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LOUIS ARMSTRONG and DUKE ELLINGTON Course Code 1 SYLLABUS: LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND DUKE ELLINGTON Course Code: WSP 182 Quarter: SUMMER, 2012 Instructor Name: LENNY CARLSON Course Schedule: SATURDAYS 7/07 and 7/14, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Required Text(s): None. Instructor will supply all class material. Recommended Text(s): Armstrong, Louis. Louis Armstrong, in His Own Words: Selected Writings (NY: Oxford, 1999). Dance, Stanley. The World of Duke Ellington (NY: Da Capo Press, 1970, 2009). Ellington, Duke. Music is My Mistress (NY: Doubleday, 1973 and Da Capo Press, 1976). Teachout, Terry. Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong (NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009). Note: a more extended bibliography (and discography) will be included in the Course Outline presented on 7/07. Requirements for a Letter Grade and/or Credit: Attendance at both meetings of WSP 182 for credit. A 4 - 5 page paper on a topic of student’s choice TBD, with appropriate formatting and documentation, for a letter grade. WEEKLY OUTLINE Week 1 – 7/07 Hour #1: The historical importance of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. Hour #2: Armstrong’s early life; his musical influences and peers in New Orleans and Chicago. Buddy Bolden, Jelly Roll Morton, Freddie Keppard, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Joe Oliver, Sidney Bechet, Bix Beiderbecke, Bessie Smith, Lil Hardin. 2 Syllabus: Armstrong/Ellington Lenny Carlson, Instructor Hour #3: Armstrong with Fletcher Henderson. The Hot Fives and Hot Sevens, determining the future of Jazz. Landmark recordings with Earl Hines. Hour #4: Armstrong’s introduction of popular songs into the Jazz repertoire. Hour #5: Armstrong’s personal life; his manager Joe Glaser; the All-Stars; hit songs “Mack the Knife,“ “Hello Dolly” and “It’s a Wonderful World.” Summary. Week 2 – 7/14 Hour #1: Duke Ellington’s early life in Washington, DC; his talent as a visual artist; his aptitude for music and the music business; the Washingtonians in New York and the beginnings of a career lasting more than 50 years. Hour #2: Irving Mills; the Cotton Club and the development of the Duke Ellington mystique; representative music from the 1920s and 1930s; important individual musicians within the early Ellington organization; Duke’s personal life and his son Mercer; Duke’s great wit and ability to manipulate those around him. Hour #3: Billy Strayhorn; the Blanton-Webster period; Duke and the Civil Rights Movement; his experimentation with longer forms; his religious works; the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival and the revitalization of Ellington’s career; representative music from the early 1960s until his death in 1974. Hours #4 and #5: Lecture/Demonstration with Frederick Harris, Pianist. Renowned for his work in both the Classical and Jazz fields, Mr. Harris has recently performed several times at Stanford as a featured artist and has been part of the Stanford Jazz Workshop Faculty for many years. The topic will be Ellington at the Keyboard, focusing on compositions and arrangements for solo piano by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. .
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