Black and Tan

Whilst I agree entirely with thedoge and simuland - especially regarding the incredibly unfunny racist treatment of the two piano removers at the beginning (I presume it WAS meant to be funny!), I thought I'd point out a few things to any possible Ellington fans who may seek out this movie just to see the 1929 band in action. Be warned: the sound quality is awful. The band performs less well than on any of the studio recordings of the period, and every number is tailored to the various dance routines. "Black Beauty" is particularly horrendously butchered, and with a cheesy coda added for no apparent reason except to underline the fact that it has thankfully come to an end. "The Duke Steps Out" - a marvellous recording from the Victor studios, is taken at snail's pace - again to accommodate the so-called dancing I would imagine. What on the studio recording is a brilliant passage for the three trumpets, here is taken down an octave, and they don't even make it together! Nanton's trombone sounds way off mike, and although he is perhaps the major soloist, he doesn't even get properly in any of the shots - all of which are dominated by the oddly unsexy dancing of the semi-naked chorus girls. The opening has Ellington at the piano and Artie Whetsol with his trumpet 'learning' the intro to "Black and Tan Fantasy". It doesn't have much to do with anything, but Ellington buffs might like to note that Whetsol does not use the rubber plunger and pear (pixie) mute (in the manner of Bubber Miley) but an ordinary Harmon mute. Odd - Whetsol was quite adept with the plunger (check out the Vocalion recording of "Take it Easy" where he has to play Bubber Miley's part because the latter didn't show up for the session!) so why not use it in the movie? This brings me to the final number, "Black and Tan Fantasy". Ellington had already recorded this several times by the time this film was made, and it was one of his most well known compositions. It was co-written by the aforementioned Bubber Miley, who was also the featured soloist. What a shame he had left the band shortly before the film was made. I remember being extremely disappointed to discover that he was not in the film when I first saw it back in the 70s. For some reason (its not dancers this time!) the arrangement is altered quite drastically from all the previous recordings, with a clarinet solo from Barney Bigard added in place of Miley's 2nd chorus. (Maybe Duke felt Whetsol wasn't up to two choruses, but I doubt it). Once again Whetsol uses the Harmon mute instead of the plunger, and even more interestingly Joe Nanton, the trombonist, does not use the trumpet straight mute inside the bell underneath his plunger, as he does on all of the studio recordings. The result is an out-of-tune muffled sound that hardly sounds like Nanton at all! This is capped off by a ridiculously over-recorded bass (Wellman Braud) which detracts from everything else. There's also a weird organ coda tagged on the end, which has nothing to do with anything, and the obligatory negro gospel type choir making a meal of it. I'd love to know how much say Ellington had in all of this - not a lot me thinks! But, having said all that, its still the band, and its a worthy historic document. Thedoge and simuland have said everything else. What a shame its nowhere near as good as it COULD have been!

Simuland has pretty much said it all concerning this short. It's of no great value beyond the historical interest of seeing a very young Ellington and some members of his band. It's also interesting to note how "modern" some aspects of this are, despite the painfully dated racial stereotyping. Ellington's girl friend, for example, is obviously of the "live in" variety and the dancing costumes are fairly brief - two good indications that this is a "pre-code" film. Had this been filmed after the infamous Production Code went into effect, it would have been much more sanitized.

Anyone interested in actually seeing this will find it on (of all things) a recently issued DVD of the second-string musicals "Second Chorus" and "Mr. Impreium", tucked away behind the Special Features menu, along with another oddball short, "Boogie Woogie Dream" (1944) with a 27-year-old Lena Horne along with boogie-woogie pianists Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson and bandleader Teddy Wilson.

Duke Ellington is a struggling musician. Two men come to repossess his piano. His partner saves the day by offering the men a bottle of gin. She has a new dancing gig, but she has heart trouble.

This has the greatness of Duke Ellington playing his music. I'm not impressed with the line dancing. There's a reason why that didn't catch on. It's a step dance or line dancing except less energetic and closer. It may be skillful, but it has no energy. Fredi Washington's dance is a bit loose, but it does show her illness. That whole plot point is a bummer. I love the music. The dancing is less impressive, partly for plot reason. It's a darker story.

Well, although I agree that this movie short is stereotyped and the sound is not very good(1929!), I don't agree with the low rating. To see Duke and his college friend Arthur Whetsol play Black and tan fantasy is delightful. Yes, the original with Bubber Miley on trumpet is better, but it's not on film. This short gives a good impression of the Cotton Club scene at the time this club was run by gangsters and although the entertainers were black, no black people were allowed in. This was not a gangster thing but a common American racist practice. Still, even if this clip is a racist stereotype, it's not nearly as bad as say, the average hip hop clip nowadays, which is something to worry about. Now, this movie is of enormous historical interest and features an early version of the most significant jazz orchestra of the 20th century! So please don't listen to the puritan reviews and check this out. Then try to see maybe "Cotton tail" with Ben Webster on tenor, or basically anything by Ellington. It's great music! And American culture at its best.

Duke Ellington's film debut is quite an interesting introduction to the Duke on screen. The film isn't very long - a couple of reels - and the storyline is incidental to the music numbers, but the music and dance routines are certainly memorable. Although the film features an all-black cast, as others have pointed out, there is some fairly blatant racial stereotyping in the early scenes.

Duke acquits himself pretty well, although he isn't really called upon to do too much acting. Fredi Washington is great on the dance floor, but lousy as an actress. She does look fine though. The music's great and the dance routines are good, although one of them is repeated when viewed through the multi-sighted vision of the sick dancer - a sequence that perhaps goes on too long.

Definitely worth a look for historical value if nothing else.