Piano in the Background [Bonus Tracks]

Read About This Recording

Because Duke Ellington was such a major innovator in jazz and popular music as a composer, arranger and bandleader, his piano playing was sometimes overshadowed, if not overlooked. While it was often said that his main instrument was his orchestra, which ranked among the top five in any year from 1926 until his death in 1974, Ellington was also a notable pianist.

Born in Washington D.C. in 1899, Ellington seemed destined to become an artist, but changed his mind after seeing the local barrelhouse and ragtime pianists play for adoring crowds. Inspired by the great stride pianists James P. Johnson and Willie The Lion Smith, Ellington was himself an impressive stride player by the mid-1920s. He differed from most of his generation by continuing to modernize his style throughout the years, developing a sparse and percussive style that became an influence in later periods on Thelonious Monk and Cecil Taylor, while not losing sight of his roots in stride.

Piano in the Foreground and Piano in the Background were rarities for the 1960-61 period in that they put the focus back on Ellington's playing. Piano in the Background has Duke performing 14 standards, most of which were written by Ellington or his sidemen with a few exceptions (including two versions of Lullaby of Birdland). Ellington takes a piano solo on every number and is joined by such colorful players as clarinetist Jimmy Hamilton, trombonists Lawrence Brown and Booty Wood, cornetist Ray Nance, tenor-saxophonist Paul Gonsalves and altoist Johnny Hodges among others. Many of the arrangements were fresh for the period, with a few of them contributed by Gerald Wilson. Duke's piano sounds spirited and exuberant throughout.

Duke Ellington shows that even if he had not been a talented arranger, composer and bandleader, he could have easily made a fine living as a creative modern jazz pianist. This program is well worth checking out.

-Scott Yanow

Extended Article

The companion piece to Piano in the Foreground, the 1961 trio session recorded about a year after this collection, Piano in the Background, is more than a bit of a misnomer, since Duke Ellington (1899-1975) is featured at the outset of all fourteen selections herein. Moreover, the Maestro established this set's mostly ebullient mood on a special piano, one with ninety-one keys instead of the customary eighty-eight. The disc's first nine numbers, which made up the original LP, include some of the best known items in Ellington's voluminous songbook, but here, thanks to sterling new arrangements (in some cases by the estimable West Coast bandleader-composer-trumpeter Gerald Wilson) and impeccable engineering, they've never sounded more vibrant. The Ducal galaxy of star soloists shines throughout this newly expanded edition of Background, whose five bonus tracks boast the previously unreleased Harlem Air Shaft, yet another Ellington essential.

Contents

Happy Go Lucky Local; What Am I Here For; Medley: Kinda Dukish/Rockin' in Rhythm; Perdido; I'm Beginning to See the Light; Mid-Riff; It Don't Mean a Thing (If it Ain't Got That Swing); Main Stem; Take the A Train; Lullaby of Birdland; The Wailer; Dreamy Sort of Thing; Lullaby of Birdland*; Harlem Air Shaft.

(*Includes alternate take.)

Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Pianos; Willie Cook, Ed Mullens, Ray Nance, Andre Merenghito, Gerald Wilson, Trumpets; Britt Woodman, Booty Wood, Lawrence Brown, Matthew Gee, Trombones; Juan Tizol, Valve Trombone; Johnny Hodges, Alto Sax; Russell Procope, Alto Sax & Clarinet; Jimmy Hamilton, Clarinet & Tenor Sax; Paul Gonsalves, Tenor Sax; Harry Carney, Baritone Sax/Bass Clarinet; Aaron Bell, Bass; Sam Woodyard, Drums; The Duke Ellington Orchestra.