… with the 200th broadcast of the programme DUKE ELLINGTON.”
Willem van Manen made the first 33 episodes of this long-running series. In March 2015 Louis Tavecchio (photo) took it over. Today he can add the 200th pearl to his golden Ellington chain.
In this celebratory broadcast you’ll hear works by Ellington – and his right hand Billy Strayhorn – played by a number of musicianly colleagues, among them Ella Fitzgerald, Charles Mingus and trombonist Roswell Rudd. The Dutch contribution comes from HOT (Het Orgel Trio) with additional brass.
A surprising name in that list is Stevie Wonder! His tribute “Sir Duke” is his own composition, one of his Songs in the Key of Life (1976). Wonder was strongly influenced by Ellington’s music. The single ‘Sir Duke’ rose rapidly in many international Hit parades.
In his lyrics Wonder also referred to Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald.
(Listener: do you recognise ‘Ellington-elements’ in this piece?)
This programme is the first of a three parter, devoted to Ellington-interpretations.
Broadcast: Zaterdag 19 maart 2022, 15:00 uur
