Song of the Week: 'Take the A-Train' by the Duke Ellington Orchestra

A few years ago during my work experience as a Teaching Assistant at my old high school I was tasked with making a presentation for a 'Song of the Week'. I loved doing this as not only did I get to share knowledge with the children but I also learnt a lot along the way. So in light of the recent situation I thought I would bring it back! Every week I will post a song of the week from an array of genres and eras so even though there are no music lessons in schools we can still (to some extent) teach children about music.

So for the first week I have chosen 'Take the A Train' by the Duke Ellington Orchestra. I learnt a lot about Duke Ellington in my Jazz module at University and really enjoyed learning about this genre as it is one which I hadn't much explored previously. Duke Ellington was a skilled pianist and composer and is one of the original Big Band leaders from the 1920's. His most prolific songs include, 'It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)' and 'Mood Indigo.'

As a band leader, he always looked to add players to his band that had a unique sound and playing style, such as Joe Nanton, who gave the world his famous Trombone 'growl'. Ellington took his band all over the world. Over his 50-year-long career he performed over 20,000 times in Europe, South America, the Middle East and even Asia!

'Take the A-Train' is one of Ellington's signature pieces. Even though he is famous for playing this song he didn't write it. It was in fact written by Billy Strayhorn, who wrote this piece about the subway directions that Ellington gave him for a meeting at his office in Harlem. It was this piece that solidified their musical partnership as Strayhorn became a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and this became the band's opening theme. Ellington thought a lot of Strayhorn, and said in his autobiography that, ' (Strayhorn) was not, as he was often referred to by many, my alter ego. Billy Strayhorn was my right arm, my left arm, and the eyes in the back of my head.'

The overall structure to the song is in A-B-A form but there is also a lot of improvisation here, which is a vital Jazz element. Unlike many jazz pieces of the time, this piece includes lyrics, though they are only minimal as Jazz pieces are more centred around the instrumentalists and soloists.

The reason I have chosen this as the song of the week is because today, 29th of April, is Duke Ellington's birthday. He would have been 121! I hope you've enjoyed this weeks song of the week. Cant wait to keep this up every week!! Enjoy!