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Ellington at the White House 1969Paperback | January 1, 2013 | 334 pages | $15
A night of firsts . . . It was a night of pageantry, bonhomie, and brotherhood in the White House. A night of respect and recognition for a man and an art form. It was the night President Nixon awarded the Medal of Freedom to Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington—the first time the nation’s highest civilian honor was given to an African American and to a jazz musician. And it was the first time cameras were allowed in the mansion to televise an after-dinner soiree for the evening TV news and to film a documentary for distribution overseas, ultimately seen by tens of millions worldwide. Ellington at the White House, 1969, presents the magical night, starting with the long road both Duke and jazz traveled to reach the White House, followed by how the event came about and by the night itself: the banquet, ceremony, 90-minute all-star concert of Ellington's music, and the freewheeling jam session and dancing that followed. |
Praise
"Ellington at the White House, 1969 . . . recounts in exquisite detail the concert that celebrated the event, which took place on Ellington’s seventieth birthday. In addition to biographical information and quotes from each musician who shared the stage, as well as background on each composition, Faine includes such meticulous items as the invitation list and the dinner seating chart. Richly supplied with photographs, and including an interview with Ellington, the book is an enlightening experience."—Jeffrey Chappell, Director of Jazz Studies, Goucher College
"In this masterful book about Duke Ellington . . . Faine documents everything about [the] evening, from the preparations for the concert to the memorable jam session afterward to the long-term effects of the event . . . He shows how politics rule everything at the White House and how Ellington transcended it all. The author's investigation is an overall interesting and thoughtful treatise of the important themes. [It's] a very exciting, readable account that will delight Ellington fans."—Dr. Wolfram Knauer, Director, Jazzinstitut Darmstadt, International Research & Information Center on Jazz
“On April 29, 1969, I was on patrol in Vietnam carrying (among other things) a small portable radio with an earbud listening to Armed Forces Network’s broadcast of Duke Ellington’s White House concert. It was one of the few occasions when I could escape to the normality of being a jazz fan in a place where normal had become turned upside down. Today, in comfort, I can listen again, on a well-recorded Blue Note CD, to the concert music that allowed me a brief escape 45 years ago and read Edward Faine’s book, a good companion for which I thank him immensely.” —Russ Shor, Editor, VJM's Jazz and Blues Mart
"In this masterful book about Duke Ellington . . . Faine documents everything about [the] evening, from the preparations for the concert to the memorable jam session afterward to the long-term effects of the event . . . He shows how politics rule everything at the White House and how Ellington transcended it all. The author's investigation is an overall interesting and thoughtful treatise of the important themes. [It's] a very exciting, readable account that will delight Ellington fans."—Dr. Wolfram Knauer, Director, Jazzinstitut Darmstadt, International Research & Information Center on Jazz
“On April 29, 1969, I was on patrol in Vietnam carrying (among other things) a small portable radio with an earbud listening to Armed Forces Network’s broadcast of Duke Ellington’s White House concert. It was one of the few occasions when I could escape to the normality of being a jazz fan in a place where normal had become turned upside down. Today, in comfort, I can listen again, on a well-recorded Blue Note CD, to the concert music that allowed me a brief escape 45 years ago and read Edward Faine’s book, a good companion for which I thank him immensely.” —Russ Shor, Editor, VJM's Jazz and Blues Mart
Extras
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The concert music was released to the American public in 2002 on Blue Note records. Duke's night was the first time cameras were allowed in the mansion to televise an after-dinner soiree for the evening news and to film a documentary for distribution overseas. That evening President Nixon played Happy Birthday on the piano as the audience sang along.
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THE KENNEDY WHITE HOUSE
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On November 15, 1962, the Paul Winter Sextet mounted the East Room riser at the Kennedy White House and treated a mostly young audience to the sounds of jazz. You can listen to the music of the first jazz band to play inside the White House on the two-CD set The Paul Winter Sextet: Count Me In 1962 and 1963. The sextet was also the first entertainment of any kind to be filmed in performance inside the mansion.
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Another notable jazz concert under the aegis of the Kennedy White House occurred on August 28, 1962. It featured Tony Bennett and the Dave Brubeck Quartet and took place at the Sylvan Theater on the Washington Monument grounds. Once feared lost, the music of this concert, was found by Columbia Records in 2012 and released on CD in 2013 as Bennett/Brubeck: The White House Sessions, Live 1962.
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