Track Listings (15) - Disc #1| All Artists: Duke Ellington, Mahalia Jackson Title: Black Brown & Beige Members Wishing: 1 Total Copies: 0 Label: Sony Original Release Date: 1/1/1943 Re-Release Date: 4/27/1999 Album Type: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered Genres: Jazz, Pop, R&B, Gospel Styles: Swing Jazz, Contemporary Number of Discs: 1 SwapaCD Credits: 1 UPC: 074646556627 |
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Search - Duke Ellington, Mahalia Jackson :: Black Brown & Beige
 | Duke Ellington, Mahalia Jackson Black Brown & Beige Genres: Jazz, Pop, R&B, Gospel
As a composer and bandleader associated indelibly with the nightclub scenes of pre-Swing Era jazz, Duke Ellington would have a difficult time getting respect in the button-down world of concert music. And when Ellington pr... more » |
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Amazon.com essential recording As a composer and bandleader associated indelibly with the nightclub scenes of pre-Swing Era jazz, Duke Ellington would have a difficult time getting respect in the button-down world of concert music. And when Ellington premiered his first long-form piece, Black, Brown and Beige, in 1943 (available on the stunning Carnegie Hall Concerts, January 1943), he was considered a dilettante. He laid the work aside until this recording, which came in early 1958--with the added oomph of gospel vocalist Mahalia Jackson on board for all the suite's vocal parts. On this expanded reissue, Columbia has added an alternate take of the entire piece as well as two unrelated tracks recorded during the Black, Brown sessions but never before released. The suite is an expansive look, from Ellington's vantage, of course, at the evolution of African American history and culture. So there are ripples of spirited tone poetry, soaring gospel vocals from Jackson (with spare, aching piano from Ellington in spots), thundering horn-fronted swing from the band, and a consistency and unity on par with any symphonic work of the modern era. Ellington was always sensitive about this piece. After all, it showed a lot of what he held in high esteem: history, musical meditations on culture, and a full, colorful use of a band that Ellington held together for an amazingly long time. If only for Mahalia Jackson's takes on "Come Sunday," by now an acknowledged standard, this set is awesome. --Andrew Bartlett Similar CDs
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CD ReviewsBLACK, BROWN, AND BEIGE (COLUMBIA RECORDS/1958) prospero72 | Cox's Creek, Kentucky | 01/16/2009 (5 out of 5 stars) "REVIEW: "BLACK, BROWN, AND BEIGE" made its first premier in 1943, but was received with lukewarm reviews by critics who really didn't know what to make of such an ambitious program that incorporated classical, blues, and gospel music into a supple jazz mix. So Ellington decided to stash it away and would only perform the score in piecemeal over the next fifteen years until he felt that his original conception was suitably perfected (thus eventually releasing it on Columbia Records in 1958). The result is not only a seminal landmark of jazz history, but is quite simply one of the greatest works of art to ever come out of the American experience. It is a monument that has helped to define the internal soul of every black, brown, and beige man, woman, and child living in this country (not just at that time: but for ALL time). The six parts which make up the whole composition can be divided into those three musical catagories of classical ("Part II" and the "Part V" interlude), gospel/blues (Mahalia Jackson's immaculate singing of "Come Sunday" on "Part IV" and "The Lord's Prayer" on "Part VI"), and jazz (the bold, stately "Work Theme" of "Part I" and the harder swing featured on "Part III") with overlapping between them all. The love, humanity, and beauty of Duke's inspiration could only have come from God. And in its own modest way this is as vitally important a record as Coltrane's "A LOVE SUPREME" or Miles Davis' "KIND OF BLUE" or "B**CHES BREW" when it comes to pushing the boundaries of popular music. In other words: if you haven't heard this album (and haven't allowed its glory to wash over your soul like a baptism): then life as you know it is incomplete. The CD reissue is even more impressive: with outtakes of all the tracks, some studio chatter, and a couple of early run-throughs of "Track 360" (a.k.a. "Trains") and "Blues In Orbit" (a.k.a. "Tender"). Magnificent stuff. HARSH LANGUAGE: only 1 instance when Mahalia (arguably) uses Jesus' name as a by-word on the bonus track "Mahalia Swears". VIOLENCE: none. SEXUAL REFERENCES: none. DRUG REFERENCES: none.
HIGHEST BILLBOARD JAZZ ALBUM CHART POSITION: None HIT SINGLES: None" |
