DUKE ELLINGTON'S

INTRODUCTION

F

rom 1924 through 1974, the woodwind section of the Duke

Ellington Orchestra contained some of the most important musicians in jazz history. In the 1930's Johnny Hodges and Willie Smith (along with Benny Carter) established alto saxophone styles that have influenced every jazz alto player to this day. Ben Webster, one of the most imitated tenor saxophonists of his time, was

Lau rie Mari no Robert Frascotti

Editor's Note: A special thank you to Jack Bradley for allowing us to use pictures from his extensive collection for this article on Duke Ellington's saxophone section reedmen. Mr. Bradley was co-founder and managing director of the New York Jazz Museum for many years and more recently, the founder of the Cape Cod Jazz Society in Massachusetts. He is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Cape Cod Jazz Society and is Editor of the Cape Cod Jazz Society Jazz Notes journal, P.O. Box 587, Dennisport, Massachusetts 02639. A superb publication devoted to bringing jazz news to Cape residents and jazz devotee's. Mr. Bradley is also recognized as the leading authority in the United States on Louis Armstrong and recently received two separate grants from the National Endowment for the Arts to compile a photo-history of Louis Armstrong. His articles and photographs have appeared in such publications as Down Beat, Newsweek, Jazz Radio Free Jazz, Le Pont du Jazz, Coda, The Saturday Review, Jazz Journal and Bulletin du Hot Club de France. His personal collection of jazz musician photographs is one of the most extensive in the world and has appeared in. numerous books on jazz as well as on dozens of album covers. And his collection of 16mm jazz films is considered to be one of the most extensive in the world.

one of the first to add the hardswinging element of Lester Young's playing to the then-popular Hawkinish tenor saxophone style. This represented a vital link in the development of the jazz tenor saxophone tradition. And, what can be said of Harry Carney? He introduced both the baritone saxophone and the bass clarinet to the jazz idiom and, in the case of the baritone, created such a strong tradition that it is still in vogue. Also featured in the Ellington band was the finest post-New Orleans clarinetist, Barney Bigard, along with some very worthy successors to his chair. More important than any of the above individual accomplishments is perhaps the fact that each of these players established themselves as a significant personality in jazz history on the Ellington band.

The following pages contain analyses of the styles of the woodwind players, who were such a vital part of the Ellington band and how those styles were manifested in these players' contributions to Ellington's recordings. As always the music must speak for itself, but we believe that these analyses will provide the reader with valuable insights into what made the musicians of Ellington's woodwind section worthy interpreters and creators of his music.

JOHNNY CORNELIUS HODGES (Johnny or Rabbitt) BORN

July 25, 1906 Cambridge, Massachusetts DIED

May 11, 1970, age 64.

Johnny Hodges was one of the two most important and best-known alto saxophonists of the 1930's (the other having been Benny Carter). As a member of Duke Ellington's band, he gained prominence and world renown

with his warm sensuous tone and blues mannerisms.

Johnny's first inspiration came from Sidney Bechet, the first jazz saxophonist (exclusively a soprano saxophonist) who taught him and later presented him with a soprano saxophone.

EARLY CAREER

After spending a year in Chick Webb's band (1927) Hodges joined Duke Ellington in Washington (1928). Certain aspects of Hodges' playing on the 1928 and 1929 recordings of Ellington's band represents the genesis of his mature style. In Louisiana! (1928-1929) and Doin' the Voom Voom2(1928-1929), his sparse use of slight scooping was to foretell the more frequent, smoother and more sweeping scoops and glissandi of his mature style. Even in these very early recordings, Hodges' roots in the blues are apparent in his more relaxed manner of playing the blues. This is evident in Rent Party Blues', a tune which he co-composed with Ellington. The recordings of the late twenties show that there was room for him to develop his style even more. In general, his early sound lacked the intensity and consistency apparent in his mature sound. Similarly, his time feel shows a dichotomy between ragtime and swing. The swing feel, though stiff, is apparent on Louisiana (1928-1929), while the older ragtime feel can be heard in Hot and Bothered", The above characteristics were also present in Hodges' soprano saxophone style at this time, except the conception of sound was closely related to that of the clarinet, which reflected Bechet's influence on Doin' The Voom Voom, (1928-1929).

A MATURE STYLE SOPRANO AND ALTO

It was during the 1930's that Hodges' style and sound was more

24 Winter. 1985

for nine months.

Since then he has led his own group and been a popular saxophonist in the rhythm and blues circles with tunes like Night Train, a tune borrowed from Ellington's Happy-Go-Lucky Local. In 1973 Forrest joined Basie's band bringing along his earthy driving tenor style. He was influenced by Wardell Gray, Gene Ammons and Dexter Gordon.

HILTON JEFFERSON BORN

July 30,1903 - Danbury, Connecticut DIED

November 14, 1968 age 65 - New York City

Jefferson was an alto saxophonist and an outstanding lead player. Among his early influences was Frank Traumbauer. Jefferson played in the bands of King Oliver, Chick Webb, Benny Carter and Fletcher Henderson in the 1930's. He spent most of the 1940's in Cab Calloway's band and joined Ellington in the summer of 1952, where he remained until February of 1953. During his tenure with the Ellington band he also played occasionally with McKinney's Cotton Pickers. Jefferson performed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival with the Ellington band and in later years with Mercer Ellington's big band.

NORRIS WILLIAM TURNEY BORN

September 8, 1921 - Wilmington, Ohio

After studying music in the midwest, Norris Turney moved to New York in 1945. He worked with Billy Eckstine from 1945 through 1947. While with Henderson's band Turney gained recognition as a versatile woodwind player. After returning to Ohio to teach, he joined Ellington where he worked from 1968 through 1972.

Ellington featured Turney on flute on Bourbon Street Jingling Jollies from New Orleans Suite (1970). He was also featured on Portrait of Mahalia Jackson (Same album) and on a slow blues flute solo.

Turney was more a contemporary player in both sound and improvisa-

tional style which served Ellington's more contemporary writing style in later years.

HAROLD KENNETH ASHBY BORN

March 27, 1925 - Kansas City, Mo.

In the 1950's Ashby was one of the many blues artists in Chicago. At that time he worked occasionally with Mercer Ellington and subbed with Duke Ellington's band. In 1968 Harold Ashby joined Duke Ellington's band replacing Jimmy Hamilton. Ashby played tenor saxophone and some clarinet until Duke's death in 1974. He then stayed on with Mercer Ellington's band.

On Ellington's New Orleans Suite, Ashby demonstated his affinity for the sound and style of Ben Webster,with his expressive improvisational style while at the same time showed the influence of the blues.

HAROLD (Geezil) MINERVE

BORN

January 3, 1922 - Havana, Cuba

An alto saxophonist, clarinetist, flutist and piccolo player, Harold Minerve became a member of Ellington's band on September 7, 1971. His style showed the influence of Sidney Bechet, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Barney Bigard, Benny Carter and Johnny Hodges. Minerve's lead alto playing was influenced by Willie Smith.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Chilton, John. Who's Who of Jazz, Storyville to Swing Street. Philadelphia: Chilton Book Company, 1972.

Dance, Stanley. Jazz Era: The 1940's. (reprint of 1961 edition). DaCapo Press, 1983.

Dance, Stanley. The World of Duke Ellington. DaCapo Press, 1980.

Dance, Stanley & Mercer Ellington. Duke Ellington in Person. DaCapo Press, 1979.

Feather, Leonard. The Encyclopedia of Jazz, (new edition). New York: Horizon Press, 1960.

Feather, Leonard. The Encyclopedia of Jazz. New York: Horizon Press, 1966.

Feather, Leonard. The Encyclopedia of Jazz in the Seventies. New York: Horizon Press, 1971.

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P.O. Box 206 Medfield, Massachusetts 02052

Saxophone Journal 33

SAXOPHONE SECTION (1924-1974)

striking than at any other time in his career. During the early and mid-1930's, Ellington frequently wrote for soprano saxophone. Hodges' soprano sound was somewhat thin and raspy, (Ebony Rhapsody'; 1934 and Live and Love Tonight", 1934) causing the section. sound to be less full (Dallas Doings'i, 1933). In addition, the time feel is still somewhat stiff. By the late thirties and early forties, however, Hodges' style had matured drastically! In The Galfrom Joe's' (1938) Hodges' interpretation of the melody was singing and showed a relaxed concept of phrasing, including the interesting use of space.

In Duke Ellington's ballads in the

j

Audabon Ballroom, NYC - early 1960's

Saxophone Journal 25

1940's on which Hodges was featured (Warm Valley"; 1940 and Grievin?" by Ellington and Strayhorn), his sound was warm and full of emotion which later became the essence of his mature style. In addition, his improvised solos began to show signs of harmonic interest. In Skrontch" (1938) he used an interesting improvised sequence of descending half steps in an eight bar section that was harmonically static. He also created interest with his embellishments in the understated melody of Warm Valley. Two different recordings of Blue Goose'? (1940) show the development of Hodges' soprano saxophone sound in a manner parallel to the development of his alto saxophone sound; the same developments of

-left to right- Paul Gonsalves, Jimmy Hamilton Johnny Hodges, Russell Procope & Harry Carney

sound, time and rhythmic feel which can be heard on I Let A Song Go Out of My Heart'? (1928), another important Hodges feature. Two later showcases written for Hodges (and two of the best) with the second being an unquestioned masterpiece in performance and conception were Isfahan and Blood Count.

THE 1940'S

A FLAIR FOR THE DRAMATIC

Ellington and Strayhorn continued to feature Hodges in the 1940's because of his individual style of expression that ultimately became a major trademark of the Ellington sound. Because of the extreme lyricism of his

playing, he was frequently assigned the statement of the melody in arrangements like Never No Lament (Don't Get Around Much Anymore)"; 1940; I Got It Bad (1941) and I'm Just A Lucky So and SOlS (1945). Ellington's first uptempo tune featuring Hodges was The Giddy Bug Gallopl6 (1940). Here Hodges demonstrated a more flashy style. One of the key tools of Hodges' expression, which became most apparent in the middle 1940's, was his use of the long scoop and bend. One tune that he saw as an appropriate vehicle for this type of expression was Billy Strayhorn's After All17 (1940).

In addition to being a very lyrical player, Hodges had a flare for the dramatic. The use of such dramatic devices as exaggerated swells, sudden loud ascending glissandi and extremely wide vibrato can be heard in Sultry Sunset" (1946) and Magenta Hazel9 (1946).

HODGES LEA VES ELLINGTON

In March of 1951 Hodges left the Ellington band to form his own unit. Four years later in 1955 he returned to the Ellington band. At this point in his career Hodges began to become involved with recordings involving small groups under the direction of Duke Ellington. Three such combo albums were Back to Back, Side By Side and Blues Summitt.

HIS LAST RECORDING SESSION Hodges' mature style culminated in his performances of the 1960's. In Black and Tan Fantasy" (1963), he showed his beautifully mature sound. Following his father's tradition, Mercer Ellington featured Hodges throughout his composition Things Ain't What They Used to Be21 (1963).

On April 27, 1970 Hodges played his last recording session with the Ellington band. Typically, one of the tunes was an alto saxophone feature written for Hodges. The Blues for New Orleans from New Orleans Suite featured one of Hodges's characteristically bluesy solos. Hodges was unable to complete the session. He died fourteen days later

on May 11, 1970.

HARRY HOWELL CARNEY

BORN

April 1, 1910 Boston Massachusetts DIED

October 8, 1974, age 64 New York City

AT A GE SIXTEEN

Harry Carney was the first, and still considered by some, the greatest jazz performer on baritone sax-

Photo By: Jack Bradley

HARRY CARNEY Taken in 1965

Photo By: Jack Bradley

ophone. He joined the Ellington band in 1926 at the age of sixteen after Ellington had secured his parent's permission. Harry Carney remained a member of the band throughout Ellington's lifetime, making him one of the longest lasting sidemen in jazz band history. In addition to being the anchor man of the reed section, he was the first to make extensive use of the bass clarinet, especially for solos.

More than any other individual member, except Ellington, Carney made the Ellington band recognizable.

AN INNOVATIVE SOUND

Carney's full sound, vibrato and driving on top-of-the-time feel were all characteristics of his style throughout his career. In a solo on Jungle Jamboree" (1928), Carney plays a baritone saxophone solo in the then popular straight eighth note

From The Collection Of: Jack flradley

OTTO (Toby) HARDWICK RudyVan Gelder Recording Studio Englewood, NewJersey - 1965 Photo By: Jack Bradley

style reminiscent of Ragtime. In this case it resembled the New Orleans tuba bass line style. Displaying his accomplished improvisational skills in

a clarinet solo on Awful Sad23 (1928-29), Carney recognizes the whole tone scale played by Miley at the end of his solo and uses it as the basis of his entire solo.

In Buffet Flat24 (1938), Carney was featured on the melody, which he

26 Winter, 1985

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plays on top of the beat with a driving rhythmic feeling. These two features (top ofthe beat playing and the whole tone scale)remained a part of his style throughout his tenure with the band. So individual was his sound that Ellington wrote specifically and uniquely for him. In Buffet Flat, the opening melody is written in the upper register of the baritone saxophone and the bridge, in the powerful and resonant low register.

Carney's expressive melodic style

From The Collection Of' Jack Bradley

JIMMY ROBERT (Jimmy) FORREST, JR. At Smalls' Paradise - Harlem, NYC - 1965 Photo By: Jack Bradley

was demonstrated in his mournful, crying interpretation of Way Low25 (1939). Ellington also featured his expressive melodic style on the melody of Sophisticated Lady" (1939) and Delta Serenade" (1942). In a 1942 version of Perdido, Carney's baritone saxophone is heard as the lead voice of the section as well as soloist. On this cut his time feel was particularly hard driving. Carney enhances the ex-

otic flavor of Ellington's Caravan" (1945) with a clarinet solo that utilized several exotic devices including the use of the whole tone scale and rhythmic ambiguity.

In Ellington's 1945 reworking of the 1938 Cotton Club hit, I Let A Song Go Out of My Heart"; Carney plays a portion of the melody on bass clarinet softly and understatedly with

. whispering glissandi. In a somewhat different vein, Carney plays a rather ethereal and wandering baritone solo

Record Date With Stanley Dance, NYC - 1960 Bass Player: AI Hall

Photo By: Jack Bradley

PAUL GONSALVES Record Date, NYC - 1965 Photo By: Jack Bradley

on Ellington's Black, Brown and Beige"; This solo is quite lengthy and features Carney in a section that is completely unaccompanied. Carney is also featured on Ellington's famous ballad Prelude To A Kiss31 (1950).

HIS LATER YEARS Throughout the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's Carney continued to be featured as a doubler on both the

baritone saxophone and bass clarinet. It is difficult, however, to speak of his development beyond the 1950's because he continued to play in essentially the same style. Carney remained with the band until Ellington's death in 1974. Harry Carney died in October of the same year.

LEON ALBANY BIGARD (Barney Bigard)

BORN

March 3, 1906

New Orleans, Louisiana blED

Late 1970's

In January of 1928 Barney Bigard joined Duke Ellington's band and remained with him until July 1942. During his fourteen years with Ellington, he became world renowned as one of the most original jazz clarinetists. Despite his originality Bigard's style remained basically that of the Dixieland clarinet throughout his career. Characteristic of his style included the use of the blues scale, especially the flatted third. His solos frequently began with a soar up to a very high note and used the train whistle bend. Ellington features in the dixieland and blues style were Tiger Rag32 (1928-29), Skrontch" (1938), The Stevedores Serenade" (1938) and Harlem Airshaft" (1940).

A third style that featured Bigard in the low register included Ellington's mood and jungle pieces. Among those were the 1928 version of The Mooch3., Awful Sad37 (1928-29) and he played tenor saxophone in the same style in the 1930 version of Mood Indigo"; and Way Low39 and Barney Goin' Easy40, (1939). Bigard was succeeded by Jimmy Hamilton in 1942.

OTTO (Toby) HARDWICK BORN

May 31, 1904 - Washington, D.C.

DIED

August 5, 1970 age 66 Washington, D.C.

A boyhood friend of Duke Ellington, Hardwick first started working with him in 1918 and travelled to

Saxophone Journal 27

New York with the Ellington Washingtonians in 1923. In 1928 Otto left Ellington and toured Europe with Noble Sissie and also worked with Fats Waller during this period. He returned to Ellington's band and remained there until 1950 when he retired from music to a farm in Maryland.

DUKE'S FIRST SAXOPHONIST

Being the first sax-

ophone/ clarinetist with Duke Ellington, Hardwick was featured on many of the early and important compositions. He played alto, baritone and bass saxophones as well as the clarinet. In Deacon Jazz" from Early Duke (1924), Hardwick's alto style included embellished melody features with a swing feel and wide vibrato, as in the 1926 recording of I'm Going to Hang Around My Sugar"; Hardwick played aggressive baritone saxophone solos using mostly the upper register as in Georgia Grind" (1926). A major work by Ellington, Black and Tan Fantasy" (1927) presented Hardwick on alto saxophone playing with a nasal tone and a New Orleans improvisational style and time feel. He soloed on bass saxophone in 1928 on Tiger Rag.

SOPHISTICATED LADY

Hardwick composed the popular ballad Sophisticated Lady with Ellington in 1932 and played the bridge section on clarinet. Three years later in 1935 he played the melody to In A Sentimental Mood on alto saxophone, displaying a narrow vibrato, sedate style and the bending of notes in the melody. Hardwick was succeeded by Russell Procope.

BENJAMIN FRANCIS WEBSTER (Ben Webster)

BORN

February 27, 1909 - Kansas City DIED

September 20, 1973 age 64 Amsterdam

SELF TAUGHT SAXOPHONIST Ben Webster studied violin as a

child but was a self-taught saxophonist. He also played some early gigs on piano. In 1932 he made his first trip to New York city with Benny Moten. In 1933 and 1934 he played with Fletcher Henderson. Webster is best known for his long intermittent association with Duke Ellington, which began in 1935. After leaving the band temporarily he returned in 1939 and left again in 1943. Then, following a five year stint with local Kansas City bands in the mid-1940's, he rejoined Ellington for a few months in 1948

INTERPRETER OF BALLADS

Webster was a warm and sensitive player in the Coleman Hawkins tradition. In addition, he was one of the most durable saxophonists over the years. His big and warm sound made him an outstanding interpreter of ballads, while his great intensity and implacable swing made his interpretation of up-tempo tunes very exciting.

In addition to being very well known for his playing, he was also a tremendous influence on other tenor saxophone players, especially in the Ellington band.

INFLUENCED BY HA WKINS Hawkin's influence on Ben Webster was immediately apparent in his improvised solo on Congo Brava"; where his tone was fat and velvety and his articulation was almost exclusively the indefinite airy type, so much a part of Hawkins' playing. This style is typically vertical rather than horizontal with frequent arpeggiated chords. Webster's swing was sometimes so hard-driving that it was reminiscent of Lester Young. At times the content of his solos were so harmonically concise that they could almost be called bebop; One interesting part of Webster's solos was the use of the side slip, (immediately reiterating a melodic motive up a half step) a device which became popular much later and was quite rare at the time in jazz. Another example of the influence of Hawkins on Webster can be heard on Webster's solo on Bojangles" (1940). In this solo Webster hints at the growl tone and wah-wah effect which were such individual aspects of Hawkins' playing. His at-

tention to the changes was again almost beboppish.

WEBSTER'S FA VORITE TUNE One of Webster's favorite vehicles throughout the years was Ellington's Co ttontait" (1940). On this tune he played an extended solo which ultimately began to take on a consistent structural shape. Once again the shimmering sound from Hawkins and the' drive from Young were readily apparent. In addition, Webster took a fragment of the melody and developed it throughout the solo. Again the combination of the fat sound and the driving swing made for an exciting and individual style.

EARLY BEBOP

In 1942 Ellington recorded arrangements of two jazz standards Perdido and The C Jam Blues, and

DUKE ELLINGTON SAX SECTION Basin Street East, NYC - 1963

28 Winter, 1985

they both included Webster solos. On Perdido Webster's progression toward bebop was even more noticeable than before. He frequently played wide melodic leaps to essential chord tones in much the same way Charlie Parker would later do. Also like Bird was his use of broken melodies in different registers of the instrument. His swing inflections were even more advanced than before. On C Jam Blues his sound was dirty with frequent growls. It should be noted that while this was probably caused by his having heard a lot of Coleman Hawkins, it is obvious that the prevailing solo style of the Ellington band during that period would have influenced him in much the same way. And, it may also be true that Coleman Hawkins was influenced by the growl players of early Ellington bands. Ben Webster's break

in C Jam Blues showed an advanced concept of swing more closely associated with bebop than with the swing era.

FROM SWING TO BEBOP THE TRANSITION

Ben Webster was one of the three key figures in the transition of jazz from the swing style of the thirties and early forties to bebop. The two most directly responsible individuals for this transition, however, were Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young.

As mentioned earlier, Webster's influence on other musicians in Ellington's band was immense. Including every tenor saxophonist who followed him in the Ellington band and those who remained after his departure, most notably Paul Gonsalves.

JAMES (Jimmy) HAMILTON BORN

May 25, 1917 - Dillon, S.C.

Jimmy Hamilton was raised in Philadelphia, where at the age of seven he began studying trombone, piano, trumpet and saxophone. From 1939 to 1941 he was a member of Teddy Wilson's band and was a member of Benny Carter's Sextet from 1941 to 1942. In the Winter of 1942 Jimmy replaced Chauncy Haughton in the reed section of Duke Ellington's band, where he remained for the next 26 years until 1968 when he left to freelance.

CLARINET SOLOIST RELAXED BLUES STYLE

Jimmy Hamilton served primarily as a clarinet soloist in the Ellington

-left to right- Paul Gonsalves, Jimmy Hamilton, Johnny Hodges, Russell Procope & Harry Carney

Saxophone Journal 29

very distinctive. Thus, another superb example of Ellington's writing for the strong points of the individuals in his band. This particular solo is quiet, sedate, and centered in the low register with frequent lip glissandi. On Ellington's It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing, Sears began his solo the same way he began his solo on St. Louis Blues, with a long upward scoop. Here the swing was more hard-driving than before, suggesting a closer alliance to Webster's style. This solo is also more spirited than earlier ones, and more

rhythms are employed. The playing was still essentially swing with arpeggiation of vertical sonorities representing the bulk of the melodic material. Other important Ellington compositions featuring Sears were Carnegie Blues, Swamp Fire and Liberian SuiteS 3 •

When Al Sears left the band, Paul Gonsalves replaced him.

band. His pure clean sound and impeccable technique were evident in his innumerable clarinet solos with the Ellington band, which made him a worthy successor of Barney Bigard. He was also a strong section player on the tenor saxophone.

Hamilton was frequently featured on improvised blues solos. He was noted for a very relaxed style making extensive use of the blues scale. In performances of Ellington's John Handy Medley, Hamilton was featured as the clarinet soloist on Memphis Blues" and Beale St. Blues"; The latter was a slow blues which was an ideal setting for his relaxed improvisational style and singing tone. Memphis Blues is an uptempo blues, but Hamilton retained his relaxed style which created a rather interesting sound combination. In the 1950 version of Duke's late 1920's composition, Creole Love Cairo, Hamilton played another slow blues melody and was featured as a soloist . In his usual relaxed style, he used long slow slides with an otherwise very melodic solo. He also employed the tremolo as a dramatic device.

In Ellington's Nutcracker Suite (1960), Hamilton was featured in a duet on clarinet with Russell Procope using his by now traditional blues style.

HAMILTON'S DEPARTURE

A NEW DIRECTION FOR ELLINGTON?

With Jimmy Hamilton's departure in 1968, and the sudden death of Johnny Hodges in 1970, Ellington began to experiment somewhat with the use of the flute and piccolo in his saxophone section. Ellington no longer featured the Dixieland clarinet soloist, so much a part of his past. For this reason (and perhaps other personal reasons) the role that Hainilton played in the band was terminated.

ALBERT OMEGA (AI) SEARS BORN

February 22, 1910 - Macomb, Illinois

At the age of eighteen Al Sears

began his playing career with Chick Webb, then in 1941 joined Elmer Snowden. From 1941 until 1942 Sears was a tenor saxophonist with Andy Kirk when in 1943 he joined Lionel Hampton's band. At this point in his career Al Sears joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra and remained with the band from 1944 to 1950. When Hodges left the band in 1951 to form his own group, Sears joined him in March of 1951, staying until October 1952. During his brief tenure with Hodges as partner and musical director, Sears wrote Castle Rock, his first acknowledged big hit as .a jazz composer. After leaving Hodges, he led numerous bands on his own.

HA WKINS/WEBSTER SCHOOL THE TRADITION LIVES ON

Sears was an exponent of the Hawkins/Webster school. He was one of many tenor saxophonists in the Ellington band who was influenced particularly by Ben Webster. Some typical aspects of the so-called Hawkins/Webster style were barks, growls, scoops and a wide vibrato. It should also be noted that these were the same techniques used by the earlier growl players. One particular aspect of the Hawkins sound that Sears emulated was the use of the low register frequently with the subtone sound. On the 1944 version of Black, Brown and Beige", Sears played with a fast, narrow vibrato and a light and fluffy sound in the low register. In addition, many notes were begun with slides or the breathy attack so typical of the Hawkins/Webster school. On St. Louis Blues+, Sears played some blues choruses after Marian Coox's vocal. He began the solo with a large scoop. In the second chorus he used the bark and then returned to a relaxed swing feel. The solo ended with an octave' glissando down to the tonic. The Beautiful Indians" (1946) was a two-part Ellington composition. The first part was entitled Hiawatha and featured Sears. Hawkins' influence was especially noticeable in the melody, which was written mostly in the low register where his sound was

RUSSELL PROCOPE BORN

August 11, 1908 - New York City DIED

1980- New York City

Russell Procope studied violin, alto saxophone and clarinet with private teachers as a child. His big band experience included short stints in the bands of Chick Webb (1929-1930), at the same time Al Sears was a member, Fletcher Henderson (1931-1934), Benny Carter (1934), Teddy Hill (1934-1938) and John Kirby (1938-1945). In November of 1945, Procope joined the Duke Ellington band.

AN IMPORTANT SOLOIST

1930's and 1940's

Before joining Ellington's band Russell Procope was an important alto saxophonist of the 1930's and 1940's. When Procope joined the band, Ellington featured him on alto saxophone and later as the lead player when Hodges soloed. Procope was also a superb soloist on clarinet and after Jimmy Hamilton left the band Procope was the principal soloist on clarinet.

During his first year as a member of the Ellington band, Procope was

30 Winter, 1985

featured as the lead alto saxophonist on Happy-Go-Lucky Local, Part 154 (1946). Procope's sound was more strident than Hodges' and lacked the warmth and sensuality, despite the similarity of their vibratos. Procope's swing feel was more driving than Hodges'.

During the 1950's and 1960's Procope continued to serve as a reliable sectional player on the alto saxophone and clarinet. Except for a brief illness in 1971, he remained a loyal member of the band until Ellington's death in 1974.

EUGENE ROUSSEAU SAXOPHONE MASTER CLASS/CLINICS

PAUL GONSALVES BORN

July 12, 1920 - Boston, Massachusetts DIED

May 14, 1974 age 54 - London, England

After serving in the military from 1942 to 1945, Gonsalves joined the Count Basie band on tenor saxophone in 1946. He worked briefly with the Dizzy Gillespie big band from 1949 to 1950 then joined the Duke Ellington orchestra in 1950. He

For further information, contact:

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remained a member of Ellington's band until his death in 1974 except for a few weeks in 1953 when he played with Tommy Dorsey's band.

THE NEWPORT CONNECTION

Gonsalves' tenor saxophone sound was conceived in the Ben Webster school, as demonstrated in his classic interpretation of the Strayhorn ballad Chelsea Bridge, Ellington's So Little Time (1965) and Ellington's later arrangement of The Days of Wine And Roses.

Gonsalves' improvisational style showed extroverted character. He was able to create excitement in his solos, and realizing this Ellington allowed him extended solos. One example of the success of Gonsalves' extended improvisational ability occured during the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival. It was during this period of relative compositional, performing and recording inactivity that Gonsalves caused a literal riot of enthusiasm at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival. Gonsalves' consecutive

Summer, 1985

Indiana University Bloomington Peabody Conservatory, Baltimore University of Wisconsin, Shell Lake

EUGENE ROUSSEAU

blues solo choruses on Diminuesc In Blue at Newport, caused a interest in the Duke Ellington

and revitalized its creative 0 _ Paul Gonsalves was unsurpassed zx his ability as a ballad soloist.

On May 14, 1974, just ten before Duke Ellington's death. ~ Gonsalves passed away in Lo A England at the age of 54.

PRINCE ROBINSO_ BORN

June 7, 1904 - Norfolk, Vi:rg:[niB DIED

July 23, 1960 age 56 - New YOFk Cizy

Prince Robinson worked v.<iIh T~= Elfington band in 1926 after spell - = two years with Elmer Snowden occasionally with Jim Clark. ,,member of Ellington's band R son played clarinet and tenn ophone. On the 1928 versio Animal Crackers", Robinson p a tenor saxophone solo w - -

June 30 - July 5 July 14 - 19

July 28 - August 2

• Internationally recognized performer and teacher

• Concert appearances throughout the world

• Recording artist for Deutsche Grammophon and other labels

• Academic appointments at Indiana University and Hochschule fur Musik in Vienna

• Author of saxophone methods and other related materials

• President, International Saxophone Committee for the World Saxophone Congress

The Master Class

• designed to meet needs of participants of diverse backgrounds

• master clinics covering all aspects of saxophone playing

• master class for performers

Prof. Darrell Aderman University of Wisconsin Extension

Shell Lake, WI 54871 (715) 468-2414

Summer Session Office

Peabody Conservatory of Music 1 E. Mt. Vernon Place Baltimore, MD 21202

(301) 659-8149

Saxophone Ji

•

demonstrated his very fat sound near the bottom register of the instrument. On Little Farina" the thickness of his low register notes created the deception that he was playing baritone saxophone, despite the fact that he was actually playing tenor. His style was essentially the same on a very important early Ellington cut called I'm Gonna Hang Around My Sugars 7 •

After leaving Ellington in 1926, Robinson went on to play with the McKinney Cotton Pickers, Blanche Calloway's band, Roy Eldridge, Louis Armstrong, Lucky Millinder, Benny Moten, Claude Hopkins, Red Allen, Freddie Washington's Dixiecrats, and Fletcher Henderson's band. Robinson also led his own various groups. In the 1930's Robinson was considered to be one of, Coleman Hawkins' rivals for tenor saxophone supremacey.

RUDY JACKSON BORN

1901 • Fort Wayne, Indiana

After playing clarinet and saxophones with King Oliver from 1923 to 1924, Jackson joined Ellington in 1926. While on the Ellington band he recorded these important historical compositions, East St. Louis Toodle- 00, Creole Love Call and Black and Tan Fantasy. Jackson was prominent in several of Ellington's early recordings. His tone quality on clarinet was somewhat thin but very effective.

Jackson was featured on the clarinet solo in Creole Love Call and was replaced in December of 1927 by Barney Bigard.

WILLIAM MCLEISH SMITH (Willie Smith)

BORN

November 25, 1910 - Charleston, N.C.

DIED

March 7, 1967 age 57 - Los Angeles, CA.

Willie Smith began his musical studies on clarinet and attended Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee where he met Jimmie Lunceford. From 1930 to 1941 Smith played with Lunceford's band.

ONE OF THE THREE GIANTS After a short stint with Charlie Spivak he left to serve in the U.S. Navy, where he served as a musical instructor with an impressive group of musicians. Upon his discharge in 1944, he joined Harry James where he remained until joining the Ellington band in 1951. Willie Smith gained a strong reputation years earlier in the Lunceford band and on occasion replaced Hodges during personal absences. He performed on alto saxophone and clarinet. Critics and musicians group him with Johnny Hodges and Benny Carter as one of the three great alto saxophonists

in the 1930's. His buoyant happy tone and rhythmic style represented his unique approach to saxophone playing.

CHARLES (Charlie) ROUSE

BORN

April 6, 1924 - Washington, D.C.

Charlie Rouse began his career with Billy Eckstine in 1944. In 1945 he worked with Dizzy Gillespie before joining Ellington in 1947, where he remained until 1950. He later co-led a group with Julius Watkins and played with the Buddy Rich combo. Rouse toured Europe and Asia with Thelonious Monk from 1959 to 1970 and became a very popular jazz musician overseas. A saxophonist of the hard bop school, Rouse was influenced by Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stitt and Hank Mobley. Later in his career he was influenced by Thelonious Monk's music. Charlie Rouse formed his own sextet in 1975, which emphasized the Brazilian sound.

JAMES ROBERT FORREST, Jr. (Jimmy Forrest)

BORN

January 24, 1920 - St. Louis, Mo.

After working around St. Louis with various groups in the thirties, Forrest moved to New York in 1940 and joined the Jay McShann band. He also worked with Andy Kirk from 1941 to 1947. He returned to St. Louis and started his own combo. In 1949 Forrest temporarily replaced Ben Webster on the Ellington band

32 Winter, 1985