Concerts in Sweden 1967 (2)
Stockholm 24 January 1967, 2nd concert
Rufus Jones, Duke’s new drummer in 1967
The details of the 2nd concert in Stockholm on Jan. 24, 1967, did not come to the attention of the Italian New DESOR discographers until 2002. When we recieved a CD-copy of the concert from Sjef Hoefsmit he commented it as follows (quoted in full):
“There has been some discussion about the concerts on this date in Stockholm. There were on a certain moment three candidates, three different recorded broadcasts, all with the claim to be from Stockholm, 24Jan67. The discussion was published in DEMS Bulletin 02/2-8 and continues in Bulletin 02/3-10-1&2. The conclusion was that there were only two concerts in Stockholm, and that one recorded concert was not from Stockholm but from Manchester, 10Feb67.
Jan Bruér, who attended both concerts in Stockholmon 24Jan67, was clever enough to make notes of the titles (what Hoefsmit also should have done in Amsterdam 0n 2Nov58). He gave us these titles in DEMS Bulletin 02/2-8. Some of the titles from the second concert were “fresh” fur us and not mentioned in New DESOR’s correction sheet 1044.
Jan Bruér was so kind to send us a copy of this concert in a remarkable high quality. A copy has been sent to Giovanni Volonté and Luciano Massagli, to include the titles and the description in the New DESOR.
DEMS, October 2007″
Concerts in Sweden 1967
Stockholm 24 January 1967, 1st concert
Duke in 1967
Duke Ellington’s European tour in 1967 started in Paris on January 13 and ended in the same city on March 10. Nearly all the dates in between were dedicated to concerts in at least 11 different countries. In Sweden, there were performances in Stockholm on January 24 and in Malmö two days later, with a visit to Oslo on the way. It must have been a crazy schedule! There are two concerts surviving from Stockholm, but we have no recordings from the Malmö event.
We now invite you to listen to the 1st concert from Stocholm’s Concert Hall. You’ll find it in the Goodies Room. The orchestra was more or less the same as the one visiting Sweden the previous year, with the exception that Rufus Jones was now seated behind the drums instead of Sam Woodyard and that Money Johnson was added to the trumpet section.
Lawrence Brown in Rue Bleu (more…)
DESS Bulletin 2020-3
Bo Haufman, the Bulletin editor and President of DESS, has delighted the DESS members by sending out the autumn issue of the DESS Bulletin quite early this year. This allow them to digest and enjoy another Bulletin with a lot of good reading during the last weeks of the summer holiday.
This time the cover story is about Wellman Braud – Ellington’s first main bass player
In the well-researched four page lead article, Bo Haufman gives the full career of Braud.
He starts with his early years in Chicago (1917-1923), his two month visit to England in early 1923 as member of the Charles A. Elgar’s Orchestra to play in the show “Plantation Days” and his settlement in New York upon the return from England.
In New York, Braud got engaged by Wilbur Sweatman and also played in pit bands for musical comedies. He also also participated in his first recording sessions – two Victor sessions with Thomas Morris and his Seven Hot Babies on November 12 and 14, 1926.
In June 1927, Duke Ellington hired him as bass and tuba player and he became very quickly an important element in the Ellington orchestra. Braud stayed for almost eight years and left in March 1935.
In the article, Bo gives a detailed account of Braud’s period with the band. He talks about Braud’s style and role in the Ellington Orchestra, goes through Braud’s main recordings with the band and tells about the circumstances that led the Braudman’s departure.
The final part of the article gives snapshots of what Braud did after having left Ellington. He was not engaged by any other major orchestra but seems to have stayed in the environment of blues and music anchored in the New Orleans tradition.
At one point, he moved to California In 1955, he started to play with Kid Ory there and went with the Kid Ory’s Creole Jazz Band to Europe in 1956. In 1959, he started “a long lasting musical relationship” with the blues and folksinger Barbara Dane. Braudman accompanied her with a trio and did this also for blues artists performing at her club “Sugar Hill – Home of the Blues.
Braud passed away in Los Angeles in 1966.
But there is not only the article about Wellman Braud to read in the new issue of the DESS Bulletin but several others.. (more…)