Bli Blip
Bli Blip is a song composed by Duke Ellington with lyrics by Sid Kuller.
"Bli Blip" was featured in Ellington's 1941 musical revue Jump for Joy.[1]
It was performed by Marie Bryant and Paul White in a 1942 soundie featuring Ellington and his orchestra produced by Sam Coslow for R.C.M. Productions and directed by Josef Berne.[2] The soundie was released on 5 January 1942.[3]
Ellington and his orchestra made the first recording of "Bli Blip" on 26 September 1941 at the Hollywood Recording Studio in Los Angeles.[4]
John Franceschina, in his 2017 book Duke Ellington's Music for the Theatre, described "Bli Blip" as a "catchy, blues, rhythm number" with a "highly syncopated melody line, filled with skips and scat-like riffs".[1] Franceschina notes that the "arhythmical nature of the melody in which no two bars are exactly alike".[1]
Recordings[edit]
- Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book (Verve, 1957)
- New York Voices - Sing! Sing! Sing! (Concord Jazz, 2000)
- P.J. Benjamin and Terri Klausner - Sophisticated Ladies (1981) (Original Broadway cast recording)
- Dee Dee Bridgewater with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and John Mauceri - Prelude to a Kiss: The Duke Ellington Album (1996)
- The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and Dianne Reeves - Live in Swing City - Swingin' with Duke (Columbia, 1999)
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Franceschina 2017, p. 36.
- ^ Lawrence, A. H. (2004-03-01). Duke Ellington and His World. Routledge. p. 308. ISBN 978-1-135-88061-3.
- ^ "ARSC Journal". Association for Recorded Sound Collections. 19: 139. 1988.
- ^ Timner, W. E. (2000-01-01). Ellingtonia. Scarecrow Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-585-04084-4.
- Franceschina, John (6 July 2017). Duke Ellington's Music for the Theatre. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5026-8.