June 1, 2006
Sacred Ellington: UW lecturer restores seldom-heard music by jazz great
A recently issued two-CD package is the culmination of efforts begun by Michael Brockman, lecturer in saxophone and jazz studies, about 18 years ago.
The album, Sacred Music of Duke Ellington, represents the highlights of a concert that has become a holiday tradition in Seattle. It also charts the growth and development of the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra (SRJO), of which Brockman is executive director and artistic co-director.
The story begins in 1988, when the Interfaith Council of Seattle decides to underwrite a holiday concert of Duke Ellington’s sacred music. Between 1965 and 1973, Ellington created three concerts of sacred music that incorporated dancers, choruses and gospel singers, as well as his own orchestra. Ellington performed the music in churches and cathedrals around the world, but since his death in 1974 the music had seldom been heard.
Seattle, with a vibrant jazz community, was ripe for a revival. The Interfaith Council contracted with a local big band named Roadside Attraction, of which Brockman was a member, to be the core performers; they were augmented by a number of guest artists, both singers and instrumentalists. Among those guest artists was pianist Marc Seales, associate professor of jazz studies.
The council ordered some of Ellington’s sheet music from a company in New York. Brockman, who is an Ellington scholar, was shocked by what was sent to them. “It was in terrible condition,” he says. “They were a hodgepodge of different parts [for various instruments] and scraps of various versions of the music. It was almost unplayable. But we managed to piece together something acceptable.”
The concert was very well received and plans were made for a second year. Brockman went to work to improve the “book,” transcribing some of Ellington’s compositions from original recordings, including the “Freedom Suite.”
By the third year, the sacred music concerts were well on their way to becoming a holiday mainstay. In the concert’s fifth year, Earshot Jazz, a local organization of jazz enthusiasts, assumed a central role in underwriting, promoting and producing the concert; after another two years (1994), Earshot invited Brockman to take over the concert as its artistic director.
The musicians enjoyed the opportunity to play great Big Band music and they began to have conversations about forming a more permanent organization that would play that music throughout the year. In 1995, Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra was formed from what many jazz aficionados regard as an all-star team of local performers. The founding board president of the nonprofit organization was Anthony Greenwald, professor of psychology; several other founding board members had UW connections.
Brockman continued to work on adding significant pieces to the sacred music book, including scores purchased around the country, and many of his own transcriptions. The SRJO now has the most authoritative set of Ellington’s sacred music scores, with about 20 of the 32 separate pieces that were performed in the original Ellington concerts.
By 2005, Brockman had accumulated what he thought were three years of high-quality recorded material from the live concerts, and he (and SRJO co-director Clarence Acox) began work on the CD project. “Our first job was to identify pieces that were recorded cleanly in live performance with good solos and ensemble work, which left me with about three CDs worth of music,” he says. “We knew that anything beyond two CDs was not feasible, so we selected a smaller group of pieces with an eye for overall balance.”
The resulting album represents not just the orchestra’s best work but Ellington’s best compositions. “Ellington’s sacred music was an experiment for him, but one that was not always successful. I’m pleased with our final product, because it represents a selection of what we feel are his best sacred works. The solo performances by SRJO players are outstanding. I’m sometimes astonished that this quality of music comes from a live performance.”
The album has been at the top of the charts of albums played by jazz radio stations across the country. Jazz critics have labeled the performances as “flawless.” One commented, “An excellent album, with work rivaled only by the original performances from Duke and his band.”
In addition to his teaching at the UW and co-directing the SRJO, Brockman is currently working to finish a doctoral dissertation which will feature Ellington’s orchestration techniques. He’s pleased with his contribution to a Seattle tradition that is unlike any other.
Meanwhile, the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra is about to complete its 11th season of performances. There are still two chances to hear them in concert, June 11 at Kirkland Performance Center and June 17 at Benaroya Hall, featuring the music of Oliver Nelson, who made his reputation in jazz, film scores and music for television. For more information about the album or concerts, go to www.srjo.org.
