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The whole original square image had to be stretched sideways in order to produce a 18x10 wallpaper.
This was accomplished by repositioning the album title and the name of the artist.
This was all that was needed to be done. The resulting image was already symmetrically perfect and
moreso when the album label banner was removed. If anything at all, the congas on both sides had to
be made to look heavy and the woman at centre to look light, almost like floating in the air. This
was accomplished with the processing of the percussion instruments with the Cutout filter and by
replacing the conga on which the woman sat with her own diminishing reflection. She also had to be
Posterized in order to brighten up her colours.
This is the original album cover art design.
Information wanted for original album cover art design and photography and production of the album.
Columbia 1956.
Duke Ellington's A Drum Is a Woman, a jazz allegory with songs by the Duke and Billy Strayhorn and a
narrative in the Duke's ironic and sometimes florid prose, was composed and recorded in 1956. A year
later, it was adapted for a television production. In the more than three decades since then, it had
never been performed.
Ellington's fantasy involves the seductive Madam Zajj, who seeks fame and sophistication, and Carabea
Joe, who is drawn to the jungle and its drums. Madam Zajj's attempts to lure Carabea Joe from the
jungle takes them through a quick history of jazz from New Orleans to New York and be-bop, which
was the ultimate extension of jazz in 1956. John S. Wilson for The New York Times, June 28, 1988, abridged.
Duke Ellington was always an enigma - a very private person who revealed little of himself to anyone. And A Drum is a Woman is one of his most
enigmatic works: theoretically an account of the development of jazz but actually a sprawling, often eccentric, product of Ellington's stream of
consciousness, although it was actually composed by Ellington with his faithful collaborator, Billy Strayhorn.
Ellington called it "a tone parallel to the history of jazz". It was originally recorded in 1956 for a record album but was then presented as a television
special in May 1957 on the US Steel Hour. The TV version (an early experiment with colour) included dances featuring Carmen de Lavallade. It uses a
variety of musical styles: New Orleans jazz, calypso, Ellingtonian swing, bebop, etc. and it takes the listener from Africa to the Caribbean via Congo
Square and 52nd Street to the moon!
If this sounds strange, it is. Duke's narration is often puzzling and may be marred for modern listeners by the old-fashioned attitude towards women
in the title-track ("It isn't civilised to beat women, No matter what they do or say, But will somebody tell me What else can you do with a drum?").
Despite being a confirmed devotee of Ellington's music, I find it hard to regard this as one of his major works. It's bitty incomprehensibility militates
against its success, and the mysterious words might have been better replaced by more music from the wonderful band. At times, Ellington's words
sound more like a private meditation than a narration. Tony Augarde for Jazz CD Reviews, abridged.
(A) A Drum is a Woman - Rhythm Pum Te Dum - What Else Can You Do With a Drum - New Orleans - Hey, Buddy Bolden - Carribee Joe - Bongo Square
(B) Zajj: A Drum is a Woman - You Better Know It - Madam Zajj - Ballet of the Flying Saucers - Zajj's Dream - Rhumbop - Carribee Joe Part 2 - Finale
"What Else Can You Do With a Drum?" (audio) from buenasuerterecord on YouTube.
www.dukeellington.com
The whole original square image had to be stretched sideways in order to produce a 18x10 wallpaper.
This was accomplished by repositioning the album title and the name of the artist.
This was all that was needed to be done. The resulting image was already symmetrically perfect and
moreso when the album label banner was removed. If anything at all, the congas on both sides had to
be made to look heavy and the woman at centre to look light, almost like floating in the air. This
was accomplished with the processing of the percussion instruments with the Cutout filter and by
replacing the conga on which the woman sat with her own diminishing reflection. She also had to be
Posterized in order to brighten up her colours.
This is the original album cover art design.
Information wanted for original album cover art design and photography and production of the album.
Columbia 1956.
Duke Ellington's A Drum Is a Woman, a jazz allegory with songs by the Duke and Billy Strayhorn and a
narrative in the Duke's ironic and sometimes florid prose, was composed and recorded in 1956. A year
later, it was adapted for a television production. In the more than three decades since then, it had
never been performed.
Ellington's fantasy involves the seductive Madam Zajj, who seeks fame and sophistication, and Carabea
Joe, who is drawn to the jungle and its drums. Madam Zajj's attempts to lure Carabea Joe from the
jungle takes them through a quick history of jazz from New Orleans to New York and be-bop, which
was the ultimate extension of jazz in 1956. John S. Wilson for The New York Times, June 28, 1988, abridged.
Duke Ellington was always an enigma - a very private person who revealed little of himself to anyone. And A Drum is a Woman is one of his most
enigmatic works: theoretically an account of the development of jazz but actually a sprawling, often eccentric, product of Ellington's stream of
consciousness, although it was actually composed by Ellington with his faithful collaborator, Billy Strayhorn.
Ellington called it "a tone parallel to the history of jazz". It was originally recorded in 1956 for a record album but was then presented as a television
special in May 1957 on the US Steel Hour. The TV version (an early experiment with colour) included dances featuring Carmen de Lavallade. It uses a
variety of musical styles: New Orleans jazz, calypso, Ellingtonian swing, bebop, etc. and it takes the listener from Africa to the Caribbean via Congo
Square and 52nd Street to the moon!
If this sounds strange, it is. Duke's narration is often puzzling and may be marred for modern listeners by the old-fashioned attitude towards women
in the title-track ("It isn't civilised to beat women, No matter what they do or say, But will somebody tell me What else can you do with a drum?").
Despite being a confirmed devotee of Ellington's music, I find it hard to regard this as one of his major works. It's bitty incomprehensibility militates
against its success, and the mysterious words might have been better replaced by more music from the wonderful band. At times, Ellington's words
sound more like a private meditation than a narration. Tony Augarde for Jazz CD Reviews, abridged.
(A) A Drum is a Woman - Rhythm Pum Te Dum - What Else Can You Do With a Drum - New Orleans - Hey, Buddy Bolden - Carribee Joe - Bongo Square
(B) Zajj: A Drum is a Woman - You Better Know It - Madam Zajj - Ballet of the Flying Saucers - Zajj's Dream - Rhumbop - Carribee Joe Part 2 - Finale
"What Else Can You Do With a Drum?" (audio) from buenasuerterecord on YouTube.
www.dukeellington.com
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