III – Beige
(0:00 – 0:52)
Duke Ellington’s Spoken Intro.
i. Interlude
(0:53)
Trumpets and clarinets blast with trombones and saxes underscoring, stomping march rhythm. trumpets and clarinets continue for 14 bars; at 1:14 trombones and saxes turnaround and take 4-bar passage.
(1:20)
Trumpets and clarinets return for four bars of riffing, then trombones &
saxes make transition to repeat of the 4-bar passage, which spirals down to
nadir (with horns) at 1:42.
(1:45)
Piano (Ellington) glissandos up and down, plays four-note segue, then
begins stride piano tune in G minor. Starts slow, gradually increases tempo after 8 bars to full “boogie” speed (sounds like Ellington’s mentor, Willie “The Lion” Smith). Another eight bars of fast playing, then sudden brake to deathly slow, heavy pace.
(2:17)
Reeds play slow, four-note requiem phrase, then repeat twice. 2:37 - Reeds switch to accompaniment for piano, which plays slow, sad meditations until glissando transitions to
ii. Creamy Brown (aka “Cy Runs Rock Waltz”)
(3:03)
8-bar waltz intro by reeds (last two bars sotto voce), with trumpet (Harold
Baker) entering at 3:12 for main melody (32-bar AABA song form).
(3:48)
Modulation: reeds in background, with plunger-muted trumpets on top. At 3:55 a plunger trumpet (Stewart?) plays a transitional variation on main melody, followed at 4:04 by a piano variation, then four-bar turnaround by horns (4:09).
(4:13)
Trombone (Lawrence Brown) restates main melody in new key.
iii. Beige
(4:52)
Baker plays slow four-bar intro, full orchestra punctuating with odd
Rhythmic accents.
(5:04)
Baker restates opening of “Creamy Brown” melody in 4/4, then launches into ostinato variation with full orchestra responding (horns on top).
(5:29)
Tenor saxophone (Ben Webster) enters, plays transitory passage to modulate into new key.
(5:40)
Webster leads orchestra into new theme, another waltz; by bar 5 (5:44) Webster is subsumed into full reed section.
(5:56)
Reeds jump into swing syncopation; horns enter at 6:00.
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