Serenade To Sweden – alternativa tagningar
Serenade To Sweden take 7
Det skulle dröja ända tills 1966 innan inspelningarna från Studio Hoche i Paris den 28 februari och 1 mars 1963 gavs ut av Reprise. Albumet fick namnet ”Alice Babs & Duke Ellington – Serenade To Sweden” och har skivnummer RS 5024. Skivetikett ses ovan. Av outgrundliga skäl skeddeutgivningen bara i Europa.
Det svenska skivbolaget Telestar, som var Alice Babs’ skivbolag vid den tiden, skaffade sig också rättigheter att ge ut skivan och det skedde på Telestar TRS 11 100.
De båda utgåvorna är identiska till innehåll och omslag och har samma informationsrika baksidestext skriven av Ragnvi Gylder.
Nu 40 år senare har det också dykt upp en CD-version på skivmärket Real Gone Music men innehållet är detsamma som på LP-skivorna.
Under hektiska kvällar och nätter i Paris gjorde man en stor mängd upptagningar av de olika melodierna, men alla tagningar är förstås inte fullständiga.
Av de sexton melodier som spelades in fann femton vägen till skivan. Things Ain’t What They Used To Be lämnades utanför.
Strange Visitor
“Strange Visitor” is one of the songs in the “Serenade To Sweden” album. It is a song that Alice Babs herself wrote (“possibly already in the early 50’s”, she have said) and Babs used it, among others, for improvising at the piano when she had her first rehearsal with Duke after arriving in Paris.
Apparently, Ellington liked it a lot and he insisted that it should be included in the recording and that Babs should not only sing it but also play the piano.
However, both Ellington and Strayhorn gave it a try before the final take with Alice alone with the piano was recorded.
At one point, Duke asks “You are tired. Wanna go home?” Yes, Babs was tired but she wanted to finish the job and gave us a wonderful rendition of the song.
The visitors of the website now get the opportunity to listen to the different takes of “Strange Visitor” recorded in the early morning of March 2, 1963 in the Hoche Studio in Paris.
In the first one, Duke plays the piano and it is as if he tries out the piece; then comes two takes with Billy Strayhorn at the piano accompanied by Gilbert Rovere (b) and Peter Giger or Kenny Clarke (dr). He plays it in a more elaborate way than Duke.
Finally, there is the take with Alice alone. This is the one included in the LP.
In-between the full takes, there are some incomplete ones. This is why the discographies list a total of seven takes – two with Ellington and Babs, four with Strayhorn and Babs and one with Babs alone.
Serenade to Sweden in Paris 1963
Tillsammans med TV-programmet Indigo markerar skivan ”Serenade To Sweden” början på samarbetet mellan Alice Babs och Ellington.
Den spelades in i Paris i slutet av februari och början av mars 1963.
Tanken på att göra en skiva med Babs dök uppenbarligen upp i Ellingtons huvud under repetitionerna och inspelningen av Indigo-programmet. ”Duke sa att han att han gärna ville göra en platta med mig … men jag trodde aldrig att det skulle bli av” har Babs berättat.
Men hon hade fel. Ellington hade bokat in en vecka i slutet av sin Europaturné 1963 för att göra inspelningar i Paris för skivbolaget Reprise – startat av Frank Sinatra (tillsammans med bl.a. Dean Martin) 1960 – och Babs var uppenbarligen en av de artister han ville spela in.
Men som ofta var fallet med Ellington skedde allting i sista minuten och det verkar inte ha funnits mycket av förhandsplanering för inspelningsveckan.
Den sydafrikanska sångerskan Sathima ”Bea” Benjamin har berättat hur hon lyckade ta sig in i Ellingtons loge efter konserten i Zürich ett par dagar före inspelningsveckan i Paris och övertala honom att komma och lyssna på henne på klubben där hon spelade tillsammans med Dollar Brand.
Ellington gillade uppenbarligen vad han hörde och arrangerade för Benjamin och Brand att vara i Paris i början av veckan därpå för att spela in tillsammans med honom.
Något liknande hände för Alice Babs. På söndagskvällen den 22 februari fick hon ett telefonsamtal från Ellington. ”Kan du komma ner i morgon för en inspelning? Det var lite för kort varsel för mig så vi bestämde tre dagar senare”, har Alice berättat.
The DESS Bulletin – New Issue
The last issue of the DESS Bulletin for 2016 has just been published.
The cover story of this issue is Arthur Whetsel – Ellington’s “sweet” trumpeter. Bo Haufman – the editor of the Bulletin – gives a very comprehensive portrait of Whetsel in a 3 and a half page article. It is supplemented by a reprint of an article about Whetsel by the late Ellington specialist Eddie Lambert published in Jazz Monthly in 1964.
Another interesting reading in the new issue is an interview of Willie Cook about his time with Earl Hines 1943-1947. It is a treasury of information about the band, its members and on working conditions. The interview was done by former DESS Chair Göran Wallén in 1997. More interviews of Cook will be published in the Bulletin next year.
A third major topic in the new Bulletin is Duke Ellington and George Gershwin. In a 4 page article, DESS member Erling Torkelsson looks at differences and similarities in the personal developments of these two musical giants.
Indigo 1963
Indigo!
This very word makes you think about Duke Ellington’s music.
It has been used in some of his song-titles but in 1963, Swedish Television used this word as a title of a telecast from the famous concert venue in Stockholm, Cirkus. It was to be Alice Babs’ first appearance and collaboration with Duke Ellington and his orchestra.
The telecast was the brain-child of program producer Arne Arnbom, one of the creative and innovative producers at Swedish Television at that time.
He had a strong interest in ballet and jazz and had already produced some program merging them together like “Sax Appeal” from 1960 with music by the pianist/composet Nils Lindberg. Arnbom had also produced TV programs for Swedish Television with the Swe-Danes. Arne Arnbom was also a child-hood friend of Alice Babs.
Towards the end of 1962, Arnbom went to New York to present the project to Duke’s organization. He told them that he wanted to have a Swedish singer included in the program and that this singer should be Alice Babs.
To give a sense of her singing to his Ellington counterparts, he presented them with the LP album “Alice & Wonderband”, which Babs had recorded with Arne Domnérus’ orchestra in mid-1959 and which included three Ellington songs – “Prelude To A Kiss among them.
The project and Babs were accepted and the program was recorded on February 7, 1963 following Ellington’s concert at the Stockholm Concert Hall the night before. It was broadcasted on April 6, 1963.
“Indigo” is undoubtedly one of the best telecasts with Ellington and his band. Bringing in Alice Babs to sing and adding ballet performances choreograph by the famous Swedish choreographer Birgit Cullberg makes it very special. Arne Arnbom’s direct and almost ascetic pictorial language contributes also a lot to this.
It is a great pleasure to be able to offer our members to share it by viewing and downloading it its totality in the Goodies Room. A clip from the show can be seen below:
Alice Babs at the Ellington Conferences
“And last let us not overlook the splendid music and inspired invention of the wonderful Alice Babs. Her personality comes across as a sunburst. When all the hoy-hah has finally faded into partial obscurity, her gorgeous happy presence and incomparable vocal virtuosity will remain so clear, so unforgettably vivid. Alice Babs is indeed an Ellingtonian beyond compare.”
These were the words with which the Ellington expert and music researcher Ken Rattenbury concluded his review of the Ellington 1994 conference in the first issue of the DESS Bulletin.
In reports from other Duke Ellington Study Group conferences Babs took part in, one often finds similar feelings. She was a much appreciated contributor to and participant in the conferences.
But perhaps, for Babs the conferences went beyond having fun and making new friends. They were also an opportunity for her to keep the Ellington music and legacy alive. She put in much work to prepare her presentations as conveyed by her papers at the Swedish Jazz Archive.
This article aims to give some snapshots of her participation in Ellington conferences and share some photos from them. (more…)
Lite DESS-nyheter
Nästa medlemsmöte
Nästa medlemsmöte äger rum äger rum den 12 december. Rune Sjögren, en av DESS’ medlemmar, kåserar om sin syn på Duke Ellington.
Efter pausen framträder ensemblen Swedish Pastry med Claes Brodda (styrelseledamot i DESS) på klarinett och tenorsaxofon, Martin Wikström vibrafon, Bertil Fernqvist gitarr och Curt Andersson bas. De kommer att spela inspirerad av Benny Goodman, Ove Lind, Åke Hasselgård och naturligtvis Duke Ellington.
Medlemstillskott
Lars Mide, Ordförande Mästare för S:t Johanneslogen Det Gyllene Snittet i Karlstad, har sett till att DESS i ett huj har fått sju nya medlemmar. Det är medlemmarna i orkestern HejDukar, som fick DESS-medlemskap som tack för sin spelning av Ellingtonmusik på ett logemöte nyligen. Orkestermedlemmarna fick alla ett brev undertecknat av DESS’ ordförande Leif Jönsson som bekräftelse på medlemskapet.
Foto: Per Almskog. En längre artikel om Ellington-kvällen kommer att publiceras i nästa nummer av “Brödrakontakt, tidskrift för frimurare inom 5:e fördelningen” Den finns tillgänglig på bibliotek.
Bullen på väg
Den är nu tryckt och klar och bärs på måndag till posten f.v.b. till DESS’ medlemmar, som bör förbereda sig för trevlig läsning senare i veckan. Det är ett fullmättat nummer.
Och med Bulletinen följer den här gången årets CD framtagen exklusivt för medlemmar i DESS. Den tar oss till tider när Duke och orkestern var som bäst.
Alice Babs i DESS-bulletinen
DESS-bulletinen är en guldgruva av information. När man vill fördjupa sig i ett ämne är det ofta bra att börja med att läsa gamla Bulletiner. De är lätt tillgängliga eftersom de alla finns i pdf-format på webbplatsen tillsammans med en kort sammanfattning av innehållet i varje nummer.
Alice Babs har naturligtvis varit ett återkommande ämne och Bulletinen har publicerat fem längre artiklar om henne.
Den första finns i nummer 1999-4 och handlar om DESS-träffen den 9 mars 1999 där hon var huvudattraktionen.
Hon gav glimtar ur sin långa karriär vilka illustrerades med skivexempel. Kvällen avslutades med en visning av TV-programmet ”Indigo” och den fick en extra dimension genom att Babs kommenterade programmet och berättade om inspelningen.
My Greatest Ambition
“is to sing with Duke Ellington”.
This was the answer Alice Babs gave to the American journalist Robert “Bob” Pierpont when he, in an interview for Swedish Radio in 1950, asked her about her greatest ambition.
A 2:44 minutes excerpt from the interview can be heard below.
Her fascination by and interest in Ellington from an early age also comes up in an interview by Ed Bridges – another American journalist and columnist – published in the DESS Bulletin 2002:3
He asked Babs about the first American song she sang and she told him that the first was Sweet Sue and the second “Diga Diga Doo” “I had heard a Duke Ellington recording and I imitated the growl effects, which Ellington had on that recording” she said.
The interview is also available in the Ellington Archive (read)
Given her early interest and familiarity with Ellington’s music, it is a little bit surprising that she did not recorded an Ellington song until 1943
It happened on October 12, 1943 when she recorded “Don’t Get Around Much Any More” with the Thore Ehrling Orchestra.
DR Ellington Broadcasts (11)
The 11th Ellington program broadcasted by the Danish Radio in the mid-1980s based on the Mercer Ellington donation is the second “Goodie” for the month of November.
As usual, it is available in the “Goodies of the Month” section of the DESS Lobby (DESS-rummet).
It was broadcasted on February 8, 1985 and this time the program presenter was Bent Schjarff.
With one exception, it covers two stockpile recording sessions – May 15, 1963 and May 18, 1965.
It starts with five selections from May 15, 1963. “Stoona” was recorded with Alice Babs two and a half month earlier in Paris. Here it is different version with Ray Nance and Johnny Hodges as soloists.
“Serenade To Sweden” was also part of the recording session with Babs. The version in the program has Shorty Baker and Ray Nance at the center.
Then comes “Bad Woman” (aka Walk Right In) and Schjarff let us follow the evolution of the song in the studio by offering to two slightly different takes – take 8 and take 10.
The May 15, 1963 section ends with “Harmony In Harlem” in a new arrangement with Johnny Hodges, Ray Nance, Jimmy Hamilton and Paul Gonsalves as soloists.