Search - Duke Ellingtin :: Duke: The Columbia Years 1927-1962

Marketing Duke

bukhtan | Chicago, Illinois, USA | 05/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm pleasantly surprised to see that this "centennial" selection from those parts of Duke's Gesamtwerk that were in the hands of Sony is still available. It covers the historical labels Okeh, Columbia, the later Brunswicks (the earlier ones belong to Decca (MCA), Master and maybe a few I'm forgetting. This corresponds, roughly, to the years 1927 -1939, 1947 - 1951, and 1956 - 1962. The three discs contain a remarkably fine and representative extract from those periods, in my view.

The sound is excellent throughout, a real improvement over previous Sony re-issues. There appears to have been real re-mastering (from 78's and studio masters both), and, though some might describe it as "brittle", the music itself comes through clearly and sharply, with all the parts audible. The engineers have laid off the heavy noise reduction that disfigured some of Sony's earlier re-issues, such as their otherwise praiseworthy CD editions of the Ellington small-group recordings from the Thirties.

Sony included an entertaining and moderately informative booklet along with these three CD's, with full discographical information. Packaging otherwise could be better; the set is a fold-out sort of thing, and the nubs that hold the CD's are made of hard plastic that eventually breaks, so that I have to be very careful when I open it, otherwise the discs fly out. But this beats the downright destructive packaging you get with their otherwise fine Armstrong Hot Fives from which the discs fall into pinching crannies or the silly sleeves in the Miles-Trane set, from which only a pickpocket can extract the discs without damaging them.

The drawback to this set, of course, is that it lacks important parts of Ellington's oeuvre, most notably the RCA/Victor masterpiece from the Blanton-Webster era, 1940-42. These sides were re-issued by the Bartlemann megatherium (BMG) in fine sound, for the most part, in their three-CD set "Never no lament", as an extract from their own massive Centennial Edition. So you needed to buy "N.N.L.", at least, to get the minimal Ellington presence in your collection.

That was then, this is now, as they say. WHY the latter-day dinosaur we got from the fusion of Sony and BMG chose to issue the disappointing 2-CD set "Essential Ellington" is beyond me. The sound is inferior, to my ears, with some more noise-reduction thrown over, and there's less to it: less music. People, this is Ellington! This is the package you offer to the world, the best Dead Black Male in your holdings (other than Miles Davis, maybe)? Well, this is carping, perhaps. In any event, "Duke : the Columbia years", which one would expect to be superannuated, still gets the highest marks."

A Gem

The Music Man | Kailua-Kona, HI | 07/18/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can't get enough of Duke Ellington. This 3-cd set and album is a treasure, with extensive background information and photos. You can hear the historical transformation of his music over the 35-year period of this set. I only wish that a 4th cd was added to finish out his historical timeline."