Togo Brava Suite
Encyclopedia
Togo Brava Suite is a live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...

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

 recorded in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and released on the United Artists
United Artists Records
United Artists Records was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 initially to distribute records of its movie soundtracks, though it soon branched out into recording music of a number of different genres.-History:...

 label in 1971. The album won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

 for Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band in 1972. The album was later reissued on CD on the Blue Note
Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...

 label in 1994 and studio recordings of the complete "Togo Brava Suite" were released in 2001 on the Storyville
Storyville Records
Storyville Records is a large international record label based in Copenhagen, Denmark, specializing in jazz and blues music. Besides its original material, Storyville Records has licensed and reissued many vintage jazz recordings that previously appeared on such labels as Paramount Records,...

 label.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow
Scott Yanow
Scott Yanow is an American jazz commentator, known for many contributions to the Allmusic website, for writing ten books on jazz and for reviewing jazz recordings for over 30 years.-Biography:...

 awarded the album 2 stars and stated, "By the time of these concerts from England, the Duke Ellington Orchestra had suffered quite a few losses of veteran personnel... However, the band was still a major force, and this set has plenty of highpoints".

Track listing

All compositions by Duke Ellington except as indicated
  1. "C Jam Blues
    C Jam Blues
    "C Jam Blues" is a jazz standard composed in 1942 by Duke Ellington and performed by countless other musicians, such as Dave Grusin and Django Reinhardt. As the title suggests, the piece follows a twelve-bar blues form in the key of C major....

    " (Barney Bigard
    Barney Bigard
    Albany Leon Bigard, aka Barney Bigard, was an American jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist, though primarily known for the clarinet....

    , Duke Ellington) - 4:42
  2. "Toga Brava Suite: Soul Soothing Beach/Naturellement" - 11:56
  3. "Right on Togo" - 4:58
  4. "Happy Reunion" - 4:41
  5. "Addi" - 4:04
  6. "Lotus Blossom" (Billy Strayhorn
    Billy Strayhorn
    William Thomas "Billy" Strayhorn was an American composer, pianist and arranger, best known for his successful collaboration with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington lasting nearly three decades. His compositions include "Chelsea Bridge", "Take the "A" Train" and "Lush Life".-Early...

    ) - 2:30
  7. "Cotton Tail
    Cotton Tail
    "Cotton Tail" is a 1940 composition by Duke Ellington. It is based on the rhythm changes from George Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm". The first Ellington recording is notable for the driving tenor saxophone solo by Ben Webster. Originally an instrumental, "Cotton Tail" later had lyrics written for it by...

    " - 4:18
  8. "Checkered Hat" (Judy Spencer, Norris Turney
    Norris Turney
    Norris Turney was an American jazz flautist and saxophonist.Turney began his career in the Midwest, playing in territory bands such as the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra. He played with Tiny Bradshaw in Chicago before moving to New York City, where he played with the Billy Eckstine Orchestra in 1945-46...

    ) - 4:37
  9. "La Plus Belle Africaine" - 8:39
  10. "In a Mellow Tone
    In a Mellow Tone
    "In a Mellow Tone", also known as "In a Mellotone", is a 1939 jazz standard composed by Duke Ellington, with lyrics written by Milt Gabler. The song was based on the 1917 standard "Rose Room" by Art Hickman and Harry Williams...

    " (Ellington, Milt Gabler
    Milt Gabler
    Milton Gabler was an American record producer, responsible for many innovations in the recording industry of the 20th century.-Early life:...

    ) - 4:02
  11. "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...

    " (Ellington, Paul Francis Webster
    Paul Francis Webster
    Paul Francis Webster was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Song and was nominated sixteen times for the award.-Biography:...

    ) - 5:29
  12. "Melancholia" - 3:41
  13. "Soul Flute" - 3:19
    • Recorded at the Birmingham Theatre in Birmingham, England on October 24, 1971 except for tracks 1 & 7 which were recorded at Colston Hall in Bristol, England on October 22, 1971.

Personnel

  • Duke Ellington
    Duke Ellington
    Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...

     – piano
    Piano
    The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

  • Johnny Coles
    Johnny Coles
    Johnny Coles was an American jazz trumpeter.Coles spent his early career playing with R&B groups, including those of Eddie Vinson , Bull Moose Jackson , and Earl Bostic...

    , Mercer Ellington
    Mercer Ellington
    Mercer Kennedy Ellington was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger.Ellington was born in Washington, DC, the son of famous composer, pianist, and bandleader Duke Ellington...

    , Money Johnson
    Money Johnson
    Harold "Money" Johnson was an American jazz trumpeter.Johnson first played trumpet at age 15. He moved to Oklahoma City in 1936 and played with Charlie Christian and Henry Bridges before joining Nat Towles's band...

    , Cootie Williams
    Cootie Williams
    Charles Melvin "Cootie" Williams was an American jazz, jump blues, and rhythm and blues trumpeter.-Biography:...

     - trumpet
    Trumpet
    The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

  • Malcolm Taylor, Booty Wood
    Booty Wood
    Mitchell W. Wood, better known as Booty Wood was an American jazz trombonist.Wood played professionally on trombone from the late 1930s. He worked with Tiny Bradshaw and Lionel Hampton in the 1940s before joining the Navy during World War II. While there he played in a band with Clark Terry,...

     - trombone
    Trombone
    The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...

  • Chuck Connors - bass trombone
  • Jimmy Hamilton
    Jimmy Hamilton
    Jimmy Hamilton was an American jazz clarinetist, tenor saxophonist, arranger, composer, and music educator, best known for his twenty-five years with Duke Ellington....

    , Harold Ashby
    Harold Ashby
    Harold Ashby was a jazz tenor saxophonist. He is perhaps known for his work with Duke Ellington's band and stylistic similarities with Ben Webster.He worked as a freelance musician after leaving the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1975, and took part in various reunions of...

     - tenor saxophone
    Tenor saxophone
    The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...

    , clarinet
    Clarinet
    The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...

  • Norris Turney
    Norris Turney
    Norris Turney was an American jazz flautist and saxophonist.Turney began his career in the Midwest, playing in territory bands such as the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra. He played with Tiny Bradshaw in Chicago before moving to New York City, where he played with the Billy Eckstine Orchestra in 1945-46...

     - alto saxophone
    Alto saxophone
    The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...

  • Harold Minerve, Russell Procope
    Russell Procope
    Russell Procope , an American clarinettist and alto saxophonist, was known best for his long tenure in the reed section of Duke Ellington's orchestra, where he was one of its two signature clarinet soloists....

     - alto saxophone, clarinet
  • 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"...

     - tenor saxophone
  • Harry Carney
    Harry Carney
    Harry Howell Carney was an American swing baritone saxophonist, clarinetist, and bass clarinetist mainly known for his 45-year tenure in Duke Ellington's Orchestra. Carney started off as an alto player with Ellington, but soon switched to the baritone. His strong, steady saxophone often served as...

     - baritone saxophone
    Baritone saxophone
    The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...

  • Wild Bill Davis
    Wild Bill Davis
    Wild Bill Davis was the stage name of American jazz pianist, organist, and arranger William Strethen Davis.Davis was born in Glasgow, Missouri...

     - organ
  • Joe Benjamin
    Joe Benjamin
    Joseph Rupert "Joe" Benjamin was an American jazz bassist.Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Benjamin played with numerous high-profile jazz musicians in a variety of idioms...

     - bass
    Double bass
    The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...

  • Rufus Jones - drums
    Drum kit
    A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

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