[Dixielandjazz] JATP / Gonsalves / Ellington - was small band bebop - dixieland.

[Stephen G Barbone]

On Feb 17, 2011, at 4:24 AM, Steve Voce wrote: (about Ellington's 1956  
Newport)

> You only have to hear the filigree delicacy of the original  
> performance of Crescendo and Diminuendo (included in the new Mosaic  
> box) to realise what a
> crude travesty the Newport one was.
> Gonsalves is one of my favourite saxophonists, and he excelled at  
> ballads and sensible things, not these marathons
> which would be banal whether played by him, Lester, Getz or any on  
> the decent players.
> Fine for rabble rousing, but not much else.

Well yes and no Steve.

I agree with you that there are better "musical" versions, for those  
with musical ears, of Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue than the  
Newport version. And I opine that the piece is not typical of what  
Ellington wrote as a genius composer. However, when considering the  
time, place and audience at Newport 1956, that version was perfect and  
a highlight of the Festival, for the following reasons, IMO.

1) It was a truly exciting performance and a lesson in communication  
between band and audience.

2) That night, all of us who were there in the audience felt we had  
witnessed something extraordinary and that we had played an active  
part in it..

3) The Rhythm & Blues beat got the blonde gal dancing and then many in  
the audience followed her.

4) Jo Jones beating on the stage from the audience was also having a  
ball egging on the band.

5) The musicians in the band, even the usually taciturn Johnny Hodges,  
were stomping and encouraging both Gonsalves and the audience. They  
were really digging it.

6) By the midpoint of Gonsalves' choruses, the entire audience was on  
its feet cheering, stomping, dancing and clapping.

7) Ellington himself was having a ball egging the band on wkith his  
grunts and chiding George Wein not to annoy the "artists" when Wein  
tried to get him give Gonsalves the hook because Wein feared a riot.  
Wrongly so as the crowd was quite well behaved. We were just having a  
great time and later demanded 4 encores before we would let the band  
pack up.

8) It was an event that band and audience were a part of. It was REAL  
and it was JAZZ.

9) Ellington would later say about it; "I was born at Newport in 1956."

10) The length of the "solo" and the song was determined by the  
audience. I think it showed the genius of Ellington in keeping the  
excitement level high. I also think that Golsalves' solo and the band  
beat resulted in a sort of a trance like effect. Who else could have  
done that?

Rabble rousing? Sure, if jazz audiences are to be considered rabble.  
But then, didn't jazz start as rabble rousing music? And develop a  
large audience because of rabble rousing music. Doesn't the rabble pay  
the bills? And as an aside, should we consider the band and the Duke  
who loved that performance as rabble too?

Perhaps one of the problems we have with jazz today in the USA, lack  
of audience, is because we forgot about the rabble, oops, I mean  
audience. IMO there too much "art" these days and not enough good old  
exciting rocking rhythmic blues based jazz that excites the audience.

I am working more OKOM in Philadelphia than any other OKOM band. In a  
variety of venues. Because we haven't lost sight of the younger  
generation audience. Are we artists? Sure (tongue firmly in cheek) but  
we also know how to excite the audience. Duke at Newport and Louis  
with the All Stars were our role models.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband