Stockholm, February 6, 1st concert, part 2
The Duke in 1963
The above picture of Duke Ellington is from a TV interview, by Sven Lindahl carried out on January 1, 1963 at Croydon in England, where Ellington is asked questions about his pending tour in Sweden for the TV program Aktuellt-Apropå. The interview was the result of a co-operation between BBC and SRTV. It is available here.
Cootie is back!
DESS members will find the second part of this concert in the Goodies Room.First we hear a number originally recorded in 1934, Stompy Jones. It swung then and it still swings, providing opprtunities for a number of solists to show off. Cootie Williams had returned in September 1962 after having been absent from the band nearly 22 years and still going strong. He is heard in New Concerto For Cootie and Tootie For Cootie, two numbers that would be performed at nearly every concert for the remainder of the Ellington era. Johnny Hodges is heard in Star-Crossed Lovers which was originally part of the Ellington/Strayhorn Shakespearian Suite, Such Sweet Thunder. Next, Things Ain’t What They Used To Be and Perdido follows, two old reliable war-horses in the Ellington book. Milt Grayson, the band’s singer at this time, is then heard singing The Blues (from Black Brown and Beige), Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me and One More Once, before Duke himself sits down at the piano to direct the audience in Dancers In Love.
We hope you’ll enjoy the performance!