DESCRIPTION:
(excerpts from the liner notes by Maurice Peress)

Among the papers of Duke Ellington held by his sister Ruth Boatwright, there appears a 33-page verse narrative, entitled "Black, Brown, & Beige", by Ellington. It traces the history of an African named Boola, and tells of his arrival in America by slave ship, of his servatude in a strange and beautiful land, his emancipation and his discovery of the blues.

The narrative "Black, Brown, & Beige" is Ellington's philisophical metaphor for black survival in a white world. An enigmatic and complicated work, made all the more difficult to fathom by the disarmingly comfortable tonal palette and rhythmic flow of a jazz band, "Black, Brown, & Beige" is a signature piece by Ellington, but rarely performed.

The Suite includes "Work Song", "Come Sunday", and "Light". Together they make up the opening "Black" section of the original work. With the exception of "The Blues", they are the strongest and most "symphonic" of the seven movements. The "Work Song" theme depicts the ax chop, as well as the after-grunt---the back beat---of hard labor. "Work Song" flows into "Come Sunday" which is depicted as a scene where black folks are standing outside a church they cannot enter, enjoying the music and harmonizing along, praising the universal God of all men. A transistional phrase and a trumpet cadenza leads us into the happy-go-lucky "Light", a variation on "Work Song" ending with a final quote of "Come Sunday"---this last, a 1969 idea of Duke's, to give the three movements a proper close.

Features Frank Wess, Alto Saxophone and Richard Chamberlain, Trombone