''Sacred Concert'' by Duke Ellington is one of the following realisations: * 1965 - ''Concert of Sacred Music'' * 1968 - ''Second Sacred Concert'' * 1973 - ''Third Sacred Concert'' Ellington called these concerts "the most important thing I have ever done". He said many times that he was not trying to compose a "Mass" (liturgy). The critic

Gary Giddins Gary Giddins is an American jazz critic and author. He wrote for ''The Village Voice'' from 1973; his "Weather Bird" column ended in 2003. In 1986 Gary Giddins and John Lewis created the American Jazz Orchestra which presented concerts using a ...

has characterized these concerts as Ellington bringing the Cotton Club revue to the church.

''Concert of Sacred Music''

Grace Cathedral in San Francisco planned a "Festival of Grace", with a variety of cultural works and speakers, to occur during the first year the cathedral was open, and Ellington's concert was to be a part of it. (The "festival" also included a performance by

Vince Guaraldi Vincent Anthony Guaraldi (; né Dellaglio, July 17, 1928 – February 6, 1976) was an American jazz pianist best known for composing music for animated television adaptations of the ''Peanuts'' comic strip. His compositions for this series includ ...

.) The concert premiered on September 16, 1965, and was recorded by KQED, a local public television station. The performance was released on CD as ''A Concert of Sacred Music Live from Grace Cathedral'' and on DVD as ''Love You Madly/A Concert of Sacred Music at Grace Cathedral''. The official album on RCA, ''A Concert of Sacred Music'', was recorded at two concerts at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York on December 26, 1965. Additional material from these concerts, not found on the original album, can be found on the 24-CD box set ''The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (1927-1973)''. The concert mixed existing and new material, with "New World A-Commin" and "Come Sunday" from ''Black Brown and Beige'' and "Heritage (My Mother, My Father)" from the show ''My People''. A new piece, the song "In the Beginning God", was awarded a Grammy Award in 1967. It was performed again at Grace Cathedral on its 25th and 50th anniversaries, in 1990 and 2015.

Reception

The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

review by Richard S. Ginell awarded the album five stars and stated "the concert taps into Ellington's roots in showbiz and African-American culture as well as his evidently deep religious faith, throwing it all together in the spirit of universality and sealing everything with the stamps of his musical signatures".Ginell, R. S.

Allmusic Review AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

accessed June 8, 2010 ''

Ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...

'' magazine called the piece "historic", situating it as part of a larger movement in the mid-60s that brought together jazz and religion.

Track listing

:''All compositions by Duke Ellington'' # "In the Beginning God" - 19:36 # "Will You Be There?" - 1:23 # "Ninety Nine Percent" - 2:23 # "Ain't But the One" - 3:31 # "New World a'Coming" - 9:56 # "In the Beginning, God II" - 4:31 # "Heritage" - 3:42 # "The Lord's Prayer" - 3:16 # "Come Sunday" - 5:30 # "David Danced Before the Lord With All His Might" - 9:00 # "The Lord's Prayer II" - 4:56 The album was recorded at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church on December 26, 1965.

Personnel

* Duke Ellington –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

* Cat Anderson,

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 Ellin ...

, Herb Jones, Cootie Williams -

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

* Lawrence Brown,

Buster Cooper George "Buster" Cooper (April 4, 1929 – May 13, 2016) was an American jazz trombonist. Career A native of St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, Cooper played in a territory band with Nat Towles in Texas in the late 1940s and with Lionel Hamp ...

, Quentin Jackson -

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

*Chuck Connors - bass trombone *

Russell Procope Russell Keith Procope (August 11, 1908 – January 21, 1981) was an American clarinetist and alto saxophonist who was a member of the Duke Ellington orchestra. Before Ellington Procope was born in New York City, United States, and grew up in ...

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 ...

- alto saxophone, clarinet *

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 ...

- alto saxophone * Paul Gonsalves -

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

* Harry Carney - baritone saxophone * John Lamb - bass * Louie Bellson - drums *

Brock Peters Brock Peters (born George Fisher; July 2, 1927 – August 23, 2005) was an American actor and singer, best known for playing the villainous "Crown" in the 1959 film version of ''Porgy and Bess'', and the wrongfully convicted Tom Robinson in t ...

Queen Esther Marrow Queen Esther Marrow (born February 12, 1941) is an American soul and gospel singer. Biography Queen Esther Marrow was born in Newport News, Virginia. She began her career at the age of 22, when her vocal gifts were discovered by Duke Ellington ...

, Jimmy McPhail -

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

*The Herman McCoy Choir -

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

* Bunny Briggs -

tap dancing Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perfo ...

(track 10)

''Second Sacred Concert''

Ellington's ''Second Sacred Concert'' premiered at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York on January 19, 1968, but no recording of this actual performance has surfaced. The ''Second Sacred Concert'' was then recorded on January 22 and February 19, 1968, at Fine Studio in New York and originally issued as a double LP on Prestige Records and reissued on one CD minus the tracks "Don't Get Down On Your Knees To Pray Until You Have Forgiven Everyone" and "Father Forgive".A Duke Ellington Panorama
accessed May 17, 2010 All the tracks can be found in the 24-CD box set ''The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (1927-1973)''. This concert is the first time Swedish singer

Alice Babs Hildur Alice Nilsson (26 January 1924 – 11 February 2014), known by her stage name Alice Babs, was a Swedish singer and actress. She worked in a wide number of genres – Swedish folklore, Elizabethan songs and opera. While she was best known i ...

recorded with the Ellington Orchestra. In the concert she sang "Heaven" and the wordless vocal, "T.G.T.T. (Too Good to Title)". Cootie Williams has a "growl" trumpet feature on "The Shepherd (Who Watches Over the Night Flock)". This piece is dedicated to Rev. John Garcia Gensel, Lutheran pastor to the jazz community. The climactic ending is "Praise God and Dance", which comes from Psalm 150. At the invitation of the Harvard Episcopal Chaplaincy, Ellington gave the concert again at

Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Boston Emmanuel Episcopal Church, a historic church at 15 Newbury Street in Boston, Massachusetts, was founded in 1860 as part of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. History Designed by architect Alexander Rice Esty and constructed in 1861, it was t ...

on April 20, 1969.

Reception

The

review by Richard S. Ginell awarded the album 4 stars and stated "the material is fresh, not a patchwork of old and new like the first concert — and in an attempt to be as ecumenical as possible, Ellington reaches for novel techniques and sounds beyond his usual big band spectrum".Ginell, R. S.

accessed June 8, 2010

Track listing

:''All compositions by Duke Ellington'' # "Praise God" - 3:09 # "Supreme Being" - 11:45 # "Heaven" - 4:55 # "Something About Believing" - 8:12 # "Almighty God" - 6:32 # "The Shepherd (Who Watches over the Flock)" - 7:10 # "It's Freedom" - 13:00 # "Meditation" - 3:10 # "The Biggest and Busiest Intersection" - 3:57 # "T.G.T.T. (Too Good to Title)" - 2:25 # "Don't Get Down On Your Knees To Pray Until You Have Forgiven Everyone" - 5:13 Omitted from CD reissue # "Father Forgive" - 2:49 Omitted from CD reissue # "Praise God And Dance" - 10:49 **Recorded at Fine Studio in New York on January 22 (tracks 3, 5, 7, 10 & 13) and February 19 (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11 & 12), 1968.

Personnel

* Duke Ellington –

narration Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

* Cat Anderson,

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 tr ...

, Herb Jones, Cootie Williams -

* Lawrence Brown,

Bennie Green Bennie Green (April 16, 1923 – March 23, 1977) was an American jazz trombonist. Born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, Green worked in the orchestras of Earl Hines and Charlie Ventura, and recorded as bandleader through the 1950s and ...

*Chuck Connors - bass trombone *

- alto saxophone, clarinet *

- alto saxophone *

- clarinet,

* Paul Gonsalves - tenor saxophone * Harry Carney - baritone saxophone *Jeff Castleman - bass *

Sam Woodyard Sam Woodyard (January 7, 1925 – September 20, 1988) was an American jazz drummer. He was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States. Woodyard was largely an autodidact on drums and played locally in the Newark, New Jersey area in the 1940 ...

, Steve Little - drums *

, Devonne Gardner, Trish Turner, Roscoe Gill -

*The AME Mother Zion Church Choir, Choirs Of St Hilda's and St. Hugh's School, Central Connecticut State College Singers, The Frank Parker Singers -

''Third Sacred Concert''

The ''Third Sacred Concert'' was built around the skills of

, Harry Carney, and Ellington himself on the piano. It was premiered at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on October 24, 1973, and released on LP in 1975 but has only been issued on CD as part of the 24-disc ''The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (1927-1973)'' collection. At this point in his life, Ellington knew he was dying. Author Janna Tull Steed has written that of all the concerts that Ellington is addressing God facing his mortality.Steed page 148 Alice Babs sings ''Is God a Three Letter Word for Love?'' and ''My Love''. Tenor saxophonist Harold Ashby is featured on ''The Brotherhood'', which is a tribute to

The United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

Reception

The

review by Richard S. Ginell awarded the album 3 stars and stated "the weakest of the sacred concerts. It lacks the showbiz kick and exuberance of the first concert and even more eclectic impulses of the second, now burdened with a subdued solemnity and the sense that the ailing Ellington knew his time was drawing to a close (he would be dead exactly six months later)".Ginell, R. S.

accessed June 8, 2010

Track listing

:''All compositions by Duke Ellington'' # ''Introduction By Sir Colin Crowe'' - 1:28 # ''Duke Ellington's Introduction'' - 1:26 # "The Lord's Prayer: My Love" - 7:49 # "Is God A Three-Letter Word For Love? (Part I)" - 4:27 # "Is God A Three-Letter Word For Love? (Part II)" - 3:46 # "The Brotherhood" - 5:46 # "Hallelujah" - 3:32 # "Every Man Prays In His Own Language" - 11:10 # "Ain't Nobody Nowhere Nothin' Without God" - 4:20 # "The Majesty Of God" - 7:27 **Recorded at Westminster Abbey, London on October 24, 1973.

Personnel

* Duke Ellington –

Johnny Coles John Coles (July 3, 1926 – December 21, 1997) was an American jazz trumpeter. Early life Coles was born in Trenton, New Jersey on July 3, 1926. He grew up in Philadelphia and was self-taught on trumpet. Later life and career Coles spent his ...

, Barrie Lee Hall,

Art Baron Arthur John Baron (born January 5, 1950) is an American jazz trombonist. He also plays didgeridoo, conch shell, penny-whistle, alto and bass recorder, and tuba. Career overview Baron is an alumnus of the Berklee College of Music. He joined ...

, Vince Prudente -

*Chuck Connors - bass trombone *

Harold Minerve Harold "Geezil" Minerve (January 3, 1922 - June 4, 1992) was a Cuban-born jazz alto saxophonist and flautist. Minerve was raised in Florida and began playing music at age 12. He played with Ida Cox early in his career, then worked as a freelance mu ...

- alto saxophone, flute *

- alto saxophone * Harold Ashby - clarinet,

*Percy Marion - tenor saxophone * Harry Carney - baritone saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet * Joe Benjamin - bass *Quentin Whit - drums *

, Tony Watkins -

John Alldis Choir John Alldis (10 August 192920 December 2010) was an English chorus-master and conductor. Biography Alldis was educated at King's College School, Cambridge and Felsted. He then returned to King's College, Cambridge as a choral scholar under Bo ...

Notes

References

*Steed, Janna Tull ''Duke Ellington: A Spiritual Biography (Lives & Legacies)'' {{Authority control America Records albums Sacred Concerts 1966 live albums 1968 albums America Records live albums 1975 live albums Duke Ellington albums Live album series Duke Ellington live albums