Echoes of Harlem

Above is Duke Ellington’s Echoes of Harlem, arranged by Mimi Robson, and performed by OrchestraOne members Sasha Ono, Tiffany Weiss, and Brianne Lugo as well as Emily Frederick and Dom Frigo. Together, they and others form the Lotus Chamber Collective, a remarkable collective that aims to strengthen communities through music. (Click here to learn more about them!)

Written just at the end of the Harlem Renaissance, of which Ellington was a key figure, this piece is typical of Ellington’s “Mood” pieces and brings us to the streets of 1930s Harlem. It features trumpeter Charles Melvin "Cootie" Williams, who was in Ellington’s band for eleven years. Cootie rose to prominence when Duke’s band was playing at the Cotton Club, and his legacy is solidified as one of the greatest blues trumpeters of all time. Much like one of his other famous pieces, Harlem Air Shaft (where Cootie gets another solo), it is a timeless vignette of New York City at the time.

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (1899 – 1974) remains one of the most influential musicians and composers both in the Jazz and Classical World. A central figure in the Harlem Renaissance, his sixty-plus year career gave us some of the greatest Jazz pieces ever written, and a new style of music altogether. Many of the members of his band are known as being some of the best in the jazz idiom, and his influence in every area of American music today is incalculable.

Born in Washington, D.C. to two pianist parents, Ellington took piano lessons, but worked odd jobs like a “Soda Jerk” (where he wrote his first rag tune in his head) and freelance sign painter before he began putting together groups to play gigs in 1917. His first gig (with the “Ellington Serenaders”) was at True Reformer's Hall, and he took home a total of 75 cents.

Eventually Ellington settled in Harlem, and got his first big break when King Oliver passed up a gig at the Cotton Club and it was passed on to him. After expanding his band for the club and meeting new musicians like Cootie and Johnny Hodges, the band that would be famous was formed. One of their first hits while at the Cotton Club that helped rocket the band to the billboards top 20 was Creole Love Call.

Duke Ellington and his band performed more than 1,000 tunes throughout their career, but one year in particular stands out in the number of hits that are still played today as standards. In 1940, Duke was recording with Victor Records and recorded all of the following hits: "Cotton Tail", "Main Stem", "Harlem Air Shaft", "Jack the Bear", and Strayhorn's "Take the "A" Train" as well as many more.

While working in the Jazz idiom, Ellington’s composition skills and instrumentation were revolutionary, and he was not unaware of the more traditionally classical forms. One example of this is his first “Jazz Symphony” entitled Black, Beige and Brown.” It’s an extended Jazz Orchestra piece that tells the story of African Americans in the United States. The first Movement, “Black” is subtitled: the Work Song ; the spiritual Come Sunday.

Duke also frequently created music that elevated the voices and stories of African Americans both in the present and the past. Black, Beige and Brown is an example of this, as are his earlier tunes like Black Beauty, Creole Rhapsody and the 1935 film Symphony In Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life. The latter depicts the life of African Americans in America, and featured Billie Holiday in her first on air performance.

The composer who gave us such incredible gems like Sophisticated Lady, Satin Doll, Caravan, and Perdido Died in 1974, just after his 75th Birthday. His funeral was attended by over 12,000 people.