[i]
Mark Tucker, ed. The Duke Ellington
Reader, pp. 381-384.
DEMS Bulletin 1996/1
Benny Aasland died April 27, 1996, eulogy by Sjef Hoefsmit
Mercer Ellington died February 8, 1996
Gordon Ewing died ?, aged 54.
DEMS Bulletin 87/2:
Eddie Lambert died on March 12, 1987, aged 56.
Lambert wrote frequently for Jazz Journal and in 1959 published a long monograph on Duke Ellington for the "Kings of Jazz" series. Lambert took an active role in international Duke Ellington Study Group conferences; in 1985 he hosted one in Oldham, England. He was planning another Oldham conference at the time he died.
"He had a very short but painful terminal disease. His many friends carried his body to the grave on March 18th. Together with Elaine, each of us has now to pay the highest and ultimate price for having been blessed with Eddie's friendship: never to enjoy his company anymore. Apart of countless precious and joyful memories, he has left us the manuscript of the first real standard work about Duke's music. He knew before he died that it will be published. We are looking forward to not only reading his book but also very proud to be able to say: G.E. Lambert? He was my friend.
--Sjef Hoefsmit
We mourn Eddie Lambert who died of cancer in Oldham on March 12 at the age of 56. His sudden and unexpected passing saddens us all. To Elaine, we extend our deepest sympathy and hope she will derive some measure of comfort from the outpouring of love from their many friends. Eddie was to have presented a paper at Ellington '87 and we looked forward to the pleasure of his company. I recall how in Newark Eddie persuasively and winningly urged the Toronto delegates to host this year's conference. We shall pay him tribute and miss his presence. All who knew Eddie are indebted to him for his manifold contributions as a lover of music and a human being.
--Eileen Ward
Eddie, our long time DEMS member has suddenly left us Eddie, who was born in Oldham, England, lived there all his life, where he founded the Oldham Jazz Society (1965). Besides his contributions to a variety of jazz mags, he wrote numerous liner notes for a great many LPs. He was perhaps internationally recognized when his first book, Duke Ellington, was published. Discographically, he was always ready to lend a helping hand. Many new friends, along with numerous old ones, will remember him as the organizer and chairman of "Ellington '85," and he was expected to take part in the "Ellington -87" Toronto meeting. All DEMS members together with myself mourn Eddie's death. His long life companion, Elaine Norsworthy, will continue the DEMS membership. Elaine can be reached under the below mentioned addressed. Eddie is such a great loss for all of us.
Elaine Norsworthy, 92 Hadfield Street, OLDHAM, LancsOL83EE, England
--Benny Aasland
Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide. Scarecrow Press, published December 21, 1998
DEMS Bulletin, 1997/3, October-November: "Personal Reflections"
Klaus Stratemann died July 21, 1997, aged 59.
"Klaus's 3 kilos book came out in 1991 [sic]. One can hardly think of a more appropriate memorial for Duke Ellington... One evening we had dinner together. Klaus told me how much he appreciated his warm reception in the United States. He had not expected that, as a German (1983). I told him that the least one could expect from people who claim to understand Duke Ellington's music would be a total freedom from any kind of prejudice."
-- Sjef Hoefsmit
"Dr. Klaus Stratemann achieved immortality in the best of all possible modes. He meticulously and exuberantly constructed monuments of unprecedented scholarship-- his books, the 781-page Duke Ellington, Day by Day and Film by Film (1992) and the 671-page Louis Armstrong on the Screen (1996).
"Although he was an accomplished drummer and a bandleader, his doctorate was not in music. He was a practicing dentist. He liked to joke seriously that his dentistry was necessary to support his jazz film research and writing.
"His standards and his discipline were unrivalled, the depth and thoroughness of his research stunning... From the tiny town of Oldendorf in Germany, he documented the film music of some of America's greatest musicians in a detail regarded both impossible and unnecessary by celebrated urban-based American and European reputed historians."
--Patricia Willard
To resolve conflicting dates and other misinformation, for over five years Stratemann read every issue of Variety from 1928 to 1974. Then he did the same with Billboard, relying on microfilm reels from the University of Frankfort and from inter-library loans from the U.S. To use a microfilm reader, he had to use one located in the basement of the Oldendorf bank, where he was able to do research daily after closing his dental office. He sometimes fell asleep at the switch.
Stratemann: "In American films, there was singing and dancing with an exuberance, especially by black artists, that I had never experienced in Germany. All that was permitted during the war was ballroom dancing-- waltzes, polkas and march music. I loved music, and I had to see and hear more."
He had planned initially do write the Armstrong film study, but "as I developed my material, I realized that Ellington was a more interesting subject. His involvement was not limited to that of a performer on a soundtrack. He was involved in a variety of roles, as composer.... as performer.... composing and playing not only his own music in the films where you see him, but just composing, period, and not being there himself, which was quite different... which you wouldn't find with Louis Armstrong.... whereas Ellington was asked to do film soundtracks, not just for Hollywood but also for commercial films, so there was the whole spectrum of his being involved in the industry. And his music gives me much joy....
The 1981 Exploratory reveals 41 Ellington films. Eleven years later, Day by Day.... documents, with contracts, photographs, ads and studio call sheets, more than 70 Ellington films and videos. "Acknowledgements" for the Ellington book run more than 1,000 words.
He participated in the Duke Ellington study group in Washington, D.C, in 1983, but not by invitation. "I didn't even know there was going to be a conference in 1983 until shortly before it happened, when I received one of those pamphlets that Jerry Valburn occasionally sends out on behalf of his record release program. With it was a separate sheet which explicitly stated that Jerry's good friend Klaus Stratemann would be participating in this Duke Ellington conference in Washington, D.C. It was the first time I ever heard about it, but I said, 'Maybe it's a good idea to go.... I don't want to disappoint Jerry.' "
Dr. Stratemann brought a rare film, The Good Old Days Are Tomorrow-- The Duke of American Music (1971-72) for inclusion with the films shown by Valburn and Ray Knight. Klaus joined Sjef Hoefsmit and Eddie Lambert in a discussion of Ellington research. In the years following, he attended and entertained others with films, sometime night-long Ellington film festivals. In May 1997 at Leeds, England, barely three weeks after his third surgery to combat a brain tumor, he valiantly offered Ellington commercials on film. Afterward, acutely aware that his physical condition had slowed his speech uncharacteristically, he worried that the presentation had been unsuccessful.
He returned to Germany immediately after the conference. The trip to Leeds had been an unanticipated strain. Two days later he was hospitalized. He died on July 21, 1997, aged 59.
Duke Ellington, Day by Day and Film by Film. Scarecrow Press, 1992.
