Ellington's Career, Principles and Methods Used in His Music - Essay Example

 Ellingtonia Music 1.Reflecting upon Ellington’s total adult life and career, in your opinion, what would be the meaning of “success” to Ellington? To Ellington (Born: 29-4-1899 -Died: 24-5-1974) “success” meant hard and intelligent work, coupled with perseverance. The path to reach the level of one of the renowned exponent of jazz and lyrist of the twentieth century was tough. Ellington considered no work or responsibility small or below his dignity to perform. He wrote songs for individual musicians who were part of his orchestra. As the bandleader, he not only supervised but performed actively. He trained other musicians, and was willing to learning from them, thus his teaching was part of his self-training. He knew the importance and place of each instrument in the system of orchestra. He was the sterling pianists of all times. He anticipated the demand of the time in the area of music, modernised and updated the system of his music accordingly. Newly reissued albums arrived in the market at regular intervals. In effect, this was a good marketing strategy as well. He recorded over two hundred albums. He had plans for gaining ascendancy in the field of music, both as the performing artist, as well as the business strategist. He was a cool customer, a gentleman genius. He loved all music, not alone jaaz. Until he took up the cause of jaaz as the important genre of music, it was considered as mere “colored entertainment,” (Ellington, n. p.) and its popularity was in the selective areas. It did not command universal popularity and acceptance. Ellington transformed it into a complex and artful musical form. By the age of eighteen he had formed his first band; the Duke’s Serenaders and also wrote the first composition, “The Soda Fountain Rag.”(Ellington, n. p.) Since then Ellington never looked back and worked for success like an entrepreneur and management expert. God-gifted talent in music was his unfailing asset. 2. Isolate two principles or methods that Ellington applied to life and/or music, and show how they can possibly help other people to succeed. The two principles that he applied to his life and which could guide others to achieve success were (a) willingness to learn, and (b) capacity to move with the demand of times. One, who rose from the grassroots level in life, knew the value of success and how to maintain that level, once he reached the top. His upbringing had much to do with the leadership qualities in his professional life that led him to success. John Edward Hasse writes, “ Even before he acquired the nickname “Duke,” young Ellington was a natural aristocrat—in bearing, manners, taste, dress, and self-confidence. Cultivating airs and graces, and foreshadowing his future relationships with women, he even had his female cousin bow down to him as a sign of respect.”(24)To him music was the passion and mission of life and not commission. (Meaning earning money for self-aggrandizement, forsaking the business ethics) It was a rare combination of qualities for an artist to be guided by business acumen. He began taking lessons in piano at the age of seven, and by then his family friends had recognized his latent genius in music. Hasse writes, “When he was seven or eight, attending Garnet Elementary School, his mother signed him for his first formal training in music.”(26)At the age of 18, he entered the music world with a bang, and this was his first master-stroke to make entry in the business world in relation to music. He issued the biggest advertisement in the telephone yellow pages regarding his aspirations to become a bandleader. His reach in the world of music was limited then, and yet he had self-confidence and faith in his own abilities to make a mark in his chosen field. The advertisement worked and soon he was directing many area bands in Washington D.C. At the same time, he revised his techniques of playing piano, in the light of the practical experience gained. His next destination was New York and there he established the Washingtonians along with his friends and fellow musicians. By temperament, he was a private man, introvert, and hardly spoke about himself and his stunning achievements. In his autobiography, “Music is My Mistress,” (Ellington, n. p.) he was hardly mentioned as a character. Those with whom he was associated vouchsafe for his amiable disposition and hailed him as a saintly personality. He had a good sense of humor, which he often directed against himself. This example indicated how he stoically took the news of prejudice against himself. When he was “denied the lifetime achievement award, overruling its own official judges, Ellington”, (Ellington, n. p.) 69 years old then, reacted thus: "Fate doesn't want me to be famous too young." (Ellington, n. p.) 3. Looking at Ellington from the view point of your major and/or history, give a short evaluation of the man and his achievement. Ellington got a kick-start and created a base for himself in the art of music when he secured a job at the Hollywood Club, and he played there on regular basis. He along with Bubber Miley brought the distinct identity to the group by the creation of “jungle sound.” (Ellington, n.p.)By 1926, his orchestra perfected “hot numbers like “East St. Louis Toodleoo” and “Birmingham Breakdown.”(Ellington, n.p.) Ellington had become a glutton for achievement in the field of music and next year his group secured “a permanent spot at the Cotton Club” (Ellington, n. p.) with the popularity gained on numbers like “Black and Tan Fantasy,” (Ellington, n. p.) and “Creole Love Call.” (Ellington, n. p.)Radio broadcasts followed, which brought national fame to Ellington and his team. Even with the onslaught of Great Depression on the country, Ellington was still making inroads in to the world of success and his progress remained unabated. In 1930, when the economy of the world was tottering due to the after-effects of Depression, he had established as one of the greatest performers in the world. At that time, he had eight soloists, as against three or less with most of the bands. He had outgrown the Cotton Club, his stature was much taller and he along with the team, began “touring the country, and throughout the world.”(Ellington, n. p.) By 1940, Duke Ellington’s orchestra had attained the number one position in the world. “Ben Webster on tenor sax, Jimmy Blanton on bass, Billy Strayhorn as the composer and as an arranger,” (Ellington, n. p.) the names that would attain world fame in jaaz music was part of his band. His achievements continued for the next two decades, and particularly his performances at “Carnegie Hall in 1943”(Ellington, n. p.) and his sterling performances in 1956 at the “Newport Jaaz festival,” (Ellington, n. p)added to his cluster of achievements. 4. List several outstanding characteristics of Ellingtonia music and state your opinion about them. Duke Ellington was known as the transplanted Washingtonian pianist. He was the creator of a major jaaz orchestra in which small steps are given due importance along with giant leaps. Gradually he developed mastery over the areas of swing, ensemble playing and solo. With each re-recording, the tunes attained more perfection. With tight ensemble, and with more perfection in solos and some versions had dark humor, attaining compositional sophistication and collective exuberance. With many trial and error experiments, by engaging the best in the different areas of Jaaz syllabus, Ellington had succeeded in assembling a band that had the capacity to put into musical practice that matched with his genius. Ellington’s passion was experimenting to find out and create novel combinations in the field of jaaz music. Thus, he was hailed as the scientist of music. In January 1929, he attempted his first “extended work” (Ellington, n. p.) with the “six-minute exploration of "Tiger Rag.”(Ellington, n. p.) The coverage was done in a “ten-inch 78-RPM record.”(Ellington, n. p.) He invented new harmonic possibilities and recruited in his orchestra, specialised talents for the jobs. Tracks featuring tap dancing and hokum renowned entertainers followed. By the standards of jaaz this was non-Ellington stuff. All time classic versions followed and swing had become the integral culture of Ellingtonians. He was a rebel against procedures and boundaries wherever it held up the progress of jaaz of his dreams. By 1956, he had reached the top spot as for his popularity and had won many prestigious awards. With the advancing age, his temperamental changes were reflected in his music and that was the period when he dabbled in religious music in the 1960s. Deaths of friends and associates did not subdue his spirits and he continued to tour and make music of his choice in jaaz. He was afflicted with cancer and died a one month after his seventy-fifth birthday. His marathon race of the music has reached the finishing line. Thus the great saga of jaaz music came to an end, but his creations will perhaps live forever. From his birth in Washington and his death in New York, it was a great journey of life for the creative jaaz genius of music. 5. List at least five elements or devices used by Ellington. “Combination Diminished Voicing; Blue Note Voicing Wide interval melody and counter-melody; Extensive use of dominant harmony (bluesy effects) Unusual combinations of instruments; unusual instrumental registers (i.e., high bari, low tenor, etc.) Lead not always top voice; Constant color coupling above lead Conversational jaaz soloists; Obligato melodic settings for soloist.”(Friedman, n. p.) 6. List five “extended” works “A Tone Parallel to Harlem.” “Black, Brown and Beige” “The Perfume Suite” “The Tonal Group” “Tattooed Bride” 7. In what ways did the film, “Love You Madly” reflect the importance? The genre of the movie “Love You Madly” is music and it was released on February 11, 1973 in USA and a runtime 90 minutes. The reference to “Love You Madly,” honors Duke Ellington. A year after the movie was released Ellington passed away, thus this movie was part of the music history. This movie highlighted behind-the-scene profile of Ellington; some of his performances were included. It also had excerpts of interviews with the legendary bandleader. The recordings related to the important events in which Ellington participated and the places that he visited. The movie threw light, why he was the greatest composers of this century and how his remarkable career shaped. The movie was the best introduction to his life and music. Initially he had many problems to solve, how learn piano to start with, how to organize a hand, how to compose etc. The discerning viewer of the movie understood what sort of a versatile personality Ellington was, with the integration of genius artist to compose and create and a great expert to go through the processes of management like, how to start a band, dealing with partner-musicians and instrumentalists, develop equation with the recording band, the departure of key soloists, to launch “extended works,” etc. He shrewdly handled all such multifarious functions with admirable skill. Works Cited Hasse, John Edward. Beyond Category: The Life And Genius Of Duke Ellington. Da Capo Press; 1995 Ellington, Duke, n. d. Web:www.personal.psu.edu/cxl46/jazz/DukeE.htm - United States, Accessed on March 13, 2013 Friedman, Jeff. Ellingtonweb.ca- The Ellington Effect, n. d. Web:ellingtonweb.ca/Hostedpages/.../Friedman-the-Ellington-Effect.htm,Accessed on March 13, 2013 Read More