Duke Ellington—”I Let A Song Out Of My Heart”
Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (1899-1974) is not only one of the greatest names in jazz but one of the most important icons of contemporary American music as well. The art student who had turned musician wrote this fine melody in the late 1930s: “I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart.”
Participating in this “Duke Ellington and his Famous Orchestra” recording session at the ARC-Brunswick studios, 1776 Broadway, in New York City on March 3, 1938 were: pianist/composer/arranger Duke Ellington directing Wallace Jones, Cootie Williams, Harold Baker and Rex Stewart on trumpet or cornet; Joe Nanton, Lawrence Brown, Juan Tizol on trombone; Barney Bigard on clarinet; Johnny Hodges on soprano sax and alto sax; Harry Carney on clarinet, alto sax and baritone sax; Otto Hardwicke on clarinet, alto sax and baritone sax; Fred Guy on guitar; Hayes Alvis and Billy Taylor on bass; and Sonny Greer on drums and chimes.
The first two soloists on “I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart” are Johnny Hodges (1906-1970) on alto saxophone and Harry Carney (1910-1974) on baritone saxophone.
Hodges and Carney both came from Boston, Massachusetts. As kids they started listening together to records of Sidney Bechet and others. They both ended up playing alto saxophone in New York.
Carney, was only 17, when Duke Ellington went to the Bamboo Club there, in April 1927, and heard Carney for the first time. That Summer Ellington invited Carney to tour New England with him. During this tour, Ellington managed to persuade Carney’s mother to let the boy stay with the band instead of returning to school. And Carney remained without a break until Ellington’s death in 1974. Carney also introduced his childhood friend Johnny Hodges to the band and Hodges too became a long serving member of Ellington’s orchestra.
The other two soloists are Lawrence Brown (1907-1988), who had been added in late 1931 as a third trombonist next to Nanton and Tizol, and the Creole styled clarinet of Barney Bigard (1906-1980). The Duke adored the “woody” tone of this young man from New Orleans, who, after bassist Wellman Braud, was another Crescent City jazz man to join Ellington during the late Twenties.
Californian Brown had originally studied to become a doctor and later set his sights on becoming a funeral director, until he ended up as a musician. His band colleagues called him “Deacon” because while other musicians drank hard liquor or were on marihuana, Brown stuck to milk or Coke.
This recording of “I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart” was the second take. Almost without exception each Ellington tune was recorded twice. Not because the Ellingtonians made mistakes during the first take, but because the recording level was often technically altered. Generally the second takes had a stronger modulation, therefore ending up much louder in the groove.
Henry Nemo, who joined Ellington in 1938 as songwriter for some of the Duke’s best songs, is given credit on the Brunswick record label. Lyricist Nemo and Ellington have written some of their finest songs for the Cotton Club Parade of 1938, but they were brought out on record as instrumentals. Besides Ellington and Nemo, Irving Mills is also credited as a co-composer. Mills had offered Ellington his first recording sessions and later, as the band’s manager, made Ellington’s orchestra an international attraction.
“I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart” was Ellington’s third and final number one hit record.