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Searchin' by Duke Ellington

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Searchin' by Duke Ellington
ssignment 2
The song I chose to evaluate for Assignment 2 is
Searchin'
by DukeEllington. The song can be found in Section 1: Basic Musical Concepts, "FolkMusic, Art Music, and All That Jazz."As a referential listener, two things come to mind as I listen to this easy go jazz song by Duke. The first, I remember the first time really hearing jazz musicwas when I was at a dinner banquet for my great grandmother. Since then, Ihave always associated Jazz with a fine dining background music or elevatormusic at a nice hotel or business. The second, is a reference to Duke Ellingtonhimself. I had to a little project on Ellington for Black History month as a gradeschooler. So I am fairly familiar with his music and his life. In respect to my firstcorrelation,
Searchin'
is somewhat like program music. It's smooth, easy listeningbackground music. Ellington himself is a king of program music having beencredited on Soundtrack work to over 198 movie titles.The musical concept in Duke's
Searchin'
is a Jazz ensemble or Big Band.Like most Jazz,
Searchin'
had a numerous short, reoccurring piano riff. This ischaracteristic of almost all jazz. The song also featured a saxophone, whichthroughout the song had its own solo. It is likely that Duke's band also had atrumpet, clarinet, and other typical jazz instruments. The song was very effectiveof presenting the many different instruments and showcasing the jazz feel. LikeHadlock said, "I'm going to give you one note today... see how many ways youcan play
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