Recorded on February 11 & 17, 1971
Duke Ellington died on May 24, 1974 at age 75. He continued composing right up to the end of his life. (He even composed in his bed in the hospital during his final days.) Several of Ellington's biographers have asserted that the compositions from Ellington's later years are below the high standard that he'd established earlier in his career. Don't believe those biographers. Because it's baloney. ... At the very least, listen to the music and decide for yourself. You might discover that you think the music from Ellington's final years is magnificent. I know I do.
Years ago, when I was first digging deeply into Ellington's music, I found a copy of Togo Brava Suite, 2-LP set on United Artists, for a few dollars. I brought the album home and dropped the first LP on the turntable, not expecting much. (I'd read those tin-eared biographers. And I saw that the music had been recorded in 1971.) Then "C Jam Blues" came ROARING out of the speakers. It almost knocked me down! Next up was the "Togo Brava-Brava Togo Suite." It sounded different than any Ellington I'd heard before -- and not just because it featured newcomer Norris Turney's flute. In fact, the whole album was TREMENDOUS. Yes, some of the legendary voices were gone. Johnny Hodges had died, and Jimmy Hamilton had retired. But there was still so much vitality and wonder and color in that orchestra! Hearing them in full cry was like hearing all the sounds of a carnival, a caravan, a circus, all blended together in a kaleidoscope of sounds. That's when I realized that those biographers had somehow missed the boat on late Ellington.
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that his music was moving further and further afield from "jazz," a term with which Ellington had always been uncomfortable. When fans from his hometown of Washington, D.C. set up the Duke Ellington Jazz Society, he respectfully requested that they change the name of their group to the Duke Ellington Music Society. In Ellington's world, the highest praise you could offer music was to call it "beyond category." That's how he liked to envision his own music. He didn't want to be constrained by any tradition or idiom. So Ellington kept growing and trying new things. He was free to express himself however he wished, rather than being bound the past.
I suppose I don't have much to say about today's selection, The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse. Read the liner notes, and you'll have all the context you need. Then listen to the music. I think you'll hear the same sort of thing that I described above. Just don't expect to hear music that sounds like it was made thirty years earlier. Because Ellington never stopped growing.
More Duke Ellington
Along with the two recordings discussed above, here are some of my favorites from Ellington's final years:
• New Orleans Suite (Atlantic, 1970)
• Latin American Suite (Fantasy, recorded 1968 & 1970)
• The Pianist (Fantasy, recorded 1966 & 1970)
• The Private Collection, Vol. Five: New York, 1968 & 1970 (Saja)
• Togo Brava Suite (Storyville, recorded 1971; not the same as United Artist/BN release)
• Duke's Big Four (Pablo, 1974)
Plus there's one more Ellington LP coming later in the survey. It's a duo performance, and Ellington is the co-leader.
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