Shorty Baker on trumpet and Ray Nance on violin are featured with the Duke Ellington Orchestra in a composition created during the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. Duke’s band performs her in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw on November 2 1958
Harold "Shorty" Baker (1914 -1966 ) started on drums, but switched to trumpet in his teens. He began on riverboats and played with Don Redman in the mid-1930s. He also worked with Teddy Wilson and Andy Kirk before his more noted association with Duke Ellington. He would marry Kirk's pianist Mary Lou Williams.
His worked on and off in Duke Ellington's Orchestra from 1942 to 1962. This orchestra's trumpet section had some of the leading trumpeters of the swing to bop era, like Clark Terry and William "Cat" Anderson. He also worked with Johnny Hodges's group in the early 50s.
Ray Willis Nance (1913 -1976 ) violonist and trumpet player Nance, is best known for his long association with Duke Ellington through most of the 1940s and '50's, after he was hired to replace Cootie Williams. Shortly after joining the band, Nance was given the trumpet solo on the first recorded version of "Take The A Train," which became the Ellington theme, a major hit and a jazz standard. Nance's "A Train" solo is one of the most copied and admired trumpet/cornet solos in jazz history. Nance was often featured on violin and was the only violin soloist ever featured in Ellington's orchestra.
Harold "Shorty" Baker (1914 -1966 ) started on drums, but switched to trumpet in his teens. He began on riverboats and played with Don Redman in the mid-1930s. He also worked with Teddy Wilson and Andy Kirk before his more noted association with Duke Ellington. He would marry Kirk's pianist Mary Lou Williams.
His worked on and off in Duke Ellington's Orchestra from 1942 to 1962. This orchestra's trumpet section had some of the leading trumpeters of the swing to bop era, like Clark Terry and William "Cat" Anderson. He also worked with Johnny Hodges's group in the early 50s.
Ray Willis Nance (1913 -1976 ) violonist and trumpet player Nance, is best known for his long association with Duke Ellington through most of the 1940s and '50's, after he was hired to replace Cootie Williams. Shortly after joining the band, Nance was given the trumpet solo on the first recorded version of "Take The A Train," which became the Ellington theme, a major hit and a jazz standard. Nance's "A Train" solo is one of the most copied and admired trumpet/cornet solos in jazz history. Nance was often featured on violin and was the only violin soloist ever featured in Ellington's orchestra.
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