BULLETIN NR 4, NOVEMBER 2017, ÅRGÅNG 25
Louie Bellson
The World´s greatest Drummer according to
Duke Ellington
2 Ledare och Hal Singer 3 Mötesrecention
4 Louie Bellson
8 Louie Bellson´s Drumkit 9 Duke Ellington
and Fredi Washington
12 Duke Ellington i Sverige 1963 14 Bojangles
16 Ny bok
17 Stockholm Swing All Stars 18 Duke Ellingtons notskrivare 19 Hedersmedlem
20 Kallelse
I detta nummer / In this issue:
4-2017
Leif Jönsson, ordförande i DESS
Vi går mot årets slut.
I och med att vi går mot årets slut måste vi samtidigt börja planera för det kom- mande året. Om det är någon av våra medlemmar som har synpunkter på vår verksamhet och vill framföra dessa på vårt kommande årsmöte i februari så vill jag påminna om att motioner skall vara styrelsen till handa senast den 31 december innevarande år. Nya kreativa idéer är välkomna.
När det gäller föreningens ekonomi så kan jag glädjande konstatera att vi i det närmaste har levt upp till årets budget och vi kan leva med samma nivå på medlemsavgiften även nästa år. Men det betyder naturligtvis att ni alla betalar medlemsavgiften. Med den Bulletin, som Du just nu läser, finns vidhäftat ett inbetalningskort, som jag hoppas ni lägger högst upp i högen av de räkningar som skall betalas före årets utgång. Jag tackar på förhand.
Våra medlemsmöten under året har ägt rum i Franska Skolans lilla aula.
Det är en lokal som lämpar sig tämli-
gen väl för våra behov. Akustiken är bra och musikerna behöver sällan till- gång till högtalare. Lokalen användes ofta på sin tid av SAMI som en inspel- ningsateljé. Franska Skolan hyr ofta ut lokalen på kvällstid, men prioritet har naturligtvis skolan själv för sin kurs- verksamhet. Vid medlemsmötet den 2 oktober behövde skolan tillgång till aulan och vår tid blev därmed reduce- rad, vilket kan ha påverkat besöksan- talet. Kommande möte var ursprungli- gen planerat till den 11 december, men även denna dag gör Franska Skolan anspråk på lokalen för egen del, och vi har därför kommit överens med skolan om att flytta mötet till torsdagen den 7 december och har därmed undvikit någon tidsbegränsning. Se kallelse på sidan 20. Programmet denna kväll är enligt min mening superbt och jag hop- pas på bättre anslutning denna gång.
Om ett år kan alla våra medlemmar se fram emot en kanske väntad över- raskning. Vi kommer att producera vår
CD nummer 5 med intressant Elling- tonmaterial. Kanske kommer det att ske i samarbete med vår engelska sys- terförening precis som i fallet med CD nummer 4. Anders Asplund arbetar redan nu med den och jag vågar lova er att ni inte kommer att bli besvikna.
Till slut kan jag glädjande nog med- dela att DESS styrelse utsett Göran Wallén till hedersmedlem. Det är han mer än väl värd. Det var han som tog initiativ till att bilda vår förening och till de lyckade konferenserna 1994 och 2004. Vi är glada och tacksamma att ha Göran med i vår styrelse. Han är en
”doer”. Läs mer om Göran på annan plats i denna Bulletin.
Avslutningsvis önskar jag er alla En God Jul och Ett Gott Nytt Jazzår!
I artikeln ”Tenoristerna mellan Webster och Gonsalves” i Bulletin 3/2017 nämn- des att inga uppgifter kunde hittas, som bevisade att Singer ingått i Ellingtons band under sommaren/hösten 1948, vilket påstods i New DESOR och även i Feathers ”Encyclopedia of Jazz”. All övrig facklitteratur om Ellington ger inget stöd för detta, men DESS-medlemmen Lars Walter har låtit oss få ta del av en intres- sant intervju med Hal Singer som publi- cerades i aprilnumret 2006 av tidskriften
”Blues & Rhythm”. Här följer ett utdrag ur intervjun:
How did you get the job with Duke Ellington?
From being friends with Sonny Greer and Johnny Hodges. Duke went to England and they wouldn’t let him bring his band, so the fellows remained in New York. I was working at the Baby Grande, and they were working just up the street, so we began to socialize. When Duke came back, I went to the dance, and they asked “Have you got
Hal Singer
your horn?”, so I said “No, I don’t have my horn, but I’ll go home and get it” – ‘cause I was living in Brooklyn at the time – I said
“But Duke won’t let me play with you” and Sonny Greer said “This is MY band!” and
Johnny Hodges said “Yeah, that’s right!”
So what I did after I joined Duke’s or- chestra. The clarinet player Jimmy Hamil- ton didn’t like playing saxophone, so he used to double the tenor part on clarinet to get another sound, so I came in on te- nor, but you know Jimmy had been in that band for years. I never forgave him for that;
and Ellington didn’t call any tunes – just
‘boom boom boom’ and everybody knew what they were doing! But I’ve got to look through the book, and a lot of time they didn’t start playing like a normal band.
This cat Hamilton wouldn’t say nothing.
Sometimes they’d be through with the tune before I could even find it! And I was there six months, and then ‘Corn Bread’ came out, and I quit. So I told Hamilton “Man, you about the saddest man I’ve ever met!
You know when someone new comes in the band, you should help them out.” ‘Cause we never had no rehearsals. But nobody talked to each other in that band – too many egos. It was a funny band, but when they wanted to play, they could play!
Foto: Göran Wallén
Efter sedvanliga datatekniska problem, som denna gång kunde lösas tack vare Sonja Svensson, eftersom de ordinarie kunniga inte var härstädes, kunde höstens näst sista möte i DESS komma igång. Då Ivan Sundberg var tvingad att tacka nej, kunde Leif Hallin hoppa in som ersättare och stå för kvällens nostalgiska inslag. Som de flesta i vår förening troligen känner till finns en stor mängd entimmes-inspelningar av Leif Andersons ”Smoke Rings” på nätet. Nya inspelningar tillkommer ständigt. Under nätbeteckningen ”Radiogodis” kan man frossa i nostalgi av alla de slag, inte minst av Leifs skrovliga Ellingtonstämma.
Detta hade vår Leif tagit fasta på och lät oss lyssna till valda inslag från de många år som ”Smoke Rings ” sändes.
Vi fick bl a lyssna till Sweet dreams of love och Boo-Dah (1953) från det första programmet och If You Were In
My Place (1938) i det sista. Det första programmet sändes den 12 september 1960 och det sista 14 november 1999.
Då hade rekordet från Sven Jerrings
”Barnens Brevlåda” överträffats med en sändning, dvs 1.786 gånger. I en nyhetssändning den 27 november 1999 kunde hallåmannen meddela att Leif
”Smoke Rings” Anderson hade avlidit.
Förnämlig kammarjazz
Kvällens musikaliska inslag levererade trion Klas Lindquist, altsax och klarinett, Erik Söderlind, gitarr och Svante Söderqvist, bas, och var mycket underhållande. Normalt brukar de arbeta som kvartett, men jag tror ingen saknade trummorna denna kväll. Musikvalet var till största delen Ellington-baserat med ett par ”udda” inslag.
De öppnade konserten med In A Mellotone, som gav oss lekfulla tonkaskader och en försmak av vad
instrumenten kan prestera. Därefter vad det dags för Satin Doll med känsliga tolkningar av melodin och fina baskommentarer. Redan nu skall det också sägas att Svante Söderqvist firade stora triumfer med sin bas under hela kvällen. Och gick rakt in i tonsjälen på undertecknad. Sedan följde In A Sentimental Mood, där Klas växlade över till klarinett. Även här var de känslosamma basinsatserna skickliga. Numera och sedan ”Dompan”
lämnade konsertscenen är det sällan man hör skickligt klarinettspel, förutom i tradjazzens grupper. Tack Klas!
Georg Coleman, känd bl a från samarbetet med Miles Davis, var upphovsman till nästa melodi, You Never Know What You Mean To Me. Det är en tät melodi, med såväl explosivt altsaxspel som passande klarinettoner.
Jag fick faktiskt en känsla av 50-60-talets västkustjazz, och t ex Jimmy Giuffres piano- och slagverkslösa grupper, under framförandet. Därefter Billy Strayhorns Isfahan, från The Far East Suite, en vacker ballad med Klas på klarinett och ett mycket intelligent basspel av Svante, med bl a stråke och ordlösa nynnanden á la Slam Stewart. Kul! Take the ”A” Train”, en tur och retur Harlem, var nästa Ellingtonmelodi. Här fick vi omväxlande lyssna till en lågmäld, men också fartfylld altsax och dessutom i
¾-takt, dvs valstakt.
Klas Lindquist egen komposition och frågan: Where Is Your Heart? var nästa melodi som gav oss fina och vältolkade gitarrsoli från Erik Söderlind. It Don´t Mean A Thing i ett kraftfullt up-tempo avslutade kvällen med minnesvärda insatser av altsax/bas, gitarr/bas och även enskilda solo-prestationer. Som extranummer serverades I Got It Bad.
Thomas Harne
Nostalgi och toppenjazz
Place Duke´s
(“Corn Bread” syftar på en inspelning som Hal Singer gjorde för Savoy 1948 och som blev en stor framgång för ho- nom)
I och med innehållet i denna intervju har vi ett bevis för att Hal Singer ingick under ett antal månader i Duke Elling- tons orkester, men han deltog aldrig i några inspelningar, och därmed ham- nade han under radarn eftersom hans namn inte återfinns i diskografierna.
Hans erfarenheter av stämningen i El- lingtons band och relationerna mellan musikerna delas av många andra mu- siker som plötsligt ryckte in i bandet.
Duke Ellington turnerade i England under juli månad 1948 tillsammans med Kay Davis och Ray Nance. Han var tillbaka i New York den 4 augusti och orkestern återupptog sin verksam- het fr.o.m. 25 augusti. Det torde alltså vara från och med detta datum som Hal Singer har en plats i orkestern. En- gagemanget bör rimligen ha varat till november 1948. Hans egen uppgift om sex månader torde inte stämma.
Det är dokumenterat att Ellington engagerades den 22 t.o.m. 31 okto- ber 1948 för att öppna klubben ”Duke Ellington’s Club” i Washington, D.C.
Klubben ville förlänga kontraktet men Ellington hade andra åtaganden och det bestämdes att Hal Singer skulle bilda ett band och ta på sig uppdraget. Han annonserades som ”Hal Singer and His Swing Sensations – Creators of the Re- cord Hit ’Cornbread’”. Enligt Ken Vails
“Duke’s Diary” är Singer tillbaka i El- lingtons band den 6 november men han är bevisligen inte med vid Carnegie Hall konserten den 13 november 1948 eller i några senare inspelningar. Ben Webster hade nu återinträtt i bandet.
1965 emigrerade Hal Singer till Frankrike, där han gifte sig och bildade familj. Tillsammans med sin franska fru Arlette, författade de boken ”Jazz Ro- ads Hal Singer, Edition #1”, där ett ka- pitel betitlat ”Le Duke”, omfattande 14 sidor, ägnas åt Hals erfarenheter av sitt engagemang hos Ellington. Tyvärr finns boken endast att tillgå på franska och undertecknad har därmed inte haft möj- lighet tillgodogöra sig innehållet. Emel- lertid lär han säga följande om Ellingtons band: ”det var den underligaste orkester som jag någonsin arbetat med.”
Bo Haufman
Professional career starts
After finishing his high school stu- dies Louie started his professional career. He found it necessary to get a stage name and picked the name Louie Bellson. His name is often misspelled
“Louis” and such a competent jazz aut- hor as Stanley Dance is constantly re- ferring to him as “Louis”. Dance edited Duke Ellington’s autobiography Music Is My Mistress, and here he has throug- hout misspelled the name.
After having played with various lo- cal bands he was engaged in 1941 by Ted Fio Rito, who was running a popu- lar society band at the time. However, it didn’t take long before Benny Good- man heard about the talented drum- mer and in September 1942 he hired Louie. But after a few months he was fired. The reason was that once Louie got heavy applause from the audience when Sing Sing Sing was performed.
Goodman could not stand that. No one in the band was allowed to be more popular than Goodman himself. Ho- wever, after a short while Goodman realized what a great drummer he had got rid of, and Louie was soon rehired.
In 1943, Louie was drafted and ser- ved as a drummer in a military band stationed in Washington, DC. The band primarily entertained wounded soldiers at a military hospital. He was released from the army in 1946 and re- turned to Ted Fio Rito’s band, where
he started to practice the system with two bass drums. Howe- ver, it didn’t take long before Good- man lured him back in May 1946 against heavy protests from Fio Rito. With Good- man there was no possibility to experi- ment with two bass drums, but when
Goodman towards the end of 1946 re- duced his activities Louie was hired by Tommy Dorsey, who gladly accepted Louie’s ideas of two bass drums. The engagement with Dorsey lasted until the end of 1950 when Louie had shor- ter stints with Ray Anthony and Woo- dy Herman. Afterwards, he found a position in Harry James’s band. It was during this stay he struck up a lifelong friendship with Juan Tizol, who was working with James at the time.
The Great James Robbery
Towards the end of the 1940s and early 1950s the big bands began to face pro- blems. Many orchestra leaders disban- ded because of a poor economy. The clubs could not afford big bands and were rather looking for small groups.
Harry James was also facing these pro- blems, and the band had long periods of unemployment between appearances.
So when Norman Granz lured Johnny
Hodges, Lawrence Brown and Sonny Greer away from the Ellington orchestra everything ensued for what came to be known as “The Great James Robbery”.
As the story goes Ellington called Ti- zol to ask him to return to his band and bring Willie Smith with him. Tizol then suggested that Ellington should also em- ploy Louie Bellson and the three joined Duke Ellington on March 27, 1951. Much have been written about this “raid” in the jazz literature.
Louie didn’t replace Sonny Greer immediately. Before he joined, Elling- ton had employed first Bill Clark and later Charlie Smith on the drum chair.
The arrival of the three new members meant a lot to Duke Ellington and his orchestra. Some critics have argued that the Ellington band had become a bit sloppy. Louie Bellson gave the band a lift with his energetic modern drum- ming and his two bass drums. Willie Smith insisted on stricter discipline.
Louie Bellson
The World’s Greatest Drummer according to Duke Ellington
Louie Bellson was born on July 6, 1924, in Rock Falls, IL. In Leonard Feather’s “Encyclopedia of Jazz” his birth date is erroneously identified as July 24. His full name is Luigi Paulino Alfredo Franceso Antonio Balassoni.
His parents were immigrants from Italy and settled in
Moline, IL., where Louie’s father started a music shop
selling musical instruments and records. Louie got to try
out various kinds of instruments but already at an early
age he got fascinated by the drum. In his teens, he took
drum lessons from Roy Knapp, who once taught Gene
Krupa. At the age of seventeen he took part in a drum
contest arranged by Slingerland with Gene Krupa as the
judge. Among several thousand contestants, Krupa selec-
ted Louie as the winner.
He was a good soloist but could not compete with Johnny Hodges, and he never played any of Hodges’s tradi- tional numbers. He was a perfect sec- tion leader. Juan Tizol was Duke’s old friend since the Cotton Club days and had always given the trombone section a certain flavor. He was also important to Duke as a copyist and composer. El- lington himself commented the new ar- rivals with the following words; “new men mean a new sound in my band and the creation of new music.”
When it came to ethnicity and race Duke Ellington was colorblind. To him it was only the artistic capacity that counted. However, in the early 1950s it was not without problems to employ a white musician in a black band, and the other way round as well. Especially when the band toured the South the problem became obvious. Fraternizing was not accepted. But Ellington found a convenient solution; he described Bellson as “Haitian”, which seemed to have solved the problem.
As with most every new member in the Ellington band they were all loo- king for a music book, but seldom did they find any. Louie Bellson was sear- ching for a drum book but found none.
Ellington never wrote drum parts. For the more extensive works Louie had to write his own book. He learned to be very sensitive to Ellington’s adjust-
ments depending on reactions from the audience, acoustics etc. Bellson once said; “each song represented a different experience every time and I needed to watch Ellington carefully each night to pick up nuances Elling- ton added to the song.”
It was Louie Bellson who started to call Ellington “Maestro”. A name that would be used by many of Ellington’s sidemen in the future. According to Clark Terry he used to call Bellson
“Skoonje”, a nick name that does not seem to have stuck.
The double bass drum concept
Louie Bellson started to experiment with two bass drums already before he became professional. The system of two bass drums calls for some technical adjustments to the drum set and Louie made a drawing explaining his ideas.
The Gretsch drum company later adop- ted the idea and together they develo- ped the double bass drum concept.
Today Louie Bellson is regarded as one of the three great jazz percussio- nists. The others being Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. But Louie admits that his great influences were Chick Webb, Big Sid Catlett and Jo Jones and especially the latter one. Just like Jo Jones and Buddy Rich, Louie practiced tap dan- cing when a youngster and this expe- rience influenced his way of handling
the drums including his idea of two bass drums.
In Stanley Dance’s “The World of Swing” Taft Jordan has the following to say about drummers: “Chick Webb had a way of playing the bass drum I’ve only known two other guys to play anything like. They were Louie Bellson for one, and Walter Johnson who used to be with Fletcher Henderson. Those are the only two guys I worked with, besides Chick, who really played the bass drum.”
Skin Deep
Louie Bellson was not just a drummer.
He was also a composer and arranger.
Much of his arrangement skills he lear- ned from Duke Ellington, but he also studied arrangement for Buddy Ba- ker. He was also impressed by Bakers arrangements for his recordings with Herb Jeffries. Already during his stay with Tommy Dorsey, he composed Skin Deep, but as far as we know this opus was never performed by Dorsey.
At least it was not commercially recor- ded by Dorsey, and is not to be found in the discographies. However, once when the Ellington orchestra was per- forming at a dance date in Fresno, Cal., Duke, who apparently knew about the number, asked Louie if he would like to perform it and he did. Duke was overwhelmed and said; “Everybody, tomorrow, down to the ballroom. We’re going to record Skin Deep.”
The day after, February 29, 1952, the band is back in the ballroom with all ne- cessary recording equipment and two takes of Bellson’s Skin Deep are made.
The first one failed, but the second turned out good. The recording was formally made for Mercer Records, a recording company Duke was running in the early 1950s together with his son Mercer and Leonard Feather. Duke realized, however, that Mercer Records did not have the commercial muscles to market the recording, so it was in- stead sold to Columbia. Columbia in- cluded Skin Deep in the famous LP “El- lington Uptown” (ML-4639). In New DESOR the recording is erroneously stated as being made on November 8, 1952, (DE5220a) but the correct date is as stated above. The recording became a big hit for both Bellson and Ellington, and the number remained in Duke’s re- pertoire for a long time, even with Sam Woodyard as the soloist.
Woodyard as the soloist.
The Hawk Talks
Soon after the recording of Skin Deep Louie Bellson presented Ellington with another of his compositions – The Hawk Talks. We have reason to believe this number was composed while Bellson was working for Harry James. James, who was much of a disciplinarian, went under the name of The Hawk, to which the title alludes. Coleman Haw- kins also went under the name of The Hawk, but he is not the subject for this title. It is doubtful whether the number was performed during Bellson’s stay with James, but could well have been performed on later occasions when Bellson played with the James band.
The Hawk Talks was recorded on May 10, 1951, and was primarily released on the market as a 78rpm record (Colum- bia 39428). Both Skin Deep and The Hawk Talks were often performed at concerts and became sort of crowd pleasers in the same way as Paul Gonsalves’ Di- minuendo and Crescendo in Blue would later become. Some critics offered the opinion that the two Bellson numbers did not fit Ellington’s character, but rather reminded of a band like Woody Herman’s. Still the two numbers meant a lot to Ellington’s popularity, which at the same time boosted Bellson’s repu- tation.
The Composer
The two numbers mentioned above were not the only ones Louie Bellson composed for the Ellington band. On May 24, 1951, Ellington records Ting-A- Ling for Columbia. It is a number com- posed by Bellson together with Charlie Shavers, which seems to indicate that it was composed during Bellson’s time with Tommy Dorsey. The number stay- ed in Ellington’s book as long as Bell-
son remained in the band.
Another composition was Phalanges, which was never recorded by Ellington but remains preserved from a dance date on April 29, 1952. It can be found on LP Stardust Records 201. During his career after Ellington, Bellson recorded the number under his own name. Later in his career Louie Bellson composed hundreds of melodies some of them recorded with other bands but most of them with his own.
Pearl Bailey
Louie Bellson’s stay with Duke El- lington was very successful for both of them, but the engagement became shorter than intended. The reason be- hind this was Pearl Baily. It was Juan Tizol who introduced Louie to Pearl Baily, and it took only a week before they decided to get married. Pearl Bai- ley was black and by the early 1950s interracial marriages were not consi- dered comme-il-faut even though they were not forbidden. In order to get away from the publicity, they flew to London to get married at a place called Caxton Hall. Louie would later com- pose a melody he named Caxton Hall Swing, which he also recorded. The composition would also become a part of Harry James’s repertoire.
Pearl Bailey was an established sing- er who started her career with Cootie Williams in 1943. Louie Bellson soon decided to leave Duke Ellington in or- der to concentrate on Pearl’s career and assist her as orchestra leader and ma- nager. His last day with Ellington was February 26, 1953. He was replaced by Butch Ballard, who often helped El- lington out when he had problems fil- ling the drum chair. Ballard, however, didn’t fancy the idea of double bass drums and left after some time. Still he managed to perform The Hawk Talks a few times.
The marriage was very happy and Louie functioned as Pearl’s manager, accompanist, and orchestra leader for the rest of her career that lasted long into the 1980s. Her career as a singer, author and political activist is worth a study of its own.
Occasional returns to Ellington
Louie Bellson never lost his contact with the “Maestro”. Ellington would
often call on him for certain occasions in the future. Once Ellington’s regu- lar drummer, Dave Black, had fallen ill, Bellson subbed for him over two months in December 1954 thru January 1955. For a week in August 1963 Elling- ton performed his musical My People in Chicago. The regular Ellington or- chestra was unable to attend this show, but the performing band under Billy Strayhorn’s leadership contained se- veral ex-Ellingtonians, including Louie Bellson.
For some reason, Sam Woodyard left the Ellington orchestra in March 1965 and various drummers filled the drum position until Louie Bellson returned in July. During this sojourn with Ellington he took part in Ellington’s performance of his First Concert of Sacred Music in Grace Cathedral in San Francisco on September 16, 1965. Bellson was very uncertain about playing drums in this particular cathedral because of its acoustics. But in an interview, Bellson tells how Duke instructed him how to introduce In The Beginning God; “In the beginning we had lightning and thun- der. That’s you, Lou!” By the end of Ja- nuary 1966, Bellson was forced to leave Duke Ellington in order to concentrate on his job as Pearl Bailey’s manager.
After his stay with Ellington, Louie Bellson had a lucrative career not only with Pearl Baily but with all sorts of jazz groups. In 1962 Count Basie’s drummer Sonny Payne was unable to play because of an accident and Louie Bellson was substituting him for a pe- riod of five weeks, which happened to include a tour of Europe. When Sonny Payne in July 1966 decided to leave Ba- sie for good, Bellson replaced him until a permanent substitute was found. La- ter on he took part in several so called
“Basie Jams” and similar groups that Norman Granz recorded for his Pablo label. Louie Bellson had a very good relation with Count Basie.
Moreover, Louie Bellson had long- er or shorter engagements with ar- tists and orchestra leaders like Lionel Hampton, The Dorsey Brothers, Dizzy Gillespie, Tony Bennett, Mel Tormé, and Joe Williams to name a few in a long row. He also appeared quite of- ten with JATP. At one time Buddy Rich asked Louie to sub for him both as drummer and leader of Rich’s band because of sudden illness.
Orchestra leader
From 1954, Louie Bellson appeared as leader of his own band. He made nu- merous recordings with his own band of various configurations. According to the discographies we find no less than 74 recording sessions of his band, most of them for Norman Granz’ various labels. Quite a few of these recordings are for obvious reasons drum orienta- ted, and we find LPs like Concerto For Drums, Drumorama, Drummer’s Holiday, Around the World in Percussion, all relea- sed under Bellson’s name. In 1978 he in- troduced a big band that he named The Louie Bellson Explosion, a band that included several ex-Ellingtonians plus local studio band musicians. Needless to say, Bellson was very influenced by Duke Ellington, and in 1992 he made a recording of Ellington’s Black, Brown &
Beige, which was well received by the public. His last recording with his own band was made in 2007. In fact, Louie Bellson also composed a musical titled Portofino, that got a chance on a Broad- way Theatre, but it folded after just three performances. It was probably Louie’s only flop. Simultaneously with his band activities he also taught drum clinics, and he was an inspiration and mentor for many young percussionists.
Drum set
Most of the great jazz drummers were in one way or the other committed to some of the drum manufacturers.
Sonny Greer’s big set of drums was supplied by Leedy Drums. Both Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich played Sling- erland. Chick Webb and Jo Jones were committed to Gretsch while Sidney Catlett and Cozy Cole preferred Lud- wig. When it came to Louie Bellson he started out with Slingerland, but later on switched to Gretsch. It was together with Gretsch that he developed his concept of two bass drums. However, on later pictures of Bellson behind the drums we can see the name Remo on the bass drums. Belli Remo was a good friend of Bellson’s, and in 1957 he started to produce drums with plastic skins rather than calf skins, as com- monly used by the other makers. Calf skins are sensible to temperature and humidity and require constant tuning, whereas this problem did not affect plastic skin drums. Bellson was asked to invest in the Remo company, which
he did but would constantly have to reinvest in order to keep the company afloat. Later, he took up a leading posi- tion in the company, and it eventually became a successful competitor to the established drum manufacturers. Over the years, Louie Bellson wrote several books about the art of drumming.
Family
Pearl Baily passed away in 1990. Louie and Pearl had no children of their own but they adopted a son Tony and a girl Dee Dee. Dee Dee, who made a career as a singer and appeared a few times together with her father’s band. A few years after Pearl’s death Louie married Francine Wright, who would eventu- ally become his manager.
Louie Bellson had a very kind per- sonality. He was loved by everyone who dealt with him. When somebody needed his help he was the first to as- sist. The writer had the opportunity to meet Louie Bellson under casual sur- roundings and noted what a pleasant person he was. Despite his big name he was in no way “high-pitched”. He wil- lingly answered questions and explai- ned things for an uneducated amateur.
Nothing can be more truthful about Louie Bellson than Paul Gonsalves’ de- scription; “He’s a beautiful cat”.
Louie Bellson left this world on Fe- bruary 14, 2009. He is buried in his ho- metown Moline, IL.
Bo Haufman
Mysterious Session
In most discographies can be read that Louie Bellson formed a recording group that went under the name of
“Louie Bellson Just Jazz All Stars” and they recorded on May 23, 1952, a total of eight numbers for Capitol Records.
This was Louie Bellson’s first recording under his own name. The manager was obviously Gene Norman. The group consisted of Clark Terry, Juan Tizol, John Graas, Wardell Grey, Willie Smith, Harry Carney, Billy Strayhorn, Wendell Marshall and Louie Bellson. The music was initially released on three 78rpm records but later on a rerelease was made on LP. The sleeve notes written by Gene Norman said the following about the bandleader:
Louie Bellson is one of the great new stars of jazz. His performance at the drums brings wild enthusiasm from the fans and genuine admiration from even the “coolest”
musicians. A quiet unassuming young man, Louie approaches his art with devotion that inspires everyone around him. The Duke Ellington band took on an entirely new spirit when Louie joined in 1951 after serving with Tommy Dorsey and Harry James over a period of six years. His sense of rhythm, the freshness of his ideas and his remarkable ability to “blow” two bass drums at the same time add a new dimension to modern percussion. Few drummers know and write music, but Mr. Bellson is as agile with a pen as with the sticks. He has contributed two original compositions to this album.
What is so mystery about this session?
At this time Duke Ellington and his Orchestra were on tour in the Mid West and on May 23 they appeared in Duluth for a University of Minnesota prom. It is most unlikely that such important members of the band, as those mentioned above, were away on this day. The full session is included in the Mosaic box “Classic Capitol Jazz Sessions” and such a trustworthy writer as Dan Morgenstern says the recording was made on May 23. The only conclusion that can be made is that the discographies and Dan Morgenstern are wrong, and the Louie Bellson session was made earlier in 1952 prior to Willie Smith’s departure. Possibly Jörgen Grunnet Jepsen is correct as he seems to be the only one who suggests the recording was made in February 1952.
Maybe some of our readers can put some light on the problem?
Bo Haufman
The Author andLouie Bellson
8
From a publication called
“Star Sets - Drum Kits of the Great Drummers” by Jon Co- han we quote the following article about Louie Bellson.
We believe it was written in 1994:
Louie Bellson has been there for all of it. He played with Benny Goodman at age 17, held the drum chair in Duke Ellington’s band, beat the skins for Count Basie and Harry James, and toured with the prestigious JATP troupe that included Ella Fitzgerald and Oscar Peterson. Oh, and by the way, he pioneered the double-bass-drum setup whi- le he was still in high school.
“See,” Bellson says, “I was a tap dancer when I was a kid.
You’d learn how to do a time step and shim-sham-shimmy.
That helped my drumming. I was also ambidextrous. They always had me up on stage at
pep rallies, and the cheerleaders had me come up and play drums. I often wondered how it would be to have another big sound with the left foot besides the hi-hat. I sketched the first double-bass-drum idea in high school art class around 1938. My teacher, Mr.
Faber, looked at it and asked me what it was, and I said, ‘Well, this is a new idea for a drum kit with two bass drums instead of one.’ Of course when I started that I didn’t realize it would mushroom into quite a thing. About the time I did this, Ray McKinley came out with two bass drums. I guess both of us had the idea at the same time.”
In those days, tom-toms were usually mounted on the bass drum rims, which was impractical for what Louie had in mind for his drum set. He wanted an 11” tom-tom on either side of two 13”
tom-toms, somehow suspended over the two 20” bass drums. To this end, he put a very deep 16” floor tom between his two bass to anchor the smaller toms. “I was trying to get a connection by putting up that big tom-tom in the middle to hold up those 9 x 13” and 7 x 11” tom-toms on either side. Then I dis-
covered that even with a 20 x 20” bass drum, I had too wide a span and my legs got tired after a while from that stretch. I got rid of that big tom-tom in the middle and just put one 9 x 13”
tom-tom on each bass drum. I always wanted to make sure my time elements (cymbals) were in place where I could reach them, because we were playing fast tempos in those days. You couldn’t have a ride cymbal five feet away from you or you’d be lost in the shuffle.”
When Bellson became Benny Goodman’s drummer, he was a Sling- erland endorser, having won a nation- wide talent search in a Gene Krupa drum contest. “When I joined Benny, the manager told me Benny had a cont- ract with Gretsch, but at 17 years old I was afraid to go up and say, ‘Hey Benny, I’m sorry, but I play Slingerland drums.’ He wouldn’t have said a word, but I was a green kid and I didn’t want to disrupt him at all, so I moved over to Gretsch.”
Bellson stayed with Gretsch through the 1950s, playing his double-bass- drum kit with Duke Ellington’s band.
“Duke was like a second father to me,”
he remembered fondly. “With Duke, I learned not only about drums, but also com- position from him and Billy Strayhorn.”
“I listened to everybody when I was growing up, from Baby Dodds on down to Chick Webb and Zutty Singleton.
Then along came Jo Jones. To me he was one of the greats, because he picked up from all those other guys and played with Basie, and you know how that band was. They were swinging so hard! And Big Sid Catlett taught me a lot too.
There’s a guy who was so big, you’d think he’d have a rough touch, but he could play that Chinese cymbal better than anybody. He would play it so it had a musical texture to it. I learned from Big Sid and those guys how to really ride on that China boy cymbal.”
Which brings to mind an- other subject close to Bellson’s heart:
cymbals. “I like to have about three or four different ride cymbals for all the different colors. I don’t like to ride on one cymbal, it gets too boring. The Chi- na Boy with the six rivets is my ‘Dizzy Gillespie’ cymbal. Dizzy used to carry one of those all the time. He’d give it to the drummer he was playing with and say, ‘I don’t want to tell you what to play, but you play this for me’”.
Louie has lasted a long time in a bu- siness that is notorious for shortening the employment of its practitioners. He still enjoys doing clinics and teaching the next generation of drummers the wisdom that he has gained in his long career. “Jo Jones and Sid Catlett used to show me things and say, ‘Now pass it on.’ You’ve got to pass on all that beautiful heritage. First of all you have to believe in yourself. Put your mind to having fun working and sweating.
Make sure you know your craft. Even though I’m 70 years old, I’m just star- ting to learn.”
Louie Bellson´s drumkit
In 1929, RKO Radio Pictures invited Duke Ellington and his orchestra to As- toria Studios in the borough of Queens in New York City to film a musical short film titled Black and Tan. It was the first film to feature Duke Ellington and His Orchestra performing as a jazz band. It was also the film debut of ac- tress Fredi Washington. Black and Tan was directed by Dudley Murphy, who also directed St. Louis Blues with Bes- sie Smith in 1929.
In addition to Ellington and Wash- ington, Black and Tan starred Arthur Whetsel, Barney Bigard, Wellman Braud, Joe “Tricky Sam” Nanton, and the Ellington Orchestra. RKO released Black and Tan on December 8, 1929.
Fredi Washington
Fredi Washington, who toured as a dancer with the Ellington Orchestra, was brown haired, hazel eyed, attrac- tive, and light skinned. In an article on Miss Washington’s life at the time of her passing in 1994, Sheila Rule of The New York Times wrote: “She did pass for white when she was travelling in the South with Duke Ellington and his band, said Jean-Claude Baker, a res- taurateur, author, and friend of Miss Washington.”
“They could not go into ice cream par- lors, so she would go in and buy the ice cream, then go outside and give it to El- lington and the band. Whites screamed at her, Nigger lover!” said Mr. Baker.
Early life
Fredi was born Fredricka Carolyn Washington in Savannah, Georgia on December 23, 1903. Her mother died when she was 11, and Fredi was edu- cated at St. Elizabeth’s Convent in Philadelphia until her maternal grand- mother brought her to Harlem. She graduated from Julia Richmond High School in New York City.
Fredi Washington made her first ca- baret appearance at 16 years-of-age in
New York as a member of the Happy Honeysuckles group. She was hired by Josephine Baker, who was her friend’s Jean-Claude Baker’s foster mother.
Following an audition in 1921, Wash- ington made her first stage appearance as a dancer in the touring company of the Broadway musical hit Shuffle Along, which was the first major pro- duction in more than a decade produ- ced, written, and performed entirely by African Americans. Washington per- formed with Shuffle Along until 1924.
Afterwards, while performing at Manhattan’s Club Alabam, Washington was seen by producer Lee Shubert, who recommended her for a dramatic co- starring role opposite Paul Robeson in the play Black Boy. She played the part under the stage name Edith Warren.
Black Boy opened on October 6, 1926, and closed November 26. After the play’s run came to an end, there were no serious imminent productions for black actors, so Fredi went back to dan- cing and toured Europe with her dance partner Al Moiret.
While touring as a dancer with the Ellington Orchestra, Fredi dated Duke for a while. It was during this time that RKO Radio Pictures filmed Ellington, his Orchestra, and Fredi Washington in the film Black and Tan. The plot
Duke Ellington
and Fredi Washington
co-starred in 1929 film Black and Tan
By Fred Glueckstein
involved a romance between Elling- ton, who played a bandleader named
“Duke”, and the debut of actress Fredi Washington, who played a dancer na- med “Freddie”. The film introduced Ellington’s new piece Black and Tan Fantasy.
Ellington and Washington relationship
David Bogle, the film historian and author of six books on African Ameri- cans in film and television, wrote in his book Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams:
The Story of Black Hollywood that for years rumors circulated about an affair between Fredi Washington and Paul Robeson. However, “the love of her life was Duke Ellington,” said her sister Isabel.
Bogle wrote that Ellington and Wash- ington had a discreet but passionate affair. According to Mercer Ellington,
“it was no secret that she and my father had been involved, during and after the making of the film Black and Tan.”
“Yet”, wrote Bogle, “Washington’s ho- pes that he would leave his wife never materialized. ‘I just had to accept that he wasn’t going to marry me. But I wasn’t going to be his mistress,’” said Washington.
At one point, Washington was so despondent that she “left the country to get over Duke”, said blues singer Alberta Hunter. “She just got on a boat and went to Paris”, said her sister Isa- bel, “and when she got back, Duke had taken up with a friend of hers.” In July 1933, she wed Lawrence Brown, the trombonist in Ellington’s orchestra. “I guess I was still trying to be as close to Duke as I could”, Washington said of her decision to marry Brown.
In 1933, Washington was cast oppo- site Paul Robeson, in his first film role, in Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jo- nes, which had been adapted from the stage play that Robeson and Washing- ton appeared in. With strict censorship prohibiting the mixing of races on the screen in the 1930s, it was discovered that Washington photographed too light against Robeson. This resulted in her being ‘blacked up’ and their love scenes having to be re-shot.
In 1934, Fredi Washington gained movie prominence for her performance as Peola, a young mulatto who passes for white, in the Hollywood film Imita-
10
tion of Life with Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers. Imitation of Life was nominated for three Academy Awards.
Returning to New York
While in Hollywood, Washington was urged by studio heads to “pass” for fully white, so they could make her a bigger star than Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Constance Bennett, and Gre- ta Garbo. She refused and publically expressed her views about masquera- ding as white:
Why should I have to pass for anything but an artist? When I act, I live the role I am assigned to do. If that part calls for me to be West Indian half caste, a Spa- nish or Creole maiden, a French maiden, a lady of great social distinction or a prostitute – how can I, or anyone, essay such roles with the bugbear of national heritage constantly dangled before my eyes? I don’t want to ‘pass’, because I can’t stand insecurities and shame. I am just as much ‘colored’ as any of the oth- ers identified with the race.
Three years after Imitation of Life, Fredi Washington’s next film was One Mile in Heaven in 1937 with Claire Tre- vor and Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson. “Film marks reappearance of Fredi Washing- ton, as the Negress nurse”, wrote Va- riety, “and she is splendid. Has looks.
Good voice and real acting ability. She’s deserving of a better chance than this picture offers.” As it turned out, One Mile of Heaven was Fredi Washington’s last Hollywood film.
With no further roles forthcoming for black actresses, Washington left California and returned to New York, where she appeared on stage in such productions as Mamba’s Daughters (1939) with Ethel Waters; Lysistrate (1946); A Long Way From Home (1948), and Anta’s Experimental Theatre all- black version of Gorky’s The Lower Depths.
Negro Actors Guild
In 1937, Fredi Washington was a co- founder of the Negro Actors Guild, whose mission was to create better opportunities for black actors in film, television, and the stage. The band- leader Noble Sissle was named presi- dent, dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robin- son, his deputy, and Washington was appointed the Guild’s first executive secretary. Duke Ellington was made an offer of the Guild, which was an hono-
rary function with no specified duties.
“All of us felt we needed Duke in the organization,” recalled Washington.
“He was the most glamorous, elegant man in Harlem. Everyone in show bu- siness looked up to him.”
During this time, Washington was also a theatre writer and columnist for the People’s Voice, a weekly newspa- per for African Americans published in Harlem by her brother-in-law, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., a Baptist pastor and an American politician, who re- presented Harlem in the US House of Representatives from 1945-71.
In the years that followed, Duke El- lington and Fredi Washington partici- pated in various fund raising events, such as the thirtieth anniversary NA- ACP birthday ball on February 11, 1939, in New York at the 369th Regi- ment Armory. With 12000 people in at- tendance, Ellington and his Orchestra were a chief attraction. Among the stars who also appeared were Fredi, Ivie Anderson, W.C. Handy, who play- ed St. Louis Blues, Bill Robinson, and Ella Fitzgerald.
Washington’s marriage to Lawrence Brown ended in divorce. On December 13, 1952, she married Dr. Anthony Bell, a dentist. In recognition of her movie career, she was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1975.
Billie Holiday and Peola
Fred Glueckstein mentions in his artic- le about Fredi Washington and her ac- ting in the film Imitation of Life and the character named Peola, which she im- personated. Peola, who wanted to pass for white despite her true origin, seems to have given a name to this practice. In the literature we find Billie Holiday’s experience of the phenomenon:
“There was the time the Basie band ar- rived in a small Southern town which didn’t even have a ‘colored’ hotel.
Quartered at the home of the local black minister, the Basie band and Bil- lie had just finished an idiomatic but nearly indestigable dinner. One of their number, a very light-skinned member of the orchestra, had been missing from the table. On the street they saw him jauntily emerge from the best white restaurant in town. He pretended not to recognize his coworkers, and Billie, placing herself in front of him, shouted for all the town to hear: ‘All right for you, Peola!’”
Fredi Washington died at the age of 90 on June 28, 1994, in Stamford, Connec- ticut. Her appearance, sixty-five years earlier, with Duke Ellington in the 1929 film Black and Tan began her success- ful career as one of the first black ac- tresses to achieve recognition in Holly- wood. Notably, her experiences in film and stage led to Fredi Washington’s commitment to equal rights for Afri- can-Americans in the theatre and film industry.
Notes to reader:
1. Duke Ellington and Fredi Washington in the nineteen minute film Black and Tan can be seen on YouTube: https://www.yout- ube.com/watch?v=uLJmgzMnOlQ 2. John Edward Hasse in Beyond Category:
The Life and Genius of Duke Ellington wrote: “Ironically, Ellington’s first motion picture (Black and Tan) of many would be almost his only opportunity to have an acting role – in latter movies he was nor- mally seen only as a musician.”
Ingen bör vara missnöjd med den jazz- spis som Karlshamn Folkets Park i går kväll bjöd på. En månghövdad publik tog tillfället i akt att in natura uppleva formidable Duke Ellington och hans lika formidabla orkester. Nu var som- markvällen ljum, men inte ens bistra nordanvindar kunde tagit udden av den höga stämningen och den förvän- tansfulla publiken fick vad den ville ha. Det framgick tydligt av applåder med en intensitet som man sällan hört.
Den tio nummer långa konserten, som föredömligt började prick klockan åtta inleddes med rytmisk uppvärm- ning i form av en bolero Afro Bossa som genom härlige trummisen Sam Wood- yard redan från början satte upp stäm- ningen på en hög nivå. Jimmy Hamil- tons lyriska klarinett var nästa godbit och efter denna ansågs stunden vara inne för the Duke himself. En oefter- härmlig pianointroduktion och sedan visade en orkester av världsklass vad jazz är då det verkligen ”svänger”.
Lullaby of Birdland med äkta Ellington- touche och vår egen Rolf Ericson som trumpetsolist tillhörde konsertens höjd- punkter, liksom Johnny Hodges vilsam- ma altsax i I Got It Bad och Cootie Willi- ams långtifrån vilsamma men desto mer stingiga trumpetakrobatik. Cootie var för övrigt solist i kvällens kanske mest upp- skattade nummer, en blues för sordin och naken trumpet med orkestern som sug- gestiv uppbackning.
Ellingtonorkesterns lustigkurre Ray Nance är betydligt mer sympatisk när han spelar än när han är ”lustig” och hans lite bökiga clownerier jämte en illa dold trötthet hos orkestermedlemmarna blev kvällens plumpar i protokollet. Ald- rig har man sett någon på scen gäspa så ogenerat som Johnny Hodges. Bortsett från detta gjorde rutin och skicklighet att behållningen blev stor.
Hur njutbart var inte det långa pot- purriet av Ellingtonstandards och ever- greens! Där fick vi höra de flesta av de melodier vi förknippar med Duke El- lington, Solitude, Caravan, In A Melloto- ne, Sophisticated Lady m.fl och de flesta av orkesterns världsberömda solister lät höra sig.
Publiken visade sig vara högst följ- sam och de många applådåskorna kul- minerade i en slutapplåd som inte gav vika förrän ett extranummer annonse- rades. Det blev en förkortad version av Crescendo and Diminuendo in Blue och Paul Gonsalves intensiva solo på tenor- sax satte punkt för en timmes jazz av högsta kvalitet. Duke Ellington avtack- ades förutom med applåder också med en bronskopia av Utvandrarstatyn.
”Den kommer att pryda mitt piano”
sade Duke och kan vi kanske då hop- pas på ett återbesök. Duke Ellington är högst välkommen tillbaka.
H.S.
En annan lokal jazzentusiast, Billy Bengtsson, journalist i Blekinge och senare chefredaktör för Norra Skåne, har beskrivit konserten med följande ord: Hard and soft facts concerning the Ellington-concert in Charlesport 1963.
Den här konserten ägde rum en sön- dagskväll i början av juni 1963 i Bel- levueparken i Karlshamn. Konserten fick en officiell inramning med tal av drätselkammarens ordförande Rune Malmros, som överlämnade stadens minnesgåva till Duke Ellington. Den amerikanska flaggan prydde fonden.
Det syntes att maestro Ellington triv- des med det högtidliga protokollet.
Så började då konserten. Håller mig till de låtar som jag är säker på fram- fördes: Mood Indigo med Harry Carney, Russell Procope och (tror jag) Jimmy Hamilton. Rockin’ In Rhythm med hela saxsektionen i fronten, Tootie For Coo- tie med Cootie Williams dansande på scenen med growltrumpeten i högsta hugg, I Got It Bad med sedvanligt sen- suellt glissando och med en även i öv- rigt sedvanligt halvslumrande Johnny Hodges bakom notstället, Main Stem med en dubbelvikt Paul Gonsalves i ett solo som han framförde med kraften hos en lavasprutande isländsk vulkan.
Ray Nance lät vid något tillfälle höra sin trumpet-ton, varm så att den kunde smälta smör samt även sin zigenarin- spirerade fiol. På det instrumentet kan han ha framfört Guitar Amore från den aktuella LP-plattan Midnight In Paris som getts ut några månader tidigare.
Efter konserten flyttades föreställ- ningen från konsertscenen in i den vidlyftiga danslokalen där några av lå- tarna från konserten spelades upp igen som Satin Doll, Don’t Get Around Much Anymore och andra dansvänliga låtar ur repertoaren. Jag minns en kompakt mur av publiken, mest grabbar, stod framför orkesterpodiet och spisade.
Det blev trångt på dansgolvet eftersom en stor publik samlats. Tidens mode vilade över samvaron; grabbar i mörk kostym, vit nylonskjorta, smal slips och spetsiga skor. Tjejer i höga Fara Dibah- frisyrer, decimeterhöga klackar, hårt åtdragna skärp och klänningar som spändes ut som paraplyer av alla un- derkjolarna. Ellingtons grabbar blan- dade sig glatt med publiken. I pausen satt Paul Gonsalves vid ett bord och drack öl medan han ivrigt konversera-
Duke Ellington i Sverige 1963
Under detta år besökte Ellington och hans orkester Sverige vid två tillfäl-
len. Första gången i februari och andra gången gjordes en längre turné
i Sverige 1-25 juni. Den senare turnén gjordes i Folkparkernas regi och
bandet kunde höras på platser som Borlänge, Huskvarna och Mjölby för
att nämna några i den långa raden. På varje ort registrerades besöket i
den lokala pressen och nedan återger vi vad som skrevs i Karlshamns Alle-
handa efter Ellingtons besök i Karlshamn den 16 juni. DESS-medlemmen
Sven-Gunnar Schröder har varit vänlig nog att tillställa oss materialet.
de några grabbar. Minns att sista låten var Tootie For Cootie. Då buggades det på dansgolvet. Själv föredrog jag att få hålla om Barbro från Ryd, blond i sitt långa hår som en småländsk rågåker, när jag äntligen kommit åt att bjuda upp henne. En svag ljusstrimma vars- lade den nya dagen när vi for hem.
Med största sannolikhet skrevs liknande recensioner i lokaltid- ningar från de femton Folkpar- ker runt om i Sverige som Duke Ellington besökte i juni 1963.
DESS-medlemmen Lennart Persson, Halmstad, berättar i ett brev till föreningen om sina erfarenheter från Ellingtons be- sök 1963 och vi saxar följande ur hans brev:
”Besökte Dans Inn på autografjakt.
Eftersom Rolf Ericson satt i bandet tänkte jag anlita honom som hjälp. På en meny från Dans Inn skrev så många i Ellingtons band sina autografer, bl.a.
Paul Gonsalves. När vi står där och väntar på att det skall skrivas färdigt, frågar Paul om det finns någonstans man kan få en hamburgare. Han var hungrig sa han. Visst, sa jag, följ med mig så skall jag visa dig. Sagt och gjort vi gick till en kiosk och tog oss en ham- burgare. Paul bjöd varje gång vi gick och tog någonting. Han insisterade på att få bjuda! Paul var en mycket gene- rös och varm människa och vänlig mot alla. Efter dessa kvällar på Gröna Lund lyssnade jag till orkestern i Karlshamn, Huskvarna och Halmstad. Halmstad blev en särskild upplevelse med ”natt- jam” ute i Tylösand men det är en an- nan historia, som jag kan återkomma till. Med på jammet var Ernie Shepard och Ray Nance. Skulle därefter ha åkt till Göteborg, men fick förhinder. Hörde sedan att Paul hade blivit sjuk så jag hade inte fått träffa honom ändå. Efter detta hade vi ingen mer kontakt. Jag tog några kort när jag hörde bandet. Ett är på Ellington i Huskvarna. Negativen ligger i mina gömmor någonstans, kan- ske kan jag hitta dessa, då får jag åter- komma. Dumt nog såg jag inte till att fånga Paul och mig själv på någon bild.”
”SORRY ALL SOLD OUT” är ett an- slag, som varje kväll under en veck- as tid gäckat förhoppningarna hos många, som haft sina vägar till Apollo Theatre i Harlem. Det var mellan 14 och 21 februari, då Duke Ellington gästspelade där. För att få ett verkligt fullödigt intryck av Duke och hans musik bör man höra honom i den rätta miljön – i New Yorks Harlem en kväll när tusentals ”coloured people” till bristningsgränsen fyller den teater han spelar i. Kontakten mellan orkester och publik betyder en hel del, för att musi- kerna riktigt skall komma till sin rätt.
De måste bli inspirerade, och därför är det en väsentlig skillnad att lyssna på Duke i Harlems Apollo Theatre och exempelvis Stockholms konserthus.
Första gången jag hörde Duke var i
Harmoni i Harlem
Musikaliska Akademien, och det var ännu sämre än Konserthuset. Jag satt för långt fram och vacklade efter kon- sertens slut ut nästan helt bedövad av de alltför kraftiga ljudkaskaderna!
Jag har nu tillbringat tre kvällar i Apollo Theatre – första gången på parketten och de båda andra bakom scenen. Vilken oerhörd skillnad från Stockholmskonserterna var det inte att lyssna på the Duke i Harlem. Orkestern är lika bra som den någonsin varit trots förlusten av Barney Bigard, Cootie Wil- liams m. fl.
Efter att ha lyssnat på för all del ru- tinerade och i sitt slag äkta men enligt mitt tycke ej så värst njutbara Pee Wee Russell, Miff Mole och Muggsy Spanier i Nick’s Tavern i Greenwich Village samt alltför kommersiella Ink Spots i Para-
I tidningsläggen från gamla ESTRAD (April 1947) hittar vi följande referat
av Nils ”Micro” Färnström från hans besök i New York i februari samma
år. Ett tidstypiskt referat som tål att läsas även i dag och vi citerar det här:
mount Theatre, blev Dukes konserter oförglömliga upplevelser. Tyvärr kunde Joya Sherrill ej medverka (hon väntade barn) men Kay Davis sjöng bl.a. i en tämligen ny komposition The Beautiful Indians – i första avsnittet Minnehaha.
Klockrent, sensibelt och med verklig in- levelse. I andra delen Hiawatha fick man höra Al Sears i ett glänsande tenorsolo.
Kay Davis sjöng också Brown Penny ur Beggars’ Holiday.
Ellingtons konserter – ja han spelar tre gånger varje kväll – utgjorde en del av ett större program och man fick där- för tyvärr ej höra så många nummer, som man skulle ha önskat. Konserterna bjöd för övrigt på lika mycket show som musik – strålande show med bl.a.
tokrolige Ray Nance, som hoppade omkring på scenen och ideligen locka- de publiken till skratt. Men varje num- mer som spelades var en fullträff. Mest fick man höra långsamma melodiska arrangemang med underbar harmonik och en otroligt raffinerad nyansrike- dom. Utstuderade belysningseffekter med olikfärgat ljus förstärkte effekten.
Ibland var hela orkestern i halvdunkel med spotlight på Duke.
Jag har aldrig i någon konsertsal varit med om en sådan hjärtlig och spontan kontakt mellan orkester och publik som i Apollo Theatre. Där före- kom inga visslingar, stampningar eller våldsamma applåder, men i stället små skämtsamma inlägg från publikens sida och om man kan använda uttryck- et – varma applåder. Man märkte hur intensivt, nästan andaktsfullt publiken levde med och man skämdes smått, när man tänkte på den okultiverade hop, som utan sinne för det verkligt värde- fulla i jazzen, brukar stampa och bära sig åbäkigt åt i Stockholms konserthus, så snart någon rutinerad solist preste- rar något ytligt fyrverkeri på trumpet eller trummor.
En av de bästa saker som spelades var Dukes senaste komposition Happy- Go-Lucky Local ur Deep South Suite med fina soli av Cat Anderson och Lawren- ce Brown. Den finns inspelad på skiv- märket Musicraft. Squeeze Me But Don’t Tease Me var en annan fin sak med en sordinerad trio – trombon och två trumpeter senare förstärkt med Hod- ges altsax. Johnny Hodges hade för öv- rigt flera soli, som kändes djupt ned i hjärterötterna.
Lionel Hampton dök upp en kväll
och klev in på scenen i hatt och rock för att hälsa på publiken. Han skulle säga några ord och tyckte då att Dukes musik var som champagne och intygade, att han redan efter ett par nummer kände sig helt berusad. Vilket synbarligen ro- ade Duke, som förstrött lekte på flygeln medan Hampton pratade.
Efter första konserten sökte jag upp Duke för att få höra litet om hans pla- ner. Han verkade en smula trött, vilket inte är att undra på, då han måste köra hårt – förmodligen har han knappast en dag ledigt och dessutom är han ju ingen ungdom längre – han fyller 48 år i april.
Efter gästspelet i New York skulle han en vecka till Washington och sedan var det fulltecknat hela sommaren.
”När blir det Sveriges tur?” frågade jag ”Tyvärr knappast i år, svarade Duke.
Och hur det kan bli nästa år vet jag inte. Men var lugn för att jag gärna vill komma över igen. Sverige har en all- deles särskild plats i mitt hjärta – jag tycker om det landet.”
”Några nya kompositioner?”
”Ja, jag arbetar för närvarande på en ny show, men jag har ju ganska nyligen avslutat arbetet med Beggar’s Holiday.
För detta verk komponerade jag ett 40- tal melodier. Så det får räcka ett tag.
Man kan ju för övrigt inte bara sätta sig ned och tänka, att nu skall jag kom- ponera någonting. Det kommer av sig själv när man känner sig inspirerad.”
”Nå, hur är det med orkestern? Hur inverkar förändringarna i dess samman- sättning? Det finns folk, som anser att or- kestern i viss mån ändrat karaktär.”
”Det är nog riktigt att sammansätt- ningen av min orkester ändrats ge- nom att det kommit nya medlemmar i den. Men det innebär ej att min musik ändrats. Orkestern kan bli större eller mindre, men ytterst beror ändå allt på den personliga prägel man kan sätta på en orkester, den form och det innehåll man kan ge spelet. Huvudsaken är att man kan ge något av sig själv och att man förstår att jazzmusik är frihet att uttrycka sig oberoende av några lag- stadgade former eller normer. Man skall känna sig lycklig när man spelar, nöjd med sig själv och sitt arbete. Man skall med sin musik kunna göra andra människor lyckliga. Då blir det någon mening med det hela. ”
När man lyssnat på Duke några kväl- lar finner man det mesta i musikväg
som New York kan bjuda på (det gäl- ler jazzmusik och liknande underhåll- ning) ganska likgiltig. Jag har hört Ella Fitzgerald och hon var utmärkt på Café Society Downtown, Josh White, som är exakt lika fascinerande som i de gram- mofoninspelningar man hört honom i.
Men sedan finns det inte mycket värt att lyssna på. Ja, man kan även nämna en utmärkt harpsolist, Alewette Miller, som också uppträdde på Café Society Downtown. Hon var rytmisk och även trevlig att se på. Café Society Down- town ligger också i Greenwich Village och kan rekommenderas för eventuella New York-resenärer, då man i regel brukar ha goda program där.
Den stora schlagern i New York är för närvarande Open the door Richard. Den har blivit en best seller på grammofon och lever mest på sin lustiga text, som handlar om en gosse, som varit ute och rullat hatt och följaktligen blivit en smula vad man kallar på lyran. Bemäl- de gosse kan ej hitta portnyckeln när han skall dra sig tillbaka och följden blir en animerad dialog mellan honom och folk i huset.
Som avslutning på detta lilla rese- brev skulle jag vilja tillfoga att New York är en långt mer förbryllande stad än man kan föreställa sig. Goda skivor finns här i överflöd, album med både gammal och ny jazz, och i affärer som handlar med secondhand material kan man komma över litet av varje. Synd bara att man inte kan ta med så mycket man vill i ett flygplan. Flyga är model- len för en amerikaresa. Jag har aldrig gjort en så lugn och fin långresa med flyg som med American Overseas Airli- nes atlantplan. Åker man båt så här års, kan det kränga ganska våldsamt med ty åtföljande sjösjuka. Men flygplanet gick stadigare än en spårvagn. Många amerikaresenärer är rädda för flyget.
Men det är fel. Olyckorna i Europa be- ror nog till stor del på att försiktighets- åtgärderna ej varit så noggranna som vore önskvärt. Men AOA:s säkerhets- anordningar är minst lika tillförlitliga som ABA:s. Svensk och amerikansk flygservice och säkerhetstjänst torde vara den bästa i världen.
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Duke Ellington komponerade och spelade in flera stycken, som ut- gjorde hyllningar till personlighe- ter främst inom den amerikanska underhållningsvärlden men också inom medborgarrättsrörelsen. Det började med Black Beauty som var en hyllning till Florence Mills, och avslutades med King Fit the Battle of Alabam, som var en hyllning till Martin Luther King.
Under Ellingtons framgångsrika period i början av 1940-talet kom- ponerade han flera s.k. ”portraits”
som hyllningar till artister som han beundrade och uppskattade. Bl.a.
skrev han Bojangles eller som under- titeln lyder, A Portrait of Bill Robin- son. Den första inspelningen gjordes för Victor i Hollywood den 4 maj 1940. Den gavs aldrig ut av Victor och kom samlare till del först på LP Meritt 1 i slutet av 1970-talet. Den in- spelning som Victor valde att ge ut gjor- des i Chicago den 28 maj 1940. Inspel- ningarna skiljer sig marginellt åt. I den första inspelningen kan Rex Stewart höras, vilket inte är fallet i den andra.
Ben Webster har i båda inspelningar ett vackert solo över ett korus.
Bojangles torde ha funnits på Elling- tons repertoar de följande åren, men utöver de ovan nämnda inspelning- arna finns endast 5 tillfällen bevarade.
Ben Websters insats ökades successivt till att omfatta två korus.
En upptagning gjordes vid en ra- dioutsändning från Hotel Sherman i Chicago den 7 september 1940, vilken DESS hade nöjet att få återutge på sin senaste CD-produktion (DESS CD 4).
Därefter kan numret avnjutas från den berömda upptagningen från Crystal Ballroom i Fargo den 7 november 1940.
Nästa gång Bojangles finns bevarad är från konserten i Carnegie Hall den 23 januari 1943 och senare vid en radio- utsändning från Hurricane Restaurant den 18 juni 1943. Sista tillfället från vil- ket numret finns bevarat är likaledes en radioutsändning från Hurricane den 11 september 1943. Då hade Ben Webster lämnat orkestern och tenorsolot fram-
förs nu av Skippy Williams. Denna ra- dioutsändning har ännu inte givits ut kommersiellt.
Duke Ellington träffade säkert Bojang- les vid flera tillfällen och de flesta av våra läsare vet säkert att han hette Bill Robinson och var en välkänd dansare, men många kanske inte vet så mycket mer. Han hette egentligen Luther Ro- binson, men han tyckte aldrig om det förnamnet. Här följer en kortare pre- sentation av Bill Bojangles Robinson:
Han såg dagens ljus i Richmond, VA., den 25 maj 1878. Han blev tidigt föräld- ralös och från 8 års ålder var han ett ga- tubarn och fick ihop till brödfödan som skoputsare och butikssnattare. Men tidigt upptäckte han att om han upp- förde en improviserad dans framför biografköer och restaurangköer kunde han få sig tillslängt ett antal nickels och dimes.
Hur fick han namnet Bojangles? I Richmond fanns en hattmakare med det franskklingande namnet Beaujon- son som alla hade svårt att uttala och han gick därför under namnet Bojang- les. En gång stal Bill en hatt ur hans bu- tik under stor uppmärksamhet och av
någon anledning fick Bill därefter namnet Bojangles.
De följande åren förde Bill ett ambulerande liv. 1898 deltog han i Spansk/Amerikanska kriget som trumslagarpojke. Han blev faktiskt träffad av ett skott i knät, men kon- stigt nog påverkade detta aldrig hans rörelseförmåga. Det påstås att kulan satt kvar i knät under resten av hans liv. Han hamnade senare i New York och bildade en dansduo tillsammans med en kompanjon vid namn George Cooper. De höll ihop i flera år men till slut börjar Bill uppträda som soloartist. Han ingår i många shower och turnerar runt i USA med olika ”vaudevilles”. Han var en levnadsglad och något obe- räknelig person. Trots att han var nykterist och dessutom icke rökare råkade han ofta i klammeri med rättvisan. Hans stubin var kort och han hamnade lätt i bråk. Men han hittade en metod att även hantera detta. När han vid sina turnéer besökte en ny stad var det första han gjorde att besöka den lo- kala polisstationen och göra sig bekant med poliserna och betala en inte oför- aktlig summa till deras personalkassa eller pensionsfond. Om han senare
