Over the years, numerous vocalists and instrumentalists have recorded Ellington tunes. Comparatively rare, however, are versions of his longer works by an individual artist or group.
One thinks of Cannonball Adderley’s cover of the score for Jump for Joy (1), the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra’s many performances of Ellington-Strayhorn suites and thematic materials, including the Far East Suite (2) and recently, the Asian American Orchestra’s version of the Far East Suite, which earned a year 2000 Grammy nomination (3), and the Slovak Soul Party! (4) with its take on the one Ellington suite that would make nearly everyone’s top five (my number one).
One thinks of Cannonball Adderley’s cover of the score for Jump for Joy (1), the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra’s many performances of Ellington-Strayhorn suites and thematic materials, including the Far East Suite (2) and recently, the Asian American Orchestra’s version of the Far East Suite, which earned a year 2000 Grammy nomination (3), and the Slovak Soul Party! (4) with its take on the one Ellington suite that would make nearly everyone’s top five (my number one).
Covering the Far East Suite is quite a challenge. Unlike the New Orleans Suite, for example, where the sound of the orchestra—the ensemble passages—dominate rather than the individual soloists, Far East flips that order with Duke’s prominent instrumentalists front and center delivering matchless, nearly-impossible-to-duplicate solos.
The suite’s inspiration was mostly influenced by the sights, sounds, and smells absorbed by Ellington and co-composer Billy Strayhorn during the band’s 11-week tour of South Asia and the Middle East in 1963, which afterward, as Duke later said, seeped out on paper for the band’s musicians to elucidate.
The suite’s inspiration was mostly influenced by the sights, sounds, and smells absorbed by Ellington and co-composer Billy Strayhorn during the band’s 11-week tour of South Asia and the Middle East in 1963, which afterward, as Duke later said, seeped out on paper for the band’s musicians to elucidate.
Tourist Point of View
The suite opens with an orchestral interpretation of the swirling jumble of previously unheard, unseen, and unfelt stimuli that Duke and his men encountered as they toured the ancient cities of Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Ceylon, India, and Pakistan. While this piece may not totally succeed in capturing that sensory overload, it does serve to introduce the band itself, as Neil Tesser wrote:
IN FIVE evocative minutes, Ellington and Strayhorn were able to highlight all the orchestra’s important elements: the scorching trumpet of Cat Anderson; the well-matched burnishes of the trombone section; the burry, shaded timbre of Gonsalves’s juggernaut tenor, rising from the rich textures of the reed section; the unmistakable touch and prominent accents of Ellington’s piano; and the dark energy that characterized much of his later writing. (5)
Ellington also introduces new star drummer Rufus “Speedy” Jones and bassist John Lamb—together they are the Suite’s unsung heroes, along with the leader’s wide-ranging piano.
Familiar yet intriguing, “Tourist” prepares the listener for more unusual things to come.
Familiar yet intriguing, “Tourist” prepares the listener for more unusual things to come.
Blue Bird of Delhi (Mynah)
Clarinetist Jimmy Hamilton shines as the mynah bird that perched outside Billy Strayhorn’s hotel room during his several day stay in Delhi, India. The clarinetist replicates the blue bird’s intricate song, the “pretty lick” as Duke called it, then takes flight with his own bird song, a full-register solo based on the lick while the orchestra simmers along underneath. More than a novelty, this mid-tempo number is driven by an excellent arrangement that swings.
Isfahan
Named for the city in Persia (now Iran) where the American cultural ambassadors received their most exuberant welcome, “Isfahan” is, according to Cook and Morton, “arguably the most beautiful single item in Ellington’s and Strayhorn’s entire output.” (6) And I agree.
Hodge’s stiletto sharp, crystalline pure sound slows the breath, wells the eyes, and stills the body while Ellington’s orchestra puffs occasional sound pontoons to keep the alto’s melodic line afloat, mimicking to some extent, what arranger Gil Evans did for Miles Davis. If perfection needed a definition, it can be found here.
Hodge’s stiletto sharp, crystalline pure sound slows the breath, wells the eyes, and stills the body while Ellington’s orchestra puffs occasional sound pontoons to keep the alto’s melodic line afloat, mimicking to some extent, what arranger Gil Evans did for Miles Davis. If perfection needed a definition, it can be found here.
Depk
The inspiration for “Depk” came from a dance by six boys and six girls Ellington witnessed in Amman, Jordan. The spirited and intricate arrangement, Duke later wrote, requires an interchange of musical progressions by the two sections, thinning out to a statement by Hamilton and Carney on clarinet and baritone saxophone, respectively. (7)
The piece opens with the reed section articulating the eminently whistle-able theme, then a mirroring by the brass, and a back-and-forth between the sections that leads to a short piano interlude by the maestro. The piece retraces it steps back to the reed section opening before the denouement, the thinning out, Hamilton-Carney by themselves, whistling the happy theme to a fade.
And how often, one wonders, has Ellington or anyone else for that matter, paired a high-register clarinet with a baritone sax so effectively?
The piece opens with the reed section articulating the eminently whistle-able theme, then a mirroring by the brass, and a back-and-forth between the sections that leads to a short piano interlude by the maestro. The piece retraces it steps back to the reed section opening before the denouement, the thinning out, Hamilton-Carney by themselves, whistling the happy theme to a fade.
And how often, one wonders, has Ellington or anyone else for that matter, paired a high-register clarinet with a baritone sax so effectively?
Mount Harissa
Named for the mountain top fifteen miles from Beirut, Lebanon, “Mount Harissa” is notable on several counts: a haunting memorable theme delineated by Ellington’s expressive piano that bookends the piece, a hard-swinging middle section given over to a two-plus-minute solo by tenor man Paul Gonsalves (that one wants to call an interlude based on a reminiscence of his breakout 27-chorus R&B solo at Newport ’56), rising above a complimentary orchestral bottom, and the constant rhythmic drumming of Speedy Jones underneath, his timekeeping tick on the splash cymbal coupled with a nonstop snare/tom pattern—impossible to imagine how he did it with only two arms.
Gonsalves to me has three voices: a lowing moan one hears on the “Tourist” opening and the R&B driving wail heard at Newport ’56 and another where he splits the difference between the two as heard here on “Mount Harissa.”
Others have called his sound snaky, smoky, or serpentine, but in all cases, a swinging, “please don’t stop” songful moan. His spotlight partner Duke deserves most of the credit, however, for both the composition (along with Billy Stayhorn) and his magnificent, incomparable piano work. In an album full of jewels, this one shines the brightest.
Gonsalves to me has three voices: a lowing moan one hears on the “Tourist” opening and the R&B driving wail heard at Newport ’56 and another where he splits the difference between the two as heard here on “Mount Harissa.”
Others have called his sound snaky, smoky, or serpentine, but in all cases, a swinging, “please don’t stop” songful moan. His spotlight partner Duke deserves most of the credit, however, for both the composition (along with Billy Stayhorn) and his magnificent, incomparable piano work. In an album full of jewels, this one shines the brightest.
Blue Pepper (Far East of the Blues)
If “Isfahan” brings a tear to your eye, then “Pepper” will bring a smile to your face—a rarity in jazz music—a piece of music that is actually funny. The band starts out rocking with a simple repetitive sing-songy Da Da Dah Dah da Dah Dah Dah melody atop a churning, rock-and-roll drum rhythm by Speedy Jones.
This Eastern-tinged melody gives way to the flipside of the Hodges coin, the bluesy side, but in this instance, a solo of clipped, start-and-stop notes that suggests rather than delineates. In other words, a near parody of a typical Hodges blues solo. And it works!
Enter high note trumpet specialist Cat Anderson. He takes his cue from the Rabbit (Hodges’s nickname) and sputters, squeaks and squeals over Speedy’s head-wagging, rock-steady groove. An absolute delight! And did anyone at the time think to release a 45 rpm single with “Pepper” on the A side and “Isfahan” on the B? It would have charted on college jukeboxes and radio stations for sure.
This Eastern-tinged melody gives way to the flipside of the Hodges coin, the bluesy side, but in this instance, a solo of clipped, start-and-stop notes that suggests rather than delineates. In other words, a near parody of a typical Hodges blues solo. And it works!
Enter high note trumpet specialist Cat Anderson. He takes his cue from the Rabbit (Hodges’s nickname) and sputters, squeaks and squeals over Speedy’s head-wagging, rock-steady groove. An absolute delight! And did anyone at the time think to release a 45 rpm single with “Pepper” on the A side and “Isfahan” on the B? It would have charted on college jukeboxes and radio stations for sure.
Agra
Named for the Indian city that borders the Taj Mahal, this piece, as Ellington said, “takes in a little more territory than that marble edifice dedicated to the tremendous love for a beautiful woman. We consider the room in which the man who built it was imprisoned by his son. For the rest of his life he was forced to live there and look out at the Taj Mahal.” (8)
Duke’s desire to “take in a little more territory” to musically portray the torment felt by the imprisoned man led to Harry Carney’s languorous, weighty voice on baritone saxophone to plumb the depths of amorous despair.
The number could have equally been assigned to altoist Johnny Hodges—it is a lovely Billy Strayhorn melody after all—but the result would have been more sweepingly romantic, not when anguished unrequited love is called for.
As it stands, Carney delivers a performance to rival any of his ballad solos, including “Sophisticated Lady.”
Duke’s desire to “take in a little more territory” to musically portray the torment felt by the imprisoned man led to Harry Carney’s languorous, weighty voice on baritone saxophone to plumb the depths of amorous despair.
The number could have equally been assigned to altoist Johnny Hodges—it is a lovely Billy Strayhorn melody after all—but the result would have been more sweepingly romantic, not when anguished unrequited love is called for.
As it stands, Carney delivers a performance to rival any of his ballad solos, including “Sophisticated Lady.”
Amad
This is the most impressionistically Eastern number of the entire suite and incongruously the most swinging. Taken up-tempo and propelled forward by an overactive rhythm section consisting of John Lamb’s popping bass, Rufus Jones’s chattering drumming and the leader’s boppish chords splattering all over the tightly woven reed and brass sections make for one toe-tapping instrumental.
The featured soloist, Lawrence Brown, mimics the high-pitched quivering Islamic call to prayer on his trombone, something he and the other members of the orchestra heard daily in many of the countries they visited.
The featured soloist, Lawrence Brown, mimics the high-pitched quivering Islamic call to prayer on his trombone, something he and the other members of the orchestra heard daily in many of the countries they visited.
Ad Lib on Nippon
Written after the orchestra’s 1964 visit to Japan, “Ad Lib” consists of four sections: “Fugi,” “Igoo,” “Nagoya,” and “Tokyo.” “Fugi” and “Nagoya” are largely pieces that showcase the maestro’s piano. “Igoo” was composed originally for an America Airlines short advertising film entitled AstroFreight, while Jimmy Hamilton is featured on his composition “Tokyo.” (9)
Fugi
This is a piano trio number with Ellington sharing the spotlight with bassist John Lamb. To start, Duke picks out a spare, repeating seven-note melody, while Lamb plucks out well-placed bass notes.
This segment morphs into a lovely Dukish melody accompanied only by Lamb’s bowed bass. Duke next drops irregular dissonant chords as Lamb strums his bass like a koto (perhaps). The pair returns from whence it all began. A showcase for the musician’s talent, “Fugi” offers one delightful sound image after another.
Igoo
The trio kicks off a fast tempo swinger and the ensemble quickly follows. Sections trade the theme back and forth with trumpeter Cat Anderson sounding an exclamation point at end of each brass section statement.
Nagoya
Multi-stylistic pianist Ellington eschews his penchant for dissonance and taps a less-used keyboard style to sketch an uncommonly beautiful melody. Only John Lamb’s softly bowed bass disturbs the quiet. This one ranks up there with the maestro’s “A Single Petal of a Rose.”
Tokyo
This is an up-tempo vehicle for co-composer Jimmy Hamilton. Never sounding better on what must be his longest outing on record, he starts off with a short clarinet solo that evolves into a series of trills. The brass and reed sections return buttressing Hamilton’s pure-toned, full register improvisations for a rather lengthy workout. The woodwind master closes the piece, appropriately, without accompaniment.
Over the years, Ellington suites have come under attack by several critics for not being suites at all, the argument being that the themes introduced at the outset are not recapitulated or further developed.
See Terry Teachout’s book DUKE: A Life of Duke Ellington for a catalog of slights registered against Ellington compositions. (10) Kurt Gottstalk slammed the Far East Suite in particular, saying the nine pieces that make up the suite are scattered and lack an overriding theme—the concept is carried out in the titles more than the music. (11) Ouch!
Alan Bumstead reports that some critics have pointed to the fact that the Far East Suite does not actually work as a “suite” in a musical sense—the compositions are too varied to work as a part of the whole. (12)
Other critics see a coherent togetherness in the suite that others don’t. But it doesn’t matter. It is not a Eurocentric suite, it is an American jazz suite of the sort Ellington wrote all his life, one characterized by the unpredictable unfolding of different sound images one after the other.
The work as a whole is a beautiful piece of music, the tracks—I’ll call them that—seem to work together regardless of intent. The whole can be enjoyed just as it is, as itself, repeatedly. And that’s all that matters.
Still others have questioned the integrity of the suite from another angle—the fact that certain pieces were composed prior to the orchestra’s foreign trip, like “Isfahan” and a section of “Ad Lib on Nippon.” Ellington believed they belonged in the suite, and that’s good enough for me. A work’s creation story, no matter how fascinating, should not interfere with the enjoyment of the final result. The proof is in the pudding, and not in its various ingredients. Duke’s ambitious album won a Best of the Year award from DownBeat magazine and a Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble. Some pudding!
Fugi
This is a piano trio number with Ellington sharing the spotlight with bassist John Lamb. To start, Duke picks out a spare, repeating seven-note melody, while Lamb plucks out well-placed bass notes.
This segment morphs into a lovely Dukish melody accompanied only by Lamb’s bowed bass. Duke next drops irregular dissonant chords as Lamb strums his bass like a koto (perhaps). The pair returns from whence it all began. A showcase for the musician’s talent, “Fugi” offers one delightful sound image after another.
Igoo
The trio kicks off a fast tempo swinger and the ensemble quickly follows. Sections trade the theme back and forth with trumpeter Cat Anderson sounding an exclamation point at end of each brass section statement.
Nagoya
Multi-stylistic pianist Ellington eschews his penchant for dissonance and taps a less-used keyboard style to sketch an uncommonly beautiful melody. Only John Lamb’s softly bowed bass disturbs the quiet. This one ranks up there with the maestro’s “A Single Petal of a Rose.”
Tokyo
This is an up-tempo vehicle for co-composer Jimmy Hamilton. Never sounding better on what must be his longest outing on record, he starts off with a short clarinet solo that evolves into a series of trills. The brass and reed sections return buttressing Hamilton’s pure-toned, full register improvisations for a rather lengthy workout. The woodwind master closes the piece, appropriately, without accompaniment.
Over the years, Ellington suites have come under attack by several critics for not being suites at all, the argument being that the themes introduced at the outset are not recapitulated or further developed.
See Terry Teachout’s book DUKE: A Life of Duke Ellington for a catalog of slights registered against Ellington compositions. (10) Kurt Gottstalk slammed the Far East Suite in particular, saying the nine pieces that make up the suite are scattered and lack an overriding theme—the concept is carried out in the titles more than the music. (11) Ouch!
Alan Bumstead reports that some critics have pointed to the fact that the Far East Suite does not actually work as a “suite” in a musical sense—the compositions are too varied to work as a part of the whole. (12)
Other critics see a coherent togetherness in the suite that others don’t. But it doesn’t matter. It is not a Eurocentric suite, it is an American jazz suite of the sort Ellington wrote all his life, one characterized by the unpredictable unfolding of different sound images one after the other.
The work as a whole is a beautiful piece of music, the tracks—I’ll call them that—seem to work together regardless of intent. The whole can be enjoyed just as it is, as itself, repeatedly. And that’s all that matters.
Still others have questioned the integrity of the suite from another angle—the fact that certain pieces were composed prior to the orchestra’s foreign trip, like “Isfahan” and a section of “Ad Lib on Nippon.” Ellington believed they belonged in the suite, and that’s good enough for me. A work’s creation story, no matter how fascinating, should not interfere with the enjoyment of the final result. The proof is in the pudding, and not in its various ingredients. Duke’s ambitious album won a Best of the Year award from DownBeat magazine and a Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble. Some pudding!
- Julian Cannonball Adderley, Jump for Joy, 1959, Mercury MG 36146.
- The SMJO has performed at least 10: Such Sweet Thunder, Far East Suite, Queen’s Suite, Nutcracker, Degas Suite, Anatomy of a Murder, Black, Brown and Beige, Peer Gynt Suite, Personal Communication, Kenneth R. Kinnery, Program Director, Smithsonian Jazz, Washington, DC, September 1, 2016.
- Far East Suite, Anthony Brown’s Asian American Orchestra, CD Baby.
- Slavic Soul Party! Plays Duke Ellington’s Far East Suite, ropeadope, RAP-314.
- Neil Tesser, Duke Ellington’s Far East Suite, 1999.
- Richard Cook and Brian Morton, The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, 7th edition (New York, Penguin Books, 2004), 502.
- Stanley Dance, East Meets West through the swinging music of Duke Ellington, original liner notes, Duke Ellington’s Far East Suite, Bluebird first editions 82876-55614-2.
- Ibid.
- THE FAR EAST SUITE: Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn Arrangements, eJazzlines, The Global Source for Jazz .
- Terry Teachout, DUKE: A Life of Duke Ellington (New York: Gotham Books, 2013).
- Kurt Gottschalk, “Duke Ellington: Far East Suite,” All About Jazz, 2004.
- Alan Bumstead, “Duke Ellington, Far East Suite, 1967,” 2011.
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