Barenboim Plays Ellington: Not as Strange as It Sounds

Daniel Barenboim and Duke Ellington? The names don’t exactly ring out in unison. So what is the music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra doing on “Tribute To Ellington” (Teldec), a collection of classic tunes from the Ellington songbook?

For one thing, proceeding with considerable caution.

“When the idea of doing an Ellington record came up a few years ago, shortly after I’d done a tango record,” explained Barenboim, “I said, ‘Well, I’m not a jazz pianist, nor do I pretend to be one.’ And I knew it would have to be something that would be appropriate for my capabilities. There’s no sense in putting myself into a situation where I would be expected to do something that I don’t know how to do, or that I might do badly.”

In fact, Barenboim has approached the music in extremely circumspect fashion, playing in relatively brief passages within orchestrations written by Cliff Colnot for a medium-sized “chamber like” ensemble. And he has done so with a fine rhythmic touch, an empathetic connection to jazz and a musicologist’s understanding of the classical resonances that exist within Ellington’s music.

“His harmonic world is so close to French music that you can almost imagine Debussy,” said Barenboim. “And some of the light, ornamental passages--especially in the ballads--require a touch not unlike the ornamentation that a classical pianist would use in a Mozart piano concerto, in the sense that it has to be done in a very light fashion.”

And what does Barenboim think, given the association, that Mozart might have thought of Ellington’s music?

“Oh, I think he would have been absolutely fascinated by Ellington,” he said with a chuckle. “Because, besides all the other wonderful aspects, there is an element of facility in Ellington’s music that is not unlike what one finds in Mozart.”

In addition to Barenboim and the ensemble, the album also features vocalist Dianne Reeves singing “Sophisticated Lady,” “Azure” and “Chelsea Bridge” with her characteristically lush sound, and Don Byron’s adventurous clarinet work on “Caravan” and “Zweet Zurzday.” Within the ensemble, the clarinet and saxophone work of Larry Combs plays a particularly prominent, beautifully articulated role.

Will Barenboim’s encounter with Ellington lead the already eclectic conductor-pianist into other jazz arenas?

“Well, you know, when we started out doing this,” he said, “I told Cliff that I didn’t have too much faith in my ability to improvise, and that I would prefer that he write out as much of the music as possible. And that’s what he did. I improvised a little bit, but not that much.

“But now that I’ve had a little experience,” Barenboim concluded, “I think I’d like to have something more to play--maybe even to improvise.”

Jazz Survivor: The remarkable win by singer Teri Thornton at last year’s Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition at the age of 64 was one of the comeback stories of the decade. The achievement led to the release last month of the appropriately titled “I’ll Be Easy to Find” (Verve), her first album in 35 years.

And what makes the story all the more amazing is that Thornton won the $20,000 competition after surviving cancer surgery. Knowing her medical past, many of Thornton’s West Coast fans were disturbed to hear that she had canceled appearances this month at the San Francisco Jazz Festival and next month at the Jazz Bakery. So it was good news to hear earlier this week, from Thornton herself, that she is still in good health.

“I’m fine,” she said in a phone call from her New Jersey home. “What I’ve got now is basically just something related to a blood clot in my leg and I need to have physical therapy and some exercises to strengthen the muscles. Otherwise, everything’s OK, because they found everything and I’ve got a clean bill of health.

“I had every test known to man: MRI, CAT scan, spinal tap. I wanted to know, and I got my answers. Now it’s just a matter of healing from the radiation.”

Thornton’s revived career comes after a long hiatus in which her much-praised emergence in the late ‘50s drifted into almost total eclipse--at least insofar as the wider jazz audience was concerned. And her entry into the Monk competition was, to say the least, serendipitous.

“I’d thought about it before,” she said, “but basically put it out of my mind because in the competition they had an age limit of 30. But when they dropped the age restriction, I thought, ‘Well, why not?’ I was just getting past the surgery, and I knew that I needed a door opener, something that would get me up and get me going.”

Reaching the finals was both unexpected and heady.

“It was actually kind of scary,” said Thornton. “I was up against some tough competition.”

Winning was even more intense.

“I was just weak in the knees,” she said. “It was almost like an out-of-body experience. But [I was] thankful. I mean, they could have just given me a nice token award of a few thousand dollars, and given the award to one of promising young singers. But I won. It was incredible, and just what I really needed.”

Despite the cancellation of the current West Coast tour, Thornton plans to make similar appearances in the near future.

“Don’t worry,” she says. “You know, I lived in L.A. from 1975 to 1983, and you can tell all my California friends that I’ll be out there soon.”