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The Ellington Suites
''The Ellington Suites'' is an album by the American pianist, composer, and bandleader Duke Ellington. It collects three suites recorded in 1959, 1971, and 1972, and was released on the Pablo label in 1976.A Duke Ellington Panorama accessed April 12, 2010 The album won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band in 1976. Ellington and wrote "The Queen's Suite" for who was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based in New York City from the mid-1920s and gained a national profile through his orchestra's appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. A master at writing miniatures for the three-minute 78 rpm recording format, Ellington wrote or collaborated on more than one thousand compositions; his extensive body of work is the largest recorded personal jazz legacy, and many of his pieces have become standards. He also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, such as Juan Tizol's " Caravan", which brought a Spanish tinge to big band jazz. At the end of the 1930s, Ellington began a nearly thirty-year collaboration with composer-arranger-pianist Billy Strayhorn, whom he called his writing and arranging companion. With Strayhorn, he composed multipl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cat Anderson
William Alonzo "Cat" Anderson (September 12, 1916 – April 29, 1981) was an American jazz trumpeter known for his long period as a member of Duke Ellington's orchestra and for his wide range, especially his ability to play in the altissimo register. Biography Born in Greenville, South Carolina, Anderson lost both parents when he was four years old, and was sent to live at the Jenkins Orphanage in Charleston, where he learned to play trumpet. Classmates gave him the nickname "Cat" (which he used all his life) based on his fighting style. He toured and made his first recording with the Carolina Cotton Pickers, a small group based at the orphanage. After leaving the Cotton Pickers, Anderson played with guitarist Hartley Toots, Claude Hopkins' big band, Doc Wheeler's Sunset Orchestra (1938–1942), with whom he also recorded, Lucky Millinder, the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra, Sabby Lewis's Orchestra, and Lionel Hampton, with whom he recorded the classic "Flying Home No. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie Preston
Eddie Preston (May 9, 1925 – June 22, 2009) was an American jazz trumpeter. He was born in Dallas, Texas and died in Palm Coast, Florida. Preston began playing in big bands after World War II, and did stints with Lionel Hampton (1955–56), Ray Charles (1959), Louis Jordan (1960–61), Duke Ellington (1962), and Count Basie (1963). He played with Charles Mingus between 1963 and 1965 and again in 1969–72, with the time in between spent freelancing with musicians such as Sonny Stitt and Frank Foster. He played again with Ellington in 1971 and then did some work as a leader, as well as working with Roland Kirk in 1977 and Archie Shepp in 1979. Scott Yanow, Eddie Prestonat Allmusic Discography As sideman With Duke Ellington * ''The London Concer''t (United Artists, 1972) * ''The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse'' (Fantasy, 1975) * ''The Ellington Suites'' (Pablo, 1976) * ''Up in Duke's Workshop'' (Pablo, 1979) * ''Recollections of the Big Band Era'' (Atlantic, 1982) * ''The Priv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cootie Williams
Charles Melvin "Cootie" Williams (July 10, 1911 – September 15, 1985) was an American jazz, jump blues, and rhythm and blues trumpeter. Biography Born in Mobile, Alabama, Williams began his professional career at the age of 14 with the Young Family band, which included saxophonist Lester Young. According to Williams he acquired his nickname as a boy when his father took him to a band concert. When it was over his father asked him what he'd heard and he replied, "Cootie, cootie, cootie." In 1928, he made his first recordings with pianist James P. Johnson in New York, where he also worked briefly in the bands of Chick Webb and Fletcher Henderson. Williams rose to prominence as a member of Duke Ellington's orchestra when the band was playing at the Cotton Club, with which he first performed from 1929 to 1940. He also recorded his own sessions during this time, both freelance and with other Ellington sidemen. Williams was renowned for his "jungle"-style trumpet playing (in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Money Johnson
Harold "Money" Johnson (February 23, 1918 – March 28, 1978) was an American jazz trumpeter. Early life Johnson was born in Tyler, Texas, on February 23, 1918. He first played trumpet at age 15. Primarily a trumpeter, he also recorded with the trombone in a few instances and subsequently the flugelhorn and flute, respectively. Later life and career He moved to Oklahoma City in 1936 and jammed with Charlie Christian and Henry Bridges before joining Nat Towles's band. He played with Horace Henderson and Bob Dorsey before returning to Towles's band in 1944 in Chicago. He also played with Count Basie, Cootie Williams, Lucky Millinder, and Bull Moose Jackson in the 1940s. His associations in the 1950s included Louis Jordan (1951), Lucky Thompson (1953), Sy Oliver, Buddy Johnson, Cozy Cole, Mercer Ellington, Little Esther (1956), and Panama Francis (for performances in Uruguay in 1953). In the 1960s Johnson played in the house band at the Apollo Theater in New York, and record ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mercer Ellington
Mercer Kennedy Ellington (March 11, 1919 – February 8, 1996) was an American musician, composer, and arranger. His father was Duke Ellington, whose band Mercer led for 20 years after his father's death. Biography Early life and education Ellington was born in Washington, D.C., United States. He was the only child of the composer, pianist, and bandleader Duke Ellington and his high school sweetheart Edna Thompson (d. 1967). Ellington grew up primarily in Harlem from the age of eight. By the age of eighteen, Ellington had written his first piece to be recorded by his father ("Pigeons and Peppers"). Ellington attended New College for the Education of Teachers at Columbia University, New York University and the Juilliard School. Career In 1939, 1959, and 1946 through 1949, Ellington led his own bands, many of whose members later performed with his father, or achieved a successful career in their own right (including Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Dorham, Idrees Sulieman, Chico Hamilto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Woode
James Bryant Woode (September 23, 1926 – April 23, 2005) was an American jazz bassist. He played and/or recorded in bands with Flip Phillips, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins, Nat Pierce, Sidney Bechet, Billie Holiday, Jaki Byard, Earl Hines, Jimmy Witherspoon, Clark Terry and Miles Davis. Biography Woode was born September 23, 1926 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. His father, also named Jimmy Woode, was a music teacher and pianist who had played with Hot Lips Page. Woode studied piano and bass in Boston at Boston University and at the Conservatory of Music, as well as at the Philadelphia Academy. He joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1955,Steve Vocebr>Obituary: Jimmy Woode ''The Independent'', 28 April 2005 appearing on many of Ellington's recordings, including '' Such Sweet Thunder'' and ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook'', both from 1957, as well as the performance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Fes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Gonsalves
Paul Gonsalves ( – ) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist best known for his association with Duke Ellington. At the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, Gonsalves played a 27-chorus solo in the middle of Ellington's "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue," a performance credited with revitalizing Ellington's waning career in the 1950s. Biography Born in Brockton, Massachusetts, to Cape Verdean parents, Gonsalves' first instrument was the guitar, and as a child he was regularly asked to play Cape Verdean folk songs for his family. He grew up in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and played as a member of the Sabby Lewis Orchestra. His first professional engagement in Boston was with the same group on tenor saxophone, in which he played before and after his military service during World War II. He also played with fellow Cape Verdean Americans in Phil Edmund's band in the 1940s. Before joining Duke Ellington's orchestra in 1950, he also played in big bands led by Count Basie (1947–1949) and Di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Hodges
Cornelius "Johnny" Hodges (July 25, 1907 – May 11, 1970) was an American alto saxophonist, best known for solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years. Hodges was also featured on soprano saxophone, but refused to play soprano after 1946. Along with Benny Carter, Hodges is considered to be one of the definitive alto saxophone players of the big band era. After beginning his career as a teenager in Boston, Hodges began to travel to New York and played with Lloyd Scott, Sidney Bechet, Luckey Roberts and Chick Webb. When Ellington wanted to expand his band in 1928, Ellington's clarinet player Barney Bigard recommended Hodges. His playing became one of the identifying voices of the Ellington orchestra. From 1951 to 1955, Hodges left the Duke to lead his own band, but returned shortly before Ellington's triumphant return to prominence – the orchestra's performance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival. Biography Early life Ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Hamilton
Jimmy Hamilton (May 25, 1917 – September 20, 1994) was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist, who was a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Biography Hamilton was born in Dillon, South Carolina, United States, and grew up in Philadelphia. Having learned to play piano and brass instruments, in the 1930s he started playing the latter in local bands before switching to clarinet and saxophone. During this time he studied with clarinet teacher Leon Russianoff. In 1939, he played with Lucky Millinder, Jimmy Mundy, and Bill Doggett, going on to join the Teddy Wilson sextet in 1940. After two years with Wilson, he played with Eddie Heywood and Yank Porter. In 1943, he replaced Barney Bigard in the Duke Ellington orchestra and stayed with Ellington until 1968. His style was different on his two instruments: on tenor saxophone he had an R&B sound, while on clarinet he was much more precise and technical. He wrote some of his own material in his time with Ellington. Aft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Britt Woodman
Britt Woodman (June 4, 1920 – October 13, 2000) was an American jazz trombonist. Career Woodman was a childhood friend of Charles Mingus, but first worked with Phil Moore and Les Hite. After service in World War II he played with Boyd Raeburn before joining with Lionel Hampton in 1946. During the 1950s he worked with Ellington. As a member of Ellington's band he can be heard on '' Such Sweet Thunder'' (1957), ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book'' (also 1957), '' Black, Brown, and Beige'' (1958) and '' Ellington Indigos'' (1958). In 1960 he left Ellington to work in a pit orchestra. Later he worked with Mingus and can be heard on the album ''Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus'' (1963). In the 1970s, he led his own octet and worked with pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi. In 1989, he was in the personnel for the album ''Epitaph'' dedicated to the previously unrecorded music of Charles Mingus. He died in Hawthorne, California at the age of 80, having suffered severe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quentin Jackson
Quentin "Butter" JacksonFeather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'' , US, 2007 (January 13, 1909 – October 2, 1976) was an American jazz trombonist. Career In the early stage of his career, Jackson worked with Cab Calloway for ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
