Portrait of Mahalia Jackson (Podcast #17-006)

Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson and the Ellington orchestra meet in 1958.
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“Bill Putnam, founder, builder, recording engineer, and President of Universal Recording Studios in Chicago, was having a party on a yacht one evening out on Lake Michigan. There were a lot of bigwigs from the Loop there, and a representative of Columbia Records came up to me, all glowing.

“Say you must hear this new girl we’ve got signed up!” he said.

“Who’s that?”

“Mahalia Jackson.”

“Oh, yeah, she’s a good cook.”

“No, she’s a singer.”

“I know,” I said, “but she’s a good cook, too.”

She was the best, a great cook. I had been to her house several times before ever she signed with Columbia, and she always had fine soul food out there.

One of the memorable occasions was when we made “Come Sunday” with her in 1958. Billy Strayhorn was down in Florida, but I had told him the key and he sent the arrangement. Ray Nance was there with his violin, and it all came off well.”

–Duke Ellington, Music Is My Mistress

 

mahalia-2 1970 nola jazz and heritage fest

Duke Ellington and Mahalia Jackson at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, 1970



 

“Come Sunday” appears in the in the United Methodist Hymnal. C. Michael Hawn explains how it came to be. The song is also the subject of a “hymn study.”

 


 

Jazz_on_a_Summer's_Day_FilmPoster

Jazz on a Summer’s Day



The recordings heard on this podcast episode:



 

newport 1958

Take the “A” Train//Come Sunday//Keep Your Hand on the Plow (CD: “Live at Newport 1958” Sony Music Distribution 53584)
Recorded 21 July 1958, New York City

Mahalia Jackson – vocal; Cat Anderson, Harold Baker, Clark Terry – trumpets; Ray Nance – trumpet, violin; Britt Woodman, Quentin Jackson, John Sanders – trombones; Jimmy Hamilton,  Russell Procope, Johnny Hodges, Bill Graham, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney – reeds; Duke Ellington – piano; Jimmy Woode – bass; Sam Woodyard – drums.


 

bbb2

(Part IV) Come Sunday//(Part VI) 23rd Psalm (CD: “Black, Brown, and Beige” Sony Music Distribution 53584)
Recorded 11 February 1958, New York City

Mahalia Jackson – vocal; Cat Anderson, Harold Baker, Clark Terry -trumpet; Ray Nance – trumpet, violin; Britt Woodman, Quentin Jackson, John Sanders – trombone; Jimmy Hamilton, Russell Procope,  Bill Graham,  Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney – reeds; Duke Ellington – piano; Jimmy Woode – bass; Sam Woodyard – drums.


 

Girls Suite

Mahalia from “The Girls Suite” (LP: “The Girls Suite and The Perfume Suite” Columbia )

Recorded 19 September 1961, Los Angeles

Willie Cook, Edward Mullens, Cat Anderson, Ray Nance – trumpet; Louis Blackburn, Lawrence Brown, Chuck Connors – trombone; Jimmy Hamilton, Russell Procope, Johnny Hodges, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney – reeds; Duke Ellington – piano; Aaron Bell – bass; Sam Woodyard – drums.



MI0001691166
Portrait of Mahalia Jackson (CD: “New Orleans Suite” Warner Bros. 7411644)

Recorded 13 May 1970, New York City

Cootie Williams, Cat Anderson, Mercer Ellington, Fred Stone – trumpet; Booty Wood, Julian Priester, Chuck Connors – trumpet; Russell Procope, Norris Turney, Harold Ashby, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney – reeds; Duke Ellington – piano; Joe Benjamin – bass; Rufus Jones – drums.