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Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...
Query: Ellingtons voicing
July 5, 2007 by Doug Ramsey
Rifftides reader Peter Luce has a question:
Im wondering if someone in Rifftides knowledgeable readership can help clarify some
conflicting information Ive read about Ellingtons used of trumpet, trombone and clarinet
in the original recording of Mood Indigo. John Edward Hasse, in The Life and Genius of
Duke Ellington, writes:
Ellington turned on their heads the usual roles of trombone, trumpet and clarinet,
assigning the trombone the high notes and the clarinet the low.
Alyn Shipton in A New History of Jazz writes:
Whereas in the traditional order of things, the clarinet would take the upper part, the
trombone the lower, with the trumpet in the middle, [Ellington] assigned the highest notes
to the muted trumpet, the central part to a muted high-register trombone, and the lowest
notes to a clarinet in its deep chalumeau register.
Both of these jazz historians agree that the clarinet was assigned the low parts, but
clearly disagree on the trumpet and trombone. Can any of your readers shed any light?
We have in the audience arrangers, composers, musicologists and other listeners with big ears. Click
the link above, listen, send your answers to Mr. Luces query and we will post them.
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July 4, 2007 at 11:29 pm
Wonderful questionI think Duke head-fakes us on the instrumentation with his solos. The
second voice is denitely trombone with a pixie mute & plunger (pixie mute is a small straight
mute that went all the way in the bell so it could be used in conjunction with a plunger). The
bottom voiceIm going to guess its not the same clarinetist whos soloing (Bigard? Is this
pre-Procope?), in fact I think its Harry Carney on bass clarinet. Ive seen lms of him play the
ensemble part on Indigo before and it doesnt have the same timbre as the soloist. The top
voice is a killer its denitely not the trumpet soloist. The timbre, articulation and vibrato are
different its really high (double F) for a bone and it doesnt sound that forced, so Im going to
vote either for another trumpeter with his own pixie mute/plunger ORan alto player playing
really straight (the vibrato and articulation in the rst statement makes me say thats an
option). Ellington used to switch the instrumentation of each voice around a lot through the
years, so its a killer to gure it out without a scorecard!
Bill Kirchner says
July 5, 2007 at 6:02 am
Shiptons description of Ellingtons Mood Indigo voicing is correct.
Bill Kirchner says
July 5, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Earlier today, I didnt listen to the link Peter Luce provided, because Ive known the original
October 17, 1930 recording of Mood Indigo (aka Dreamy Blues) very well for years. That one
is a septet version with Arthur Whetsol on trumpet, Tricky Sam Nanton on trombone, and
Barney Bigard on clarinet. Dukes unique voicings fall within the comfortable ranges of those
three horns, with Bigard on the bottom. Its that recording that Alyn Shipton accurately refers
to.
I still havent listened to the link Mr. Luce provided, because the linked website has a User
Licensing Agreement thats far too baroque for my comfort. But the Ellington CD cover provided
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Peter Luce says
July 6, 2007 at 7:28 am
Thanks to Rob Deemer and Bill Kirchner for their response to my question. In response to Bills
second comment, yes, the Hasse and Shipton quotes refer to the original October 17, 1930
recording of Mood Indigo. I dont know how many voicing changes Ellington made to Indigo
over the years, but thats what makes listening to him so fascinating.
DOUG RAMSEY
Doug is a recipient of the lifetime achievement award
of the Jazz Journalists Association. He lives in the
Pacic Northwest, where he settled following a career
in print and broadcast journalism in cities including
New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles,
Seattle, Portland, San Antonio, Cleveland and
Washington, DC. His writing about jazz has paralleled
his life in journalism... Read More
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