Duke Ellington - Masterpieces By Ellington (7 tracks) +Album Reviews

Pleasant re-issue of 1950 Ellington LP...

William E. Adams | Midland, Texas USA | 08/12/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Read the two prior reviews for details, and believe them when the writers say this CD is worth hearing and owning if you are a jazz fan in general or a lover of Duke in particular. However, I liked the 11-minute "Tattooed Bride" piece even better than the long treatments of Duke's '30's classic songs, "Mood Indigo", "Sophisticated Lady" and "Solitude." The three short bonus tracks, laid down in the same era, are also lively. Sound quality is excellent throughout. While the players varied slightly for the three minor tracks, Johnny Hodges is here on sax, Russell Procope on sax and clarinet, Paul Gonsalves on sax, and Billy Strayhorn as well as Duke on piano. Sonny Greer is the drummer for the original LP selections, and Louis Bellson for the bonus selections. Great songs, great players, great composer, great conductor, great remastering combine to make this one a winner."

Masterpieces, indeed

ADB | Colorado Springs, CO United States | 06/12/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album gave Ellington and his men their first chance to "stretch out" some old works to the length afforded by the new LP format. Duke revisits three of his classic miniatures from the thirties ("Mood Indigo," "Sophisticated Lady," and "Solitude"), transforming each into a large-scale tone poem (e.g., this complex performance of "Mood Indigo" runs to 15:26). He also introduces an important new classic with "The Tattooed Bride," one his most successful extended pieces. This music can take some time to grow on you, but its textural sophistication, somewhat reminiscent at times of Ravel's orchestrations, rewards limitless re-listening. Yvonne Lanauze's fine, world-weary, somewhat mannered vocals on the first two tracks are used principally to introduce further variations in color. (It just wouldn't really be accurate to view these as "vocal performances.") The recordings no doubt benefit greatly from contributions by band members who would soon leave the fold, including trombonist Lawrence Brown (simply awesome at the end of "Solitude"!), drummer Sonny Greer, and the incomparable alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges. That makes this milestone album both a beginning (new format) and an ending (last appearance, at least for a while, of key band members). Nonetheless, the real stars, as usual, are Ellington and the ensemble, and if one soloist truly stands out, it's virtuoso clarinetist Jimmy Hamilton (esp. on "Tattooed Bride", almost a clarinet concerto of sorts).

This CD reissue includes three shorter pieces recorded in 1951, including the first appearance of the classic "Smada" (a reverse spelling of the last name of DJ Joe Adams) as well as the thrilling "Vagabonds". The sound quality is truly excellent for this period, with vastly more presence than Ellington's classic 40s recordings. This is a must-have for fans of Ellington and of great American music.

"

Great work of a great master

Eugene | Chicago, IL United States | 07/02/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD contains the best studio performance of "Mood Indigo" ever. I have more than 20 years of jazz listening experience, and I quite familiar with Duke Ellington's works, but i never realized that a big band can play with such a delicacy and absolutely magical musical touch. I purchased the CD yesterday, but I could not move on before I listened to the "Mood Indigo" 3 times. This is 15-minutes performance, but you just do not realize it when you listen to it. It seems like one-minute piece. I would buy the CD if it only had this one tune. The sound is very clear and reach. The 3 following original tracks are excellent too. "Tattooed Bride" starts very promising with wonderful piano-bass-drums intro, but later it becomes a little too sharp and loud, but it may be just my first impression. Bonus tracks are very pleasant, especially first two."

Summation of an era, looking forward

Andrew R. Weiss | Raleigh, NC USA | 10/02/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When Ellington went into the studio in 1951 to record the longer tracks on this disc, his orchestra was a bridge between its late-1940's configuration (the 5-man trumpet section) and its mid-1950's personnel. The sax section had settled into the form it would have for most of the ensuing two decades (old-timers Hodges and Carney and newcomers Procope, Hamilton and Gonsalves); the trombone section had long-timer Lawrence Brown as well as newcomer Quentin Jackson; and drummer Sonny Greer, who had anchored the rhythm section since the beginning, would retire shortly after these recordings were made. Ellington's orchestra from 1953 on would be a great, swinging and sensitive one, but it would not make the same lush sound that this one did.

The arrangements and orchestrations all bear the hallmarks of Ellington's collaboration with Billy Strayhorn in the late 1940's: they are lush, symphonic, impressionistic, and densely (and adventurously) harmonic. "Mood Indigo", in particular, is a 15-minute tone-poem with shifting colors and key relationships as Ellington and Strayhorn bring the melody through a wide variety of guises, from Jackson's wah-wah trombone solo to Shorty Baker's lyrical waltz to orchestral and piano passages which do homage to the influence which Ravel and Stravinsky had on both of them. Great solos abound here and on the other tracks, most notably from Hodges, Brown, Hamilton, Gonsalves, Carney, trumpters Baker and Ray Nance, and (most probably) Billy Strayhorn on piano, especially in "Mood Indigo"

"The Tattooed Bride" is the only new piece from the original "Masterpieces by Ellington" LP, and it is a beauty. The others of the original tracks -- "Sophistocated Lady" and "Solitude" -- are not laid out as inventively in their harmonics or structure. Of the group, "Solitude" is perhaps the weakest, but this is a relative term.

Ellington would go on to pen many more extended, symphonic works, but none would have quite the multicolored, impressionistic tone-pallate that these do. And Strayhorn's presence would not be as pronounced in those future works as it is here: the orchestration and harmonies in particular bear his mark. These are masterpieces indeed: great works of art by two of our greatest composers/orchestrators, and played by one of the greatest orchestras in Afro-American music.

Whether you are considering this disc because you like Ellington, or because you've heard great things about him as a composer and arranger, or whether you stumbled upon this by accident -- buy this CD. If you have an appreciation for good music, you will not be disappointed."

Ellington Unleashed

Rick loves jazz | Sacramento, Ca | 03/22/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My first jazz concert was the Duke in 1968. I have since become a lover of most jazz forms, including big bands. This album is unique.

Duke's tonal pallette is varied, exotic and beautiful. The "colors" that he gets on this album are amazing. Listening to these arrangements is like walking through a huge mansion that you've never seen before. Each new room is a surprise, with some new beauty inside.

The interesting thing about these lengthy treatments is that he doesn't just repeat a part of a chart and let a new guy solo; each new section stands on its own and is designed to highlight a new soloist.

As great as the "concert length" arrangements of the old classics are, the highlight is "The Tatooed Bride". The solo work by Johnny Hodges, Russell Procope, and others is sensuous, and the arrangement is as good as it gets.

I have other Duke Ellington albums, but this is my favorite. The new LP format really does "unleash" the Duke and inspires him to a new pinnacle."

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	Duke Ellington Masterpieces By Ellington Genres: Jazz, Pop Track Listings (7) - Disc #1 Mood Indigo - Duke Ellington, Bigard, Barney Sophisticated Lady The Tattooed Bride Solitude - Duke Ellington, Delang, E. Vagabonds [] - Duke Ellington, Burke Smada [] Rock Skippin' at the Blue Note [*]
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