[NewMusic] Record Making (feat. Duke Ellington, 1937)

[David Slusser]

On Feb 27, 2007, at 6:37 PM, Phillip Greenlief wrote:
> Subject: [NewMusic] Record Making (feat. Duke Ellington, 1937)
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjKlFFp4-IE
> PG:
> Fantastic!
>
> Wasn't that Myles doing the mastering with the short haircut and the
> tie?
>
> He hasn't aged much in all these years!
>
> Myles - what's your secret?
>
> Nice seeing Ivy Anderson and Johnny Hodges too, if only for a few
> seconds...

One of my all-time favorite clips.  The very first piece is a  
rehearsal of
Daybreak Express, perhaps Ellington's most realized foray into sound
design.  Perhaps a product of being on the road, he wrote quite a few
strong "train" pieces, from literal to suggestive.  I was lucky to be  
in a
big band that obtained a transcription of this piece, and it was  
extremely
challenging to reproduce convincingly.  Though the clip is form 1937,
it was first recorded in 1933.  Ellington was right out there in his own
way with the likes of Antheil at the time.