The Duke of Ellington on BBC3

Been listening to a BBC3 program called Composer of the Week. This program, over 5 days/hours traces a composer's life through work and time. Music, from the composer in question, is played in rough chronilogical order. In between are concise liner notes that add to the appreciation of the music in question. Last week it was a pair of renaissance low country choir directors.

This week it is Duke Ellington. I have always liked Ellington and his program has exposed me to more of his pieces than I knew existed before. Today episode dealt with the more complicated peices he wrote after the death of his mother. It ended with Caravan. The "Duke of" comes from an antedote from Haval that unlike Count Bassie and Earl Hines it was assumed that Ellington's first name was also his title.

Here is a little ad about the headbanging appeal of all good music. Enjoy.