“Sometimes we would write something that seemed or was expected to be below bland, but when Sam added his thing to it, immediately it took on a new dimension, exotic, zesty, or maybe lecherous soul. Sam the Man, who began with his hand on the plan for the stand of his drums – exotic as the tabla, lecherous as the cuica, his elbow on the snare drum.”
Duke Ellington, Music Is My Mistress
The recordings heard on this podcast episode:
Limbo Jazz (CD: “Duke Ellington meets Coleman Hawkins” Impulse! IMPD-162)
Recorded 18 August 1962, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Ray Nance – trumpet; Lawrence Brown – trombone; Johnny Hodges – alto sax; Coleman Hawkins – tenor sax; Harry Carney – baritone sax; Duke Ellington – piano; Aaron Bell – bass; Sam Woodyard – drums.
Theme from “The Asphalt Jungle” (CD: “The Great Paris Concert” Collectables 7818)
Recorded 1 February 1963, Paris
Cat Anderson, Ray Nance, Cootie Williams, Roy Burrowes – trumpet; Lawrence Brown, Buster Cooper, Chuck Connors – trombone; Johnny Hodges, Russell Procope; Jimmy Hamilton, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney – reeds; Duke Ellington – piano; Ernie Shepard – bass; Sam Woodyard – drums.
Bonga
Stompin’ at the Savoy (CD: “The Great Paris 1963 Concert – Unissued Material” La Maison du Duke, MDD 009)
Recorded 23 February 1963, Paris
Cat Anderson, Cootie Williams, Roy Burrowes, Ray Nance – trumpet;Lawrence Brown, Buster Cooper, Chuck Connors – trombone; Johnny Hodges, Russell Procope, Jimmy
Hamilton, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney – reeds; Duke Ellington – piano; Ernie
Shepard – bass; Sam Woodyard – drums.
Virgin Jungle (CD: “The Door” Novus 3049-2-N)
Recorded 4/5 July 1988 in Paris
Steve Lacy, Steve Potts – soprano sax; Irene Aebi – violin; Bobby Few – piano; Jean-Jacques Avinel – bass; Sam Woodyard, Oliver Johnson – drums.
Ellington Reflections 