When Strayhorn died, Duke didn't get out of bed for two weeks, he was *that* affected by his death. When he DID, he called his sidemen together and said, "We're going to record an album of Billy's music". That became "And His Mother Called Him Bill". It deservedly won a Grammy.....and Ellington was satisfied he had paid the proper tribute to his musical collaborator and close friend.
Amazing how audiences then would lament the fact that Duke spent his time touring the world playing his "old" hits and standards, when we now know today that survival in the music business equals touring, and that having such a large body of work is what you call a "catalog" of music; when you have a catalog of music with timeless appeal, this is how you support yourself and an entire cottage industry of people working under you for decades - your music crosses generations, class, creed, or color. I can think of few, if any "artists" today under 40, who are popular on the music charts, but have timeless music that they can perform 30 or 40 years later into retirement age on the finest stages in the world.
Duke has always been one of my favorite pianists, composer, and band leader. But I never really thought that much about him as a person, besides the struggles he lived through in his world, but this was a great insight into him that I'm glad to know about.
History won’t forget you, and I did my part Duke, I helped keep your memory alive, and for that I am grateful and humbled. RIP and I’m sure one day I’ll here you play again.
This may, and should, grow monumentally, as a valuable and indispensable area of performing arts. Nobody has had more presence, smooth rapport with the immediate, than this Duke, a monument of jazz art, USA culture, and, of the best intentions of our human race. I'm one of many who go on each day, in life, in approach to life positively, because the Ellingtons among other greats of art made it so. The interacting Ellington culture in his orchestras is unique, infectious, creative.
The spirit of musical service Duke and his band exemplified is almost gone these days. Doc Severenson still has it, giving workshops all over, where ever true music aficionados will appreciate him. Long may that spirit reign! (from an old trombonist starting in 1950s grade 4 through grad school).
Big bands is a pretty strong institution at least at University of Colorado, Greeley that i know of. Herbie Hancock Institute has awards and band camps with major awards and all such. The internet generation (even has an acronym---"IG") has taken its rightful inheritance from us OGs --- "Old Gangsters" --- Louis Armstrong met him in this film. There is even a tradition handed down for doing documentaries in the future on all subjects. TH-cam is yaking forward the distribution effectively too.
@9:23 "Why don't you come up there and blow" to Louis Armstrong who was in the audience....WOW! Would have been so AMAZING! To which Louis responds, "there are very few who I would buy a ticket for..." Amazing piece of Jazz history. Thanks for sharing!
What is wrong with "playing the same old songs again and again", as the comment says? Mozart's and Beethoven's pieces are still played again and again. And nobody in his right mind would complain.
I remember this special about Duke Ellington when it was originally broadcast. I think it was part of "The Bell Telephone Hour," a weekly or so documentary series, and it was done in 1967 as indicated on the video. I audio taped it from TV in the early '70s and remember so many lines of it as I watched it now. The "hot water" habit, "playing for people with ears," keeping a band on the road to hear his compositions played the next day... and so much more. It made the 14 year old version of me a fan of Duke. As my study of jazz and 20th century popular music evolved, in my humble opinion, the best 20th Century composers from the U.S., if not the world are Duke Ellington and George Gershwin. And whenever Louis Armstrong was changing and performing jazz on the fly. Of course there is Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, Johnny Mercer, George's brother Ira, Hoagy Carmichael... and so many more from the American Songbook of all genres during that century. But there is Duke... a hero to Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Tony Bennett and so, so many more.
ousmane diallo He was just the best and would get audience going with hid li'l jazzy jig he'd do snapping his fingers and sliding across floor. Beautiful😍
I saw this one on Hungarian TV when I was around 12 maybe in 1978. I was fascinated and I never thought I would ever have a chance to watch it again. Thanks to TH-cam and to the one who posted it.
it would be absurd to imagine reliving every part of any person's life. This a small part of a fraction of some of the Duke's long, complex career. And, I'm deeply grateful. Mesmerised.
Satin Doll is one of my favorite tunes to try and practice on my keyboard. I've always said that Duke was a compositional genius. He did things that I dream of doing.
How grateful I am that a documentary (however brief) exists showing Duke going about his near-daily routine of performing, resting, reflecting, and composing while globe-trotting with that wonderfully talent band of his. He was truly one of the twentieth century's great musical minds, lending to American popular music a sophistication, depth, nuance, and verve that it had before been lacking, so making a proper lady out of the rough-hewn girl called Jazz and giving notice to the stodgy and pedantic classicists of Europe that a new cultural current was springing forth from Harlem which was destined to change the world. Imagine if there was a film documenting firsthand the lives of other bona fide geniuses like Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, or Chopin!
Amazingly I am watching this and just realized that earlier today out of the blue I started singing "Do Nothing Til You Hear From Me". I guess the Duke stayed in my brain after that and it's the first song on the doc! Wow.
I have the full length version of this, on VHS recorded from a PBS broadcast in the late 90's, gearing up for Ellington's 100th Birthday.I'm not what else is missing from this upload, but I do remember a segment on Ellington's long time preference for riding along with Baritone saxophonist Harry Carney in the latter's personal vehicle when logistics allowed.
The passage about Duke as Harry Carney's willing car passenger is actually in another Ellington documentary here, "Duke Ellington - Love You Madly by Ralph J. Gleason," staring at 31:09 in the posting and going on for another minute or so...
One of the pioneers of the "song catalogue", I remember the first time I heard Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies played live as a child, attending the tribute musical to his body of work with my dad, I fell in love with jazz then and there.
The true Genus of the man himself, the real boss / Edward Kennedy Ellington (The Duke) / April 29, 1899 - May 24, 1974 (aged 75) Washington, D.C., U.S.
great to see pops backstage. man, even a school song sounds like Duke injected Jazz into an old school mentality musically, it's got some rah, rah, rah, and brilliant music blended into it.
Louis is giving Duke a pep-talk!! Like he needed it...At 10:20 "you're doing alright!" And Duke feels great! what giants in music and friendship they were!
Thank you very much for the share...his solo piano pieces are amazingly beautiful... Footage is incredible..I've just watched this for the first time and i will watch it again right on..
Oh My GOD...I Worship this Grreat Man...This Jazz Genius. What a Treasure this Documentary is...I’m Crying Writing this...OMG!! I LOVE YOU DUKE ELLINGTON...I LOVE YOU!! GOD BLESS YOU~GOD KEEP YOU SAFE...I LOVE YOU DUKE ELLINGTON...I DO ;] Thank you Sir. Thank you!!
I love the average American white ladies that made a fuss over him. He was hugely popular despite(?) the depth and sophistication of what he presented.
Also : A Great Piano Virtuoso, besides Prolific Quality Composer, Arranger, Bandleader, Personality, Years at the Top of the Business... Just listen to Him FLY FAST & GROOVE MELLOW (without looking at the Keyboard) on "Take the A Train" (with just a 3 piece Band) at the end of this Video... (showcasing his ample-usual variety of non-repetitive musical adornments)... The Duke has been called-accepted as "The Biggest Figure in Jazz History".
Billy Strayhorn wrote "Satin Doll", "Take the "A" Train" and many other "Ellington" songs that he did not get full credit or royalties from in his lifetime. A good biography on Duke Ellington is Terry Teachout's "Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington" - very thorough.
It was hearing Billie Holiday's recording of "Solitude" as a child that actually turned me onto the music of Duke Ellington. Up to that point I had only associated his name with "A Train"
Class never goes out of style Mozart and Beethoven would have been playing their greatest hit also if they were here today. The Narrator script act as if Mr. Duke Ellington has something to be ashamed of. He continued to create new music regardless. Sleep in peace Sir Duke
The 2nd time he had the horns in the recording session go after his bum-bah-dee-dum and he says “aw, fuck it,” Lol that man wanted his song how he wanted it...just like he wanted his hot water!
IN 1969 I COOKED A HOMEMADE CHILI, AND MY WIFE BABY SON & I BROUGHT IT TO BEN WEBSTER'S APARTMENT IN AMSTERDAM HOLLAND.........AT SOME POINT THAT NIGHT I PLAYED A CADENZA ON A NEW RECORDING THAT I RECENTLY CUT (THE TUNE WAS SIDNEY BECHET'S "LA PETIT FLEUR") BEN APPARENTLY LIKED IT SO MUCH, THAT HE REPLACED THE NEEDLE ABOUT 100 TIMES.....THEREAFTER, BEN ASKED ME IF I'D LIKE TO PLAY WITH DUKE ELLINGTON AND HIS BAND....WHEN I ANSWERED AFFIRMATIVELY, BEN WENT TO HIS PHONE AND CALLED DUKE AT HIS HOME IN NEW YORK........SADLY, FOR ME, DUKE WAS NOT HOME.........AND THAT'S AS FAR AS IT WENT FOR ME! I'D BE LYING IF I SAID THAT I HADN'T THOUGHT ABOUT THAT AT LEAST 500 TIMES IN THE LAST 50+ YEARS!😭
People like this should get a an appreciation stipend each month based on years they've been performing like say $5000/month. That's a token but better than nothing. That would be RETIREMENT $😍
Real men back then wouldn't have cared if someone pees standing or sitting, they realised there are more important things in life. The real problem with men today is they are uncouth bullies and assholes, as evidenced by the comment I'm replying to.
![BOWKYLION - วิงวอน (ex-change) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cLdnZWDaO-w/mqdefault.jpg)
When Strayhorn died, Duke didn't get out of bed for two weeks, he was *that* affected by his death. When he DID, he called his sidemen together and said, "We're going to record an album of Billy's music". That became "And His Mother Called Him Bill". It deservedly won a Grammy.....and Ellington was satisfied he had paid the proper tribute to his musical collaborator and close friend.
Wow! ❤️
lotus blossom
Something 2 Remember You. By...
He brought sophistication, high culture and added immeasurably not only to the American story but the world.
Accurately described between a capital letter and a period.
Classic
Amazing how audiences then would lament the fact that Duke spent his time touring the world playing his "old" hits and standards, when we now know today that survival in the music business equals touring, and that having such a large body of work is what you call a "catalog" of music; when you have a catalog of music with timeless appeal, this is how you support yourself and an entire cottage industry of people working under you for decades - your music crosses generations, class, creed, or color. I can think of few, if any "artists" today under 40, who are popular on the music charts, but have timeless music that they can perform 30 or 40 years later into retirement age on the finest stages in the world.
Duke has always been one of my favorite pianists, composer, and band leader. But I never really thought that much about him as a person, besides the struggles he lived through in his world, but this was a great insight into him that I'm glad to know about.
History won’t forget you, and I did my part Duke, I helped keep your memory alive, and for that I am grateful and humbled. RIP and I’m sure one day I’ll here you play again.
This may, and should, grow monumentally, as a valuable and indispensable area of performing arts. Nobody has had more presence, smooth rapport with the immediate, than this Duke, a monument of jazz art, USA culture, and, of the best intentions of our human race. I'm one of many who go on each day, in life, in approach to life positively, because the Ellingtons among other greats of art made it so. The interacting Ellington culture in his orchestras is unique, infectious, creative.
Facts Phil!
It was a miracle, and an honor to be on the same planet with Duke Ellington. I wish we could do it all again. Where have they all gone.
The spirit of musical service Duke and his band exemplified is almost gone these days. Doc Severenson still has it, giving workshops all over, where ever true music aficionados will appreciate him. Long may that spirit reign! (from an old trombonist starting in 1950s grade 4 through grad school).
Yea what a fabulous individual
@@guykeenan2282 💯
Completely agree class
Big bands is a pretty strong institution at least at University of Colorado, Greeley that i know of. Herbie Hancock Institute has awards and band camps with major awards and all such. The internet generation (even has an acronym---"IG") has taken its rightful inheritance from us OGs --- "Old Gangsters" --- Louis Armstrong met him in this film. There is even a tradition handed down for doing documentaries in the future on all subjects. TH-cam is yaking forward the distribution effectively too.
THE MAESTRO!! THE WORLD OF ELLINGTONIA!!! I love the clip with Pops and the Maestro
To see Louis Armstrong in awe and admiration was moving.
Edward Kennedy Ellington, master! Thank you Dmytro for posting!
@9:23 "Why don't you come up there and blow" to Louis Armstrong who was in the audience....WOW! Would have been so AMAZING! To which Louis responds, "there are very few who I would buy a ticket for..." Amazing piece of Jazz history. Thanks for sharing!
What is wrong with "playing the same old songs again and again", as the comment says? Mozart's and Beethoven's pieces are still played again and again. And nobody in his right mind would complain.
"If I write it tonight, I want to hear it tomorrow night." Incredible. Thank you for posting this.
I think he also said my favorite song is the one I write tomorrow.
the only way........if you think about it.....
I remember this special about Duke Ellington when it was originally broadcast. I think it was part of "The Bell Telephone Hour," a weekly or so documentary series, and it was done in 1967 as indicated on the video. I audio taped it from TV in the early '70s and remember so many lines of it as I watched it now. The "hot water" habit, "playing for people with ears," keeping a band on the road to hear his compositions played the next day... and so much more. It made the 14 year old version of me a fan of Duke. As my study of jazz and 20th century popular music evolved, in my humble opinion, the best 20th Century composers from the U.S., if not the world are Duke Ellington and George Gershwin. And whenever Louis Armstrong was changing and performing jazz on the fly. Of course there is Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, Johnny Mercer, George's brother Ira, Hoagy Carmichael... and so many more from the American Songbook of all genres during that century. But there is Duke... a hero to Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Tony Bennett and so, so many more.
The most charismatic and eloquent composer ever to live on this planet earth!!Duke, I loveeeeeee you madly , and foreverrrrrrrr!!!😍😍😍😍😍😍
ousmane diallo He was just the best and would get audience going with hid li'l jazzy jig he'd do snapping his fingers and sliding across floor. Beautiful😍
I saw this one on Hungarian TV when I was around 12 maybe in 1978. I was fascinated and I never thought I would ever have a chance to watch it again. Thanks to TH-cam and to the one who posted it.
O doc you favorite songs comes from your country. Gloomy Sunday
Watching the interviews with Duke with tears in my eyes. This man was so wholesome and kind-hearted. He is dearly missed but his music lives on.
A true genius and true gentleman
What a lovely film; proving there is still more for me
to learn.
it would be absurd to imagine reliving every part of any person's life. This a small part of a fraction of some of the Duke's long, complex career. And, I'm deeply grateful. Mesmerised.
Just had to say more, Feb., 2020. It is just so wonderful...
Satin Doll is one of my favorite tunes to try and practice on my keyboard. I've always said that Duke was a compositional genius. He did things that I dream of doing.
Very beautiful look at a very beautiful man, thank you, a critically important piece of music and history.
His voice is so relaxing
So true. It's asmr to me.
The Maestro at work - Bravo! Bravissimo!
Thank you for this: a glimpse at a great jazzman's life.
How grateful I am that a documentary (however brief) exists showing Duke going about his near-daily routine of performing, resting, reflecting, and composing while globe-trotting with that wonderfully talent band of his. He was truly one of the twentieth century's great musical minds, lending to American popular music a sophistication, depth, nuance, and verve that it had before been lacking, so making a proper lady out of the rough-hewn girl called Jazz and giving notice to the stodgy and pedantic classicists of Europe that a new cultural current was springing forth from Harlem which was destined to change the world. Imagine if there was a film documenting firsthand the lives of other bona fide geniuses like Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, or Chopin!
Man when people had some kind of standards.....Great video
Duke was one of the most flamboyant bandleaders of Jazz music ever. Love this Cat !!!
I love you, Duke Ellington. Thank you for sharing your life; the sounds of music you heard in voice and ears. 🌟❤️💐💐💐💐💐
Mr .Ellington.does so many. Things great. And they all end up being .COOL may GOD bless you always.
Genius Class Cool personified!!!!
Duke Ellington was THE national treasure. RIP Duke and Mercer.
wow! armstrong and ellington!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! man, mind blown!
Ah! The Great Duke Ellington 👏👏👏Wish my Dad was around to see this documentary of his favourite musician... He would have been so over joyed😍💖🎶🎵🎼
Amazingly I am watching this and just realized that earlier today out of the blue I started singing "Do Nothing Til You Hear From Me". I guess the Duke stayed in my brain after that and it's the first song on the doc! Wow.
This is fascinating, informative, touching, uplifting and beautiful.
I have the full length version of this, on VHS recorded from a PBS broadcast in the late 90's, gearing up for Ellington's 100th Birthday.I'm not what else is missing from this upload, but I do remember a segment on Ellington's long time preference for riding along with Baritone saxophonist Harry Carney in the latter's personal vehicle when logistics allowed.
The passage about Duke as Harry Carney's willing car passenger is actually in another Ellington documentary here, "Duke Ellington - Love You Madly by Ralph J. Gleason," staring at 31:09 in the posting and going on for another minute or so...
One of the pioneers of the "song catalogue", I remember the first time I heard Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies played live as a child, attending the tribute musical to his body of work with my dad, I fell in love with jazz then and there.
Duke was the King!
Today was Duke's birthday . He would have been 120 yo. Thank you, Duke.
...technically he'd have been dead.
he was!
120, that is!
As long as his music is played the Duke will never die.
Damn...so powerful..what a king!
I'm reading Cohen's Duke Ellington's America, this docu is the perfect accompaniment to it.
Such a genius. 🎹🎹
And what a treat to have Pops(another genius) there together with Duke. All that greatness in one spot.❤️❤️💜💜
Thank you for posting this Greatness.
The true Genus of the man himself, the real boss / Edward Kennedy Ellington (The Duke) / April 29, 1899 - May 24, 1974 (aged 75)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
great to see pops backstage. man, even a school song sounds like Duke injected Jazz into an old school mentality musically, it's got some rah, rah, rah, and brilliant music blended into it.
This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Thanks for this upload.
Great stuff. Thanks for posting.
Amazing to see one of the best on and off the stage! One of my biggest heroes!
YES! Duke Ellington was an ICON. Terribly missed:/
If there was no other jazz music made in the 20th century Duke's would have sufficed in abundance.
Louis is giving Duke a pep-talk!! Like he needed it...At 10:20 "you're doing alright!" And Duke feels great! what giants in music and friendship they were!
Thank you very much for the share...his solo piano pieces are amazingly beautiful... Footage is incredible..I've just watched this for the first time and i will watch it again right on..
Beautiful!
It sad to see the great smoking he might of live longer what a great man
Fascinating
It’s a pleasure to read so many comments by people who have been as inspired by Ellington as I have been.
He is sooooo heavy!
This is what genius looks like, what genius sounds like, what genius is.
My grandfather played with Duke Ellington.The Duke gave him a shining toilet plunger for his trombone.
I hope Duke washed it before giving it to him.
@@vova47 hell no he didn't wash it. That's where all the soul comes from
@@vova47 not funny.....
Oh My GOD...I Worship this Grreat Man...This Jazz Genius. What a Treasure this Documentary is...I’m Crying Writing this...OMG!! I LOVE YOU DUKE ELLINGTON...I LOVE YOU!! GOD BLESS YOU~GOD KEEP YOU SAFE...I LOVE YOU DUKE ELLINGTON...I DO ;] Thank you Sir. Thank you!!
Simply, The Greatest. Duke has informed so many lives. God bless.
I saw the playwright August Wilson on the street once. He was headed to his usual writing spot, a coffee shop.
50:32 Lawrence Brown playing "Do nothin' till you hear from me" live. One of the many highlights in this excellent movie.
Duke had swing. You can’t teach that, you have it or you don’t. This composition particularly speaks to my soul. This is music. 46:01
Thank you Dmytro.
I love the average American white ladies that made a fuss over him. He was hugely popular despite(?) the depth and sophistication of what he presented.
Thanks so much for posting this! His doctorate from Yale was only one of 17 or some crazy number.
Also :
A Great Piano Virtuoso,
besides Prolific Quality Composer, Arranger, Bandleader, Personality, Years at the Top of the Business...
Just listen to Him FLY FAST & GROOVE MELLOW (without looking at the Keyboard) on "Take the A Train" (with just a 3 piece Band) at the end of this Video... (showcasing his ample-usual variety of non-repetitive musical adornments)...
The Duke has been called-accepted as "The Biggest Figure in Jazz History".
Thank you.
Billy Strayhorn wrote "Satin Doll", "Take the "A" Train" and many other "Ellington" songs that he did not get full credit or royalties from in his lifetime. A good biography on Duke Ellington is Terry Teachout's "Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington" - very thorough.
Originally presented on "THE BELL TELEPHONE HOUR" on October 13, 1967.
It was hearing Billie Holiday's recording of "Solitude" as a child that actually turned me onto the music of Duke Ellington. Up to that point I had only associated his name with "A Train"
ATrain Which was written by Bily Strayhorn
Johnny and Duke.... does life GET any better than this?
Class never goes out of style Mozart and Beethoven would have been playing their greatest hit also if they were here today. The Narrator script act as if Mr. Duke Ellington has something to be ashamed of. He continued to create new music regardless. Sleep in peace Sir Duke
GOD IS SO WISE YOU KNOW .........
Lol, gtfoh with that delusional bullshit.
It's most probably a blessing to have career songs.
Bravo!
The 2nd time he had the horns in the recording session go after his bum-bah-dee-dum and he says “aw, fuck it,” Lol that man wanted his song how he wanted it...just like he wanted his hot water!
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤AN INSPIRATION!!! 💋💋💋🎵
IN 1969 I COOKED A HOMEMADE CHILI, AND MY WIFE BABY SON & I BROUGHT IT TO BEN WEBSTER'S APARTMENT IN AMSTERDAM HOLLAND.........AT SOME POINT THAT NIGHT I PLAYED A CADENZA ON A NEW RECORDING THAT I RECENTLY CUT (THE TUNE WAS SIDNEY BECHET'S "LA PETIT FLEUR") BEN APPARENTLY LIKED IT SO MUCH, THAT HE REPLACED THE NEEDLE ABOUT 100 TIMES.....THEREAFTER, BEN ASKED ME IF I'D LIKE TO PLAY WITH DUKE ELLINGTON AND HIS BAND....WHEN I ANSWERED AFFIRMATIVELY, BEN WENT TO HIS PHONE AND CALLED DUKE AT HIS HOME IN NEW YORK........SADLY, FOR ME, DUKE WAS NOT HOME.........AND THAT'S AS FAR AS IT WENT FOR ME! I'D BE LYING IF I SAID THAT I HADN'T THOUGHT ABOUT THAT AT LEAST 500 TIMES IN THE LAST 50+ YEARS!😭
Same old tunes are Classics. The sound track of 1900s and even early 2000s
pure magic and i love it
una joya semejante!!!!
Something to ponder that the Yale thing means not to be alone. Who was going who prestige and sophistication.
LuvDuke !!
American legend
THE GRAND DUKE!
April 29, 2024 - the 125th anniversary of the birth of Duke Ellington.
53:56 Best Version of Take the A Train.
Duke was 68 years old. Want to play like that when I'll be that age !
THIS IS OFF THE CHAIN
🤣
Потрясающе! Дюк - олицетворение благородства и одухотворенности!
People like this should get a an appreciation stipend each month based on years they've been performing like say $5000/month. That's a token but better than nothing. That would be RETIREMENT $😍
Terance Howard As Duke Ellington. Pass It On.
I agree about Terrence Howard playing him
My father was born in 1923, men were on another level back in the day 💯 Men today (2021) don’t know if they pee standing up or sitting down 😂
Real men back then wouldn't have cared if someone pees standing or sitting, they realised there are more important things in life. The real problem with men today is they are uncouth bullies and assholes, as evidenced by the comment I'm replying to.
Comment of the year .!! Classic . You win Mr Black . Joey in Pa
Amazing footage
I didn't catch the name of the song they were playing at the studio at 23:30...anybody make it out?
Cheers and thanks for the upload!
baked potato and steak for breakfast Wooooaaa!
Washed down with a cup of hot water!
@@kevingoins9858 I'm 70 years old which includes 20 years of bartending and NEVER seen anyone drink hot water!
@@kevingoins9858 I love hot water, I drink it daily
If a movie is ever made of his life, Terrance Howard should play Duke and Kevin Hart should play billy Strayhorn.
Sean Niles: You're joking right?
The greatest.
living on the frontline
An icon in the American canon.
💜💜💜💜💜
23:30 Rondolet - Ellington one of a kind