King of All, Sir Duke: Ellington and the Artistic Revolution [Paperback]

Peter Lavezzoli (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2001

Twenty-five years ago in his hit song, "Sir Duke," Stevie Wonder sings: "Music knows it is and always will be one of the things that life just won't quit. / Here are some of music's basic pioneers that time will not allow us to forget: / There's Basie, Miller, Satchmo, and the King of All, Sir Duke! / And with a voice like Ella's ringing out, there's no way the band can lose! / You can feel it all over!" To say that Ellington was a prominent jazz-band leader of the twentieth century would be like saying William Shakespeare was simply a prominent English playwright of the time. This book begins with personal reflections as well as the life before going on to consider—through anecdote, musical scholarship, and personal interviews—Ellington's profound and direct influence on an amazing range of pop artists: Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan, Miles Davis (who, in the ultimate tribute, had himself interred next to The Duke in New York's Woodlawn Cemetery), Sun Ra, James Brown, Sly Stone, George Clinton, Prince, Frank Zappa, Charles Mingus, and Ravi Shankar.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

His total and contagious awe for one of jazz's greatest composers, bandleaders and ambassadors notwithstanding, Lavezzoli doesn't add much to Ellington's legend. A fellow musician as well as a musicologist, Lavezzoli avoids standard biography in this paean to his hero, describing Ellington's life in just a few pages. The bulk of the book explores other musicians' links to Ellington through interviews with musicians and jazz critics about his life and legacy. Certainly, Ellington has influenced countless musicians viz the book's title, from Stevie Wonder's tribute song but Lavezzoli only partially succeeds at delineating these links. He convincingly cites rocker Frank Zappa's intriguing debts, as a composer and a businessman, to Ellington, but other connections remain vague: that Ellington and funk star George Clinton share an "emphasis on freedom of expression in a large band context" isn't pithy enough. Lavezzoli's interviews sometimes afford vivid behind-the-scenes details: according to one musician, Ellington would chastise a band member who had been carousing too much by featuring him, thereby making him work harder. But often the interviews lapse into lingo too obscure for the nonspecialist, e.g., Butch Ballard describes a fellow musician playing with "A lot of press rolls, closed choke-cymbal stuff, and a whole lot of 2/4." (Apr.)Forecast: Ken Burns's recent PBS blockbuster has summoned a ready audience for all things jazz. But with its combination of overly familiar historical information and inaccessible interview material, this book is unlikely to reach many readers.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Inspired by the lyrics of Stevie Wonder's 1976 hit "Sir Duke," this work contains an interesting and controversial mix of material. Lavezzoli, a musicologist and jazz musician, has interviewed Ellington colleagues (e.g., drummer Butch Ballard) and aficionados (e.g., recording technician and collector Jerry Valburn) to gain some insight into the great bandleader's music. Interspersed among those dialogs are chapters on musicians that Lavezzoli believes Ellington influenced. The author's choices of Frank Zappa, Prince, Sly Stone, George Clinton, James Brown, and Ravi Shankar will certainly arouse controversy among rock, funk, soul, and Hindustani purists; however, presenting Ellington through the work of stylistically dissimilar musicians forces the reader to listen to Ellington with new ears. Still, the approach is unusual and makes for a rather loose read. This is recommended for larger public libraries and may be of interest to smaller libraries with significant popular music book collections. [Ellington fans should also note that this month, Routledge will publish A.H. Lawrence's Duke Ellington and His World: A Biography (ISBN 0-415-93012-X. $35), which Schirmer was originally slated to publish in 1999. Schirmer, however, dropped the book at the last minute. LJ ran a review of that edition in 11/15/99. Ed.] James E. Perone, Mount Union Coll., Alliance, O.
- James E. Perone, Mount Union Coll., Alliance, OH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Continuum (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826414044
• ISBN-13: 978-0826414045
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,902,645 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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