With all of the changes that jazz has seen in its 100+ years, the advances that I am most interested in are those made by the seminal composers of music for a large jazz ensemble. Big bands were creating the popular music of the day in the 1930’s and 1940’s. The explosion of dance bands in the United States during that time period is almost unfathomable. While most big bands were content performing standard (or stock) arrangements, some big bands employed composers or arrangers to create interesting and fresh music for the ensemble. The emphasis on composition in the more polished and professional bands helped to set them apart from the pack of dance bands that permeated every city in America.
Composers for large jazz ensemble that immediately come to mind include Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Fletcher Henderson and Billy Strayhorn to name a few. However, the extent to which Ellington and Strayhorn altered jazz history with their compositional abilities sets them apart from their esteemed colleagues. Ellington was able to see that jazz was more than just a vehicle for improvisers. He was able to see that the small forms that were prevalent at the time because of limitations in the recording system did not mean that jazz could not have a larger scope. He began composing longer works for the concert hall instead of the vinyl/wax disk. He began exploring scales and harmonies that were normally confined to European art music. Simply put, he did not limit his music.
Charles Mingus was similar to Ellington in many ways, including his experimental soul. His use of polymeter and polyrhythm was decidedly ahead of its time. In addition, Mingus routinely wrote longer works constructed in ways commonly seen in 20th century classical music. Ensembles featuring contra-bass clarinets and flutes were commonplace in Mingus’ literature. Mingus was always looking ahead while being keenly aware of the history of the music.
These two figures of jazz composition provided the impetus for this project on composition for large jazz ensembles, but other artists and performers were included because they had an undeniable impact on jazz.
The purpose of this
annotated
bibliography is to provide
composers of jazz with resources that will help them better understand
the history of jazz composition. In addition, I hope this
bibliography
can introduce interested students of jazz to pieces or people that they
were not aware of, essentially exposing them to a new artist.
The New Grove Dictionary of Music
and Musicians.
2000. S.v. "Ellington, Duke," by Andre Hodeir, Gunther Schuller. [UCI
Holdings
ML100 .N48 2001]
This article on Duke Ellington and the impact he had on jazz history takes on added significance because it was co-authored by Gunther Schuller. Schuller has made studying Ellington, the composer, a portion of his life’s work. Schuller is, without a doubt, one of the most qualified people on the planet to discuss the "Duke" and his impact on jazz.
With that said, this article gives a basic overview of
Ellington’s
life
and discusses the compositional techniques that made Ellington one of
the
most important composers in 20th Century America. His absolute
mastery
of the 32-bar song form is discussed, as is his understanding that
composition
should be approached differently than improvisation. This is
something
that tended to set Ellington apart from his contemporaries. An
extensive
works list is included, as is a bibliography. This is a great
introduction
to Ellington the composer.
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 2000. S.v. "Schuller, Gunther," by Richard Dyer. [UCI Holdings ML100 .N48 2001]
When one speaks about jazz composition, the name Gunther Schuller may not be the first to roll off the tongue; however, his contribution to the art form can not be denied. This article briefly talks about Schuller’s career first as a horn player then as a composer, conductor, author and educator. After his reign as principal horn in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra,
Upon hearing a concert by Duke Ellington and his orchestra, Schuller began studying jazz recordings. It was in those recordings that he discovered his love for jazz and truly embraced the music. Schuller went on to perform on recordings by Miles Davis, Gil Evans and others. Later, his compositions began to incorporate elements of both jazz and classical music, which led him to coin a term for this synthesis. Third Stream Music was the term and while only some of his compositions used Third Stream elements, the exploration of sounds that it insinuates was apparent in everything that Schuller wrote.
This article is a great place to begin when studying either the genius of Gunther Schuller or the study of jazz composition.
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 2000. S.v. "Akiyoshi, Toshiko," by J. Bradford Robinson. [UCI Holdings ML100 .N48 2001]
This article is much too short to accurately capture the importance of Toshiko Akiyoshi. The author is sure to mention the most important points of Akiyoshi’s professional life. However, considering that her band was probably the most important big band in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s one would think that more could be said. While this article seems to fall short of typical New Grove standards, Akiyoshi, however, does not.
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 2000. S.v. "Mingus, Charles," by Barry Kernfeld. [UCI Holdings ML100 .N48 2001]
This article on Charles Mingus walks the reader through the life of a young boy, growing up in the Watts area of Los Angeles in the 1930’s. The racial and financial issues that a young Charles Mingus would encounter while growing up would color the musical output of his later years. Mingus eventually ended up in New York and quickly became an important part of the bebop movement. Mingus later began focusing his energy on composition and started what he called the "jazz workshop" where performers would gather to experiment with compositions that Mingus had started.
Mingus was also an important bass player in jazz, taking the
instrument
from the rhythm section and using his amazing technique to transform
the
bass into a front-line instrument in the tradition of New Orleans jazz.
Ellington, Edward Kennedy. Music Is My Mistress. New York: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1973. [UCI Holdings ML410.E44 A3 1976]
Music Is My Mistress is the autobiography of Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington. The organization of this autobiography is a bit unorthodox. Ellington wrote short vignettes about various people he encountered over the years including instrumentalists, vocalists, composers, band-members and people that influenced Duke. Autobiographies are not a reliable source of information, but the information that Ellington discloses about his career can probably be trusted. In addition, the anecdotes Ellington shares about his musical colleagues are probably similarly trustworthy.
Duke Ellington was a colorful figure and the writing in this autobiography is similarly colorful.
Gourse, Leslie. Wynton Marsalis: Skain’s Domain. New York: Schirmer Books, 1999. [UCI Holdings ML419.M3 G68 1999]
This biography of Wynton Marsalis is a valuable account of one of the leading forces in 21st century jazz. Marsalis is currently the musical director of Jazz at Lincoln Center and won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize in composition for his oratorio Blood on the Fields. At thirty-nine years old, Marsalis is far from finished professionally. Chances are that in twenty years, when another biography on Marsalis is written it will have this work as a wonderful inspiration to aspire to.
Gourse discusses the criticism that Marsalis attracts for his
somewhat
controversial views while championing him as a masterful artist.
Authors must walk a fine line when the subject is Wynton Marsalis and
Gourse
does a fine job of being fair and impartial.
Lawrence, A. H. Duke Ellington and his world. New York: Routledge, 2001. [UCI Holdings ML410.E44 L39 2001]
The biography of Duke Ellington by Mr. Lawrence is a thorough account of the life of Duke Ellington. Mr. Lawrence was a member of a rival dance band based in New York during the 1940’s and had occasion to meet the Duke a handful of times. Upon reading the introduction and a few choice pages throughout the book I believe that this biography of Duke Ellington, the most celebrated jazz composer of the 20th century, would be truthful and honest. Oftentimes, an author is intimidated by a subject leading to an attempt to show that subject in the best possible light. However, Lawrence seems to be able to separate himself from the artist and report on Ellington’s life in an honest way.
Published in 2001, it can be assumed that Mr. Lawrence has had the opportunity to uncover facts and stories that might have surfaced since the publishing of Ellington’s autobiography in 1973.
Mingus, Charles. Beneath The Underdog. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1971. [UCI Holdings ML410.M6795 A3]
Beneath The Underdog is half autobiography, half fictional short stories. Mingus took the opportunity to write an autobiography and instead wrote a first class novel about himself and his experiences. Before the first page of text there is a disclaimer of sorts that states, "Some names in this work have been changed and some of the characters and incidents are fictitious." It is anyone’s guess as to which events are true and which are fabricated, but that ambiguity just adds to the Mingus legacy. As a resource this book should not be taken at face value, but as a work of art in Mingus’ catalog, it could be considered a masterpiece.
Nicholson, Stuart. Reminiscing in Tempo: A Portrait of Duke Ellington. Boston: Northern University Press, 1999. [UCI Holdings ML410.E44 N53 1999]
This biography of Duke Ellington appears to be well organized and thorough. One point to note about Nicholson’s text is that its publisher, Northern University Press, employs Gunther Schuller as its music advisor. Schuller is a valuable resource in his own right and knowing that he was involved in the creation of this book adds to its historical value.
Priestley, Brian. Mingus: A Critical Biography. London: Quartet Books, 1982. [UCI Holdings ML418.M45 P7 1982]
For a definitive biography of Mingus one should start with this book by Mr. Priestley. Priestley discusses the music, the psyche, the temper, the women and the compositions. Priestley includes musical examples of Mingus’ work as a composer and bassist, focusing on some small group arrangements that are particularly noteworthy. He also provides analyses of some of the seminal compositions in Mingus’ catalog along with a discography that is complete with recording dates as a side-man and band-leader included. This is a very good resource on Mingus’ personality and more importantly, his art.
Balliett, Whitney. "Mingus at work," New
YorkerLXI/27
(August 1985): 83-84. [UCI Holdings AP 2 N6763]
This is a review of an album that Charles Mingus recorded in September of 1965 at University of California, Los Angeles which was released a year later on one of his own record labels. The album title is "Charles Mingus: Music Written for Monterey, 1965: Not Heard.... Played in Its Entirety at UCLA." It seems that Mingus was rushed off the stage a week earlier at the Monterey Jazz Festival for multiple reasons so subsequently half of these pieces had to wait a week for their world premier.
After an explanation of the circumstances surrounding this performance and recording, Balliett gives an informed blow-by-blow of the performance at UCLA, including the compositional concept behind the first composition, which is called "Meditation on Inner Peace." "Meditations" is an extended work (eighteen minutes) for octet (3 trumpets, horn, tuba, alto saxophone, drums and Mingus on bass and piano) which Mingus later described as a conversation piece. This compositional technique calls for conversational banter (created on their instruments) between the individual soloists. The soloist is expected to create human-like aural gestures such as laughter, moaning, exclamations etc.
Whitney Balliett provides valuable insight into the performance in question and the techniques and colors that Mingus was achieving at this point in his career. This is a fine account of this performance and an insightful look into a very creative artist.
DeVeaux, Scott Knowles. "Black, Brown and Beige and the critics," Black Music Research Journal 13 (fall 1993): 125-146. [UCI Holdings ML 3556 B58]
In the article Scott Knowles DeVeaux delves deeply into the criticism that followed Duke Ellington’s tone parallel entitled "Black, Brown and Beige." Immediately after the first performance of Black, Brown and Beige at Carnegie Hall in 1943, music critics roundly criticized the piece for its lack of formal clarity. Simultaneously, the critics hailed Ellington as a composer of immense stature.
DeVeaux argues that the critics erred by narrowly focusing on the lack of western art music compositional devices such as thematic development and a loose formal structure in Black, Brown and Beige. He believes that the piece should be examined for what it was, an attempt by Ellington to create a large scale piece of music that depicted the history of the African-American in the United States. The author believes that the focus of criticism should have been broader and taken into consideration the historical and cultural aspects of the piece when criticizing its form.
This article is a very successful collection of the criticism of this monumental piece in the jazz literature. It thoughtfully discusses the issue of Ellington, his desire to compose in extended forms and the shortsighted criticism that provoked from a mostly classically minded group of music critics.
Dietrich, Kurt. "The Role of Trombones in Black, Brown and Beige," Black Music Research Journal 13 (fall 1993): 111-124. [UCI Holdings ML 3556 B58]
Kurt Dietrich describes the role of the trombone section in Black, Brown and Beige. The author begins by discusses the trio of trombonists that Ellington was employing during the composition and first performance of the piece. The trombone section, which included Joe Nanton, Juan Tizol and Lawrence Brown, had each spent over a decade with Ellington, which enabled Duke to know their individual abilities. That familiarity enabled Ellington to compose to the strengths of each player and display the section extensively in Black, Brown and Beige.
The author cites examples from the score to illustrate Ellington’s tendencies in scoring for the low brass as both a three-member unit and the individual soloists within the section.
Gaines, Kevin. “Duke Ellington, Black, brown, and beige, and the cultural politics of race.” In Music and the racial imagination, eds. Ronald Radano, Houston A. Baker Jr., 585-602. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2000. [UCI Holdings ML3795 .M782 2000]
In this article, Mr. Gaines talks about how Duke Ellington expressed the culture of the African-American in his compositions. The author argues that Ellington was trying to provide evidence to prove the equality of the races through his extension of form, complex harmonic language and other Ellingtonian musical traits. It was not possible to group Ellington in with the other dance bands because his works did not conform to any one style, sound or formulaic organizational blueprint. That uniqueness was in par due to Ellington’s use of African inspirations and imagery, thus separating him from the pack of other jazz ensembles and simultaneously teaching Americans about his culture and race.
This article takes a bold stand, and offers an interesting and viable viewpoint to the discussion of race, jazz, music and art.
Hentoff, Nat. "The History of Jazz: Thoughts on Duke Ellington," International Jazz Archives Vol. II (fall 1999-2000): 63-80. [UCI Holdings ML3505.8 .I5]
Nat Hentoff, long time jazz writer, opines about Duke Ellington and the importance of his music, legacy and struggle against the conventions of Western-European music. Hentoff also talks about Ellington’s music and its ability to teach people about race and culture through pieces like Black, Brown and Beige. The author also discusses the close musical relationship that Ellington had with arranger/composer/bandmember Billy Strayhorn. Both men composed for the Ellington orchestra and oftentimes, according to Hentoff, the players in the band could not tell which composer wrote which tune because they were like-minded compositionally.
Hentoff is a valuable resource of jazz history and the anecdotes in this lecture/essay are interesting and informative. This is a great historical account of Ellington, his compositions and his legacy.
Homzy, Andrew. "Black, Brown and Beige in Duke Ellington's Repertoire, 1943-1973," Black Music Research Journal 13 (fall 1993): 87-110. [UCI Holdings ML 3556 B58]
We can thank Andrew Homzy for some extensive research about what happened to Black, Brown and Beige after the initial concert at Carnegie Hall and the concert at Boston’s Symphony Hall five days later. With the scathing criticism that followed these first performances, the piece was not played in its entirety again until a British jazz ensemble presented it in concert in the fall of 1972. While Duke was unwilling to perform the entire piece after its premier, he was innovative enough to retool, reorchestrate and extract portions of the piece for later use. Those revisions and performances are what Mr. Homzy has documented in this article.
Exactly how did the musical ideas from Black, Brown and Beige
permeate
Ellington’s career from 1943 through 1974? It seems that the
first
two sections (Black and Brown) are quoted often by Ellington while
Beige
was "neglected until 1965" (p. 88). These permutations are both
interesting
and valuable in terms of how a) the criticism of the whole work may
have
affected Ellington, and b) what sections of the piece the composer saw
fit to keep in his repertoire. Homzy tracks excerpted
performances
through the decades until the resurrection of the work in 1972 and the
death of Ellington in 1974.
King, Desmond. "'The World's Against Me As A Black Man': Charles Mingus and Segregated America." Journal of Historical Sociology Vol. 13 No. 1 (March 2000): 54-77. [UCI Holdings HM104 .J68]
This paper attempts to explore and understand the influence that race, racial tensions and United States politics had on the compositional process of Charles Mingus. Desmond argues that because of Mingus’ status as a black man in America during the 50’s and 60’s he was unable to avoid the influence of race and politics during his compositional process. The author cites Mingus’s childhood in Los Angeles, his experiences with discrimination and eventually, the many politically charged compositions he wrote throughout his career. Among those compositions was Fables of Faubus (alluding to Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas during the Little Rock integration crisis).
Additionally, the paper correctly puts Mingus directly in the
lineage
of Duke Ellington and discusses the great influence Ellington had on
Mingus
and his musical development. In addition, the author talks about
the rise of bebop and Mingus’s place in that musical revolution.
Knauer, Wolfram. “Simulated improvisation in Duke Ellington’s Black, brown and beige,” Black Perspective in Music 18 (1990): 20-38. [UCI Holdings ML 3556 B6]
Wolfram Knauer shows how Duke Ellington composed instrumental passages throughout Black, Brown and Beige to make them seem like improvised solos. Taking his penchant for composing specifically for individual performers a step further, Ellington used these composed solos to develop thematic material in a way that an improvised solo would not necessarily provide.
The author provides a brief history of the composition and continues to analyze solo passages from each movement of the piece. Knauer included an appendix of each solo moment in the piece and whether or not that specific moment was composed by Duke or improvised by the soloist.
Milkowski, Bill. "Mingus Fingers," Down Beat v66, n7 (July 1999): 86. [UCI Holdings ML 1 D68]
Bill Milkowski talks briefly about the career of Charles Mingus focusing on players that Mingus performed with when he arrived in New York in 1951. The author talks about the important time that Mingus spent with Atlantic Records from 1956-1961 and Mingus’s hiatus from music following the death of Eric Dolphy in 1964.
This is a very brief synopsis of the career of this composer, and the lack of useful information hindered this researcher, but a novice on Mingus could be pointed in the right direction to uncover some useful information.
Peress, Maurice. “My Life with Black, Brown and Beige,” Black Music Research Journal 13 (fall 1993): 147-160. [UCI Holdings ML 3556 B58]
This article recounts the important place that Black, Brown and Beige had on the life of Maurice Peress. Mr. Peress was a symphony conductor and jazz lover in 1965 when he first heard portions of Ellington’s seminal concert hall work. Peress inquired about the opportunity of possibly scoring Black, Brown and Beige for symphony orchestra. Duke was initially "noncommittal", but some five years later Ellington asked Peress to do just that.
Peress then recounts the painstaking task of finding the autograph score, transcribing missing portions and other obstacles that he encountered during this process.
Santoro, Gene. "Mingus Ah Um," Nation v256, n25 (June 28, 1993): 915-918. [UCI Holdings AP 2 N2]
Gene Santoro succinctly and informatively recounts the highs of the career of this artist. Mingus’s views on improvisation and its relation to composition are discussed, including the thought that improvisation is "spontaneous composition". Mingus believed that he was the next logical step in the jazz compositional lineage after Duke Ellington and Santoro spells that out with examples from the Mingus catalog. The author also speaks to the way that America truly shaped Mingus musically, personally and culturally. Santoro discusses Mingus’s ardent support of his and others’ art insofar as his ability to go "underground" to bring that art to an audience that he perceived was at the mercy of a corrupt record company system.
Schuller, Gunther. "The Future of Form in Jazz." In Musings: The Musical Worlds of Gunther Schuller, Gunther Schuller, 18-25. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986.
In this essay, Gunther Schuller discusses the changes in the formal structure of jazz compositions during the late 1950’s. The article is a bit dated considering all that has happened in jazz over the last 40 years, but Schuller’s observations about formal clarity, compositional clarity and air-tight improvisational techniques intertwined within the compositions’ framework are still important today.
This article is a good place to start to gather an understanding of the techniques that composers of jazz are required to focus on.
Schuller, Gunther. "Ellington
in the
Pantheon."
In Musings: The Musical Worlds of Gunther Schuller, Gunther
Schuller,
47-50. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. [UCI Holdings ML60
.S392 1986]
Schuller uses this essay to argue that Ellington’s mastery of
the small form (something dictated to jazz musicians because of the
proliferation
of the 3-minute, 10’ disk) puts him in the company of art music’s
treasured
composers. Schuller compares Ellington to Webern and Chopin, two
composers that focused primarily on small form compositions.
Schuller uses examples of Ellington’s highly chromatic and romantic passages to show the sophistication in Ellington’s work and Schuller argues that it compares favorably with his prestigious counterparts. While this essay primarily deals with the small forms that made Ellington famous, the insight into Ellington’s harmonic language can be translated to his larger forms with relative ease.
Schuller, Gunther. "Ellington vis-`a-vis the Swing Era." In Musings: The Musical Worlds of Gunther Schuller, Gunther Schuller, 51-59. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. [UCI Holdings ML60 .S392 1986]
In this article, Gunther Schuller focuses on the music of Ellington’s band during the years of 1938-40. This was the height of the swing era and Schuller discusses how Ellington created for his orchestra during this time. The author talks about the pressures of the public, the record company and society and how those pressures occasionally pushed Ellington to create music that was more accessible to the public without considerations of "art" by Ellington. However, Ellington’s genius typically came through in his compositions even at this time in the history of jazz when swing music was primarily for dancers.
Schuller spends time talking about Ellington’s disdain for the labels ‘jazz’ and ‘swing’ and his preference to the term music.
Schuller, Gunther. "The Case for Ellington's Music as Living Repertory." In Musings: The Musical Worlds of Gunther Schuller, Gunther Schuller, 60-64. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. [UCI Holdings ML60 .S392 1986]
Gunther Schuller takes up the case for keeping much of Ellington’s early compositions in the current repertory, thus alive in our musical culture. Schuller argues that because so much of Ellington’s music was composed, as opposed to improvised, that it deserves to be performed today just as Ellington and his musicians from the past had performed it. In fact, Schuller argues that because of the carefully considered improvisations in Ellington’s works, his music is closer connected to western art music than the typical critic would ever admit.
Seidel, Mitchell. "The Perils of Toshiko," Down Beat 60 (February 1993): 30-32. [UCI Holdings ML 1 D68]
This insight into the professional life of Toshiko Akiyoshi and her big band is valuable. The article describes the life and plight of an artist who is struggling to keep a large jazz ensemble that performs original compositions afloat. Akiyoshi has had a rather distinguished career performing with her large ensemble and in smaller groups with her husband tenor saxophonist Lew Tabackin. The difficulties that a large ensemble must wade through to keep playing and support itself is daunting, to say the least and Seidel makes a point of that in this article.
While this is a historically interesting and valuable article, the author says little about Akiyoshi’s ensemble writing and compositional process. In a portion of the article, Akiyoshi talks about the genesis of good jazz writing and its interconnection with playing jazz music. However, this is primarily an article about the day to day events of a jazz ensemble in the late 20th century.
Tucker, Mark, ed. The Duke Ellington Reader. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. {UCI Holdings ML410.E44 D84 1993]
With The Duke Ellington Reader, Mark Tucker has assembled a collection of essays, articles, interviews, reviews and other accounts of and about Duke Ellington and his orchestra. This collection is vast, containing over 100 entries about Ellington. Tucker has organized the collection chronologically from Ellington’s early years through his death in 1974. Included in this collection are interviews with long time Ellington orchestra bandmembers and collaborators such as Billy Strayhorn. This resource is ripe with excellent articles, written by seminal figures in jazz literature including Gunther Schuller, Nat Hentoff, Whitney Balliett and others.
The breadth of information and convenient organization makes this collection essential for a student of Ellington’s music.
Tucker, Mark. "The Genesis of Black, Brown And Beige," Black Music Research Journal 13 (fall 1993): 67-86. [UCI Holdings ML 3556 B58]
Mark Tucker uses this article to shed some light on the compositional process that Duke Ellington used to compose his largest, most ambitious concert hall composition. In addition, Tucker attempts to discuss the reasons that Ellington took on the challenge of BB&B. Tucker begins with a few facts about the beginning stages of the compositional process, such as Ellington starting work on the piece in December of 1942, only five weeks before the premier at Carnegie Hall. This deadline helped Ellington reach his goal of a piece based on the history of the African American.
However, the original thought came to Ellington in the early 1930’s when he decided to write a piece that would parallel the lives of his people. Tucker traces the history of the piece from that initial thought in the 1930’s to the premier in January of 1943.
Washburne, Christopher. "The clave of jazz: A Caribbean contribution to the rhythmic foundation of an African-American music," Black Music Research Journal 17 (spring 1997): 59-80. [UCI Holdings ML 3556 B58]
In this interesting article, Christopher Washburne tackles the issue of the origin of jazz rhythms. Typically, performers and listeners a-like, believe that jazz rhythms are derived solely from Africa. The rhythms, such as a typical 3+3+2 pattern, is common in western African music, but Washburne points out that those rhythms are not limited to African music. Washburne shows that the 3+3+2 rhythm (and other rhythmic patterns associated with jazz) is also found in the music of South America, Latin America, the Caribbean and Cuba among other places.
Washburne believes that it is too simple to categorize the rhythmic complexity of jazz as African. He argues that the influence of Latin and South American rhythms were important in the development of jazz. In addition, Washburne points out the importance of New Orleans and its melting pot culture as a primary hub of the development of jazz.
Willard, Patricia. "Dance: the unsung element of Ellingtonia," Antioch Review v57, n3 (Summer 1999): 402. [UCI Holdings AP2 .A562]
Patricia Willard traces the influence of dance on Duke Ellington and his compositions. The early history of Ellington and the connection he had with dance is the most valuable portion of this article about his compositional process. His affinity for dance led to many of his later suites being choreographed and performed with dancers.
Many anecdotes about dancers at Ellington shows are included and serve as a nice tribute to how important dance was to the Duke. Ellington is quoted often throughout the article and his thoughts on dance are often illuminating when one considers Ellington’s compositional process.
This book by Michael J. Budds, a professor of music at the
University
of Missouri, chronicles the changes that took place in jazz during the
late 50’s and 60’s. These musical changes (harmonic, modal,
rhythmic,
metric, melodic, etc,) significantly altered the landscape for
composers
of jazz music. They provided a new palette of colors for the
composer
to be aware of and more importantly, be comfortable with in a
compositional
setting.
The author clearly discusses all of these changes and more subtle
variations
as well. The musical examples he uses to articulate his points
are
from the standard jazz literature and chosen with great care to best
show
the developments of this new era for jazz.
Coleman, Janet. Mingus Mingus: Two Memoirs. Berkeley: Creative Arts Book Company, 1989. [UCI Holdings ML418.M45 C6 1989]
This book recounts the relationship that two people had with Charles Mingus. Janet Coleman and Al Young discuss how their lives intersected with Charles Mingus’ and the way that convergence changed the lives of all involved. This book of two peoples’ memoirs of Mingus does not shed any light on his compositional process but it seems to deserve a place in this collection of resources on jazz composition. Mingus seemingly changed many lives and the stories the two friends tell are worth reading.
Levine, Mark. The Jazz Theory Book. Petaluma: Sher Music Co., 1995. [personal copy]
Mark Levine, accomplished jazz pianist and author, presents a coherent, well-organized textbook dedicated to jazz theory. This book is thorough in its coverage of basic and advanced ideas about harmony and improvisation in a jazz idiom. While this text does not discuss orchestration for a jazz ensemble, it does talk about traditional and effective voicings for specific chords that would allow a composer to use that knowledge while scoring for a large jazz ensemble. Before one can composer for a jazz orchestra one must understand the language and this text can teach the language of jazz theory better than any other books I personally have ever come across.
Rinzler, Paul E. Jazz Arranging and Performance Practice: A Guide for Small Ensembles. Meuchen: The Scarecrow Press, Inc, 1989. [UCI Holdings MT86 .R66 1989]
Paul E. Rinzler is a professor of music at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo as well as a jazz pianist and composer. Mr. Rinzler intended this textbook as a guide for small jazz ensembles but the material is easily transferable to a larger ensemble. The book is organized into coherent sections that pertain to different parts of an arrangement. Beginnings, endings, styles, forms, harmonic devices and basic harmonization practices are discussed in detail with musical examples from the standard jazz literature cited when appropriate. Appendices are included that provide basic instructions and examples for instrumentalists and arrangers.
This book is not an extensively advanced reference but the information and explanations are clear and concise.
Russo, William. Composing for the Jazz Orchestra. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961. [UCI Holdings MT86 .R86]
Despite the fact that this book is over 40 years old, the basic concepts and instructions that Mr. Russo describes are still valid today for the beginning composer for jazz orchestra. The book contains basic information about each section of the jazz ensemble (reeds, trombones, trumpets and rhythm section), discusses ranges, common practice techniques and preferable combinations of instruments.
This would be an appropriate resource for the developing composer that has questions about jazz harmony, voicing and rhythm. The book is helpful if not a complete source of introductory material on jazz composition.
Schuller, Gunther. The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz 1930-1945. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989. [UCI Holdings ML3506 .S36 1991]
Gunther Schuller is arguably the most knowledgeable person writing about jazz, its origins and its inner workings. His career has been devoted to music and a large portion of that career has focused on jazz. This book covers the explosion of swing between 1930 and 1945. This era saw many great jazz ensembles and Schuller discusses the most important pioneers in an insightful and thorough book. Included are discussions of Fletcher Henderson, Benny Goodman and Count Basie among others. In addition, a large article on Duke Ellington is very intriguing in its discussion of his compositional process and resulting masterworks.
This book deserves to be in the library of every jazz
educator.
Herbert, Michael. "New directions in jazz composition as evidenced in the works of three composers: Kenny Wheeler, Don Grolnick, and Russell Ferrante." MM diss., Duquesne University, 2000.
This dissertation attempts to show, through the compositions of three individuals, how jazz composition has changed over the last 20 years. Through analysis of works by Wheeler, Grolnick and Ferrante the author shows how these artists have changed jazz composition through the assimilation of other, typically non jazz, musical elements. World music, rock, R&B, pop and other music has been fused with jazz to change the options that a composer of jazz at his/her disposal.
Rustin, Nichole T. "Mingus fingers: Charles Mingus, black masculinity, and postwar jazz culture." Ph.D. diss., New York University, 1999.
Rustin discusses how Charles Mingus displayed his views on race, U.S. politics, society, sex and other issues through his career as a composer and bassist. Because Mingus' career spanned the turbulent time from the post World War II era through the Vietnam War the author uses Mingus as a guide through the changes in society during those times. In addition, Mingus' work was so socially and racially charged that one can easily see the connections between his performance, composition and business endeavors to the overall tension and growth of our nation through the time period discussed. The author believes that Mingus's personal struggles were characteristic of his generation.
Stewart, Alexander. "Composition and performance in contemporary New York City big bands (1989-1999)." Ph.D. diss., City University of New York, 2000.
With the increased cultural importance of jazz, the author
examines
the significance of big bands in New York City. The author
contends
that the big band culture is a large network of musicians, composers,
performers
that are both competing with each other and sharing information and
knowledge.
In addition, the ensembles have a symbiotic relationship with the
communities
that they represent and this relationship is reshaping the culture in
which
they exist. Stewart focuses on prominent bands, such as the
Lincoln
Center Jazz Orchestra, Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, Mingus Big Band and
others,
including ensembles led by composers such as Maria Schneider and Bob
Mintzer.
This is a review of an album of compositions by Teo Macero which were inspired by bassist/composer Charles Mingus. The reviewer discusses each piece on the album in a brief review, but does focus on the musical elements that best exemplify the mood and identity of Mingus. The reviewer points out the meter changes, orchestrations and formal structures of certain tunes that show Mingus’s influence on Macero.
Enright, Ed. "Suite Times in Monterey: Influence of Duke Ellington at the 42nd Annual Monterey Jazz Festival," Down Beat 67 (January, 2000): 68. [UCI Holdings ML 1 D68]
The short article by Ed Enright discusses the influence that Duke Ellington had on the1999 Monterey Jazz Festival. Nineteen Hundred ninety-nine was the centennial of Duke Ellington’s birth and many performers at the festival performed classic Ellington compositions to honor his memory. Anthony Brown’s Asian American Jazz Orchestra performed the "Far East Suite" and Toshiko Akiyoshi and her big band performed and a three-movement suite that was commissioned for the event.
This article shows the extent of Ellington’s influence the Monterey Jazz Festival.
Hobsbawm, Eric. Review of Duke Ellington, by Lincoln Collier. "The Duke." In Uncommon People: Resistance, Rebellion and Jazz, Eric Hobsbawm, 254-264. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1998. [UCI Holdings HD8388 .H62 1998]
Mr. Hobsbawm’s review of Lincoln Collier’s book Duke Ellington is both factual and misinformed, but more importantly, the work of Mr. Collier himself comes into serious question. According to Hobsbawm and Collier, Ellington was nothing more than a second-rate composer who stole everything from tunes to women to appease his voracious appetite for stardom and fame. Unfortunately, it seems that Collier and Hobsbawm, are unable to see the greatness and beauty in the work of Ellington. Minor differences of opinion are common among intellectuals when discussing subjective endeavors such as art. This author, however, completely discounts over 2000 compositions and some 30 extended works for jazz ensemble, as "ill-organized mini-suites" (p. 255) he is displaying a failure of knowledge and understanding. Too often Ellington’s music was measured against the masterworks of European composers, which completely ignores the inventive nature of Ellington’s works.
I recommend this article only because I think it is important to see a dissenting viewpoint on Ellington amidst all of the praise that I uncovered during my research for this project.
Hobsbawm, Eric. Review of The Duke Ellington Reader, eds. Mark Tucker and Swing Changes: Big Band Jazz in New Deal America, by David Stowe. "The People's Swing." In Uncommon People: Resistance, Rebellion and Jazz, Eric Hobsbawm, 274-280. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1998. [UCI Holdings HD8388 .H62 1998]
Hobsbawm uses this ‘review’ of two texts (The Duke Ellington Reader, edited by Mark Tucker and Swing Changes: Big Band Jazz in New Deal America by David Stowe) as a vehicle to present his keen interpretations on jazz and America. It is apparent, after two articles by Mr. Hobsbawm that he is an Euro-centric curmudgeon that has little of substance to say about anything American. Only in the last sentence of this review does Hobsbawm actually mention Tuckers’ work, and that is after six pages of stereotypical statements about jazz that do nothing but attempt to diminish its standing as an American art-form.
I was able to recommend one article by this author for the
sake of
fairness,
but I can not recommend another in good conscience.
Ellington, Duke. Black, Brown and
Beige.
Duke Ellington and his Orchestra featuring Mahalia Jackson, Columbia CK
64274, 1958. Compact disc. [UCI AMC CD 1256]
Duke Ellington was not content writing three-minute tunes for the masses. In fact, he considered himself an artist, and as such, Ellington felt compelled to create art of the highest order. His internal need to composer larger, more innovative works combined with his desire to explore the history of the African-American led him to compose Black, Brown and Beige. Ellington described BB&B as a "tone parallel to the history of the Negro in America" and this recording contains two of the three sections of the original composition. (The ‘beige’ section was never performed in its entirety after the premier at Carnegie Hall in 1943)
This recording features Ellington’s ensemble with vocalist Mahalia Jackson and is the definitive recording of the piece. The recording contains the following movements:
Parts I and III represent the ‘Black’ while Parts II, IV, V and VI represent the ‘Brown’.
This recording captures the sincerity and gravity of this work, which is so movingly inspired by the African experience in America. The orchestra plays the composition exceptionally well, specifically the brass section, which is stretched to the limits at times. Intonation and rhythmic clarity were always trademarks of Ellington’s orchestra and that is obvious in this recording.
Soloists Jackson and Nance express deeply in their solo moments with Jackson providing a particularly evocative performance.
While this performance is not complete documentation of the
work, it
is the most complete recording available from the composer
himself.
Others have recorded the entire work as it appeared at Carnegie Hall in
1943, but unfortunately, they were not worthy of inclusion in this
bibliography.
Mingus, Charles. Cumbia and Jazz Fusion. Charles Mingus. Atlantic 8801, 1978. Compact disc. [Personal copy]
Charles Mingus was one of the most innovative composers in jazz history and his composition Cumbia and Jazz Fusion is a great example of that experimental mindset. The composition reflects Mingus’ style beautifully, containing many rhythmic, harmonic and metric changes throughout the 27-minute work. Cumbia and Jazz Fusion is a suite-like piece that travels from the jungles to the cities that asserts Mingus’ disdain for drugs and discrimination.
Politics and the social plight of humanity were common in the music of Mingus and he delves into those themes in this work.
Mingus recorded this version of Cumbia in the spring of 1977 at the Atlantic recording studios. The ensemble negotiated the fluid form of this piece with extreme clarity. The ensemble passages are articulated superbly and the solo passages, especially that of pianist Bob Neloms, are innovative and musically beautiful.
The work of Duke Ellington deeply influenced Mingus and it is
apparent
in the composition that Mingus continued to develop jazz composition in
a style that would have pleased his mentor and colleague.
Mingus, Charles. More than a Fake Book. New York: Jazz Workshop, 1991. [UCI Holdings M3.1.M66 H6 1991]
More than a Fake Book is a collection of manuscripts, transcribed lead-sheets and other musical materials from the compositions of Charles Mingus. The collection includes fifty-five compositions and musical analyses by Andrew Homzy. This collection is important because, whenever possible, includes copies of actual manuscripts and transcriptions from Mingus. Someone other than the composer compiles most fake books, which can lead to errors in the transcription process. This resource however, is much more accurate that the typical fake book.
This collection is a great source of accurately complied music written by Charles Mingus and Mr. Homzy’s analyses provide insight into Mingus’ compositional practices.
Strayhorn, Billy. "Take The ‘A’ Train". Edited by Gunther Schuller: Smithsonian Institution, 1993. [UCI Holdings M1366.S76 T35 1993]
Billy Strayhorn was Ellington’s compositional colleague, second pianist and arranger for most of Ellington’s career. This arrangement of "Take the "A" Train" was transcribed for this publication by Brent Wallarab and edited by Gunther Schuller. Mr. Wallarab worked from a 1941 recording and transcribed the piece, solos and all. The compositional talents of Strayhorn come through in many instances during the piece. The brass writing sublimely compliments the melodic material in the saxes, playing in the spaces of the written melody. The modulation from C major to Eb major is achieved through a very modern sounding polychordal and polyrhythmic 4-bar phrase that sounds almost chaotic. The voicings in all sections are quintessential jazz voicings containing many colorful pitches that augment the harmonic language of the tune.
Strayhorn’s score, privided through countless hours of work by Wallarab and Schuller, is a wonderful place to witness the mastery of composition for a jazz orchestra.
Biography Resource Center. "Charles
Mingus". http://www.africanpubs.com/Apps/bios/0093MingusCharles.asp?pic=none
Accessed 2001, Nov. 28.
This web-based biography of Charles Mingus gives the reader some important information about this jazz icon. In addition to a biography in essay form, this site supplies a chronology of the groups that Mingus played in as either a sideman or bandleader. In addition, this site acknowledges his Guggenheim fellowship in composition in 1971, something that I had not seen in some of the less thorough biographies about Mingus. The essay is very thorough and includes some little known facts about specific performances and recording dates that help to understand this important composer.
Blumenthal, Bob. "Orchestral raps: Gunther Schuller & Joe Lovano discuss 'Rush Hour on 23rd Street.'" Down Beat v62, n3 (March 1995): 20-23. Magazine & Journal Articles [database, online]. Accessed 2001, October 14.
This interview with composer/conductor/performer/musicologist Gunther Schuller and saxophonist/composer Joe Lovano sheds important light on their landmark album of large-scale third-stream/jazz compositions "Rush Hour on 23rd Street". Schuller and Lovano discuss their individual approaches to improvisation in a large ensemble setting as well as Schuller’s philosophy regarding orchestrating a pre-existing jazz classic like Monk’s "Crepescule With Nellie". The participants discuss many interesting ideas in this interview. For example, how to fit a vocalist into a large ensemble, how to incorporate the improvisations into the composition, and how to present 12-tone and atonal melodic material in a composition with up to seventeen individual orchestral parts.
This is an enlightening interview with a pair of amazing artists. Their vast musical knowledge comes through in their statements about form, improvisation and the history of jazz composition. This is necessary reading material for serious composition students of all styles.
Elson, John. "An Epitaph Comes Back to Life: Charles Mingus' long-forgotten jazz masterwork is getting its due." Time. 10 Sept. 1990. "Time Archive." http://time.qpass.com/time/magazine/article/qpass/item/0,10987,,00.html?Qprod+1&QID=1101900910- Accessed 2001, Nov. 28.
This article from the September 10, 1990 edition of Time Magazine discusses the resurrection of Mingus’ 2-hour masterwork Epitaph. This compositions was not completed prior to the death of Mingus but conductor, composer, musicologist Gunther Schuller took the sketches of Mingus and put this piece together for a performance in 1989, 10 years after the death of the Mingus.
Schuller tells how he was able to piece the composition together and make decisions regarding tempi, phrasing and endings that Mingus had left incomplete. This is a valuable article in that the author and, more importantly Schuller, talk about the painstaking task of completing a piece of art for performance while maintaining the wishes of the composer. That was a fine line to walk and if anyone should be given that responsibility, it was Gunther Schuller.
Manuel, Diane. "Duke Ellington's orchestral suite to open Stanford Jazz Workshop," Stanford University. http://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/report/news/june18/ellington.html Accessed 2001, Nov. 28.
Ms. Manuel talks about the preparation for the west coast premier of Black, Brown and Beige. The piece was performed at Stanford University in 1994 with conductor Maurice Peress. Peress was the arranger for the orchestral version of BB&B and resurrected the jazz ensemble version with Louis Bellson’s band for a Carnegie Hall concert in 1993 for the 50th anniversary of Ellington’s initial performance.
Peress elaborates on the historical significance of the piece and chronicles some of his dealings with the work and Ellington’s compositional process. Specifically, how Ellington, because of his hectic touring schedule, would compose all of his pieces on the tour bus that transported his ensemble from town to town.
Onori, Luigi. "Jungle and Africa in
Ellington's
Music:
Myths, Metaphors, Imagining and
Reality," Fondazione Teatro Metastasio.
http://www.metastasio.net/jazz99/onori.html
Accessed 2001, Nov. 28.
Mr. Onori traces the references to the "jungle" in Ellington’s music. Ellington commonly used Africa as inspiration for different pieces of music, and Black, Brown and Beige, in particular, was based on the history of a fictional character named Boola. These African-isms were cultivated in Ellington from his childhood through his days of fame. Onori shows how this appreciation for all things African was developed within Ellington through time and how it influenced his compositions.
Reich, Howard. "Black, Brown and bravo!" Chicago Tribune. http://chicagotribune.com/features/chi-0110010032oct01.story Accessed 2001, Nov. 28.
This review of the Chicago Jazz Ensembles’ performance of Black, Brown and Beige is helpful if only because it shows that the piece is still important enough for some people to warrant a performance. Also, it gives insight into what changes music has undertaken in the last 60 years to have a critic rave about the "shifting tone colors", "thematic development", "muscularity" and "coherence". The initial reviews of the piece damned these exact things, but now, some 60 years later, the musical ear of Mr. Reich can hear the connections that were in all likelihood ignored in 1942. We know that the music did not change between now and then. Chances are that the only thing that changed was our collective willingness to accept it into our ears as art.
Rogovoy, Seth. "An embattled Wynton Marsalis Perseveres." Berkshire Web (1998). http://www.berkshireweb.com/rogovoy/interviews/wynton628.html Accessed 2001, Nov. 28.
This is an interview with jazz trumpeter and Pulitzer Prize Winning composer Wynton Marsalis. In this interview, Mr. Rogovoy inserts some historical facts and fiction about Marsalis’ ability to draw biting criticism. Marsalis has been criticized about his political and racial views on jazz, while at the same time he has been lauded as a performer with no equal and a composer out of the Ellington school. Marsalis sheds some light on one of his compositions, "Big Train". Marsalis is candid and insightful about the genesis of his compositions and helps the reader understand the way he composes music.
Wang, Richard. "Black, Brown and Beige," Jazzhouse.org. http://www.jazzhouse.org/files/wang1.php3 Accessed 2001, Nov. 28.
Richard Wang, professor of music at the University of
Illinois,
wrote
this article about Ellington, Black, Brown and Beige and the initial
critical
reaction that it received. This article combines excerpts reviews
of the performance at Carnegie Hall with information about the ensemble
at the time of that performance. In addition, Wang discusses the
potential opera that might have been on the horizon for Ellington
before
his death in 1974. This article is not groundbreaking in
historical
terms, but the information about the opera, the proposed lead character
and its intended story and setting makes the recordings of BB&B
more
critical.