Elizalde was born in Manila, Philippines. His wealthy family owned several plantations in the Philippines. At the age of only seven he entered the Madrid Royal Conservatory, winning the first prize in piano at age 14. He then studied at St. Joseph's College, London and went to study law at Stanford University in the 1920s. His musical interests prevailed and he left the university. He took composition lessons under Ernst Bloch at Stanford, and gave up law temporarily for music, leaving the school in 1926. He then embarked on a career as a jazz bandleader, leading the Stanford University Band at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles while he studied composition. He recorded with the
Cinderella Roof Orchestra in 1926, then returned to England, where he entered Cambridge University in the autumn as a law student. This lasted only a year; soon after reaching England, Elizalde formed a new band, the Quinquaginta Band, which became highly successful and influential on the development of British jazz music in the late 1920s.
Elizalde criticized British dance music for its Viennese qualities and sought to bring more American principles of rhythm to the British scene. He recorded with his band in 1927 under several ensemble names for Brunswick and Decca. In his run at the Savoy Hotel in London, his band featured many of the best players in early British jazz, including Norman Payne, Jack Jackson, and Harry Hayes, as well as Americans such as Chelsea Quealey, Bobby Davis, Fud Livingston, Adrian Rollini, and Arthur Rollini. The band was voted best popular dance orchestra in Melody Maker in 1928, but "older guests at the [Savoy] hotel were offended by his music, and controversial broadcasts over the BBC didn't help his case. In July 1929 his contract expired and was not renewed." Concomitantly, Elizalde also composed works which melded jazz and European concert music elements, including The Heart of a Nigger (1927; produced in 1928 by Sergei Diaghilev) and Bataclan (1929).
In 1928 he visited Germany and became closely associated with Siegfried Wagner. He also conducted orchestras in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. In 1928 he wrote the music for Pola Negri's final silent film, The Way of Lost Souls (1929; aka The Woman He Scorned).
Elizalde broke up his band in 1929 after a poorly received tour in Scotland and the onset of the Great Depression, which necessitated the return home of many of his American sidemen. He led a new group at the Duchess Theatre in London in 1930, but later that year returned to Manila to accept a position as conductor of the Manila Symphony Orchestra. By now he had received his parents' permission to devote himself entirely to music (he was still only 23). He conducted in the 1930s in Biarritz, Paris, and Madrid, and recorded for the last time in 1933 on a brief return trip to Britain. His symphonic poems Jota, Spiritual and Moods were written in these years. In 1931-33 he was in Paris, where he was closely associated with Maurice Ravel and Darius Milhaud, and conducted the first performances of some of Milhaud's works. In 1932 he composed some songs for Conchita Supervía and incidental music for La pajara puita by Rafael Allreti.
While in Spain, Elizalde studied under and spent much time with Manuel de Falla, who always regarded him as one of his best interpreters. On one occasion he conducted Falla's Harpsichord Concerto with the composer at the keyboard. He also set to music Titeres de Cachiporra and Don Perlimplin by Federico García Lorca, with whom he was also closely associated. In 1935 he was named as Spanish delegate to the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. In 1936 he conducted his Sinfonia Concertante for piano and orchestra, with Leopoldo Querol as soloist.
In 1936 he returned from France to enroll in the Requeti troops of Navarre, a Basque regiment, and fought under Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War until 1939. He was wounded and decorated during the war. He first emigrated to Manila then moved to France, where he lived under confinement in a house near Bayonne under the German occupation.
During this time he composed extensively, his works including:
an opera on the life of Paul Gauguin, to a libretto by Théophile Briant; it was broadcast in 1948 by Radiodiffusion Française to celebrate the centenary of Gauguin's birth
a violin concerto; Ginette Neveu gave its premiere in Paris in 1944,and Christian Ferras gave its London premiere under the direction of Gaston Poulet, in the presence of the composer, and made the world premiere recording on November 7, 1947, when he was aged only 14
a string quartet, and a piano concerto, premiered by Leopoldo Querol in 1947 in Paris; Elizalde himself played the piano concerto at Besançon with the Colonne Orchestra under Gaston Poulet, and again with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) in the Albert Hall.
In 1948 he returned once more to Manila, where he again conducted the Manila Symphony Orchestra, founded the Manila Little Symphony Orchestra, and became president of the national radio broadcasting company. He did some conducting in Japan, and led the LSO at the Royal Festival Hall during the Festival of Britain in 1951, but otherwise did little work outside the Philippines through his 1974 retirement.
Outside of music, he was an excellent sharpshooter and won gold medals as captain of the Philippines shooting team in the 1954 Asiad.
Tiger Rag
Fred Elizalde Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where's that tiger! Where's that tiger!
Hold that tiger! Hold that tiger ! Hold that tiger!
Choke him, poke him, kick him and soak him!
Where's that tiger? Where's that tiger?
Where oh where can he be?
Low or highbrow, they all cry now
"Please play that Tiger Rag for me"
Where's that tiger! Where's that tiger!
Where's that tiger! Where's that tiger!
Hold that tiger! Hold that tiger ! Hold that tiger!
Choke him, poke him, kick him and soak him!
Where's that tiger? Where's that tiger?
Where oh where can he be?
Low or highbrow, they all cry now
"Please play that Tiger Rag for me"
The lyrics of Fred Elizalde's song Tiger Rag are full of excitement and energy, invoking the image of a wild tiger being chased, caught and subdued through the rhythmic and percussive sounds of jazz music. The repeated refrain of "Where's that tiger!" creates a sense of urgency and anticipation, while the subsequent lines of "Hold that tiger! Choke him, poke him, kick him and soak him!" depict the physical struggle of capturing the animal.
The chorus of the song takes on a more universal appeal, as the cry for the Tiger Rag is made by all, "Low or highbrow", suggesting that the catharsis of capturing the tiger and the release of energy through music is something that transcends societal boundaries and brings people together. The repeated call for the Tiger Rag to be played suggests that the song itself becomes the capture of the elusive tiger, as the music is able to contain and control the wild energy of the animal.
Line by Line Meaning
Where's that tiger! Where's that tiger!
Where could that spirited and lively character be? We are eagerly searching for him.
Where's that tiger! Where's that tiger!
We are still excited to find the tiger and enjoy his energy.
Hold that tiger! Hold that tiger ! Hold that tiger!
Make sure to keep the tiger and his enthusiasm under control, but not too much that we can't enjoy it.
Choke him, poke him, kick him and soak him!
We'll do anything to get that tiger out of hiding and experience the excitement he brings, even if it means using strong means.
Where's that tiger? Where's that tiger?
We still haven't found the tiger and are still dedicated to finding him.
Where oh where can he be?
We're becoming more and more curious about the tiger's whereabouts and can't wait to experience his energy again.
Low or highbrow, they all cry now
Regardless of class or status, everyone is begging to hear the Tiger Rag song.
"Please play that Tiger Rag for me"
Please, we implore you, play the Tiger Rag song for us so we can experience the same high energy as the tiger himself.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Antonio Sbarro, Edwin Edwards, Henry Ragas, Larry Shields, Sidney Bechet
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Peter Hendriksma
Great number and one I didn't know from Elizalde. 10 out 10 for your restoration Jon.
VictrolaJazz
Wonderful arrangement!
RatPfink66
Yipe, this is great! I didn't think I had any serious gaps in my Rollini collection - till now. BTW DanRisior, Davis' alto solo is actually all his own work except for that repeated note bit. That was borrowed from JD.
Art Howard
You can really hear that great Saz of Adrian Rollini - nice Jazz.
RatPfink66
What's great about this is that Rollini doesn't stick to bassline/solo/bassline. He is constantly making moves toward the frontline, which is rather sparse and trebly, and benefits from him messing around in away that wouldn't work in a bigger group.
The rhythm section also does a great job staying out of the way while still putting out a varied, energetic pulse. (WTF happened to the guitar and brushes in traditional jazz anyway?)
Johann du Val
It's symilar arrangement of Mayer Davis (with Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey) Thanks I love this !
Jonathan Holmes
@syncopeter thanks! The only complaint I have is how sometimes the microphones appear to have been in the wrong place - Quealey sounds like he's 5 feet away sometimes!
Swing Band Heaven
Great song - and those early Brunswicks can have very quiet surfaces. I have a few myself and I think they must of use fairly pure shellac with few fillers - unlike HMV and Decca! I agree with syncopeter - at the time no one knew what was to come later and at the time it did look like a progressive regime given the corruption and economic decline which preceded it. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but I think its wrong to judge him too harshly on this alone.
RatPfink66
In the USA, whether a person got involved in Spain at all depended on whether they supported Stalinism or Fascism. It was thought to be a war by proxy between ideologies, where no one's hands were clean.
David Glowacki
While George Orwell was off to Spain to fight with the socialistsin 1936,Elizalde at the same time went off to fight for the Facists.The one blemish in Elizalde's career