[78-L] Duke Ellington on film, 1925?

[David Palmquist]

Joe wrote:
Message: 2
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:21:47 -0500
From: "neechevoneeznayou at gmail.com" <neechevoneeznayou at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [78-L] Duke Ellington on film, 1925?

Is there sound that is not available on the web? Otherwise, I am
wondering why silent film of Duke that is hardly recognizable is of
important anyway.

joe salerno


Hi Joe

Since 1925 was in the silent film era,  there won't be a soundtrack 
to the film.  There is some information about the film at 
http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/H/Headlines1925.html

A number of people are interested in building the body of knowledge 
regarding Ellington.  The late Dr. Klaus Stratemann of Germany 
published his 780 page Duke Ellington Day by Day and Film by Film in 
1992, starting with 1929 and the earliest known Ellington 
film.  Since then, the late Ken Vail published a two volume Duke's 
Diary, building on Dr. Stratemann's work.  Dr. Stratemann did not go 
earlier than 1929 because his interest was film, and he didn't see 
the need because the late Mark Tucker had already published 
Ellington, The Early Years.  Probably 5 or 10 new Ellington 
biographies and studies have been published so far this century, and 
I understand another one is expected to be published this 
year.  People have worked for decades  to develop Ellington's 
itinerary, and new engagements and appearances surface regularly, 
thanks to online tools that were not available in the days of Tucker, 
Stratemann or Vail or their predecessors.

Ken Steiner discovered a whole field of research that was unknown to, 
or ignored by, the researchers who preceded him, the Afro-American 
press.  Often he finds Ellington events mentioned in the black 
newspapers that were not reported by the white papers.

The film, if it can be established to include Ellington, would 
demonstrate Ellington appeared on film earlier than previously 
known.  Assuming the studio records can be found, we would know which 
musicians were in the movie with Duke, when and where it was filmed, 
and probably even the amounts paid to the musicians.

Is it important?  Yes, I think so.

David Palmquist
Delta BC Canada
http://ellingtonweb.ca