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Bits And Pieces
Hotel Sherman CD
The Ellington specialist and discographer Brian Koller reports that the correct discographical information for track 23 and 24 of the CD is:
Track 23, Maybe, is DE4028xa instead of DE4024b
Track 24, Harlem Air Shaft, is DE4028f instead of DE4024f
He refers to the NDESOR correction sheet 1080 available at http://www.depanorama.net/desor/1018.pdf. The sheet is also available in the website’s Ellington Archive.
New CD from Maison du Duke
Maison du Duke has issued a new Ellington CD – “The Great 1963 Paris Concert – Unissued Material”. However, it is only available to members of MdD.
Chocolate Kiddies and Jig Walk
The Swedish discographer Björn Englund published an article on Chocolate Kiddies in Storyville issue 62 with information on all the recordings of Jig Walk. With his permission, the article is available in the Ellington Archive/Artiklar/Jig Walk
Hotel Sherman and the Panther Room
All DESS members should by now enjoy the new members-only CD with broadcasts from Hotel Sherman in September-October 1940. If you are not a member yet, get yourself a membership as quickly as possible.
The restaurant of the hotel was called College In and housed the Panther Room / Malaya Room nightclub.
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.
Duke Ellington at the Hotel Sherman in Chicago, 1942
All I Need Is You
Duke and his orchestra played for dancing at the Hotel Sherman in Chicago several times, the most well-known of these occasions being that of September-October 1940, but the band came back for a similar stint between 19 July and 18 August 1942.
The 1942 performances are not as richly documented on discs. as those of 1940, although a few commercial recordings exist. We have therefore chosen to make a short sound-clip available for downloading by the DESS members in the Goodies Room .
Above you can listen to a tune called All I Need Is You, performed by Rex Stewart backed up by the orchestra. This is the only known recording of this song by Duke and his men. (more…)