| 1972 Yale Duke Ellington fellows recording anywhere???
Hey all,
In some reading I've been doing lately, I came across an account by Willie Ruff of a 1972 "festival"(you could say) in which 40 jazz artists were awarded the title of "Duke Ellington Fellow" by Yale. Duke and his band had been awarded the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by Yale years prior in 1967. The idea was to set a precedent where outstanding artists would visit campus regularly, receive the title and deliver performances as well as workshops to the Yale students as well as students of other local schools.
The 40 artists invited to receive the award were legends: Diz, Max Roach, Philly Jo Jones, Ray Brown, Mary Lou Williams, Lucky Thompson, Milt Hinton, Slam Stewart, Milt Hinton, and (my all time favorite) Mr. Charles Mingus, amongst many other highly notable artists. The event was billed as "A Conservatory Without Walls" which was a comment on the immense amount of talent, experience, and history shared between the recipients. It lasted three days and included many jam sessions between the honorees, including a free for all on "How High the Moon" in which all bass players present were featured. That sounds INSANE to me.
Which brings me (finally) to my question. Does ANYONE know of a recording of this event?? I would die to hear this congregation of amazing artists. Surely someone was smart enough to record this once in a lifetime line-up.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading this long-winded post. And if you reply, thanks for the help.
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