Billy Butterfield Plays “Sophisticated Lady”
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Album:Pandora's Box, 1946-47
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"Sophisticated Lady" was one of the most identifiable compositions of Duke Ellington. Written in 1933, "Sophisticated Lady" was originally an instrumental and was usually played at personal appearances by Duke as an instrumental feature. Words were later added by Irving Mills and Mitchell Parish. In this Bill Stegmeyer arrangement, saxes predominate as in Duke's versions of this work. Watch for solos by Billy Butterfield on sensuous trumpet, Mickey Crane on piano, Dave Reiser on guitar.
Comments (2)
Exquisite. Improvising to the part that has those descending chords must have been a fun challenge to the soloists. My ears decided to focus on Crane's solo, and it revealed him to be a master.
Spike,
A lot of the people were masters of their instruments. Some went on to bigger things, others vanished out of sight. After hearing Crane, it makes me wonder what happened to the guy. Same thing goes for Margie Hyams who played vibes with Woody Herman's First Herd then went on to play vibes with George Shearing. After 1950, she just vanished. Rumor has it that she taught at UNLV for many years then quit to take care of her family. Shame that such talented people don't know what they have.
The descending chords probably was part of the fun of being in this band. Stegmeyer was one of those people who vanished from site although I'll bet he possibly stayed with music for a good while longer.
Thanks for the note!
Yours truly,
musikfriend