Programme
notes by freelance jazz writer, Chris Yates:
By
one of those extraordinary coincidences, at the very time
Duke Ellington was first performing his sacred music,
similar but entirely unrelated developments in jazz directed
sacred music were stirring in north east England.
Canon
Bill Hall’s work, as Chaplain to the Arts and Recreation
in north east England, then included a ministry to the region’s
cabaret clubs. Through this, he developed a friendship with
certain local musicians. Though they found themselves in
the all too familiar position of having to play commercial
music, they were ready at any opportunity to be involved
in a jazz project. Significantly, this was also a time when
several jazz pieces were emerging with a definite religious
tenor, among them Charles Mingus’ gospel-saturated
‘Ecclusiastics’ (1961), John Coltrane’s four
part work ‘A Love Supreme’ (1964) comprising ‘Acknowledgement’,
‘Resolution’, ‘Pursuance’ and ‘Psalm’
and Coltrane’s 'Alabama’ (1963), a comment on
racial atrocity through a stark hymn-like theme.
Bill Hall suggested that a concert of such pieces might
be performed in church. In the event it was decided that
new music be written and performed. What emerged was ‘God’s
Actions in History and Today’ - music and words covering
several key Biblical themes from Creation to Resurrection
and beyond to the Church in action at that time. Alto saxophonist
Ron Aspery, bassists Roy Babbington and Kenny Wright, pianist
Bob Stephenson, vibraphone player Jack Gibson and drummer
Ronnie Pearson performed the music with Bill Hall delivering
the words for the occasion on Whit Monday 1966 in St Paul’
Church in Thornaby on Teesside.
It
was a huge success for all present, including journalist
Luke Casey who reported it as such, following an earlier
article describing the opposition to the concept. It completely
won over the "opposition". A few years later,
Bill Hall used a further group of local musicians for similar
projects of new words and new music. One was jazz pieces
based around Dag Hammarskjold’s ‘Markings’.
Duke
Ellington, meanwhile, continued to perform his sacred music
round the world. British performances included the premiere
of his Third Concert of Sacred Music in Westminster Abbey.
After Ellington’s death in 1974, there was an attempt
to present his sacred music in Britain, in 1982, in St Paul’s
Cathedral, as part of the Festival of the City of London.
The music was played by the Alan Cohen Big Band, who had
earlier re-transcribed and recorded Ellington’s ‘Black,
Brown and Beige' to splendid effect.
The
1982 event was hosted by actor Rod Steiger, narrated by
Douglas Fairbanks Jnr and featured singer Tony Bennett,
dancer Wayne Sleep and jazz fusionist Jacques Loussier and
attracted an audience of around 3,000. Despite, or indeed
perhaps because of, the range of celebrities, the whole
affair did not work. The Alan Cohen Big Band contained the
finest available musicians, including pianist Stan Tracey
and saxophonist John Surman, but this was insufficient to
ensure success. The Cathedral’s acoustics merged badly
with TV amplification, and Peter Vacher reviewing the event
for Jazz Journal International commented, "Therein
lay the concert’s ruin, with the combined evils of
showbiz and Channel Four considerations overtaking its solemn
and serious purpose. Sound failed and lights went down,
a floor manager waved his arms and the ghost of Ellington
got up and crept away."
Bill
Hall and his wife were present at the event as guests of
jazz tap dancer Will Gaines. A friend of some twenty years,
he had danced with the Ellington Orchestra at a concert
in Bristol and it was he who first told Bill Hall of Ellington’s
Sacred Concerts. At the reception afterwards, Bill met Derek
Jewell, organiser of the event and then jazz critic of the
Sunday Times. Derek Jewell, who knew Ellington personally
and who had written a major biography entitled Duke,
had also arranged and presented a small scale Ducal tribute
in London around the same time. The small-scale tribute,
also called Duke, had been successful in capturing
the spirit of Ellington’s music. He asked Bill for
his opinion of the event in St Paul’s Cathedral. Bill
had to reply that he had been disappointed. Derek Jewell
agreed and they discussed why this should be so. Ellington’s
Sacred Music Concerts had always been a personal statement
(a ‘testimony’ in evangelical terms). They had
an integrity but, without Ellington, they seemed to be simply
a series of separate pieces.
Bill
suggested that by setting each piece within the objective
structure of the liturgy, with the whole creating the equivalent
of an Ellington ‘Mass’, the problem might be solved.
Bill
and Derek Jewell discussed Durham Cathedral as a venue for
such an Ellington ’Mass’ with top London musicians
involved. As a church service, there could be no charge
for admission, and initial attempts to raise the necessary
funds for arrangements, rehearsals and performance were
without success. Initial interest shown by local television
evaporated with the knowledge that television’s Channel
4 had already shown the St Paul’s concert.
Sadly,
Derek Jewell died before any realisation of the project
seemed possible, but Bill Hall continued to seek a way forward.
A further meeting with Will Gaines led to Stan Tracey being
approached. Stan was already working on Ellingtonian material
and was very enthusiastic. The enthusiasm was shared by
the Very Reverend Peter Baelz, then Dean of Durham. Funding
continued to be the major stumbling block. Peter, now Lord
Palumbo, then Chair of the Arts Council of Great Britain,
heard of the project from Bill and provided the immediate
impetus by passing on information about it to a jazz aficionado
friend in London. This led to the surprise arrival of a
cheque for a substantial amount. With essential support
from Durham County Council and Northern Arts it then became
a very real possibility. Together with income generated
from an afternoon performance of Stan Tracey’s masterwork
‘Genesis’, it was now possible to go ahead with
the (free) service in the evening. Furthermore, in Stan
Tracey’s hands all dangers of mere pastiche or misconsidered
reproduction disappeared and the major jazz event evolved.
6th
October 1990 was without doubt a musical triumph and a fitting
tribute to the greatness of Duke Ellington. A Guardian
review stated, "The congregation of Durham Cathedral
on Saturday night had a rare and precious opportunity to
experience the power of Ellington’s inspiration. The
problem of structure was solved, thanks to the insight of
Canon Bill Hall, by the simple but brilliant expedient of
setting a selection of the Duke’s sacred music in the
context of a full-scale Mass. Canon Hall chose the pieces,
Stan Tracey arranged them with evident respect, and the
whole memorable event was realised by Tracey’s Orchestra
with the Cathedral Choir and soloists". The same review
concluded with the comment, "I’m sure that there
were many in the Cathedral on Saturday who felt Ellington
was present among them".
A
Jazz in the North review referred to the occasion
as "quite unforgettable", adding "The Cathedral’s
eleventh century Romanesque setting proved uncannily conducive
for jazz, both when the Orchestra blended with the Durham
Cathedral Choir and when this great big band simply rocked
in rhythm". Peter Hewitt, Chief Executive of The Arts
Council of England, has described it as ". . .one of
the most extraordinarily moving artistic experiences of
my life".
There
was a demand for it to be repeated. In May1993 it was. The
occasion was a celebration of the 25th Anniversary
of the Arts and Recreation Chaplaincy and part of the celebrations
of the 900th Anniversary of the laying of the
foundation stones of Durham Cathedral.
Of
the many expressions of appreciation, let one suffice. Professor
Dick Watson, an expert on Victorian hymnody and a member
of the Archbishops’ Commission on church music, attended
the performances in 1990 and 1993. The first time he found
the ‘Ellington Mass’ to be "extraordinarily
exciting", and felt therefore that a repeated experience
could be a disappointment. "In fact, I did find it
less exciting because I knew what to expect, but I now found
it deeply satisfying spiritually. It was on the second occasion
that the integration of the music and the Mass particularly
struck me".
Canon
John Inge was also in the congregation. On his move to Ely
Cathedral he arranged for the work to be performed there.
In the Ely programme, he wrote: "Having been present
in Durham Cathedral to witness the realisation of the magnificent
project which enabled Duke Ellington’s sacred music
to be played there, I am overjoyed that we shall be able
to witness something just as unforgettable at Ely. The experience
at Durham was, for me, one of the most profound and moving
ones of my life, both in musical and spiritual terms".
Chris
Yates
The
setting has recently been recorded and issued on CD. Copies
are available from either Bill Hall or 33 Jazz Records (Tel:
0044 (0) 1582 419584)
For
further information contact
Bill Hall
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