Black, Brown, and Beige (album)
Encyclopedia
Black, Brown and Beige is a 1958 jazz album by Duke Ellington
and his orchestra, featuring Mahalia Jackson
.
The album is a recording of a revised version of Ellington's Black, Brown and Beige suite. After a disappointing critical response to its first performance in 1943, Ellington divided the three-part suite into six shorter sections, leaving in "Come Sunday" and "Work Song", and it is this version that is recorded here.
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
and his orchestra, featuring Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson – January 27, 1972) was an African-American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice, she was referred to as "The Queen of Gospel"...
.
The album is a recording of a revised version of Ellington's Black, Brown and Beige suite. After a disappointing critical response to its first performance in 1943, Ellington divided the three-part suite into six shorter sections, leaving in "Come Sunday" and "Work Song", and it is this version that is recorded here.
Personnel
- Duke EllingtonDuke EllingtonEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
— pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal... - William "Cat" Anderson — trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Harold Shorty Baker — trumpet
- Clark TerryClark TerryClark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...
— trumpet - Ray NanceRay NanceRay Willis Nance was a jazz trumpeter, violinist and singer.Nance is best known for his long association with Duke Ellington through most of the 1940s and 1950s, after he was hired to replace Cootie Williams in 1940...
— trumpet, violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello.... - John SandersJohn Sanders (musician)John Derek Sanders OBE, MA , D.Mus , FRCO, ARCM, HonRSCM, was an English organist, conductor, choir trainer and composer...
— valve trombone - Quentin JacksonQuentin JacksonQuentin "Butter" Jackson was an American jazz trombonist. In the early stage of his career he worked with Cab Calloway and was in the Duke Ellington Orchestra...
— tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate... - Britt WoodmanBritt WoodmanBritt Woodman was a jazz trombonist. He is perhaps best known for his work with Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus....
— trombone - Paul GonsalvesPaul GonsalvesPaul Gonsalves, was an American jazz tenor saxophonist best known for his association with Duke Ellington. At the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, Gonsalves played a 27-chorus solo in the middle of Ellington's "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue"...
— tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble... - Bill GrahamBill Graham (musician)William Henry "Bill" Graham is an American jazz saxophonist.Graham was born in Kansas City, Missouri and grew up in Denver, where he led his own ensemble which included Paul Quinichette among its members. He studied at Tuskegee University and then Lincoln University of Missouri after a stint in...
— alto saxophoneAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions... - Harry CarneyHarry CarneyHarry Howell Carney was an American swing baritone saxophonist, clarinetist, and bass clarinetist mainly known for his 45-year tenure in Duke Ellington's Orchestra. Carney started off as an alto player with Ellington, but soon switched to the baritone. His strong, steady saxophone often served as...
— baritone saxophoneBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece... - Jimmy WoodeJimmy WoodeJimmy Woode was a jazz bassist. His father, also named Jimmy Woode, was a music teacher and pianist who played with Hot Lips Page...
— bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2... - Sam WoodyardSam WoodyardSam Woodyard was an American jazz drummer.Woodyard was largely an autodidact on drums, and played locally in the Newark, New Jersey area in the 1940s. He gigged with Paul Gayten in an R&B group, and then played in the early 1950s with Joe Holiday, Roy Eldridge, and Milt Buckner...
— drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Mahalia JacksonMahalia JacksonMahalia Jackson – January 27, 1972) was an African-American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice, she was referred to as "The Queen of Gospel"...
— vocals
Track listing
All tracks by Duke EllingtonDuke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
- "Part I" – 8:17
- "Part II" – 6:14
- "Part III" (aka Light) – 6:26
- "Part IV" (aka Come Sunday) – 7:58
- "Part V" (aka Come Sunday) – 3:46
- "Part VI" (23rd Psalm) – 3:01
- Bonus tracks on re-releases
- "Track 360" (aka Trains) (alternative take) - 2:02
- "Blues in Orbit" (aka Tender) (alternative take) - 2:36
- "Part I" (alternative take) – 6:49
- "Part II" (alternative take) – 6:38
- "Part III" (alternative take) – 3:08
- "Part IV" (alternative take) – 2:23
- "Part V" (alternative take) – 5:51
- "Part VI" (alternative take) – 1:59
- "Studio conversation" (Mahalia Swears) – 0:07
- "Come Sunday" (a cappella) – 5:47
- "(Pause track)" – 0:06