On March 25th we will start an in-depth analysis of the iconic “Ko-Ko” by Duke Ellington, using as a reference an excellent transcription by David Berger. This is another great Ellington piece from 1940 that looks both to the past and to the future, with great soloists, and featuring the young bassist Jimmy Blanton. We will hear Duke’s “jungle period” roots mixed with a New Orleans and Swing vibe, and we’ll see how he squeezes everything into a compact and relatively short recording–accomplished as always with profoundly modern orchestration techniques.
I also want to take a look at “Moten Swing” by Bennie Moten–a little change of pace–we’ll talk about riffs and Kansas City swing, but also talk about horn voicings and mixed doubling for a smaller ensemble. If we have time (we ran out last time) we’ll listen to some more “modern” (late 50’s, early 60’s) music by Bob Brookmeyer and maybe even some free jazz from Sun Ra. That’s a lot of material, so put on your thinking caps and sharpen your pencils. See you there!