Duke Ellington was born on April 29, 1899, in Washington DC. He is a renowned jazz
composer and a jazz pianist. Ellington is very well known as an originator of big-band jazz. In
1923 he moved to New York City and became a leader in 1924, he played for the Cotton Club
which was broadcast every night, and in 1930 he and his band became famous.
The video I chose is Amsterdam 1958 Duke Ellington, the instrumentation of the concert
is piano, saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, bass, and drums. The rhythm section is being
played by piano, bass, trombone, and drums. However, the melodic section is composed of
saxophones, trumpets, a man singing, and clarinets. At first, the rhythm was set by the drums,
and Ellington played the piano solo. The rhythm is a bit medium tempo but switches to high
tempo and low tempo. It is a bit unsteady due to the transition of tempo. The music is also played
in syncopation or off-beat, but it creates a feeling of a nice swing or cool swing. Ellington likes
to play in a thin density with high notes that is played in Roboto which made the sound very
warm. The instrument that plays the harmony is piano, drums, trombone, and sometimes bass
saxophone because when the vocalist starts singing the melody, those instruments play the
harmony to enhance the melody or create a sense of feeling that the melody is being highlighted.
The melody is first played by the trumpet and saxophone and then sung by the vocalist, but when
the vocalist sings, the saxophone and trumpets take a break to let the man sing the melody. The
melody is different between the vocalist and the instruments because the man sang in a slow
tempo and very soft tone. It does not create a nice swing because it is very slow to be danced to
and it actually sounds a bit sad. But after the man sang the melody, the saxophone and trumpets
kick in with a different melody which is played in high frequency, high tempo, and a very cool
and excited swing. Therefore it created a bit of a contrast. After Ellington makes a speech, the
music switches up and plays in a fast tone at first with the melody accompanied by the harmony.
The instruments that play the rhythm section are the same and the instruments that play the
melody section are still the same. But there is a saxophone solo toward the middle of the song
and it plays the melody which is fast-paced and a very nice swing. The overall texture of the
songs is homophony which means that there is one melody that is being presented and supported
by harmony. Toward the end of the song, it is ended by high-pitched straight notes to close the
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