''Such Sweet Thunder'' is a
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 ...
album, released in 1957. The record is a twelve-part suite based on the work of
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
.
Background
In August 1956, Duke Ellington and his orchestra were in Canada, performing in the same city as the ongoing
Stratford Shakespearean Festival. Curious, Ellington and his longtime composer/arranger
Billy Strayhorn
William Thomas Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967) was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger, who collaborated with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly three decades. His compositions include "Take ...
talked to festival staffers, and Ellington soon announced his next album project would be a conceptual piece, paying tribute to Shakespeare's varied works with appropriate jazz compositions. In addition to the ''Such Sweet Thunder'' album, he promised the entire suite would be performed at the 1957 edition of the festival. Ellington and Strayhorn began building a home library of Shakespeare, seeking out Shakespeare experts, and reading through the canon during orchestra downtime. The title comes from Act IV scene i of ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream
''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...
'', where Hippolyta says: "I never heard / So musical a discord, such sweet thunder."
The suite that would constitute ''Such Sweet Thunder'' was written in just under three weeks and recorded in early 1957. Although most of the compositions were created for the suite in conjunction with Strayhorn, a few were versions of older Strayhorn songs that were reworked and re-titled for the collection.
Track listing
All songs written by
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 ...
and
Billy Strayhorn
William Thomas Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967) was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger, who collaborated with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly three decades. His compositions include "Take ...
, except where noted.
# "Such Sweet Thunder " – 3:22
# "Sonnet for Caesar" – 3:00
# "Sonnet to Hank Cinq" – 1:24
# "Lady Mac" – 3:41
# "Sonnet in Search of a Moor" – 2:22
# "The Telecasters" – 3:05
# "Up and Down, Up and Down (I Will Lead Them Up and Down) " – 3:09
# "Sonnet for Sister Kate" – 2:24
# "The Star-Crossed Lovers" (Also known as "Pretty Girl") – 4:00
# "Madness in Great Ones " – 3:26
# "Half the Fun" (Also known as "Lately") – 4:19
# "Circle of Fourths" – 1:45
Bonus tracks
- "The Star-Crossed Lovers" (Also known as "Pretty Girl") (stereo LP master) – 4:15
- "Circle of Fourths" (stereo LP master) – 1:47
- "Suburban Beauty" (Ellington) – 2:56
- "A-Flat Minor" (Ellington) – 2:33
- "Café au Lait" – 2:49
- "Half the Fun" (
Alternate take
A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production.
Film
In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup". Takes of each s ...
) – 4:08
- "Suburban Beauty" (Alternate take) (Ellington) – 2:56
- "A-Flat Minor" ( Outtake) (Ellington) – 3:49
- "Café au Lait" – 6:21
- "Pretty Girl" (Also known as the "Star-Crossed Lovers") (Outtake) – 8:54
Production/reissue credits
Musicians
*
Jimmy Hamilton – Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone
*
Johnny Hodges – Alto Saxophone
*
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 S ...
– Clarinet, Alto Saxophone
*
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 ...
– Tenor Saxophone
*
Harry Carney
Harry Howell Carney (April 1, 1910 – October 8, 1974) was a jazz saxophonist and clarinettist who spent over four decades as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He played a variety of instruments but primarily used the baritone saxopho ...
– Bass Clarinet, Baritone Saxophone
*
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 ...
– Trumpet
*
Clark Terry
Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator.
He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948–51), Duke ...
– Trumpet
*
Ray Nance
Ray Willis Nance (December 10, 1913 – January 28, 1976) was an American jazz trumpeter, violinist and singer. He is best remembered for his long association with Duke Ellington and his orchestra.
Early years
Nance was the leader of his ow ...
– Trumpet
*
Willie Cook
Willie Cook (November 11, 1923 – September 22, 2000) was an American jazz trumpeter.
Cook was born in Tangipahoa, Louisiana, on November 11, 1923.Hogan, E"Willie Cook" AllMusic. Retrieved July 13, 2017. He grew up in Chicago and learned to pl ...
– Trumpet
*
– Trombone
*
John Sanders – Trombone
*
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 Rae ...
– Trombone
*
Jimmy Woode – Bass
*
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 ...
– Piano
*
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 1940s. ...
– Drums
*
Billy Strayhorn
William Thomas Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967) was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger, who collaborated with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly three decades. His compositions include "Take ...
– Orchestration
Production
*
Irving Townsend – Liner Notes, Original Recording Producer
*
Phil Schaap
Philip van Noorden Schaap (April 8, 1951September 7, 2021) was an American radio host, who specialized in jazz as a broadcaster, historian, archivist, and producer. He began presenting jazz shows on Columbia University's WKCR in 1970, and hoste ...
– Liner Notes, Reissue Producer, Remastering, Research, Restoration. (No reissue retains Clark Terry's quotation, on the original LP release, of Puck's "Lord, what fools these mortals be!")
*
Steven Berkowitz
Steven Berkowitz (born September 4, 1958) was CEO of Move, Inc. After serving on the board of directors of Move, Inc. for nearly a year, Steve was selected by the board to succeed Michael Long to serve as the company's CEO. After completing the ...
–
A&R
*
Darren Salmieri – A&R
*
Mark Wilder – Digital Mastering
*
Howard Fritzson – Art Direction
*
Don Hunstein
Donald Robert Hunstein (November 19, 1928 – March 18, 2017) was an American photographer.
Life
He studied at Washington University in St. Louis, graduating in 1950. Later he served in the United States Air Force in England. He returned to th ...
– Photography
*
Randall Martin – Design
*
Juliana Myrick – Package Manager
Critical reception
NPR has included this album on their Basic Jazz Record Library.
''
The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' gave the album 4 stars (out of a possible 4.)
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 databas ...
gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars.
References
Bibliography (further reading)
Contemporary reviews and journalism
* “Ellington Suite to Bow April 28” ''New York Times''. 15 April 1957.
* Parmenter, Ross. “Music: Weill and the Duke.” ''New York Times'' 29 April 1957.
* “New Ellington Suite Hailed By Coast-to-Coast Audience.” ''Daily Defender''. 2 July 1957.
* Wilson, John S. “Duke Bounces Back With Provocative Work.” ''New York Times''. 13 Oct. 1957. esp 113
* Wilson, John S. “Jazz: Ellington.” ''New York Times'' 13 October 1957.
Historical and analytical writings (in reverse chronological order)
* Bradbury, David. ''Duke Ellington''. London: Haus, 2005. Esp. pp. 91.
* Lanier, Douglas. “To Be-Bop or Not to Be-Bop; Minstrelsy, Jazz, Rap: Shakespeare, African American Music, and Cultural Legitimation.” ''Borrowers and Lenders: The Journal of Shakespeare and Appropriation'' Vol. 1, 2005
o pagination
O, or o, is the fifteenth Letter (alphabet), letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in ...
* Buhler, Stephen M. “Form and Character in Duke Ellington’s and Billy Strayhorn’s Such Sweet Thunder.” ''Borrowers and Lenders: The Journal of Shakespeare and Appropriation'' Vol. 1, 2005
o pagination
O, or o, is the fifteenth Letter (alphabet), letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in ...
* Nicholson, Stuart. ''Reminiscing in Tempo: A Portrait of Duke Ellington''. Northeastern University Press, 1999, esp. pp. ???-???.
* Lambert, Eddie. ''Duke Ellington: A Listener’s Guide''. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 1999. Esp. pp. 193–194.
* Kernfeld, Barry. ''New Grove Dictionary of Jazz''. St. Martin's Press, 1994. esp 331
* Hasse, John Edward. ''Beyond The Life and Genius of Duke Ellington''. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993.
* Tucker, Mark. ''The Duke Ellington Reader''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Esp. pp. 321, 441. esp. pp. 339–341, 393
** Harrison, Max. “Max Harrison: Some Reflections on Ellington’s Longer Works. ''The Duke Ellington Reader''. Tucker, Mark, ed. (esp. pg.393).
** Crouch, Stanley. “Stanley Crouch on Such Sweet Thunder, Suite Thursday, and Anatomy of a Murder.” ''The Duke Ellington Reader''. Tucker, Mark, ed. (esp. 339, 441).
* Hasse, John. ''Beyond The Life and Genius of Duke Ellington''. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1993. Esp. pp. 331–333, 362.
* Timmer, W.E. ''Ellingtonia: The recorded music of Duke Ellington and his sidemen''. Metuchen, N.J.: Institute of Jazz Studies: Scarecrow Press, 1988. Esp. pp. 450.
* Marsalis, Wynton. “What Jazz is and Isn’t.” ''New York Times''. 31, July 1988.
* Ellington, Mercer. ''Duke Ellington in Person: An Intimate Memoir''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1978. Esp. pp. 117.
* Ellington, Duke. ''Music is My Mistress''. New York: Da Capo Press, 1976, c1973. Esp. pp. 192.
{{Authority control
Duke Ellington albums
1957 albums
Columbia Records albums
Albums produced by Irving Townsend
Legacy Recordings albums
Albums recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio
Music based on works by William Shakespeare