jacksonbart Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 Anyone catch this one PBS? I stumbled upon this Tuesday night (last night was watching Supreme Court Justices program). It was very interesting for me, since Jazz is relatively a new to me (thanks to this forum). I have a few Duke Ellington CDs, but I am not a huge Big Band Jazz fan in as much as the smaller Quartets/Sextets, etc. But one of my favorites is John Coltranes version of Lush Life. It was really interesting to learn the amazing talent of Strayhorn and the dynamics between him and Ellington. Worth a watch IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 probably find it on bittorrent soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jheis Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 I'm looking forward to seeing it. Our local PBS station is apparently "second tier," so we get things a week or two late. Strayhorn was the quiet genius behind Duke Ellington's success. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 Strayhorn was the quiet genius behind Duke Ellington's success. No. Strayhorn was a collborator, an AMAZING arranger and wrote some INCREDIBLE tunes ( "Chelsea Bridge," "Day Dream," "Johnny Come Lately," "Rain-check" Blood Count," "Clementine," "Take the A Train" and "Lotus Blossom" to name a few) and was a lifelong friend, but even WITHOUT Strayhorn, Ellington would STILL be the great American composer/bandleader of the 20th C. Strayhorn was in NO way "the quiet geniuis behind Duke Ellington's success" -- I think it trivializes both Ellington's AND Strayhorn's massive conributions to say this. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 It was an interesting relationship between Ellington and Strayhorn, good to see him getting his due. Missed the 1st airing, saw the Blue Note release and watched the . Listening to an archived radio show now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jheis Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 Allan: Not to mention "Lush Life" and "Satin Doll." Didn't mean to denigrate anyone. Perhaps I should have said "much of" Ellington's success. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GooseChaser Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Allan: Not to mention "Lush Life" and "Satin Doll." Didn't mean to denigrate anyone. Perhaps I should have said "much of" Ellington's success. James The Ellington orchestra was already much renowned by the time Strayhorn joined the band in the late 30's, and the orchestra had also produced some of its most well-known pieces before Strayhorn. Between Strayhorn's arrival and the early 40's, the fertile Webster-Blanton period produced some of the greatest compositions in Ellingtonia, during which time Strayhorn penned some of his best work as well. It was a great time of collaboration, but not as developed as their collaboration would be in the later years. So, their critical compositions were often mostly independent of the other composer. In the ensuing years, the only hit that Strayhorn produced was "Satin Doll". As did a number of other individuals during different periods, Strayhorn's contribution to the orchestra and its sound was great, but it was just that, a contribution. Personally, I find both Ellington and Strayhorn to be two of the musical giants of the last century. I rarely go a day without listening to their work. I get the feeling that you simply don't enjoy Ellington's music very much or you literally credit much of Ellingtonia(or what you find worth a while in it) to Strayhorn. Because if you simply meant mass popularity by "success", Ellington had already achieved it before meeting Strayhorn. Also, Strayhorn was an unknown musician at the time and could have remained in obscurity had he not joined the orchestra. It would be ironic and false to state that the recognition Ellington received was due to Strayhorn, when it is quite literally the opposite. So, the implication of your statement seems to be that much of Ellington's artistic success was actually the work of Strayhorn. I would really like to know how you came to this conclusion. I can accept that one prefers Strayhorn's music over Ellington's. But, what you stated is a little different from a simple preference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jheis Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 OK...How about "some of" or maybe "a little bit of" .... Geeze, you guys are touchy. I wasn't trying to start a debate among Ellington scholars and I didn't intend my comment to be a definative statement. A lot of people don't know who Strayhorn was and I was trying to encourage them to watch the show. Sure, Ellington was a success before Strayhorn, but the "hits" that even non-jazz or non-big band fans still identify as "Ellington" today such as: "Take the A Train," "Lush Life," "Chelsea Bridge," "Johnny Come Lately," and "Satin Doll" were Strayhorn compositions. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 there was definitely a communion between the two, enjoy the music while historians are still sorting this out . . need to watch the PBS documentary myself. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/02/03/DDG9ONTBO91.DTL http://www.topix.net/content/trb/3615103378043932374003497768572996169159 http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/television/244844,CST-FTR-billy06.article http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/artsentertainment/2003558239_lushlife06.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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