Ralph Ellison: Living With Music

by Ralph Ellison: Living With Musi

Overview

This compilation is based around the book Living With Music: Ralph Ellison's Jazz Writings, and co-produced and annotated by that volume's editor, Robert G. O'Meally. The idea is to assemble various pieces of music with some connection to Ellison or his writings, with the specific threads -- a direct comment Ellison might have made on a track, for instance, or a song that's referred to in one of his stories -- explained in O'Meally's notes. Those connections can sometimes be quite specific and, frankly, extremely tenuous at other times. For those not immersed in Ellison's writings, it's still a pretty fair collection of jazz, usually on the soulful and bluesy sides, from the mid-'20s to the early '60s, albeit entirely jazz that happens to be administered by Sony. Certainly Louis Armstrong & His Hot Seven's "Potato Head Blues," Duke Ellington's "Black and Tan Fantasy," and Benny Goodman's "Flying Home" (a 1939 track, not the same as Goodman vibraphonist Lionel Hampton's more famous and influential recording) are major jazz classics. Ellington, Armstrong, and Jimmy Rushing are heard from two or three times apiece, and there are also quality selections from Count Basie, Bessie Smith, Teddy Wilson, Hot Lips Page (with Joe Turner on vocals), and Jones-Smith, Inc. (with Lester Young on sax and Count Basie on piano). Getting a little off the jazz track, there's also Mahalia Jackson's "The Holy Babe"; getting considerably off the jazz track, there's flamenco guitarist Vincente Escudero's "La Farruca." The set finishes with the only commercially available recording of Ellison's own voice, an excerpt from a 1964 address at the Library of Congress. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	04/30/2002
Label:	Columbia / Columbia/Legacy
UPC:	0696998593527
Rank:	129405

Tracks

1. Black and Blue  - Louis Armstrong  - Harry Brooks  - Andy Razaf  - Fats Waller
2. Potato Head Blues  - Louis Armstrong  -  Armstrong
3. Work House Blues  - Bessie Smith  - Ted Wallace
4. East St. Louis Toodle-Oo  - Duke Ellington  - Bubber Miley  -  Ellington
5. Black and Tan Fantasy  - Duke Ellington  -  Ellington  - Bubber Miley
6. Moten Swing  -  Basie  - Bennie Moten  - Buster Moten
7. Oh, Lady Be Good  - George Gershwin  - Ira Gershwin  - Inc. Jones-Smith
8. All of Me  -  Heywood  - Billie Holiday  - Gerald Marks  - Seymour Simons
9. Sugar Plum  - Arthur Johnson  - Arthur Johnston  - Gus Kahn  - Teddy Wilson
10. Flying Home  - Benny Goodman  -  Goodman  - Lionel Hampton  - Sid Robin  - Sydney Robin
11. Jump for Joy  - P.L. Johnson  - Hot Lips Page
12. Harvard Blues  - Count Basie  - George Frazier  - Jimmy Rushing  - Tab Smith
13. Downhearted Blues  - Lovie Austin  - Alberta Hunter  - Jimmy Rushing
14. The Holy Babe  - Mahalia Jackson  -  Traditional
15. La Farr¿¿ca  -  Traditional  - Vincente Escudero
16. Up and Down, Up and Down (I Will Lead Them Up and Down)  - Duke Ellington  -  Ellington  - Billy Strayhorn
17. Hidden Name and Complex Fate  - Ralph Ellison

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Duke Ellington & His Orchestra   Primary Artist
Ralph Ellison   Primary Artist
Vincente Escudero   Primary Artist
Count Basie Orchestra   Primary Artist
Eddie Heywood and His Orchestra   Primary Artist
Jimmy Rushing   Primary Artist
Louis Armstrong & His Hot Seven   Primary Artist
Louis Armstrong   Primary Artist,Cornet,Vocals,Trumpet
Jones-Smith, Inc.   Primary Artist
Teddy Wilson   Primary Artist,Piano
Bessie Smith   Primary Artist,Vocals
Billie Holiday   Primary Artist,Vocals
Hot Lips Page   Primary Artist,Trumpet
Mahalia Jackson   Primary Artist
Benny Goodman Sextet   Primary Artist
Duke Ellington's Washingtonians   Primary Artist
Buddy Tate   Sax (Tenor),Soloist,Saxophone
Buck Clayton   Trumpet
Harry "Sweets" Edison   Trumpet
Danny Barker   Guitar
Benny Morton   Trombone
Baby Dodds   Drums
Jack Washington   Sax (Baritone),Sax (Alto)
Ed Lewis   Trumpet
Eddie Heywood   Piano
Emmett Berry   Trumpet
Grachan Moncur III   Bass
Charlie Christian   Guitar (Electric)
Zutty Singleton   Drums
Leslie Johnakins   Sax (Alto)
Dicky Wells   Soloist,Trombone
Lionel Hampton   Vibraphone
Artie Bernstein   Bass
Al Killian   Trumpet
Willie Cook   Trumpet
Harry Carney   Clarinet,Sax (Alto),Sax (Baritone)
William Cat Anderson   Trumpet
Tom Mace   Clarinet
Crawford Wethington   Sax (Alto)
Richard Clarke   Trumpet
Lawrence Lucie   Guitar
Abe Bolar   Bass
Jimmy Strong   Clarinet,Sax (Tenor)
John Collins   Guitar
Homer Hobson   Trumpet
James P. Johnson & His Orchestra   Piano
Ralph Jones   Organ
Robert Prince   Vibraphone
Joseph Nanton   Soloist,Trombone,Sax (Alto)
Gene Anderson   Piano,Celeste
Mack Shaw   Tuba
Carl "Tatti" Smith   Trumpet
Danny Banks   Saxophone
Pete Briggs   Tuba
Bert Curry   Sax (Alto)
Carroll Dickerson   Violin
Mancy Carr   Banjo
Benny Goodman   Clarinet
Doc Cheatham   Trumpet
Eddie Barefield   Sax (Alto)
Eddie Dougherty   Drums
Vic Dickenson   Trombone
Fred Robinson   Trombone
Russell Procope   Clarinet,Sax (Alto)
Frank Rehak   Trombone
Walter Page   Bass,String Bass
Wellman Braud   Bass
Johnny St. Cyr   Banjo
Charlie Green   Trombone
Johnny Dodds   Clarinet
Ted Sturgis   String Bass
Lester Young   Sax (Tenor)
Lil Armstrong   Piano
Sam Woodyard   Drums
Jimmy Hamilton   Clarinet,Sax (Tenor)
Urbie Green   Trombone
John Sanders   Trombone
Jimmy Crawford   Drums
Rudy Jackson   Clarinet,Sax (Tenor)
Nat Pierce   Piano
Quentin Jackson   Trombone
Nick Fatool   Drums
Mel Davis   Trumpet
Ray Nance   Trumpet
Otto Hardwick   Reeds,Soloist,Sax (Alto),Sax (Soprano),Sax (Baritone)
Osie Johnson   Drums
Mildred Falls   Piano
Milt Hinton   Bass
Clark Terry   Soloist,Trumpet
Jo Jones   Drums
Claude Hopkins   Piano
Louis Metcalf   Trumpet
Freddie Green   Guitar
Fletcher Henderson   Piano
Shad Collins   Trumpet
Earle Warren   Saxophone,Sax (Alto)
Johnny Hodges   Sax (Alto)
Bubber Miley   Soloist,Trumpet
Buster Bailey   Clarinet
Dave Barbour   Guitar
Britt Woodman   Trombone
Coleman Hawkins   Saxophone
Rudy Powell   Saxophone
Paul Gonsalves   Sax (Tenor)
Sonny Greer   Drums
Big Joe Turner   Vocals
Kenny Clarke   Drums
Dan Minor   Trombone
Jabbo Smith   Soloist,Trumpet
Fred Guy   Banjo
Duke Ellington   Piano
Cozy Cole   Drums
Count Basie   Piano
Everett Barksdale   Guitar
Jimmy Woode   Bass

Technical Credits

George Frazier   Composer
Gus Kahn   Composer
Gerald Marks   Composer
Darren Salmieri   A&R
Bob Stephens   Producer
Mahalia Jackson   Performer
Lionel Hampton   Composer
Alberta Hunter   Composer
Buster Moten   Composer
Seth Rothstein   Project Director
Patti Matheny   A&R
R.J. Jones   Producer
Howard Fritzson   Art Direction
Arthur Johnson   Composer
Eddie Heywood and His Orchestra   Performer
Justin Ring   Producer
Kyle Wofford   A&R
Ted Wallace   Composer
John Christiana   Packaging Manager
Frank Walker   Producer
Benny Goodman   Composer
P.L. Johnson   Composer
Louis Armstrong   Composer
Lovie Austin   Composer
Nedra Olds-Neal   Producer
Billy Strayhorn   Composer
Fats Waller   Composer
George Gershwin   Composer
Ira Gershwin   Composer
Arthur Johnston   Composer
Bubber Miley   Composer
Harry Brooks   Composer
Tommy Rockwell   Producer
Seymour Simons   Composer
Tab Smith   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Steven Berkowitz   A&R
Sid Robin   Composer
Sydney Robin   Composer
Andy Razaf   Composer
John Hammond, Sr.   Producer
Irving Townsend   Producer
Duke Ellington   Arranger,Composer
Count Basie   Leader,Composer
Bennie Moten   Composer