The "Ellington Effect" (Continued)
As a bandleader, Ellington had an extraordinary knack for utilizing the distinctive sounds of his sidemen in his charts. From the time of his arrival in New York, he had been gradually building the size of his band with selective additions of instrumentalists. Ellington was about breaking down walls between genres, resulting in what is identified as the Ellington Effect, which combined classical, jazz, and popular music (Schiff 2012, n.p.).
Ellington was fascinated by exotic sounds, and his charts displayed unique orchestral colors. He achieved this effect by making use of voicing across sections and sometimes placing instrumental lines outside their normal ranges, occasionally inverting the expected arrangement of pitches among the instruments. An example of this technique can be heard in "Caravan" starting at the piano entrance at 00:10.
Ellington's gift as a composer set him above all others. His ability to collaborate with his sidemen and draw compositional ideas from them was integral to this process. Ultimately, it was Ellington, the composer, who realized his compositional vision in the band's performances-and achieved the "Ellington Effect." This is the combination of an instrument's/person's tone color and emotions that creates something different. In other words, A + B = C.
I Must Have That Man
I'm like an oven
That's cryin' for heat
He treats me awful
Each time that we meet
It's just unlawful
How that boy can cheat
But I must have that man
A-Tisket A-Tasket
A-tisket a-tasket
A green-and-yellow basket
I bought a basket for my mommie
On the way I dropped it