Can you I.D. this Duke Ellington TV documentary?

[Cousin Hepcat]

Can you I.D. this Duke Ellington TV documentary? I'd like to try to get the whole thing:

(I'm assuming this is a Duke Ellington documentary, but it's possible it could be a segment of a documentary on the Harlem Rennaisance which aired a while back, but I missed it...)

[YOUTUBE]fjI1tbAXO2w[/YOUTUBE]

Thanks,
- CH

 

[Chas]

I am not familiar with this one- have you asked the person who uploaded it where they found it?

Addie Hall is one of my favorite vocalists; the obligato over Creole Love Call's melody is a milestone in early jazz vocal improvisation, in my humble opinion.

 

[Fletch]

random thoughts on Ellington

1) Someone out on the netz said Duke's score for Anatomy of a Murder was ludicrous, tho great...because the very idea of Duke playing piano in some bar in upper Michigan was beyond implausible, it was an insult to jazz itself, because "jazz is urban." Thoughts?

2) My trio played at what's now Feinstein's At The Regency in NYC in 1998. Some very old gal came in and introduced herself to us as Ruth Ellington. We had no idea whether she really was Duke's baby sister, but we played nothing but his tunes for 2 hours, after which she thanked us graciously.

 

[Chas]

1) Someone out on the netz said Duke's score for Anatomy of a Murder was ludicrous, tho great...because the very idea of Duke playing piano in some bar in upper Michigan was beyond implausible, it was an insult to jazz itself, because "jazz is urban." Thoughts?

Complete and utter shash. Since when is art reserved for a particular landscape?

Jazz is universal; musicians from rural as well as urban areas add their voices to the chorus.

The writer of that particular passage is apparently unaware that the Duke's Orchestra played small towns and hamlets -travelling extensively, playing everything from Elk's halls to High School proms to roller rinks to Carnegie Hall. This writer needs to soak his/her head.

By the by - the last time I heard the Duke Ellington Orchestra they were playing Mount Vernon, WA. pop. 26,000

 

[Fletch]

Since when is art reserved for a particular landscape?

That conceit is a fairly recent one as far as jazz goes. It probably happened with the critical turn towards seeing it as an art music and a socioethnic music.

Those musics are often embodied in places and segments of society - they become identified with the urban intelligentsia as well as less elite groups that gave the form its roots. Who knows, that may actually cause the nonurban, nonelite audience to shrink over the years. A lot of well laureled heads may be in need of a soaking.