EKE BBB Posted November 21, 2003 Report Posted November 21, 2003 Being an Ellington zealot, I haven´t got any DVD release of him! I´m a complete dummy regarding jazz on DVD! I´ve heard OF this recent release: Duke Ellington - Live at Tivoli Gardens: Parts 1 & 2 - DVD (Image Entertainment) Released Nov 11 140 minutes Recorded on 1971 Anybody heard/seen it? Which DVD releases of the Duke Ellington Orchestra should I pick? Thanks in advance!!! Quote
kh1958 Posted November 21, 2003 Report Posted November 21, 2003 All of them! I just bought Tivoli Gardens but haven't had a chance to listen to it yet. Excluding that one, I might recommend The Intimate Duke Ellington first. It is very.... intimate. One well done 30 minute solo and trio program, and one 30 minute session with an octet. It is great. Next, I would recommend Memories of Duke, which has great footage from his 1968 Mexican tour. And of course, On the Road with Duke Elllington is also worthwhile. Quote
EKE BBB Posted March 16, 2004 Author Report Posted March 16, 2004 Just picked "Duke Ellington & his orchestra 1929-1943" DVD from the JAZZ LEGENDS series on Storyville Films. Selections from "Black and tan" (1929 - RKO); "Check and double check" (1930 - RKO); Symphony in black (1934 - Paramount); Paramount pictorial nº889 (1937); "The hit parade of 1937" (Republic pictures) and "DE & his orch." (1943 - RKO Jamboree nº7). Total playing time 55 min. Any comments on this one? Quote
jazzbo Posted March 16, 2004 Report Posted March 16, 2004 I have this material on video vhs, excellent stuff! Black and Tan Fantasy. .. I love that film. Fredi Washington was one of the most beautiful woman ever! Quote
medjuck Posted March 16, 2004 Report Posted March 16, 2004 Just picked "Duke Ellington & his orchestra 1929-1943" DVD from the JAZZ LEGENDS series on Storyville Films. Selections from "Black and tan" (1929 - RKO); "Check and double check" (1930 - RKO); Symphony in black (1934 - Paramount); Paramount pictorial nº889 (1937); "The hit parade of 1937" (Republic pictures) and "DE & his orch." (1943 - RKO Jamboree nº7). Total playing time 55 min. Any comments on this one? At 55 minutes it should (I think) have all of "Black &Tan" and "Symphony". If these are good quality prints this is a great package. And believe me you don't want to see anything except the EKE part of "Check and Double Check". Quote
Tjazz Posted March 18, 2004 Report Posted March 18, 2004 Duke Ellington - Live at Tivoli Gardens: Parts 1 & 2 - DVD (Image Entertainment) Released Nov 11 140 minutes Recorded on 1971 Anybody heard/seen it? I got it and love it. Just the music, no filler. Quote
brownie Posted March 28, 2004 Report Posted March 28, 2004 There's also a 2DVD set that was issued in Japan by Nippon Columbia 'A Duke Named Ellington' that's amazing. It was directed by Terry Carter and produced in 1988 for WNET in the USA. With lots of superb vintage footage from early Ellington films appearances and later concerts plus a lot of interviews by people like Clark Terry, Jimmy Hamilton, Russell Procope, Willie The Lion Smith, Cootie Williams, Charles Mingus, Herb Jeffries, Louis Bellson and others. Quote
ghost of miles Posted April 16, 2005 Report Posted April 16, 2005 Working on my big-band class and viewing a DVD that a friend loaned to me--DUKE ELLINGTON IN HOLLYWOOD (IDEM Home Video). An hour-long compilation that includes "Black and Tan," a clip from "Check and Double Check," "Symphony in Black," "Belle of the Nineties," and other material (no "Murder at the Vanities," however): Duke Ellington in Hollywood Watching "Symphony in Black" all the way through again, I'm struck once more by what a remarkable piece it was for its time. Work, love, religion, and dance in the African-American community all expressed in one short nine-minute movement... it really does foreshadow Jump for Joy and Black, Brown and Beige, as others have pointed out. There's a quiet but powerful air of protest to it. Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted April 16, 2005 Report Posted April 16, 2005 For a "representation of the time" and great friggin' music, the "Old Man Blues" from "Check and Double Check" is priceless. Sadly, I sent my tape of this to a friend (on the board) and it was lost. I'll get a DVD soon. I would say any available Ellington is worth the money. Quote
medjuck Posted April 17, 2005 Report Posted April 17, 2005 (edited) For a "representation of the time" and great friggin' music, the "Old Man Blues" from "Check and Double Check" is priceless. Sadly, I sent my tape of this to a friend (on the board) and it was lost. I'll get a DVD soon. I would say any available Ellington is worth the money. The whole movie is a mind boggling "representation of the time". Amos and Andy (and King Fish? --I forget if he's in it) are played by white actors in black face. Their scenes are often introduced with documentary footageof real Black people in Harlem. So the 2 stars in blackface drive the Ellington band to a high society gig for the filmming of which Juan Tizol and Barney Bigard also had to wear blackface so the band wouldn't look integrated !! After the band plays a terrific version of Old Man Blues three band members step forward and sing "3 Little Words" but the voices we hear are those of 3 White guys: The Rhythm Boys (one of whom is Bing Crosby). The movie flopped partly because Black audiences were dismayed that the actors who played Amos and Andy on the radio were White. This is a movie you don't want to see on acid. Strangest thing I'd ever seen until I saw Starship Troopers. Edited April 17, 2005 by medjuck Quote
king ubu Posted April 18, 2005 Report Posted April 18, 2005 Fredi Washington was one of the most beautiful woman ever! I stumbled upon this statement and felt compelled to verify it... I'd say: fair enough! Quote
ghost of miles Posted April 18, 2005 Report Posted April 18, 2005 OK, here's an interesting one--I was looking up some info about the 1937 Paramount short "Record Making With Duke Ellington" in Stratemann's DAY BY DAY AND FILM BY FILM and came across this aside: In 1963, this commercial recording of "Daybreak Express" served as inspiration and background music to D.A. Pennebaker's first film, a six minute short entitled "Daybreak Express", which, in increasingly abstract images, gives an impression of an early morning ride into New York along the since demolished elevated railway, the "Third Avenue El". With its parallel rhythm of images and music, this little film is justifiably regarded as one of the most imaginative uses of Ellington's music for background purposes. Sounds like something I'd really like to see. Puzzled by the "since demolished" passage, though; wasn't the El torn down in 1953? Were parts of it still standing in 1963? Or is Stratemann's wording simply confusing me--and Pennebaker's film was a cinematic reconstruction of the already-gone El? Quote
jazzbo Posted April 18, 2005 Report Posted April 18, 2005 (edited) Edited April 18, 2005 by jazzbo Quote
jeffcrom Posted April 29, 2013 Report Posted April 29, 2013 While torturing myself on the elliptical machine this morning, I watched (among other things), Ellington's "Symphony in Black" again. When I haven't seen it for awhile, I forget how amazing this 1934 short film is, musically and visually. As others have said, it looks forward to "Black, Brown and Beige," and also uses some existing music - pieces of "Ducky Wucky," "The Saddest Tale," and "Merry Go Round." show up. But Ellington really does manage to make a unified piece out of all of those elements. And Billie Holiday is far better than on her "official" earlier recordings. "Symphony in Black" is on the RCA set The Centennial Collection, not to be confused with the complete Centennial Edition box. The Centennial Collection is one CD and one DVD; it appears to be out of print, but shouldn't be too hard to find. Most Ellingtonians will have the studio recordings on the CD, but there are seven excellent broadcast recordings as well. Quote
srellek Posted May 6, 2013 Report Posted May 6, 2013 The music is of course incredible throughout Duke's appearances on film, but I've always been taken with what presence he projected personally. The Black and Tan short from 1929 stands out. Just few moments but I've always thought Duke could have made a splash in film. Decades later, Anatomy of a Murder is another small but tasty Ducal treat. Quote
Ken Dryden Posted November 19, 2018 Report Posted November 19, 2018 Here are the Duke Ellington DVDs I own. I have no idea which ones are still readily available: Duke Ellington Love You Madly & A Concert of Sacred Music at Grace Cathedral Eagle Eye Media 39100 Duke Ellington/Ella Fitzgerald Duke: The Last Jam Session Eagle Eye Media 39069 Duke Ellington The Big Band Feeling EForFilms 2869037 Duke Ellington Reminiscing in Tempo Gary Keys Productions adv Duke Ellington In Hollywood - Swing Era Idem 1029 Duke Ellington Copenhagen 1965 - Parts 1 & 2 Image 9548 Duke Ellington Live at the Tivoli Gardens 1971 - Parts 1 & 2 Image 9550 Duke Ellington The Intimate Duke Ellington Image 9551 Duke Ellington Berlin Concert 1969 Impro-Jazz 509 Duke Ellington Rare Video Footage (1929-1962) Legacy Entertainment 5004 Duke Ellington Memories of Duke MVD 855 Duke Ellington Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1929-1943 Storyville 16033 Duke Ellington Montreal 1964 Video Artists International 4358 Quote
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