Reimagining Duke Ellington: Claude Tissendier’s Saxophone Orchestra

Reconnect with the eternity of the Ellingtonian repertoire… without the piano! This is the bet that the saxophonist has set for himself Claude Tissendier. He achieved the feat of rearranging the scores of the reed section of Duke Ellington’s orchestra, originally designed for two alto saxophones, two tenors and a baritone, for a single alto and a baritone. As if the spirits of Johnny Hodges and Harry Carney possessed the musicians present. Without forgetting to sometimes combine a clarinet and a bass clarinet, enlisting the services of a singer whose voice has everything of a wind instrument.

The resulting weaving of melodic lines makes it possible to do without a harmonic instrument, especially since the double bassist and the drummer have a very singing approach to the repertoire covered. The singer took the gamble of writing lyrics on titles that were originally purely instrumental like “Upper Manhattan Medical Group”, which here becomes a hymn to “care”. We must take care of Duke Ellington’s repertoire, the artists gathered here tell us, because, in a certain way, it is taking care of our common humanity.

2023-11-12 21:07:20
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