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Lena Horne and Duke Ellington perform his first Concert of Sacred Music at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, Dec. 27, 1965. |
No doubt that Duke Ellington is one of the most influential musicians in the history of jazz. Standards as Take The "A" Train, Sophisticated Lady or many others are very known for jazz fans. However, his last years, in which Ellington dedicated himself to fused jazz with christian liturgy is not very much disclose; perhaps, because these works received mixes reviews. At that time, many people saw his sacred works as an attempt to reinforce commercial support for organized religion. However, Ellington didn't give importance to criticisms and performed his compositions in different places. In fact, he said that it was "the most important thing I've done"; because his sacred music was inspired in his entrenched christian roots.
Ellington's Sacred Music mix the swing of jazz and the seriousness of liturgical music, and It was wrote for jazz big band, vocal and instrumental soloists, gospel choir, and tap dancers.
- Concert of Sacred Music, performed in the Grace Cathedral, San Francisco in 1965 by the Duke Ellington's orchestra, featuring legends as Cootie Williams and Paul Gonsalves, with a mass choir.
- Second Sacred Concert, performed in 1968 at the Cathedral of St. John in New York and St. Mark's Cathedral in New Canaan, Connecticut.
- Third Sacred Concert, performed on October 24, 1973 at London's Westminster Abbey. The compositions were built around the voice of Alice Babs, the soulful baritone saxophone of Harry Carney, and Ellington himself on the piano.
Although some jazz purists consider that in these works are not the best compositions of Duke Ellington, in my opinion the fact is that through these compositions, with different less technical resources as a church choir and gospel soloists, Ellington achieves express his gratitude to God, even, transcend his own denomination (baptist) with a poignant universalism, because he wrote this works only for the glory of God.
Duke Ellington's tribute website: http://www.dukeellington.com
