Author Archives: Nathan Moon

The impact of Ellington

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A 1948 article from the Chicago Defender describes how Duke Ellington and his orchestra had been industry standards for many years, and expresses remorse how a few days previously, they had broken up. This took me aback, as I was under the impression that the orchestra was continuously operated to this day, having seen modern recordings from the current Duke Ellington Orchestra.

This revelation prompted me to research a bit further, and as it turns out for several years following the second world war, the orchestra was downsized to an octet, following the norm of many other large jazz ensembles. Music tastes were shifting to prefer singers like Frank Sinatra, and jazz was now the best option for smaller clubs with smaller audiences. It was no longer financially viable for large orchestras to operate, as they were simply too expensive. Ellington continued to lose personnel the next few years, and had a decline in his career until his renowned performance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, where a frenzied crowd and the concert extending well past the curfew led to Ellington’s revival and appearing on the cover of Time magazine.

In researching Ellington and reflecting on my own knowledge of the subject, I realized how much more I need to learn about jazz in order to truly appreciate it. I’ve been participation in jazz ensembles for 8 years, but I haven’t bothered to enrich myself in the history of the art. This class especially has helped, but as time goes on more and more people will inevitably forget how important these individuals from decades past were. Dr. Jefferson electing to have jazz 1 play a set that is entirely Ellington for the 150th anniversary concert at orchestra hall is a definite shift from almost all of my experiences in jazz bands, but the sheer impact that his music has had on nearly all jazz music since makes it a no-brainer to perform.

Works Cited

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Duke Ellington.” Encyclopedia Britannica, October 30, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Duke-Ellington.

“Jazz Giant Died when Ellington Band Broke Up: Dominated Jazz World 30 Years, and Remade Era.” The Chicago Defender (National Edition) (1921-1967), Jun 19, 1948. https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/jazz-giant-died-when-ellington-band-broke-up/docview/492732663/se-2.

Sohmer, Jack. “Duke Ellington: Ellington at Newport 1956 (Complete).” JazzTimes, June 26, 2024. https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/duke-ellington-ellington-at-newport-1956-complete/.

 

Turner’s turn in the spotlight

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Turner Layton was an American composer and pianist that was a part of Layton and Johnstone, a duo that had immense popularity in Europe in the 1920s and 30s. Before his transition to a performer overseas, he was a composer for several years in New York, often working with Henry Creamer for lyrics. One of their more notable compositions was “After you’ve gone”, with several recordings by big names, including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Bing Crosby. One of the original 1918 recordings with Marion Harris is below.

Even with the most popular performers recording his compositions and tens of millions of records sold of his own performances, Layton is a fairly unknown name in that era of music (I had not heard of him until this post). Part of that may be his location; after Layton and Johnstone ended their professional relationship in 1935, Layton stayed in Europe the rest of his life, where he continued to find solo success until his retirement in 1946.

My biggest question is why he has continued to stay out of the figurative spotlight. There are still notable recordings of his songs being made today, such as “After you’ve gone” appearing on Hugh Laurie’s 2011 album “Let Them Talk”. Even while overseas, Layton obviously still had an effect on the American music scene, but seems to have lost the notoriety that some of his peers have maintained or even gained. A question lost to time is how different American music would have been if he had found greater success here than across the pond, and stayed in the front of American musical tastes.

Bourdon, R., Harris, M., Creamer, H. & Layton, T. (1918) After You’ve Gone
. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-313413/.

The African American Orchestra

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While most American “classically trained” musicians around the turn of the 20th century were white, a notable figure making strides to change that was found in Albert Mando, a black composer, conductor, and educator. Founder of the Mando Mozart Conservatory, a New York based music school for African Americans, Mando was considered “the most distinguished negro teacher and leader of music in the United States” at the time of his death in 1912.

For the decades that he ran the school, Mando and his students received plenty of attention from black run press. Being the only conductor of color of a “musical art and symphony society” of his time, he was seen as a dominant figure in paving the way for black classical musicians.

Anther notable black conductor of the time is Walter F. Craig, founder of Craig’s Orchestra. A large difference between Craig’s and Mando’s ensembles is that while Mando had entirely black students, Craig’s Orchestra was around half white for the first several decades of its existence. However, Craig’s impact may be just as great, introducing many black musicians to the stage as solo artists.

While Mando and Craig had a tremendous effect on black musicians being accepted in classical settings, it would still be several more decades before black conductors would direct major all-white groups. We recognize names such as William Grant Still, Everett Lee, and Henry Lewis because of their own incredible contributions to the music world, but much of the work to get African American classical musicians accepted at an equal level to white ones was started decades before by people most have forgotten.

Works Cited

“Albert Francis Mando (1846-1912) Composer, Conductor, and Instructor of Music.” Lansingburgh Historical Society, Lansingburgh Historical Society, 3 Feb. 2017, www.lansingburghhistoricalsociety.org/in-the-news/albert-francis-mando-1846-1912-composer-conductor-and-instructor-of-music.

“Craig’s Christmas Reception.” New York Age, 1891, p. 3. African American Newspapers, Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.

“In the Musical Realm. What Mr. Albert F. Mando Is Doing to Popularize; the Classics-a Rare Treat.” Colored American, 1899, p. [2]. African American Newspapers, Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.

“Mando’s Orchestra. A New York Musician Developing in the Negro Race a Taste for the Classic.” Colored American, 1902, p. 10. African American Newspapers, Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.

“A Noted Musician. The Greatest Conductor of the Negro Race.” Colored American, 1903, p. 2. African American Newspapers, Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.

 

Emile Petitot and his accounts of Native music

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During his decades of missionary work in the Northwest Territories of Canada, Father Emile Petitot wrote much on his experiences with the native peoples. One document, published seven years following his forced return to France as a result of poor health and occasional bouts of insanity, was a collection of songs Petitot had heard the natives singing for various dances, games, and war ceremonies. With transcribed melodies and his best attempts of words, Petitot recorded 46 different songs that are now permanently a part of history.

As pictured above, the manuscript shows a rough approximation of what Petitot heard. While we now understand that the concepts of 12 tone temperament and a standard key signature are really only well suited for traditionally “western” music styles, Petitot’s transcription still gets enough information about the music itself to get the ideas across. Notably, much of the context behind the history and purpose of the songs is lacking, but the European attitude towards the Native Americans at the time as people who had fallen from God’s grace and needed saving likely influenced him to simply ignore the context and keep trying to convert all that he could.

While his most notable accomplishments were not music related, being a missionary and cartographer before a musicologist, his recording and publication of Native music to a European audience was another important step in the understanding of Native culture, albiet from a controversial source. From temporary excommunication, getting forcibly admitted to an asylum, attempted murder of a colleague, and his general lack of respect toward the Dele and Inuit peoples, Petitot is the farthest one could be from a model musicologist. However, his work continued to set the stage for future ethnologists and musicologists to research the music of Native Americans, giving greater context to the work of Frances Densmore and others in the 20th century.

Works Cited

Moir, John S. “Petitot, Émile (Émile-Fortuné) (Émile-Fortuné-Stanislas-Joseph).” Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 1998, www.biographi.ca/en/bio.php?BioId=41771. 

Petitot, Emile. Chants indiens du Canada Nord-Ouest [manuscript] : recueillis, classés et notés par Emile Petitot, prêtre missionnaire au Mackenzie, de 1862-1882, 1889. 1862-1882], 1862.