By Manifesto Joe
Jazz has been called "America's classical music." There's been a wealth of material there for over a century, and it actually benefits in many cases from smaller musical combos, more so than Euro-classical usually does.
This video shows four musicians doing quite a bit of justice to a 1966 Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn composition, Mount Harissa. I had never heard these musicians, the Alexandria Kleztet, before; the Ellington album is a late big-band jazz classic (Far East Suite).
By the way: Duke Ellington (1899-1974) hasn't lacked for recognition, obviously; but his frequent collaborator, and a composer by himself of many standards (Take the A Train, for one) is now largely forgotten. Do a Google search for Billy Strayhorn (1915-1967). Great musical genius.
Enjoy.
Manifesto Joe Is An Underground Writer Living In Texas.
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7 comments:
I hear Duke Ellington was a big proponent of water boarding. Slimey bastard.
Hey there, Joe! Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad you liked our interpretation of Duke & Billy's work!
- Seth Kibel
The Alexandria Kleztet
Hi, Anon:
I also hear he was working on WMDs until his death of lung cancer.
Sounds like you get your "intelligence" from the same sources as Bush, Cheney & Co.
Hi, Seth:
Thanks for visiting the blog. I will keep up with what you all are doing. More later.
It's been quite a year. I can't say that I'm sorry to see it go. The economy is in horrible shape thanks to shortsighted people who refused to learn history and the causes of the Depression, and there are all sorts of wrongs in our nation.
Cheney by the way manipulated the intelligence intentionally to build up the case for the Iraq war. Ironically, it was the CIA that installed Suddam's Ba'ath party into power under Dulles decades earlier.
Happy New Year, a little bit late. I don't come by here as much as I'd like to. I appreciate that you find this stuff - a lot of jazz floats under my radar screen.
Joe, you are absolutely correct about Billy Strayhorn, "genius" indeed.
My favorite is Blood Count.
kentondem 1
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