DUKE ELLINGTON’S ORCHESTRA AT COTTON CLUB

Assignement for the François Théberge’s lesson “Histoire analyse M1” of 22-10-2020
Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et danse de Paris
Giulio Ottanelli

Role of the band: House band, opening at every Cotton Club’s night
Period of activity: 4th December 1927 - June 1931
Showtime: 00.00-3.00, radio broadcast
Orchestra [12 elements]: 3 Reeds→Barney Bigard, Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Otto Hardwick (left in 1928)
3 Trumpets → Cootie Williams, Freddie Jenkins, Arthur Whetsol, Bubber miley (he left after a short period)
2 Trombones → Tricky “Sam” Nanton, Juan Tizol
4 in the rhythm section → Duke Ellington, Freddy Guy (Banjo/Guitar), Wellman Braud (Bass), Sonny Greer (Drums)
What was the Cotton Club? → The Cotton Club, located on 142nd street and Lenox Avenue, was one of the most
expensive clubs in Harlem. Especially during the American prohibitionism, it was the perfect destination for all the
whealthy whites downtowners looking for some overnight authentic black enterteinment. 1 The stylish and sophisticated
club had a strong racist connotation, starting from the name “Cotton Club” that recalls the cotton fields in south america
where black slaves used to work; the audience and the managers were exclusively white while the workers and the
performers were all black. 3 It was a sort of “wild Negro life” showcase for white tourists and gangster, were black people
were represented as “savages in exotic jungles” in order to fulfil the racist imagery of the era. 2 The club opened for
business at 9.00 pm with background music for dining and dancing; then at midnight the first show broke out and there
were greatly elaborated performances with dance and music until 3.00 am.
How did Ellington get to the Club? → In late 1927 the Club needed a new house band. They first invited King Oliver
and his band “Dixie Syncopaters” but he refused because he thought the money offered was not enough: big mistake for
his career.1 Then Jimmy Mchugh proposed to invite The Washingtonians, a six elements band lead by Ellington that
Mchugh had heard at the Kentucky Club. 1 After an audition, Ellington got the job and he made, alongside his band, his
Cotton Club debut on the 4th December 1927.
What was the reaction of the critics? → At the very beginning, the critics did not pay much attention on Ellington
music. As we can see in the first Cotton Club Review by Abel Green, most of the article “ is devoted to the dancers,
singers, and stage production, mentioning the music only in passing”.2 That was how the patrons of the Club intended the
enterteinment: music was just something behind the dancers and the singers. But the situation changed very quickly: due
to the powerness, the sophistication and attractivness of his music, Ellington reputation grew beyond mesure as well the
reputation of the Club.
How did the shows at Cotton Club affected his music?→ Playing at Cotton Club was for Ellington one of the best (if
not the best) opportunity of his career. This period was undoubtedly prolific for him: between 1927 and 1931 he recorded
more than 180 sides with his band and composed more than a hundred tunes. His band expanded from six to twelve
elements. He had the opportunity to play almost every night with the same musicians, to experiment new sounds and
arrangements, to write music already thinking on who would have played it. He obviously had to write music suited for
the dance, meeting the white desire of a wild african sound (the so called jungle music); but at the same time, thanks to
this commercial compromise, he gained the fame, the respect and the money needed to write and play also his “real”
music, the music he really felt inside. In this period he also established a deep relationship of mutual exchange and esteem
with his bandmates, that was a foundamental and unique ingredient for his inimitable art. In these five years he wrote and
recorded masterpieces like Creole love call, Black and tan fantasy, Mood indigo, It don’t mean a thing.
How important was the job at Cotton Club for his career? The Cotton Club was an incredible showcase for black
artists. Ellington and his band used to play there almost every night for three hours. The show was broadcast via radio by
NBC all over America: people around the nation could listen live performances of the Duke Ellington’s Orchestra just by
tuning into the radio. Thanks to this broad diffusion of his music, Ellington became a real jazz star and his band became
the best known orchestra of the era. He gained so much influence that he was also able, at least in part, to change the
Cotton Club policy of admitting only white people in the audience.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1) https://riverwalkjazz.stanford.edu/?q=program/night-cotton-club-music-duke-ellington-harold-arlen-cab-calloway
2) MARK TUCKER, The Duke Ellington Reader (1993), Oxford University Press
3) FAYARD NICHOLAS on DUKE ELLINGTON: the history of the COTTON CLUB in Harlem, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLNZdovc3PI
4) Duke Ellington "The Cotton Club", Michael Parkinson Interview, Extract from BBC documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=1Ssssvphv5s
5) BERENDT, HUESMANN, The Jazz Book : From Ragtime to the 21st Century, Chicago Review press,2009