The Fargo Concert

[jhatpro]

i just spent a six hour drive that was made a lot more enjoyable by a 2-cd set i bought the other day: the ellington band's 1940 concert in fargo, nd.

what a fascinating set of tracks! the sound is marginal because it was recorded by a couple of high school kids who fed it to a "disc cutter" in the trunk of their car.

a lot of the vocals are off mike and some of the tunes are upcut and downcut, but what teriffic playing by ben webster, johnny hodges, rex stewart, harry carney, and ray nance (his first night with the band, following the departure of cootie williams who had joined the benny goodman band).

the cd is one of the "jazz classics" series and could easily be skipped over because the cover is poorly done, with a couple of crudely drawn images of ben webster and the duke.

but don't miss this one, if only for ben webster's "stardust." wow!

_________________
"the notes are in the horn. find them." charles mingus

[ This Message was edited by: jhatpro on 2002-07-21 11:26 ]

[PH]

Apparently this was Ben's favorite recording of his own playing. Over the years (until it finally came out on LP) Webster would periodically bug the guys who recorded it to make him another copy of the tape to replace the one he had worn out.

There is a great Star Spangled Banner on the original tape. Is that on the CD?

[jhatpro]

ph,

"the star spangled banner" isn't on the cd's, even though the cover says "first complete release of the legendary dance date."

guess it's not as complete as advertised.

incidentally, i don't know what the reconstituted ellington orchestra is doing these days, or even if it's still playing, but a recreation of the fargo concert would be a great concert theme or even the seeds of a movie/documentary.

i wonder if wynton marsalis and the lincoln jazz center orchestra would be interested? i can see and hear actors re-creating the radio remote that constituted the first hour of the program, and even a couple of young guys fiddling with their recording equipment. and of course, someone would have to represent the duke and do those great introductions of his.

maybe we can get clint eastwood to back it. he's a big jazz fan.
_________________
Jim Hatfield

"The notes are there - find them.” Mingus

2021 Martinus Geelan Custom
2005 Bach 180-72R
1965 Getzen Eterna Severinsen
1946 Conn Victor
1998 Scodwell flugel
1986 Bach 181 cornet
1954 Conn 80A cornet
2002 Getzen bugle