It is the sound of Ellington’s orchestra that sets him apart - what is known as the

‘Ellington effect’ - the use of highly individual, idiosyncratic combinations of soloists to

create a great richness of tonal color that was entirely unique.

Find evidence to support the above quote by discussing Ellington’s use of timbre
and arrangement of his band in the pieces we have studied.

Duke Ellington is a key figure in the 1930’s swing jazz band era. He is one of the most
important composers and arrangers in jazz history, with more than 200 hundred
compositions and jazz standards under his name. He began his career in New York in
1922, where he took over a six-piece band and wrote his own music. During the 1930s
he created his own orchestra built up with hugely talented soloists, whom he knew
closely as musicians. This allowed him to write complicated parts and explore different
combinations of timbres and sounds, his works being a mixture of arrangement and
improvisation which gave them complexity and spontaneity at the same time. Ellington
uses the 12-bar blues structure as well as the 32-bar song, using a varied range of
themes throughout (as opposed to the more repetitive riffs that were typical of the swing
style of the 1930’s era). Ellington also developed his harmonic style: while using normal
chord progressions, he altered them with chromatic shifts (rarely using simple triads),
secondary dominants, and tritone substitutions, and changing keys between sections.
However, what really sets Ellington apart is his unique approach to sound. We can
explore this characteristic in various recordings throughout his career.

On “Take the A-Train”, recorded in 1939, Ellington effectively uses his orchestra to
create an urban sound, imitating the noise of a train and train horns. Beginning
Ellington’s exotic whole-tone scale piano riff, accompanied by the drums, we are
immediately introduced to the growling sound of the band’s brass section. The saxes
play the melody in unison, accompanied by stabby trombone chords and staccato
trumpet countermelodies and piano chords. The bass part is melodic while still keeping
a strict time (“walking bass”).

The trumpet takes over the next section, with its characteristic muted ‘growling’ sound.
The improvisation here is not very virtuosic, the focus being the melodic line, very
closely related to the theme. Before the next section there is a big intermission from the
saxophone section, with long sustained low register chords, with end on a massive
ascending glissando -clearly imitating the sound of a train horn. The next section uses a
technique called ‘voicing across the band’: the melody here is shared between the sax
and the trumpet, adding variety. After another ‘train noise’ interlude, the main theme is
brought back, only for the whole orchestra to be muted so we can hear the whole-tone
scale riff from the beginning again -a pretty captivating and unique moment, and a very
effective way to end the piece.

In “The Mooche” we find ourselves in a more exotic, Latin-influenced sound: Ellington’s

signature ‘jungle’ style, with even more growl and more variety in instrumental timbres
than in ‘Take the A Train’: the main 32-bar theme is played by the clarinets, the muted,
‘growling’ high-register trumpet offering a countermelody, all accompanied by piano
chords and a jumping bass line. The brass takes over the melody in the next section,
followed by a low register clarinet solo with an added guitar countermelody. The next
solo section is sung with the scat singing technique, still accompanied by the guitar, and
uses a very raspy voice which is effective at imitating the muted trumpet’s sound. After
a ‘talking trombone’ (rapidly changing mute) and saxophone conversation, the main
theme is brought back. Once again, Ellington offers something special at the end of the
tune, where he repeats the sustained clarinet chords, answered by the muted trumpet.

It is in Ellington’s less jazzy works, in a more ‘classical’ style - his symphonic works,
tone poems, concertos…- where he really innovates, even pushing the boundaries of
what defines jazz.

“Transblucency”, a recording from 1946, creates a really unorthodox atmosphere, by

combining typical jazz elements with a classical, operatic style of singing. The different
instruments are used in unexpected ways, like the trombone playing in a higher register
than the clarinet, which is doubling the high-register voice (an odd, even eerie effect),
the bass being very melodic and not providing a very strict pulse. At one point the whole
the whole texture us stripped, leaving us with just a conversation between trombone
and double bass, later joined with a countermelody from the clarinet and the voice. At
some points, the intervals between clarinet and voice generate harmonics, and we can
hear a third note -this demonstrates Ellington’s incredible knowledge of his instruments
and performers, being able to create effects like this.

In ‘Concerto for Cootie’ (1940) Ellington very loosely uses a classical form in a jazz
context to make use of Cootie Williams’ virtuosic playing: he demonstrates his wide
variety of sound and timbre: there’s soft, moody, melancholic muted passages; as well
as growling, ‘talking trombone’-like ones.

‘Come Sunday’ portrays the suffering and sorrow of the history of black America. It
starts of with a pizzicato violin cadenza which is reminiscent of the banjos of early blues,
accompanied by low sax chords and drums. The melody that the violin plays afterwards
is not entirely fitting with the harmony, creating this very bluesy and sad atmosphere.
There is conversation with the trombone and the trumpet, which creates lots of
dissonance and overwhelming polyphony -for jazz standards. Right after that the piano
plays bright, major chords, contrasting with the previous section, and he is answered by
the sax and bass section.
The sax solo is precedes this is accompanied by this very warm tremolo effect
from the saxophones and the strummed guitar chords. The solo is incredibly expressive,
with a lot of vibrato and pitch bending. The lack of pulse makes it feel almost like a
moaning monologue. The piece ends with very soft and warm brass chords -once
again, a very effective ending.

All of these are great examples of Ellington’s varied and very imaginative use of timbre,
and how he masterfully uses it to picturre things as different as the urban sound of
trains and the horrors of slavery.