Duke Ellington: Music is my Mistress

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

222-223

text excerpt

Betty Roché was an unforgettable singer. She came with us during our Hurricane engagement in 1943, and she sang almost anything that was suggested or requested. She learned new songs so quickly, and they always came off as Betty Roché originals. She had a soul inflection in a bop state of intrigue, and it was presented to the listener in a most believable manner as by a little girl with an adult delivery. The recordings she did with us are still considered great, and they still have the luster of originality. Many of the phrases she came up with, along with the words she added, would have been considered good as instrumental licks. Her treatment of "Take the ‘A’ Train," for example, is as classic as the original Ray Nance trumpet solo. She was the first to sing "The Blues" in Black, Brown and Beige (at Carnegie Hall in January, 1943), and every word was understandable despite the sophisticated hip and jive connotations. She was thirty years ahead of her time. She never imitated anybody, and she never sounded like anybody but Betty Roché.

excerpt from 'Duke Ellington: Music is my Mistress' pp. 222-223 (184 words)

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