Duke Ellington at the piano

“[…] Duke, in spite of what some people might think, was an excellent pianist.”

(Pianist Hank Jones, in an interview with Ted Panken)

A lot has been said in recent weeks about Duke Ellington on the Internet. A new biography by Terry Teachout and a review of it in The New Yorker by Adam Gopnik have raised a few eyebrows and made some people angry. I haven’t read Teachout’s book, but I know Gopnik’s review. The problem with it is that he seems not to have listened to much of Ellington’s colossal output.

Some of the criticism towards those texts have to do with Ellington’s relationship with his writing and arranging companion, Billy Strayhorn, and his piano playing. I think this recording of Strayhorn’s “Lotus Blossom”, made after his death, speaks volumes about both aspects.

Frank Wess (1922-2013)

Just a couple years younger than Charlie Parker, and also faring from Kansas City, Frank Wess was one of those excellent musicians poorly served by tags like "mainstream" or "bop". He was a member of the Basie orchestra for a long time. Apparently an unassuming man, it was our loss that he wasn't seen under the spotlight more often. Wess passed away on October 30, aged 91.

Jazz for Playboys (Savoy/Denon SV-0191)

Never mind the official hierarchies of jazz, Wess was one of the first tenor sax players I encountered in jazz (before Coltrane or Coleman Hawkins, for instance). He was also my first flutist, the only one I knew for some time, which may explain why I couldn't understand some of my colleagues' disliking the instrument. Guess I was just lucky.

It was by sheer coincidence that a local shop had bucketloads of Japanese Savoy/Denon CDs at discount price. At a time when I mulled over the purchase of one CD for a very long time, I don't know what made me choose this record without listening to it. Not the cover, obviously. It wasn't the title either (believe me).

Django!

On January 23 I marked Django's birthday with an impromptu, off-the-cuff selection of his recordings, and I posted it on Twitter. His guitar was one my early hooks in jazz, and his recordings remain special.

So, without further ado, I give you my Django!. Recordings date from the mid-30s to 1953; if you hear a violin, it's Stéphane Grappelli. If there's a clarinet that'll probably be Hubert Rostaing, same goes for Alix Combelle and his tenor sax (on "Finesse" Rex Stewart is on cornet and Barney Bigard on clarinet). Depending on the date, Django's instrument maybe an acoustic guitar, an electrified acoustic, or a electric guitar proper.

Enjoy the music on YouTube or Qobuz!

* LES YEUX NOIRS