On the Road with Duke Ellington

Starring:Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Mercer Ellington, Johnny Hodges, Don Morrow (II)
Director: Robert Drew
Studio: Docurama
Product Type: DVD

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Filmed in 1967 and first shown in 1974, filmmaker Robert Drew's hour-long documentary is less a biography of Duke Ellington, the man now widely regarded as the 20th century's most important composer, than a brief slice of his remarkable life. "Every night I give a house party," Ellington says of his days on the road, "and I'm the guest of honor." Yet while there's plenty of performance footage of the maestro and his musicians (most of it, unfortunately, a bit on the grainy side, with audio that's less than stellar), we also see him in the studio, at work at his piano, doing business, eating his daily breakfast of steak, potatoes, and hot water, attending the funeral of musical partner Billy Strayhorn, and considerably more. What emerges is a reasonably intimate portrait of a smart, debonair (but oh-so-hip) man whose life was simply consumed with music--much to the benefit of us all. --Sam Graham

Description

Filmed just six years before Duke Ellington's death and at the peak of his career, ON THE ROAD WITH DUKE ELLINGTON serves as perhaps the most revealing and intimate portrait of the artist ever recorded. Robert Drew, legendary filmmaker and pioneer of the

Customer Reviews:

Fascinating footage buried in a terribly dated documentary.......2005-05-29

Duke's music was timeless, the videos shot on him, were not. This video is a joke and could have been redone to fit today's world. The narriator is definitly a "square", in fact this whole documentary was shot buy what would have then been called "squares". Of worthy is seeing Ellington's band performing briefly on spread out on a train in the 1940's. Duke Speaking with Louis Armstrong backstage, Ray Nance playing violin at Billy Strayhorn's funeral, Duke performing rare pieces such as "Traffic Cop" are all quite amazing. Worth it only for hard core duke fans who can sit through the poor audio during the interview parts, and annoying narriation will want to aquire this.

Welcome To Duke's World.......2002-07-07

"One the Road With Duke Ellington" was first broadcast on October 13, 1967 on NBC. Filming began in earlier that year. Here's an idea of what is included in the film.
In April 1967 Ellington prepared his "Salute to Morgan State." He performed it on May 1, 1967. (Ellington received an Honorary Doctorate from the College.) He also performed "Take the A Train" and "Jones" which are included in the film.
On May 31, 1967 Billy Strayhorn died. Included in this documentary is footage of Ellington at Strayhorn's funeral.
On July 11, 1967 he and his band were in the RCA studios recording "Rondolet." This is included on the "Private Collection Volume 8"cd.
On July 26, 1967 he performed at the Gillmore Brothers Auto Park in Kalamazoo Michigan where (probably) "Traffic Jam" (aka "The Biggest and Busiest Intersection") and "In the Beginning God" were recorded.
Other interviews were filmed during the summer and early fall of 1967.
I don't know when Louis Armstrong showed up back stage to talk to Ellington, but it's very interesting. You see Ellington pull his cheek kissing bit (four kisses--one for each cheek) on Armstrong about two years before he pulled the same bit on Richard Nixon.
It should be said that the musical numbers are often abridged. No doubt that will anger some viewers, but it is fine by me. You can listen to Ellington's music any time. And this film really isn't about Ellington performing his music, it's about Ellington getting up in the morning, having his potato and steak breakfast, making calls, answering his mail, noodling at the piano, going on stage and performing, flirting with women (both young and old). For a 68 year old man, he's living just the way he wants to. He gets to write his music, record it, and perform it. Like I said--Welcome To Duke's World.

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