Steve_L Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 This one I posted in recommendation of the week, but this is worthy of it's own thread. I've just gotten back from the Newport Jazz Festival, which was fabulous this year, due to perfect weather and a couple of incredible performances, most notably from McCoy Tyner and Artruro Sandaval.. who I had never followed, but boy, I will now! Anyway, this was Newport at it's best, fabulous misic, scenery (unbelievable boats in the harbor), people and of course great restaurants. It was impossible not to enjoy the Jazz Fest. But, in 1956, it was even better!! Because that was the year of the most incredible jazz performance ever. Performed by none other than the Duke Ellington big band. This was all caught on tape and has been reissued as a fabulous 2-CD set that is a MUST OWN for any serious jazz collection. the most important piece of this collection is the historic 27 bar sax solo of Paul Gonsalves. He takes a releativel simple piece and gets everyone in Newport up and dancing. Crank it up and enjoy jazz the way it was meant to be!! Here's a quote from Amazon.. "Ellington got the lift he needed when he called "Diminuendo in Blue" with set-closer "Crescendo in Blue" tacked on the end. Tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves got the nod from Ellington to segue from "Diminuendo" to "Crescendo," and he blew doors. With one rousing 27-chorus solo, Gonsalves blew a fever into the crowd and jump-started Ellingtonia for another generation." One of the things I find I really enjoy with my journey into jazz is not only the beauty, and spirituality of the music, but the history from where and when it came. Enjoy jazz, big band genious of The Duke, and the great feel of Newport 1956. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbuckster Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 Steve,where my musical taste is you already know, but I do love the sound of a Big Band, I don't own any, but I do listen.................I have to get MRI's pretty regular, and they supply headphones and music to deaden that god awful sound, I always seem to go for the Glenn Miller Big Band music...........Excellent........what a full rich sound.......PBS locally runs alot of HD programs, and very often it's a show with or about Big Bands........just something about a Big Band, the Duke, the Count, simply amazing..............the Swing band Era.............Horns galore..........simple, polished,............I LIKE MUSIC.....plan and simple. Brian Setzer, the guy from Stray Cats, has a DVD with a Big Band backing him, well worth the price, great show.........Brian has it down.........HORNS........got to love a good Blatt from a sax.............EH?...................Ever do the 4th of July show on the Charles River? I watch it every 4th if it's on........the Boston Pop's.............I miss Arthur Fiedler..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_L Posted August 19, 2006 Author Share Posted August 19, 2006 Buck, I will guarantee that if you play this 27 bar chorus on this CD, cranked up and in DD DPLXII mode, you will be on your feet toes-a-tappin! It's just that good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davmar Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 I can't get the hang of this new forum, I usually type on word and have it spell check it then paste it here, I cannot figure out how or why one can't on the new forum, and I have not posted on the new forum, so forgive me while I wax unpoetic and unspellled. I love this cd and let me see if I have the story right about that cut by Paul Gonsalves. The count just finished a set, and the crowd was dead. Well this pissed off the drummer, who started beating the drums like a mad man, a total psyco, well the guys in the band heard this and jumped on the jazz train, as it got up to speed there was a blond bombshell in the audiance who could not contain her joy any more and started dancing in the isle. Well the band saw this and started to see how long they could take her, that was when Paul Gonsalves jumped in and played his historic solo. By the time his solo was over the audiance was as nuts as the band and the officials wanted the band to stop playing fearing a riot, but the band members ignored the gestures of the cops and almost 15 minutes later Duke Ellington was back in the catbird seat of jazz. If any one can tell me how to post with spell checked verbage it will be greatly appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_L Posted August 31, 2006 Author Share Posted August 31, 2006 I can't get the hang of this new forum, I usually type on word and have it spell check it then paste it here, I cannot figure out how or why one can't on the new forum, and I have not posted on the new forum, so forgive me while I wax unpoetic and unspellled. I love this cd and let me see if I have the story right about that cut by Paul Gonsalves. The count just finished a set, and the crowd was dead. Well this pissed off the drummer, who started beating the drums like a mad man, a total psyco, well the guys in the band heard this and jumped on the jazz train, as it got up to speed there was a blond bombshell in the audiance who could not contain her joy any more and started dancing in the isle. Well the band saw this and started to see how long they could take her, that was when Paul Gonsalves jumped in and played his historic solo. By the time his solo was over the audiance was as nuts as the band and the officials wanted the band to stop playing fearing a riot, but the band members ignored the gestures of the cops and almost 15 minutes later Duke Ellington was back in the catbird seat of jazz. If any one can tell me how to post with spell checked verbage it will be greatly appreciated Well, that's a great story and might be as true as the one in the liner notes. In the liner notes say that 4 of Duke's musicians didn't show up for the first appearance on stage and the band stopped playing after about 20 minutes. Then, finally, after midnight, they arrive on stage and join the other band members (they were out drinking) and Duke starts the show again. This time, it's with a full band and then they hit Dimuendo and Cressendo and Paul Gonsalves does a great job energizing the crowd. What's interesting is that Ellington was without recording contract at this time, at a low point in the band's popularity and they needed a boost to get back on top. Secondly, and even more interesting is that Columbia flubbed the recording and had the band back into the studio the next day to record certain sections that we improperly miked. They didn't come clean about this for 40 years! Until this remastered release they were selling the first Ellington at Newport '56 as the real thing, even though it wasn't. But here's a pointer to George Wein's account of the story, he was there and he knows the story and the background better than anyone. http://www.jerryjazzmusician.com/mainHTML.cfm?page=greatencounters11.html (mis-spellings and typos are fine by me!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davmar Posted September 3, 2006 Share Posted September 3, 2006 That was a great link to that Jazz page, I am going to go back and check out the other things on it, the story I related is from the ken burns film, poorly remembered by me, any way I hear it i love it. That same night that I posted that I was setting my alarm for the next morning and when I turned it on to do that Marian McPartland show piano jazz was just ending and the guest was George Wein and he was talking about the song with Marian, I thought what a great sign to go to sleep to I will probably dream about being there. On a side note I heard about a cbs show from the ken burns dvd also and found it, the hour special called The sound of Jazz, have you checked it out? There is a BUT LOAD of performers in the hour, the lighting, camera work etc is not that great, but, it is so cool to see some of the people on stage. I appreciate the come back from someone who is interested in jazz thanx for the link to Jerry Jazz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbuckster Posted September 3, 2006 Share Posted September 3, 2006 Gentlemen, let me throw this out there, it is refreshing to see talk of music on this forum, the constant bickering about equipment is wearing really thin, it doesn't matter if your listening to a transitor radio, or "the Best Stereo in the World", it's the MUSIC that's the magic, and this is the kind of response so lacking on this forum. Thanks for the information....................carry on................interesting to me...... davmar...........what is spuuel check? Don't worry about it, just type what you feel,we'll figure it out............welcome........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_L Posted September 3, 2006 Author Share Posted September 3, 2006 Davmar, if you like the Ken Burns film, and The Sound of Jazz, you'll love this film. It's called A Great Day in Harlem, based on the famous photograph taken by Art Kane. It's a great flick and you've just reminded me that I need to get the DVD copy which is a great upgrade compared to the VHS copy I have. The interviews, the stories and the history is fabulous. I need to see if I can catch the Sound of Jazz show you mentioned, but Netflix or buy this DVD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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