brent (2011-05-19). "Sacred Blue: Jazz Goes To Church In the 1960s". Night Lights Classic Jazz - Indiana Public Media. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  4. ↑ "Duke Ellington". The GRAMMYs. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  5. 1 2 Ginell, R. S. Allmusic Review accessed June 8, 2010
  6. ↑ A Duke Ellington Panorama accessed May 17, 2010
  7. 1 2 Ginell, R. S. Allmusic Review accessed June 8, 2010
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
  9. ↑ Steed page 148
  10. 1 2 Ginell, R. S. Allmusic Review accessed June 8, 2010

Related Research Articles

<i>Ella at Dukes Place</i> 1965 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald

Ella at Duke's Place is a 1965 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by the Duke Ellington 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 1967.

<i>The Stockholm Concert, 1966</i> 1984 live album by Ella Fitzgerald

The Stockholm Concert, 1966 is a 1966 live album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied in part by the Duke Ellington Orchestra. The recording remained unreleased until 1984.

<i>...And His Mother Called Him Bill</i> 1968 studio album by Duke Ellington

...And His Mother Called Him Bill is a studio album by Duke Ellington recorded in the wake of the 1967 death of his long-time collaborator, Billy Strayhorn. It won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 1969.

<i>Soul Call</i> 1967 live album by Duke Ellington

Soul Call is a 1967 live album by Duke Ellington and his orchestra, recorded live at the Juan-les-Pins/Antibes Jazz Festival on the Côte d'Azur. Ella Fitzgerald appeared with Ellington and his band at the same festival, and a more complete version of Ellington's appearance at the festival is documented on the 1998 album Ella and Duke at the Cote D'Azur.

<i>New Orleans Suite</i> 1970 studio album by Duke Ellington

New Orleans Suite is the eighth studio album by American pianist, composer, and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded and released on the Atlantic label in 1970. The album features the final recordings of longtime Ellington saxophonist Johnny Hodges, who died between the album's two recording sessions. The album won a Grammy Award in 1971 for Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band.

<i>Togo Brava Suite</i> 1971 live album by Duke Ellington

Togo Brava Suite is an album by American pianist, composer, and bandleader Duke Ellington. It was recorded in England and released by United Artists Records in 1971. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band in 1972. The album was later reissued on CD by Blue Note in 1994, and studio recordings of the complete "Togo Brava Suite" were released in 2001 by Storyville.

<i>The Popular Duke Ellington</i> 1967 album by Duke Ellington

The Popular Duke Ellington is a studio album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington featuring many of the tunes associated with his orchestra rerecorded in 1966 and released on the RCA label in 1967.

<i>Concert in the Virgin Islands</i> 1965 album by Duke Ellington

Concert in the Virgin Islands is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded and released on the Reprise label in 1965. The album features studio recordings that Duke composed after he and his orchestra played concerts on St. Croix and St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands in April, 1965. This album includes the four-part Virgin Islands Suite, as well as numbers played at the concerts on the islands.

<i>Duke Ellington Plays Mary Poppins</i> 1965 album by Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington Plays Mary Poppins is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded in 1964 and released on the Reprise label in 1965. The album features recordings of tunes from the 1964 musical film Mary Poppins arranged by Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.

<i>Ellington 65</i> 1965 album by Duke Ellington

Ellington '65 is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded in 1964 and released on the Reprise label in 1965. The album features recordings of popular tunes arranged by Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, a formula that was revisited on Ellington '66 (1966).

<i>The Symphonic Ellington</i> 1964 album by Duke Ellington

The Symphonic Ellington is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded and released on the Reprise label in 1963. The album features recordings of Ellington's orchestra with the Paris Symphony Orchestra, the Stockholm Symphony Orchestra, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, and the La Scala Symphony Orchestra.

<i>Afro-Bossa</i> 1963 album by Duke Ellington

Afro-Bossa is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded and released on the Reprise label in 1963.

<i>70th Birthday Concert</i> (Duke Ellington album) 1970 live album by Duke Ellington

70th Birthday Concert is a live album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded in England recorded at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England and originally released on the Solid State label in 1970. The album was later reissued on CD on the Blue Note label in 1995.

<i>Latin American Suite</i> 1972 studio album by Duke Ellington

Latin American Suite is a studio album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington mainly recorded in 1968, with one track completed in 1970, and released on the Fantasy label in 1972.

<i>The Jaywalker</i> 2004 album by Duke Ellington

The Jaywalker is a studio album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington featuring tracks recorded in 1966 and 1967 and released on the Storyville label in 2004.

<i>In the Uncommon Market</i> 1986 live album by Duke Ellington

In the Uncommon Market is a live album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded in Europe in 1963 and 1966 and released on the Pablo label in 1986.

<i>Duke Ellington at the Alhambra</i> live album by Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington at the Alhambra is a live album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded in 1958 at the Alhambra Theater, Paris and released on the Pablo label in 2002.

<i>Studio Sessions, New York 1962</i> 1987 album by Duke Ellington

Studio Sessions, New York 1962 is the third volume of The Private Collection a series of recordings made by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington for his personal collection which was first released on the LMR label in 1987 and later on the Saja label.

<i>Studio Sessions New York, 1968</i> 1987 album by Duke Ellington

Studio Sessions New York, 1968 is the ninth volume of The Private Collection a series documenting recordings made by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington for his personal collection which was first released on the LMR label in 1987 and later on the Saja label.

<i>Studio Sessions New York & Chicago, 1965, 1966 & 1971</i> 1987 album by Duke Ellington

Studio Sessions New York & Chicago, 1965, 1966 & 1971 is the tenth volume of The Private Collection—a series documenting recordings made by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington for his personal collection which was first released on the LMR label in 1987 and later on the Saja label.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.