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reldnahkramI'm leaning strongly towards doing my music comps on a few Duke Ellington pieces from the mid-late '30s, and I think it would do me some good to write down my ideas about them. Why here? Why not?
Concerto for Cootie
The piece that started this whole project. Also the piece that, of the four, was written latest. The irregular phrases and mournful, muted melody of the head contrasts so nicely against the absolute joy of the B (it's sort of a ternary form). There's a reason why this is a classic.
Echoes of the Jungle
Cootie doesn't play the head. Clearly an older piece. Formally simple: AA' theme and variations, then some variation in the middle. Not really sure it belongs, the trumpet feature aspect is lacking. What it does show is some of the trumpet work that Cootie uses in Concerto, and has that same chunks of contrast form that the Concerto has, but I don't think it's as interesting a study.
Echoes of Harlem
Very much a trumpet feature. Also shows off the mute contrasts like Concerto. Much longer As, much shorter B than on Concerto. There's less to this one than Concerto, but it's a good contrast, and perhaps a good way to show what makes a classic and what doesn't, though this is very good as well.
Trumpet in Spades
The black sheep. Rex Steward instead of Cootie Williams on trumpet. Stylistically very different from the others. No jungle, no growls. The feature work is all Clarkies or something like the Carnival variations out of the Arban book. The authors in the Duke books I read were right - this is just an inferior piece.
Concerto for Cootie
The piece that started this whole project. Also the piece that, of the four, was written latest. The irregular phrases and mournful, muted melody of the head contrasts so nicely against the absolute joy of the B (it's sort of a ternary form). There's a reason why this is a classic.
Echoes of the Jungle
Cootie doesn't play the head. Clearly an older piece. Formally simple: AA' theme and variations, then some variation in the middle. Not really sure it belongs, the trumpet feature aspect is lacking. What it does show is some of the trumpet work that Cootie uses in Concerto, and has that same chunks of contrast form that the Concerto has, but I don't think it's as interesting a study.
Echoes of Harlem
Very much a trumpet feature. Also shows off the mute contrasts like Concerto. Much longer As, much shorter B than on Concerto. There's less to this one than Concerto, but it's a good contrast, and perhaps a good way to show what makes a classic and what doesn't, though this is very good as well.
Trumpet in Spades
The black sheep. Rex Steward instead of Cootie Williams on trumpet. Stylistically very different from the others. No jungle, no growls. The feature work is all Clarkies or something like the Carnival variations out of the Arban book. The authors in the Duke books I read were right - this is just an inferior piece.
no subject
Date: 2005-02-01 10:43 am (UTC)I don't know if you can find it, but there's a Cootie v. Rex challenge album from the fifties, before Cootie went back to the Duke, and it's marvelous. Also, if you're a Cootie fan, his sound on the Benny Goodman/Peggy Lee 'My Old Flame' is magnificent. I know you can get the Cootie/Benny/Lionel small group stuff, but it's hard to find.
Thanks,
-Vardibidian (http://www.kith.org/vardibidian/journal/).