fiction and musings from a gay black dude with delusions above his station
The Eastbourne Performance Duke Ellington hated endings, as I’ve noted in previous entries. He dreaded his own mortality the most, as many of us do. In 1971, he was probably already suffering early symptoms of the cancer that would ultimately take his life. By 1973, those symptoms were ever-present. He tired easily. His legendary patience…
Togo Brava Suite There are two CDs by this title. One is a studio session of never released tracks of the sort that Duke Ellington recorded when he wanted to hear how certain pieces in development sounded. It features a seven movement Togo Brava Suite. Don’t get this recording. Instead, hunt for the largely out-of-print…
Sometime in 1931 Duke Ellington hit the road in earnest for the first time. Commentators noted that he was able to make a “graceful” exit from the mob-owned Cotton Club in Harlem by arranging Cab Calloway and His Orchestra to take his place. The Cotton Club gig had been good to him, though. It gave…
