released May 13, 2020

"Early nineties (was it 1993?) I was in charge of running the weekly jam sessions at the Bimhuis café. “Can you do something special for the last session of the year?” I was asked. “Sure. How’s this for rules? Only Ellington tunes can be played. As opening act I’ll organize an Ellington type small band to get the session on its way. Sean Bergin, Tobias Delius and Daniele D’Agaro on saxes. Joost Buis and myself brass. And as rhytm section Cor Fuhler, Wilbert de Joode and Wim Janssen. Let’s call it ALL ELLINGTON”.
Fast-forward almost twenty years. 2012: “Hey Eric, Taylor (Ho Bynum) here. I’m in The Netherlands for rehearsals. Could I drop by on my Sunday off and talk and play some cornet?” “Sure. Perfect timing. How about this? I was offered a Carte Blanche concert in Zaandam that very Sunday. Would you like to join? I read in Downbeat you’re a great Ellington fan. Let’s make an Ellington type small band. Let’s call it ALL ELLINGTON”.
In Amsterdam, as in Zaandam, the eight of us brought two arrangements each and after a short rehearsal we had enough material for a two-hour concert.
After the Zaandam concert the musicians wanted to continue developing Ellington repertoire on a more regular basis. We were lucky to land a monthly gig in Amsterdam’s Zaal 100 from January 2013 onwards. In a short period of time the band expanded its book of arrangements and developed ideas and strategies for dealing with that wonderful repertoire. Soon after, Huub van Riel invited ALL ELLINGTON to play the Bimhuis to summarize the band’s progress so far. And the Bimhuis keeps repeating the invitation.
In 2017 ALL ELLINGTON very happily accepted JazzCase Neerpelt’s invitation for a residency. Living in halls of residence, in the woods of northern Belgium, we could spend a whole week working on new things and fine-tuning our music. On 19 March 2018, at the Bimhuis, we recorded the material on this CD.
The music on this record is packaged in suites/medleys. Whereas the transitions in the original Ellington Orchestra medleys were arranged, in ALL ELLINGTON they are improvised.
The first medley combines Night Song with Strange Feeling (Perfume Suite) and Sonnet For Sister Kate (Such Sweet Thunder). The saxes set up proceedings with twelve bell-like chords to announce midnight. Then Jimmy Sernesky’s golden trumpet states the melody and leads us all the way through. Nighttime isn’t quite over yet. We improvise our way towards the march-like Strange Feeling, until Wilbert de Joode’s bass announces the entrance of the main character from Shakespeare’s The Taming Of The Shrew, portrayed here by Joost Buis’ pixied*) and plungered trombone.
In the second medley we present a reading of (In My) Solitude, Zweet Zursday and Black And Tan Fantasy. “Clarinets out!” for Joost Buis’ arrangement of Solitude. The clarinets make space for Mo van der Does’
jubilant alto to lead us into Zweet Zursday. Solo space for Oscar Jan Hoogland’s almost Egyptian piano and Wilbert’s bass. The piano, bass, drums trio makes the transition into the classic Black And Tan Fantasy. “Pixies in, plungers tight!” for the melody. Blues solos by Jimmy (check out his final phrase!), Oscar Jan again and Joost (ex tempore without skipping a beat). Albeit differently, as in the original we put in some excitement before we quote Chopin’s famous Marche Funèbre.
Sophisticated Lady is introduced by a short bass improvisation and features the clear voice of Jodi Gilbert. After Jodi, Giuseppe Doronzo takes the helm to steer the band for a second time through the famous melody. Towards the end, with a long held note that rises in pitch, he glues together two improvising duo’s (Jodi and Frank Rosaly vs Wilbert and Natalio Sued). At the right moment, with a well-timed glissando, he closes procedures.
Lament For Javanette in combination with Sonnet in Search of a Moor was brought to the book as a tribute to the Bimhuis cook Edwin Takens (†2017). In between the two titles the reeds improvise an introduction to set up Wilbert’s delicate melody.
In Mount Harissa Oscar Jan is responsible for setting the pace and introducing an eerie atmosphere. On top of that he provides Natalio Sued, who volunteers to climb the Mount, with exciting counterpoint."
Eric Boeren, November 2018

*) a pixy is a small pear shaped mute that fits in the bell of a brass instrument so you can play more in tune when you play with the plunger mute over it. Trombone players use straight trumpet mutes.

Many thanks to everybody at Zaal 100 (Frits, Hedwig, Eveline, Paul), Carolyn Muntz at Stichting Doek, Caas van der Ven and Hugo Bergs at JazzCase Neerpelt and all the staff at Bimhuis.
Special thanks to Taylor Ho Bynum, Christian Ferlaino, Michael Moore, Gideon Tazelaar and Michael Vatcher who contributed so much to get the band on the way.