Grown Folks Music was in the house when Jazz Funk band Incognito and special guest Khari Cabral performed at Center Stage in Atlanta.
Sometimes during an opening act, the audience is less enthusiastic and even inattentive. But that wasn’t the case during guitarist Khari Cabral’s performance. In addition to “throwin’ down” himself, Cabral pulled some tricks from his sleeve by inviting Anthony David to join him on stage. And as if Anthony David wasn’t enough, he later surprised the crowd again by inviting India.Arie on stage.
According to band leader Jean Paul “Bluey” Maunick, Jazz Funk veteran band Incognito has had more 1,500 members in the 33 years of its existence and later in the show he introduced what he dubbed “The United Nations of Incognito”—the current members of the band who represented several different countries of the world including Portugal, Jamaica, Trinidad, Germany, Italy, Brazil, the United States and England.
One of those past members, Maysa, is a crowd favorite and much to its satisfaction she showed up to bless the fans during “Change”, “Step Into My Life”, “The Less You Know” and “Still A Friend Of Mine” as well as during the encore selections. But certainly the current vocalists, Mo Brandis, Vanessa Haynes and Natalie Williams, aren’t too shabby either. The band also performed selections from the new album Surreal featuring each of them on lead vocals.
Later in the show Bluey lead the audience down his personal musical journey mixed with a bit of music education of Brazilian funk and there was an outstanding demonstration of talent (and stamina) from the percussionists of the band that was a “give the drummer some” moment.
For the encore selections, the band presented snippets of “Don’t You ‘Bout A Thing” and “Nights Over Egypt”. More than likely, the crowd would have preferred to hear both those songs in their entirety—they didn’t get the attention they deserved, but the band brought it home with “Deep Waters”. Some 30 years and many members later Incognito is still going strong with no signs of stopping anytime soon and offers up a pleasurable live performance.
If you missed the legendary Ms. Chaka Khan in concert with Najee at Cobb Energy Performing Arts center, then you missed a rare treat.
Najee opened the evening in a unique way by playing directly to the middle of the audience. His first selection was “The Night I Fell in Love”. “Sweet Summer Nights” included an amazing drum solo. The audience was also treated to an instrumental version of Anita Baker’s classic “Sweet Love”, which featured a sensational guitar battle, and Stevie Wonder’s “Knocks Me Off My Feet”. Other selections included “Sound for Sore Ears” and “We Gone Ride”, in which guitarist Chuck Johnson provided the vocals that Eric Benet normally provides for the track. Najee also played the selection “Noah’s Ark”, which was written for his son and was specifically dedicated to Trayvon Martin during the concert. Najee is multi-talented, and it was great to hear him also play the flute and the baritone saxophone.
Then Ms. Chaka Khan took the stage, and she immediately got rid of her jacket. Ms. Khan looked amazing! She has lost a significant amount of weight, and showed off her hard work by rocking a fitted black cat suit. The set opened with the opening vocals for “I Feel for You”, chanting “Chaka Khan, Chaka Khan…..”. The first full selection was “I’m a Woman (I’m a Backbone). Then she transitioned into the party starter “What Cha’ Gonna Do For Me?”. The tune “Your Smile” came next. The classic “Sweet Thing” lulled listeners into a groove that would automatically take you back to the first time you heard it. (more…)
“Then, with disillusion deep in your eyes, you learned that fools in love soon grow wise…”
Composed in 1932 by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills, with words added by Mitchell Parish (Duke thought they were “wonderful –but not entirely fitted to my original conception”), “Sophisticated Lady” was released in 1933 and spent 16 weeks on the pop charts, peaking at #3.
The version above is a terrific 1961 live recording by Sarah Vaughan which takes great care with the melody and breathes full life into the lyrics. It’s particularly interesting because it begins with the bridge, not the first verse. Then gives us the final verse, then starts over from the beginning and goes straight through.
“Sophisticated Lady” remained one of Duke’s most enduring standards and was performed regularly by the band for decades, most frequently as a feature for the current clarinetist, or for the baritone saxophone of the great Harry Carney.
Carney was not the first baritone saxophonist in jazz, but he was the first important one, and a giant indeed; his straightforward approach and tremendous, robust sound have influenced nearly every baritone player who’s come since. He served longer than anyone else in Duke’s band, from 1927 through Duke’s death in 1974. By both sound and personality, he was considered the anchor of the band, and possibly the greatest anchor any big band has ever had. A close friend and confidant to Duke, he would conduct the band sometimes in Duke’s absence, and when the band was on the road, Duke would ride in Harry’s car. Carney was also a very early proponent of “circular breathing,” a technique used by some wind players that involves breathing in through the nose while breathing out with the mouth to produce one long, uninterrupted sound. (Kenny G would later log a Guinness World Record by using this technique to hold a note for 45 minutes and 47 seconds.)
Carney is featured at his very greatest in this elegant performance from the 1960s. Watch for the sound that begins at 2:20 and doesn’t stop for over a minute.
1981′s Broadway revue Sophisticated Ladies, a tribute to Ellington’s music, gave its title song a lovely showcase for groundbreaking entertainers Hinton Battle (who won the first of his three Tony Awards) and Paula Kelly. The subtlety displayed here is marvelous.
“Take the ‘A’ Train” is probably the most well known standard from the Duke Ellington orchestra. I love how you can literally hear Mr. Ellington’s fingers playfully dance across the keys of the piano.
It is a true testament to the quality of this tune that the song feels like a breath of fresh air among today’s landscape of music. The song also makes me want to visit a place that I have never been: Harlem, NY.
Here is a bonus version of the song with the legendary Ms. Ella Fitzgerald:
“Don’t Get Around Much Anymore”, written by Duke Ellington and Bob Russell has been a long standing jazz jewel since 1940. Reaching #1 on the R&B charts in 1943, this standard has traveled through the iconic voices of Ella Fitzgerald, Rod Stewart, Sam Cooke, B.B. King and many more as cover tunes. When you listen to this composition, it’s hard not to imagine this song’s original title, “Never No Lament”, because it beckons lazy Sundays in the sun without a care in the world.
Duke Ellington’s music was first put on film when the band played in the 1929 short “Black and Tan Fantasy,” which led to the band being featured in several shorts throughout the ’30s and ’40s. And yet not until 1959, at 60 years old, was Duke asked to score a film when director Otto Preminger approached him to handle the music for the tense courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder.
Based on a true-crime book about a small-town lawyer (played by James Stewart in the film) hired to defend a soldier (Ben Gazzara) accused of killing a local bar owner who’d raped his flirtatious wife (Lee Remick), Preminger stated that Duke would “produce a freshness which an experienced film composer might no longer possess.” When asked why he’d never been hired for scoring before, Ellington said, “I believe most people think of me as a bandleader and at the same time they sort of remember and recognize the fact that I’ve had good fortune with some hit songs, but I think primarily they think about me as a bandleader and when they think in terms of doing for a show or a picture or something like that, they feel that, well, Ellington’s got his band and I am sure that he wouldn’t give that up for anything, you know. And that’s it and they just leave it that way.” But, he said, “I love the idea” of composing for film. I like playing with music and its relationship to the theatre—-and particularly in the supporting role.”
Duke’s score for Anatomy of a Murder remains curiously unsung both as a score and essentially an Ellington suite, though it remains one of his richest and most ambitious works. The score is largely built around four or five character themes (called motifs, for they reappear multiple times throughout the film in different forms as characters and situations change). The core motif in the score is “Flirtibird,” the wildly bluesy, hip-swinging anthem for Lee Remick’s femme fatale, composed for the salacious saxophone of Johnny Hodges. Wynton Marsalis describes this tune as “the sound of sex.”
That take was recorded on June 1, 1959. Compare that with this version recorded two months later during a live set at the Blue Note in Chicago, that manages to swing even harder and make it even more sultry and bluesy.
Duke’s motif for the Stewart character, “Polly,” appears multiple times throughout the film as well; perhaps its best statement is in the form of “Haupe,” a gentle ballad feature for Hodges’ creamy alto. (“Haupe” was also part of the flight of Anatomy tunes featured in the Blue Note concert; you can hear that version here, with Duke’s introduction of “Flirtibird” at the tail end.
The “Polly” and “Flirtibird” themes are not the same song, to be sure, but there are certainly strong elements in common. Marsalis said: “‘Polly’ and ‘Flirtibird’ are not exactly the same; there’s even an element of playing it backwards and forwards between the two. But they’re the same.”
Remick’s motif shows up again later during an emotional moment under the title “Almost Cried,” with a sad, tender statement from Shorty Baker on trumpet and sighing horns in the background. Swedish soprano saxophonist Anders Paulsson took this little-heard chart and transcribed it for strings and sax, and hearing it is remarkable because the sound of the original Ellington horn harmonies is captured *exactly* and yet it takes on a whole different feeling with the change of instruments. That familiar melody, however, remains clear.
And, why, here’s Duke himself, cameoing in the film as “Pie-Eye,” who leads a jazz band at the characters’ favorite hangout. The band here, the P.I. Five, are Duke, Jimmy Hamilton (tenor sax), Ray Nance (trumpet), Jimmy Woods (bass), and Jimmy Johnson (drums). (That’s a lotta Jimmies, especially when ya throw in Stewart too.)
Check out Jimmy Stewart and Duke banging on the same piano! Now, there’s a great sight. And notice the song the band starts at 1:26 is yet another reworking of the “Flirtibird” theme, this time as a loose, party-flavored blues jump.
There are many great bonus tracks on the extended CD release of Duke’s score, but the original soundtrack album ended with “Upper and Outest,” which restates the main Anatomy theme before sliding back into the “Almost Cried” cue and building it to a stratospheric climax courtesy of trumpeter master Cat Anderson.
After the release of Anatomy, Duke’s score was widely praised by press, fans, and film buffs, winning three Grammy awards–Best Performance by a Dance Band, Best Musical Composition First Recorded and Released in 1959 (More Than 5 Minutes Duration), and Best Sound Track Album.
He would score only three more films, all during the next decade: Paris Blues (1961, with Paul Newman, Sidney Poitier, Joanne Woodward, and Diahann Carroll), and the rarely seen Assault on a Queen (1966) and Change of Mind (1969). He would also record “Flirtibird” one more time in the future (a 1962 date with Shorty Baker stepping in for Hodges; you can hear that here.
One of Duke Ellington’s best-known and most lasting contributions to music is this 1931 tribute to trumpeter and former band member James “Bubber” Miley. He and Duke went back to the early ’20s, when his growling sound made with a plunger mute helped characterize the “jungle music” Duke was playing at the time (and also created a sound that would become important throughout the next century of jazz). Miley left the band in 1929, but by 1931, Bubber was in failing health. His colorful character and zest for life were instantly known to all who met him, and his motto was, “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.” In August 1931, during intermissions at Chicago’s Lincoln Tavern, Duke wrote a melody and had Irving Mills write lyrics.
On February 2, 1932, the band went into the studio to record it for the first time, with Ivie Anderson on vocals, Joe Nanton growling on trombone, and Johnny Hodges following up on sax. Just four months later, Bubber would be dead at 29.
Pay close attention to Hodges–a major figure in the Ellington band who would reign over the reed section for more than four decades (indeed, he died while recording Duke’s 1970 New Orleans Suite), Hodges’ playing style is early here but later evolved into one of music’s most distinctive sounds, one that still influences players today. We’ll visit much more of his work in the coming weeks.
Likely the first song to use the word “swing” in its title, “Don’t Mean a Thing” introduced the term into everyday language, predating the swing era (generally agreed to have begun in 1935) by three years.
Duke would re-record the song countless times throughout his life, and it would be covered by thousands of other musicians. In 1981, his music received a tribute musical in the form of Broadway revue Sophisticated Ladies, where the song was one of the high points of the show. Here it is, as performed by Phyllis Hyman (Tony-nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Musical), with tapdancing by Hinton Battle and Gregg Burge.
This 1940 gem from Duke Ellington was based on rhythm changes from George Gershwin’s “I’ve Got Rhythm” and is notable for the tenor saxophone solo by Ben Webster. Learn more about this musical masterpiece here.
