St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1949-12-30
RATING The
R { G o r D S
The Duke of Music

in the appreciation and love of
prcsent-day music during his
youth when II was considered
crime not to have at least a cur
sorry knowledge of some of the
contemporary greats in the bust
ness of dishing out the sharps and
flats. And those who followed the
careers Of these musical giants are
well aware and have unquestion-
ably accorded them their rghtful
place among Jazz royalty
one Of the members of this re-
gal sect. to whom all others give
way, IS Edward Kennedy Filing
ton, Familiarity known information
ally as Duke" Ellington. True,
there are others King"
Cole, William Count" Basic, Earl
"Fatha Hines, to name a few
who have made an indelible i'm
preston in their own fields and
who stand out head and shoulders
above all others, but the Ellington
monicker is higher still, in a class
by itself.
A peer among all composers in
the modern manner of music,
Duke has, with his wealth of con-
temporary ideas, been compared
by some to Stravinsky. The music
Of this Incompatible king of ma
tive music and Americas finest
composer, does not wither with
age nor grow stale through
changes in custom or tastes of
the public. His is the type of mu-
sic regarded as standard" by the
trade, upon which is built much
of that which is heard today.
He has written over $50 tunes
during his career - some of the
more extended items being Black
Brown and Beige" a 45-minute
musical fantasy or tone parallel
to the history of the Negro; mu-
sic for Jump for joy; Perfume
Suite" for his third Carnegie Hall
appearance; the trio of tunes
Don't You Know l Care" Il
Didn't Know About YOU" and
I'm Beginning to See the Light"
which simultaneously appeared on
the Hit Parade; and the recent
Mood Ellington a collection of
impressionistic items which show
the Duke is still in fine fettle.
In l947, the Government of Lii
IBERIA in West Africa commission
ed Ellington to compose a suite
Of music appropriate for its CEN
tennial celebration. The compost
ton entitled Duke Ellington's
Liberian Suite" was presented at
concert in Carnegie Hall on
Dec. 26 and 81, 1947. Columbia
records now has the suite on To-
inch LIP Gel 6O73) and is sched-
uled to release a shellac set in the
near future.
'Liberian Suite" consists of an
introduction and five dances and
shows the Ellington imaginative
genius painting a musical portrait
of the spirit motvating the foun-
dation of the Republic, its growth
and place among other nations of
the world.
The introduction opens quietly
and drifts easily to add body and
aCcentuate the hopefulness in Al
Hibbler's singing of l LIKE THE
SUNRISE, Il hope it likes poor
me" The heavier rhythmic en-
phasis is well portrayed by the
Sonny Greer percussions.
Dance No. l opens with a reso-
nant African beat, pulsating, in
sistent, like the awakening of a
Liberian town, giving over to
busy, steady rhythm. punctuated
by brass and reeds on a state
ment and answer technique. A
modified lump movement heralds
Dance No. l, with rhythms be-
coming progressively involved and
soloists Jimmy Hamilton on clar-
met and Tyree Glenn, vbes, pit
ting their talents against the
whole group.
In Dance No. 3, Ray Nance
takes his violin in hand on a slow
moody indigoed tinted melody in
a tango-ish like mood, scored by
jungle rhythm. The Harry Carney
baritone sax drifts in easily and
drops out just as easily. while Al
Killian's trumpet talks trash. The
tempo becomes much wilder in
the succeeding dance with Greet
displaying his artistic interpreta-
ton of the dance via percussion,
and the Johnny Hodges alto
punChily leading a drawing-out of
fetching figures for reeds, with