More photos from Cirkus 1966
In September the website published an article by Jan Bruér on the rehearsal of Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald at Cirkus in Stockholm in February 8, 1966 for a telecast by Swedish Television. It was illustrated with some of the photos Jan took on this occasion.
He has now provided us with some more photos from the rehearsal.
He got a good shot of Ellington in the foreground and the sax section in the background in full swing. And the cameras seems to be running.
Jan also managed to catch of Ellington in his conducting style. The orchestra has been moved compared to the previous photo and possibly the photo is from the part of rehearsal with Ella.
At one point Jan saw two versions of Ella in front of him and clicked his camera to get them
More photos of Ella can be seen in a panorama in the Ellington Archive of the website and there is also a panorama of all the photos with Ellington from the Circus published on the website.
Meadowbrook, Cedar Grove, New Jersey, June 9, 1951
Sultry Serenade We continue our visits to Frank Dailey’s Meadowbrook in Cedar Grove NJ. The date is now June 9, 1951 and this time we offer a program that is slightly longer than the previous ones.
This is because we have put together two different tapes from this date into one, which have all known surviving recordings made at this occasion and in the order they were played.
The first part is not known to have been broadcasted, whereas the second part is from an MBS broadcast. Above you can listen to a fine rendition of Sultry Serenade by Britt Woodman, but to listen to the rest of these fine performances you will have to be a DESS-member and go to the Goodies Room. (more…)
Duke Ellington in 1956 – the Month of October
Ellington’s whereabouts during the first part of October 1956 is quite undocumented. He might have done a tour of the southern part of the east coast in the first part of the month but specifics exist only for two dates – Tampa, Florida on October 5 (Fort Homer Hestory Armory) and Charlotte, North Carolina on October 11 (Ovens Auditorium).
Thereafter, he seems to have made a short stopover in New York and then continued with a short tour of Ohio, West Virginia and New Hampshire in the third week of October. While in New York, Ellington signed a contract for three weeks of performances at the Blue Note in Chicago at the end of December and beginning of January.
By the fourth week of October, Ellington was back in New York and went into the Columbia Studios on October 22 and 23 to record the remaining parts of “A Drum Is A Woman”. This time he recorded Rhythm Pum Te Dum (Carribee Sequence), Madam Zajj (Carribee Sequence), Ballet Of The Flying Saucers, Congo Square and Zajj’s Dream. On October 23, the recordings were made in Columbia’s famous 30th Street studio.
Ellington then remained in New York until the end of the month except for appearances in Washington D.C. (October 25) and Boston (October 28). In New York he seems to have played at a big rally for the Eisenhower-Nixon presidential ticket and at a Republican “First Voters Ball”.