Rastafarian Blues and Jazz? The Duke and the Emperor

Jazz can be enjoyed in some unexpected parts of the world (including Corfu).

Duke Ellington and his Orchestra performed before Emperor Haile Selassie in Addis Ababa in November 1973 (less than a year before the Emperor was deposed; just a month after Jonathan Dimbleby's "The Hidden Famine" was broadcast on UK TV; six months before the Duke himself died). It was a Command Performance. I enjoyed the music more when I saw Duke in concert in Bournemouth back in 1965, when he had his full band.

I was impressed by something he once said about the people of London:

“To me, the people of London are the most civilized in the world. Their civilization is based on the recognition that all people are imperfect, and that allowances should be made and are made for their imperfections. I have never experienced quite such a sense of balance elsewhere” (Duke Ellington, Music is My Mistress, New York, 1973).

I looked for, and found, his childhood home when staying in Washington, DC . There was no plaque to mark it. This is what I wrote:

"I can almost hear the clink and tinkle of Duke’s jazz piano taking shape on Ninth and R, at Louis Thomas’ cabaret. I reconstruct the place and spot, the siren songs, the playful rags, Sonny’s drums, the banjorine.

I can hear Duke and his sidemen swing, invited to the White House now, performing for the President. Not far on foot from that cabaret-site, a long, long way from where he used to play “What You Gonna Do When the Bed Breaks Down”. A suitable song for the White House.

All hail Mrs Clinkscales! Well done T Street 1212! Duke’s childhood home, but where’s the plaque? Well done 9th and R! 20th and R (and those between);Sherman Avenue 2728!

I saw him in Bournemouth, where I went backstage. (How do you find the English weather ? -“Ah feel no pain”). Again in Addis Ababa, playing for Haile Selassie.

The Duke and the Emperor: two conquering lions, about to be tamed. All hail His Imperial Majesty! A Command Performance for Ras Tafari: - we thank you, Duke.

I can almost hear their siren swan-song; now and then wilder growls from the jungle.

The writer Albert Murray (Obituary) on Duke Ellington:

'In music, he was a devotee of  Duke Ellington, "the pre-eminent embodiment of the blues musician as artist", who achieved "the most comprehensive synthesis, extension and refinement to date of all the elements of blues musicianship".'