I usually use two arguments to counter the belief that man came out of a primordial soup to eventually evolve into his present state. One is Joe DiMaggio’s 56 game hitting streak (of which even anthropologist Stephen Gould admitted was the best proof against Darwinism) and the music of Duke Ellington. There is simply no way something as beautiful, complex and awe inspiring as Ellington’s music could come from mindless and lifeless “slime plus time.” These recent releases from Storyville Records adds to the evidence.
Regrettably the last of the 25 volumes of the wonderful 2 disc Treasury Shows, the recordings here have Ellington captured on MBS and WHN radio broadcasts in 1943 and 1944 at the Hurricane Restaurant, NYC, as well as a 1953 NBC radio show from Chicago’s Blue Note. Of the latter, Ellington’s band was promoting material from their new Capitol label, and the team is swinging hard as the underrated singer Jimmy Grissom takes you to Kansas City on “Ballin’ The Blues” and while Johnny Hodges is not around here, Rick Henderson adds some bop to the band on “Boo Dah” and Carney is glorious on “Frustration” while Hamilton and Wendell Marshall do great rapport on the rarely heard “Duet.”
With Hodges the WWII band also includes Ben Webster for a bit, and the ringer “Subtle Slough” and “Nevada” are what make these broadcasts so important. The team bops with the best on the gold nugget “Design For Jivin’” “Solid Old Man” and “Jumpin’ Frog Jump,” but no matter how many times I hear the chestnut “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” I still fall for Hodges’ gorgeous tone, and I still will the next 500 times I play it. This is a beaut of a way to close out the collection.
Speaking of God and Intelligent Design, the 1966 concert at the Coventry Cathedral in England have Ellington featuring a healthy amount of he Sacred Music. The band still had the all star sax section of Hamilton, Procope, Hodges, Gonsalves and Carney, with a strong trombone team with Lawrence Brown and a trumpet team including Cat Anderson, Mercer Ellington and Cootie Williams. Hamilton’s clarinet in “Come Sunday” is almost as gorgeous as Johnny Hodges’ climax later on, while his work on the rarely heard “Come Easter”(which is debuted here) is celestial and sublime. The sections flow on “Light (Montage) and the fervent “New World A-Comin’” while the opus “In The Beginning” features the rich baritone of George Webb and support by the Cliff Adam Singers going through the first words of the Genesis, the book of John and listing every book of the Bible in order that would make any Sunday School class jump for joy.
More secular material for the includes an exotic “La Plus Belle Africaine” with interplay between John Lamb/b and Sam Woodyard/dr and wildly dramatic orchestra punctuating Jimmy Hamilton’s rich clarinet, while rich harmonies float on “West Indian Pancake.” Duke Ellington declares God’s glory through his orchestra, for which we can all thank our Lord.