Date: 9-17-00
VOICE ONE:
I'M RICHARD RAEL.
VOICE TWO:
AND I'M RAY FREEMAN WITH THE VOA SPECIAL ENGLISH PROGRAM, PEOPLE
IN AMERICA.
EVERY WEEK WE TELL ABOUT A PERSON WHO WAS IMPORTANT
IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES.
TODAY, WE FINISH OUR REPORT
ABOUT THE GREAT JAZZ MUSICIAN, DUKE ELLINGTON.
((TAPE CUT 1: TAKE THE 'A' TRAIN))
VOICE ONE:
THAT SONG IS "TAKE THE 'A' TRAIN." IT IS LIKE A MUSICAL SIGN
THAT SAYS, "YOU ARE LISTENING TO DUKE ELLINGTON AND HIS
ORCHESTRA." MUSIC FANS AROUND THE WORLD KNOW THE SONG IS LINKED
CLOSELY TO DUKE ELLINGTON.
YET THEY MAY NOT KNOW THAT HE DID NOT
WRITE IT.
"TAKE THE 'A' TRAIN" WAS WRITTEN BY A CLOSE FRIEND AND ORCHESTRA
MEMBER, BILLY STRAYHORN.
BILLY AND DUKE HAD A VERY CLOSE WORKING
RELATIONSHIP FOR ALMOST THIRTY YEARS.
SOMETIMES, IT WAS
DIFFICULT TO TELL WHICH MAN HAD WRITTEN A NEW SONG FOR THE
ORCHESTRA.
MEMBERS OF THE GROUP OFTEN ARGUED ABOUT WHO HAD
WRITTEN IT .
.
.
DUKE OR BILLY STRAYHORN.
VOICE TWO:
DUKE ELLINGTON ALWAYS WROTE MUSIC.
MUSIC EXPERTS SAY HE MAY HAVE
WRITTEN AS MANY AS TWO-THOUSAND DIFFERENT SONGS.
HE WROTE MUSIC
WHEREVER HE WENT.
HE WROTE LATE AT NIGHT.
HE WROTE ON THE TRAIN
OR BUS OR AIRPLANE WHEN THE ORCHESTRA TRAVELED.
FRIENDS SAY HE
WROTE MUSIC EVEN IN EATING PLACES WHILE HE WAITED FOR HIS FOOD.
LISTEN TO THIS ELLINGTON SONG, PLAYED BY RUSSELL PROCOPE.
PROCOPE PLAYED THE CLARINET IN THE ELLINGTON ORCHESTRA FOR MANY
YEARS.
IN THIS SONG, PROCOPE WAS ABLE TO PLAY HIS PART A
DIFFERENT WAY EACH TIME.
ELLINGTON LET INDIVIDUAL PLAYERS CREATE
THEIR OWN PARTS.
THIS MEANS IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TODAY TO
REPRODUCE THE SOUND OF DUKE ELLINGTON'S ORCHESTRA.
THE SONG IS CALLED, "FOUR-THIRTY BLUES."
((TAPE CUT 2: FOUR-THIRTY BLUES))
VOICE ONE:
DUKE ELLINGTON TRIED MANY NEW AND DIFFERENT WAYS TO PLAY MUSIC.
FOR EXAMPLE, HE PUT DIFFERENT INSTRUMENTS TOGETHER IN GROUPS THAT
NO ONE HAD TRIED BEFORE.
HE ALSO WAS THE FIRST SONG WRITER TO
USE A HUMAN VOICE AS AN INSTRUMENT.
HE WROTE MUSIC FOR A SINGER .
.
.
BUT NO WORDS.
THE SONG IS CALLED
"CREOLE LOVE CALL." THE SINGER HERE IS ADELAIDE HALL.
((TAPE CUT 3: CREOLE LOVE CALL))
VOICE TWO:
DUKE ELLINGTON WAS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR MUSICIANS IN THE
TWENTIETH CENTURY.
YET, MUSIC EXPERTS AND CRITICS SAY HE WAS
MUCH MORE IMPORTANT AS A SONG WRITER AND ORCHESTRA LEADER THAN AS A PIANO PLAYER.
BILLY STRAYHORN ONCE SAID, "DUKE PLAYS PIANO.
BUT HIS REAL INSTRUMENT IS THE ORCHESTRA."
THE ORCHESTRA WAS DUKE ELLINGTON'S FIRST LOVE.
IN LATER YEARS,
WHEN LARGE ORCHESTRAS WERE NOT POPULAR, DUKE OFTEN PAID HIS
MUSICIANS WITH HIS OWN MONEY TO KEEP THE GROUP TOGETHER.
TO HIM,
THE ORCHESTRA WAS EVERYTHING.
VOICE ONE:
DUKE ELLINGTON ALWAYS WAS LOOKING FOR WAYS TO MAKE HIS ORCHESTRA
SOUND BETTER.
LIKE MANY SONG WRITERS, HE OFTEN TOOK OLD SONGS,
CHANGED THEM, AND MADE THEM NEW AGAIN.
LAST WEEK, WE PLAYED A SONG CALLED "CONCERTO FOR COOTIE." IN
LATER YEARS, A SINGER NAMED AL HIBBLER JOINED THE ELLINGTON
ORCHESTRA.
DUKE ADDED WORDS TO THE SONG.
THEN HE CHANGED ITS
NAME TO "DO NOTHING TILL YOU HEAR FROM ME." BOTH SONGS WERE
MAJOR HITS FOR THE ORCHESTRA.
LISTEN AS AL HIBBLER SINGS, "DO
NOTHING TILL YOU HEAR FROM ME."
((TAPE CUT 4: DO NOTHING 'TILL YOU HEAR FROM ME))
VOICE TWO:
DUKE ELLINGTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA PLAYED AROUND THE WORLD BEFORE
MILLIONS OF PEOPLE.
MORE THAN EIGHT-HUNDRED MUSICIANS PLAYED
WITH THE ELLINGTON ORCHESTRA AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER.
AFTER
DOCTORS TOLD DUKE THAT HE HAD LUNG CANCER, HE CONTINUED TO
PERFORM.
ONE OF HIS LAST CONCERTS WAS AT WESTMINISTER ABBEY IN
LONDON.
HIS ORCHESTRA PERFORMED RELIGIOUS MUSIC.
DUKE ELLINGTON WAS HONORED BY PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD.
FORMER
PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON GIVE HIM THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF
FREEDOM -- AMERICA'S HIGHEST CIVILIAN HONOR.
LEADERS FROM AROUND
THE WORLD WROTE HIM LETTERS TO THANK HIM FOR HIS MUSIC.
DUKE ELLINGTON DIED ON MAY TWENTY-FOURTH, NINETEEN-SEVENTY-FOUR.
VOICE ONE:
IF YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW THE REAL DUKE ELLINGTON, YOU MUST
LISTEN TO HIS MUSIC.
THE MUSIC HE LEFT THE WORLD IS TRULY A
GREAT GIFT.
WE LEAVE YOU WITH DUKE ELLINGTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA PLAYING LIKE
THEY ALWAYS DID.
THIS RECORDING WAS MADE IN A ROOM FULL OF
PEOPLE DANCING TO HIS MUSIC.
THE PLACE IS MCELROY'S BALLROOM IN
THE CITY OF PORTLAND, OREGON.
IT IS NEAR THE END OF THE EVENING.
YOU CAN HEAR THE CROWD IN THE
BIG ROOM.
THE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DANCING AND DO NOT WANT TO STOP.
DUKE ELLINGTON, SITTING AT THE PIANO, STARTS ANOTHER SONG.
IT IS
HIS SIGNAL TO THE ORCHESTRA.
ONCE AGAIN, THE DUKE ELLINGTON
ORCHESTRA BEGINS TO PLAY .
.
.
"THINGS AIN'T WHAT THEY USED TO BE."
((TAPE CUT 5: THINGS AIN'T WHAT THEY USED TO BE))
VOICE TWO:
THIS SPECIAL ENGLISH PROGRAM WAS WRITTEN AND PRODUCED BY PAUL
THOMPSON.
I'M RAY FREEMAN.
VOICE ONE:
AND I'M RICHARD RAEL.
JOIN US AGAIN NEXT WEEK AT THIS TIME FOR
ANOTHER PEOPLE IN AMERICA PROGRAM ON THE VOICE OF AMERICA.
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