Item #7804 The Duke Ellington Reader

The Duke Ellington Reader

Publisher: Oxford University Press, October 14, 1993.
Edition: First
Book Condition: New
Jacket Condition: NO DUST COVER
Binding: Hardcover
ISBN: 0195054105 / 9780195054101

Duke Ellington is universally recognized as a towering figure of 20th-century music, both a brilliant composer and one of the preeminent musicians in jazz history. From early pieces such as East St. Louis Toodle-O, Black and Tan Fantasy, It Don't Mean a Thing, and Mood Indigo, to his more complex works such as Reminiscing in Tempo and Black, Brown and Beige, to his later suites and sacred concerts, he left an indelible mark on the musical world. Now, in The Duke Ellington Reader, Mark Tucker offers the first historical anthology of writings about this major African-American musician. The volume includes over a hundred selections--interviews, critical essays, reviews, memoirs, and over a dozen writings by Ellington himself--with generous introductions and annotations for each selection provided by the editor. The result is a unique sourcebook that illuminates Ellington's work and reveals the profound impact his music has made on listeners over the years.
The writers gathered here represent a Who's Who of jazz criticism: Gunther Schuller, Whitney Balliett, Martin Williams, Gary Giddins, Stanley Crouch, Albert Murray, Nat Hentoff, Hugues Panassie, Stanley Dance, to name just a few. Their writings span Ellington's entire career, from the days when Duke Ellington's Washingtonians appeared at New York's Club Kentucky ("Probably the 'hottest' band this side of the equator"), to the Duke's glorious reign at the Cotton Club, to his later years as global ambassador of American music. Tucker has included some of the classic essays written about Ellington, such as R. D. Darrell's "Black Beauty," the first significant critical essay on Ellington's work and still one of the most important; Richard O. Boyer's lengthy New Yorker profile "The Hot Bach," printed here in its entirety; and Martin Williams's "Form Beyond Form," one of the best capsule introductions to Ellington's art. Throughout the book, the reader receives a balanced overview of Ellington's life as composer and performer, as public personality and private individual. Tucker provides a number of pieces on Ellington's compositions, including an entire chapter devoted to critical response to Ellington's Black, Brown and Beige, and there are also many moving pieces on Ellington the man, such as Ralph Ellison's tribute to Ellington on his 70th birthday, and Stanley Dance's funeral address. Finally, Tucker rounds out the collection with profiles of many of the outstanding musicians who worked with Ellington, including Johnny Hodges, Bubber Miley, Billy Strayhorn, Ivie Anderson, Sonny Greer, Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton, and Ben Webster.
This is a landmark volume in jazz criticism, a kaleidoscopic portrait of Duke Ellington's creative world, documenting his extraordinary achievements as composer, songwriter, bandleader, and pianist. It is an essential companion for Ellington enthusiasts, jazz fans, and serious students of American music.

From School Library Journal

YA-A wonderfully comprehensive volume devoted to the music of Duke Ellington. Tucker includes over 100 articles, interviews, critical essays, reviews, memoirs, plus over a dozen of Ellington's own writings. The authors of these selections include jazz critics such as Nat Hentoff, Stanley and Helen Dance, and Martin Williams, among others. Examples of Ellington's musical scores are interspersed throughout this marvelous anthology. With a few exceptions, the arrangement is chronological from 1917, when Duke first played professionally, to 1974, when he died. The focus here is on the genius of his music within the context of the American social scene. A worthwhile addition to any library.
Pat Royal, Crossland High School, Camp Springs, MD
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This reader, compiled by Ellington expert Tucker, consists of 100 pieces about and by the bandleader, composer, and pianist. It includes mostly never-before-reprinted interviews, essays, reviews, and memoirs by such noted jazz writers as Whitney Balliett, Nat Hentoff, and Leonard Feather, along with useful introductions by the editor. Starting with the Duke's early years, the book covers in depth the Cotton Club years (1927-32), Ellington's 1933 trip to Europe, the Swing era, and the seminal work, Black, Brown and Beige (1943). It continues by tracing Ellington's postwar critical acceptance and the subsequent acclaim over the next four decades. The reader ends with more than a dozen reprints about Ellington band members. Fascinating and comprehensive, this account is recommended for music collections.
- David Szatmary, Univ. of Washington, Seattle
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Duke Ellington--composer, arranger, bandleader, pianist--is one of the true geniuses of American music. His original reworkings of song structures and coordination of a group of superior musicians remain unparalleled. This anthology further confirms his permanency in the American cultural pantheon. It aims to include the most important articles ever written about Ellington and his greatest musicians, including some of Ellington's own writings, score analyses, interviews, and pieces of historical interest. Comparisons of Ellington's techniques with those of Mozart, Bartók, and Schoenberg are advanced as completely appropriate. Other essays fascinatingly show the evolution of critical views of American popular music (in a 1937 Down Beat, Ellington had to refute claims that swing caused sex crimes!). Another development is the shift in attitudes toward Ellington's accomplishments as racial attitudes changed; Ralph Ellison's "Homage to Duke Ellington on His Birthday" (1969) is especially impressive compared with the patronizing stuff written 30 years earlier. But the most important words herein come from the extraordinary Duke himself: "To me, then, jazz means simply freedom of musical speech!" Aaron Cohen

About the Author

About the Editor:
Mark Tucker, author of Ellington: The Early Years, is an Associate Professor of Music at Columbia University.

Item #7804

Price: $39.57

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