Ellingtonia, Vol. One

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Ellingtonia, Vol. One
Ellingtonia.png
Compilation album by
Duke Ellington
ReleasedJuly 1943
Recorded1927–1931
Genre Early swing, Ellingtonian jazz
Label Brunswick
Duke Ellington chronology
A Duke Ellington Panorama
(1941)		Ellingtonia, Vol. One
(1943)		 Harlem Jazz, 1930
(1943)

Ellingtonia, Vol. One is a compilation album of phonograph records assembled by Brunswick Records during the American Federation of Musicians strike, cataloguing the early, experimental Brunswick and Vocalion recordings of Duke Ellington in the middle of the Harlem Renaissance. During the later Swing era, the recordings were praised for accurately predicting the developments in the Big band genre several years in advance. [1]

Phonograph record disc-shaped vinyl analog sound storage medium

A phonograph record is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near the periphery and ends near the center of the disc. At first, the discs were commonly made from shellac; starting in the 1940s polyvinyl chloride became common. In recent decades, records have sometimes been called vinyl records, or simply vinyl or even vinyls.

Brunswick Records US record label

Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916.

On August 1, 1942, the American Federation of Musicians, at the instigation of union president James C. Petrillo, began a strike against the major American recording companies because of disagreements over royalty payments. Beginning at midnight, July 31 1942, no union musician could make commercial recordings for any commercial record company. That meant that a union musician was allowed to participate on radio programs and other kinds of musical entertainment, but not in a recording session. The 1942–44 musicians' strike remains the longest strike in entertainment history.

Contents

Reception

The first in the Brunswick series of reissues after Decca Records purchased their metal master records, the first volume of Ellingtonia was praised in Billboard magazine:

Decca Records US/British record label

Decca Records is a British major record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, along with American Decca's first president Jack Kapp and later American Decca president Milton Rackmil. In 1937, anticipating Nazi aggression leading to World War II, Lewis sold American Decca and the link between the UK and U.S. Decca labels was broken for several decades. The British label was renowned for its development of recording methods, while the American company developed the concept of cast albums in the musical genre. Both wings are now part of the Universal Music Group, which is owned by Vivendi, a media conglomerate headquartered in Paris, France. The US Decca label was the foundation company that evolved into UMG.

<i>Billboard</i> (magazine) American music magazine

Billboard is an American entertainment media brand owned by the Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group, a division of Eldridge Industries. It publishes pieces involving news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style, and is also known for its music charts, including the Hot 100 and Billboard 200, tracking the most popular songs and albums in different genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows.

Decca is now developing these old sides in what should eventually prove a goldmine for the waxwork... For a starter, the collectors' series tees off with Ellingtonia (B-1000), a rich assemblage of Duke Ellington sides... from 1927 to 1931, back to the days when the late Bubber Miley's trumpeting made the hot jazz record fans sit up and shout the praises that have carried on thru the years. [2]

The first two discs in the set were straight A-side/B-side reissues of the original recordings: Vocalion 1024 and Brunswick 6038. The new Brunswick reissue labels replaced group names originally accredited instead of or alongside Ellington, such as the/his Kentucky Club Orchestra, Washingtonians, Cotton Club Orchestra, and the used-by-many pseudonym The Jungle Band with simply Duke Ellington and His Orchestra. [3] [4]

Cotton Club Jazz club in New York City

The Cotton Club was a popular New York City nightclub from 1923 to 1940. It was located on 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue, then briefly in midtown Theater District (1935-1940) The club operated during the United States' era of Prohibition and Jim Crow era racial segregation. Black People could not initially patronize the Cotton Club, but the venue featured many of the most popular black entertainers of the era, including musicians Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, Chick Webb, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Fats Waller, Willie Bryant; vocalists Adelaide Hall, Ethel Waters, Cab Calloway, Bessie Smith, Aida Ward, Avon Long, the Dandridge Sisters, the Will Vodery Choir, The Mills Brothers, Nina Mae McKinney, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, and dancers such as Katherine Dunham, Bill Robinson, The Nicholas Brothers, Charles 'Honi' Coles, Leonard Reed, Stepin Fetchit, the Berry Brothers, The Four Step Brothers, Jeni Le Gon and Earl Snakehips Tucker.

According to Joel Whitburn, five of the set's eight songs charted when they were first released: "Mood Indigo" peaked at number 3 for one week, "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" reached number 10, a different version of "Black and Tan Fantasy" hit number 15, "The Mooche" was a number 16 hit and lastly, "Rockin' in Rhythm" briefly appeared at number 19. [5]

Mood Indigo song

"Mood Indigo" is a jazz song with music by Duke Ellington and Barney Bigard and lyrics by Irving Mills.

East St. Louis Toodle-Oo

"East St Louis Toodle-Oo" is a composition written by Duke Ellington and Bubber Miley and recorded several times by Ellington for various labels from 1926-1930 under various titles. This song was the first charting single for Duke Ellington in 1927 and was one of the main examples of his early "jungle music". This composition was covered by Steely Dan on their 1974 album Pretzel Logic.

"Black and Tan Fantasy" is a 1927 jazz composition by Duke Ellington and Bubber Miley. The song was recorded several times in 1927 for the Okeh, RCA Victor and Brunswick record labels. The song was also featured in the 1929 short film Black and Tan. The Victor recording is an inductee of the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Track listing

These previously issued songs, all Ellington compositions, were featured on a 4-disc, 78 rpm album set, Brunswick Album No. B-1000.

Disc 1: (80000)

  1. "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo", recorded March 14, 1927.
  2. "Birmingham Breakdown", recorded February 28, 1927. [6]

Disc 2: (80001)

  1. "Rockin' in Rhythm", recorded January 14, 1931.
  2. "Twelfth Street Rag", recorded January 14, 1931. [6]

Disc 3: (80002)

  1. "Black and Tan Fantasy", recorded April 7, 1927.
  2. "The Mooche", recorded October 17, 1928. [6]

Disc 4: (80003)

  1. "Mood Indigo", recorded October 17, 1930.
  2. "Wall Street Wail", recorded December 10, 1929. [6]

Related Research Articles

Barney Bigard American musician

Albany Leon "Barney" Bigard was an American jazz clarinetist known for his 15-year tenure with Duke Ellington. He also played tenor saxophone.

James Wesley "Bubber" Miley was an American early jazz trumpet and cornet player, specializing in the use of the plunger mute.

Tricky Sam Nanton American musician

Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton was an American trombonist with the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

Vocalion Records American record label

For Decca's Vocalion label, see Disques Vogue

Al Hibbler American baritone vocalist

Albert George "Al" Hibbler was an American baritone vocalist, who sang with Duke Ellington's orchestra before having several pop hits as a solo artist. Some of Hibbler's singing is classified as rhythm and blues, but he is best seen as a bridge between R&B and traditional pop music. According to one authority, "Hibbler cannot be regarded as a jazz singer but as an exceptionally good interpreter of twentieth-century popular songs who happened to work with some of the best jazz musicians of the time."

<i>Ella and Duke at the Cote DAzur</i> 1967 live album by Ella Fitzgerald

Ella and Duke at the Cote D'Azur is a 1967 live album by Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by the big band of Duke Ellington.

<i>Ellington at Newport</i> 1956 live album by Duke Ellington

Ellington at Newport is a 1956 live jazz album by Duke Ellington and his band of their 1956 concert at the Newport Jazz Festival, a concert which revitalized Ellington's flagging career. Jazz promoter George Wein describes the 1956 concert as "the greatest performance of [Ellington's] career... It stood for everything that jazz had been and could be.". It is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, which ranks it "one of the most famous... in jazz history". The original release partly recreated in the studio after the Ellington Orchestra's festival appearance.

This is the discography of Duke Ellington. Most of these recordings are listed by the year they were recorded rather than year released. Reissues are listed for most of the recordings released before the 1950s, as the original 78s are rare. The US chart listing information should be considered tentative because sources like the Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories does not take the cheaper dime-store records into account. During this period, records sold by song title, not by artist, although there are exceptions.

"Among My Souvenirs" is a 1927 song with words by Edgar Leslie and music by Horatio Nicholls.

<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>The Great Summit</i> 1961 studio album by Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong

The Great Summit: The Master Takes is a 2001 Blue Note album by Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. It's a reissue of the two Roulette albums Together For The First Time and The Great Reunion from 1961.

<i>Live at the Blue Note</i> (Duke Ellington album) 1959 live album by Duke Ellington

Live at the Blue Note is a live album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded at The Blue Note nightclub in Chicago for the Roulette label in 1959.

<i>Duke Ellington at Fargo, 1940 Live</i> 1978 album by Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington at Fargo, 1940 Live is a live album by the Duke Ellington Orchestra that won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 1980. The album was recorded at a dance in Fargo, North Dakota.

<i>The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz</i> 1973 compilation album

The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz is a six-LP box set released in 1973 by the Smithsonian Institution. Compiled by jazz essayist and historian Martin Williams, the album featured tracks from over a dozen record labels spanning several decades and genres of American jazz, from ragtime and big band to post-bop and free jazz. The compilation has been recognized as an invaluable document of jazz history and maintains a legacy as introductory listening for new jazz fans as well as scholarship due to its extensive liner notes.

<i>Homage to Duke</i> 1993 studio album by Dave Grusin

Homage to Duke is an album by American pianist Dave Grusin released in 1993, recorded for GRP Records, and is Grusin's interpretation of Duke Ellington's music.

<i>Star Dust</i> (Bing Crosby album) 1940 compilation album by Bing Crosby

Star Dust is an album of phonograph records by Bing Crosby released in 1940 featuring songs that are sung sentimentally, being based upon the 1927 popular song "Star Dust". This album featured his 1939 Decca recording of the song, not the 1931 recording he made for Brunswick.

<i>The Duke</i> (Joe Jackson album) 2012 studio album by Joe Jackson

The Duke is the seventeenth studio album by English musician Joe Jackson. The album was released on 26 June 2012 by Razor & Tie Recordings.

<i>Harlem Jazz, 1930</i> 1943 compilation album by Various

Harlem Jazz, 1930 is a compilation album of phonograph records assembled by Brunswick Records during the American Federation of Musicians strike, cataloguing the effect of the Harlem Renaissance on what was known as Dixieland, or "hot" jazz in New York City. The album features venues the orchestras played at the time of the recordings, such as Connie's Inn or The Cotton Club.

<i>Ellingtonia, Vol. Two</i> 1944 compilation album by Duke Ellington

Ellingtonia, Vol. Two is a compilation album of phonograph records assembled by Brunswick Records during the American Federation of Musicians strike, cataloguing the famed early recordings of Duke Ellington on Brunswick and Vocalion Records. During the later Swing era, the recordings were praised for accurately predicting the developments in the Big band genre several years in advance.

References

  1. ↑ "Biography by William Ruhlmann". Allmusic . Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  2. ↑ "Popular Albums" (PDF). American Radio History. The Billboard. 3 July 1943. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  3. ↑ "Duke Ellington And His Kentucky Club Orchestra – East St. Louis Toodle-O / Birmingham Breakdown". Discogs . Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  4. ↑ "Duke Ellington And His Orchestra – Ellingtonia Volume 1". Discogs . Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  5. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2015). Pop Memories, The History of American Popular Music 1900-1940.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Brunswick 80000 Re-Issue series - numerical listing". 78discography.com. The Online Discographical Project. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
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