{"id":127,"date":"2010-10-05T00:55:56","date_gmt":"2010-10-05T04:55:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/?p=127"},"modified":"2014-02-16T12:58:46","modified_gmt":"2014-02-16T16:58:46","slug":"new-listen-duke-ellington-rosemary-clooneys-blue-rose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/05\/new-listen-duke-ellington-rosemary-clooneys-blue-rose\/","title":{"rendered":"New Listen: Duke Ellington & Rosemary Clooney\u2019s \u2018Blue Rose\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Artist: Rosemary Clooney<\/a> w. Duke Ellington
\nAlbum: Blue Rose<\/em> (1956)<\/p>\n

I love standards. \u00a0It can’t be denied. \u00a0Yes, the Great American Songbook can often be a contentious issue, especially for younger, more “progressive” musicians (of which I classify myself). \u00a0Like many other young jazz students, I once found myself heavily frustrated with the aforementioned “Songbook.” \u00a0However, I eventually took to heart some great advice offered by both Dave Liebman<\/a> (a personal idol) and Christian McBride <\/a>at separate masterclasses: standards are better internalized and understood – and, often, conveyed – when the performer knows the words. \u00a0Starting a number of years ago, I decided to seek out vocal renditions of my favorite standards. \u00a0Even if the renditions weren’t ideal, I’d have a good lyrical reference. \u00a0Blue Rose<\/em> is the latest stop on this journey.<\/p>\n

Like a number of other albums in my collection, I purchased this purely on a whim. \u00a0It happened to be in the bargain bin at the local Borders, and oddly enough I had recently been thinking that I wanted another album of old-school, vocally-interpreted standards. \u00a0 (Also, for reasons I don’t know, I’d also been hunting for a something 40+ years old featuring a female vocalist. \u00a0Again, I’m not sure why…) \u00a0It turned out to be a worthwhile purchase, and quite a steal (worth more than the discounted price I paid)!<\/p>\n

The story behind this album’s production is pretty involved and a bit of a nightmare. Basically, Ellington and his orchestra had to record their parts separate from Clooney, who was unable to travel to the session due to illness. \u00a0As a result, Strayhorn had to play more of the man behind the curtain than usual. \u00a0Yet, this segmented approach is undetectable for the listener – it sounds as if Rosemary and the boys were all in the same room. \u00a0A few disclaimers:<\/p>\n

1. For those wanted Ellington barn-burners, this likely isn’t for you. \u00a0(If you want something similar to that, I recommend the historic Sinatra at the Sands<\/a> <\/em>or the lesser-known Basie Swing Bennet Sings<\/em><\/a>.)
\n2. Similarly, this disc rarely shines the spotlight on the wealth of strong soloists in Ellington’s orchestra.
\n3. Clooney, of course, didn’t build her lengthy career on jazz interpretations. \u00a0There’s definitely a “pop” element to her approach, however I find it a nice change of pace when mixed with Ellington’s deft orchestral abilities.<\/p>\n

Consider this album a nice “other” to John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman<\/a>. \u00a0Tight arrangements, scat- and acrobatic-free singing (which I like), and more lighthearted than Trane’s release. \u00a0It’s also a bit more vanilla. \u00a0Like Miles’s work with Gil Evans on Columbia, this record was probably quite popular in 1950s white suburbia. \u00a0However, it’s not simply glossy pop. \u00a0The band does have one instrumental, with Johnny Hodges taking a crooning lead on “Passion Flower,” letting his alto wail above the band. Jimmy Hamilton takes a lively clarinet solo on the up-tempo “I’m Checkin’ Out, Goombye,” and of course the ever-popular “It Don’t Mean A Thing…” lets loose with Jimmy Hamilton (this time on tenor), Clark Terry, and Harry Carney. \u00a0Another notable song is the title track, a nearly impressionistic ballad featuring a wordless Clooney melody (written for the occasion). \u00a0I suppose one could consider it scatting, but the use of vocables here isn’t to fill out space or improvise a solo, but rather to let the melodic line speak for itself.<\/p>\n

Overall I’m quite satisfied with this find. \u00a0Not only did I not have this in mind when walking into the store, but I didn’t even know this album existed – a pleasant surprise! \u00a0Not only would fans of the Ellington songbook enjoy this album, but also most any fan of the Great American Songbook.<\/p>\n

Amazon Link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Artist: Rosemary Clooney w. Duke Ellington Album: Blue Rose (1956) I love standards. \u00a0It can’t be denied. \u00a0Yes, the Great American Songbook can often be a contentious issue, especially for younger, more “progressive” musicians (of which I classify myself). \u00a0Like many other young jazz students, I once found myself heavily frustrated with the aforementioned “Songbook.” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,167],"tags":[32,34,31,12,33],"class_list":["post-127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-listening","category-newlisten","tag-billy-strayhorn","tag-blue-rose","tag-duke-ellington","tag-review","tag-rosemary-clooney"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":338,"href":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions\/338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}