Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue
Encyclopedia
"Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" is a big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...

 jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 composition written in 1937 by Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...

. In its early form, the two individual pieces, "Diminuendo in Blue" and "Crescendo in Blue," were recorded on both sides of a 78 rpm record.

Performances before 1956

In early performances, "Crescendo" was played before "Diminuendo." It was played at the 1938 Randall's Island
Randall's Island
Randall's Island is situated in the East River in New York City, part of the borough of Manhattan. It is separated from Manhattan island on the west by the river's main channel, from Queens on the east by the Hell Gate, and from the Bronx on the north by the Bronx Kill. It is joined to Wards...

 concert with Ellington playing the interlude on piano. During the mid-1940s, Ellington tried all sorts of pieces between these tunes, particularly in a series of broadcasts he made for the Treasury Department in 1945 and 1946. There are issued recordings of him playing "I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)
I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)
"I Got It Bad " is a pop and jazz standard with music by Duke Ellington and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster published in 1941...

", "Carnegie Blues", "Rocks in My Bed
Rocks in My Bed
"Rocks in My Bed" is a 1941 song written by Duke Ellington.-Notable recordings:*Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook *Sarah Vaughan - The Duke Ellington Songbook, Vol. 2...

" and "Transblucency" between these two pieces. The last piece was specifically composed as a wordless vocal for Kay Davis
Kay Davis
Katherine McDonald Wimp née Katherine McDonald stage name Kay Davis was an American jazz singer best known for her time with the Duke Ellington Orchestra....

. Later that decade, Duke once again tried a piano solo between them.

The first known instance of Paul Gonsalves
Paul Gonsalves
Paul Gonsalves, was an American jazz tenor saxophonist best known for his association with Duke Ellington. At the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, Gonsalves played a 27-chorus solo in the middle of Ellington's "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue"...

 taking the solo between these pieces occurred on June 30, 1951 at Birdland
Birdland (jazz club)
Birdland is a jazz club started in New York City on December 15, 1949. The original Birdland, which was located at 1678 Broadway, just north of West 52nd Street in Manhattan, was closed in 1965 due to increased rents, but it re-opened for one night in 1979...

. During the piano break after "Diminuendo," Gonsalves leaned over to Duke and asked if he could get a piece of the action. What followed was a driving, barnstorming solo that whipped the audience into a frenzy, with people crying out and jumping on their chairs. The solo lasted 26 choruses, almost exactly the same length as in Newport 1956. There are several other issued recordings of Gonsalves doing this before 1956. Strikingly, though, at Birdland Gonsalves drifts a whole bar ahead during the fourth chorus of his solo in which he attempts a complicated syncopated patter over the first six bars but loses four beats in the process. It seemingly takes another eight or nine whole choruses before the listener can really be sure that both Duke Ellington and bassist Wendell Marshall
Wendell Marshall
Wendell Marshall was an American jazz double-bassist.Marshall was Jimmy Blanton's cousin. He studied at Lincoln University, then served in the Army during World War II. Following his discharge, he played with Stuff Smith, then relocated to New York City, where he began playing with Mercer Ellington...

 having adjusted to regain synch with Gonsalves, who just storms on regardless, in his own world. Despite this, it could be argued that the solo Gonsalves played at Birdland was considerably more invigorating and both melodically and harmonically inventive than the more famous 1956 Newport Jazz Festival
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...

 rendition.

1956 Newport Jazz Festival

There are no known recordings of Ellington playing the piece from March 30, 1953 until the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...

. In April 1956, there is evidence it was played in Durham, North Carolina
Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...

, but no recordings.

At the historic 1956 Newport Festival, Duke told Gonsalves to blow as long as he wanted during the interlude, which Ellington later called "The Wailing Interval" or "Blow By Blow." In what has since become jazz folklore, Gonsalves almost created a riot as he played a tenor sax solo for 27 choruses that stirred up the normally staid crowd into a frenzy. A striking platinum blonde woman in a black evening dress, named Elaine Anderson, jumped from her box seat and started dancing. This helped serve as a catalyst for the crowd frenzy that grew as Gonsalves continued his forceful, energetic solo. In later performances, Gonsalves played as many as 60 choruses.

This song, along with the other performances at the festival by Ellington's band, were released as a live recording which helped revive Ellington's flagging career. Because of poor performance, "The Newport Jazz Festival Suite" and "Jeep's Blues" were rerecorded on July 9, 1956 in Columbia's New York studio. However, on every issue of Ellington at Newport
Ellington at Newport
Ellington at Newport is a 1956 jazz live album by Duke Ellington and his band, recording their historic 1956 concert at the Newport Jazz Festival, a concert which revitalized Ellington's flagging career. Jazz promoter George Wein describes the 1956 concert as "the greatest performance of...

, "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" is from the Newport stage, with varying sound quality.
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