Ian Bradley

I have not heard from Chuck Granata recently so contacted Sony Music about the Ellington In Order series. They say: "There have been some reorganizational shifts at SME since the top of the year - so we are assessing decreasing bandwidth capacity at the moment. That said - we do intend to carry on with the series sometime later in the year." Don't know what is meant by"reorganisational shifts" but I am hopeful that the series will ultimately resume.

Thank you - I'll delete the footnote!

Many thanks! I'm sure Chuck will provide all this information at project's end and I will be sure publicise this as and when the information is available if I have any advance notice. I'm really looking forward to what previously unknown goodies may turn up in the late 40s recordings!

I wrote this on the Steve Hoffman forum about the 'temporary' discography I put on my blog: "I've had look again at the discography I put on the blog and Volume 1 courtesy of Spotify! I'm sure there will be more corrections to be made - but I wrote up the discography in session order as it appears in The New DESOR and Timner (Fifth edition). i can see that at a couple of points it is at variance with the running order on Volume 1. I can't explain that but thought that publishing the recording sessions as they have been catalogued was the thing to do - even if there is variance. I believe a revised version of Volume 1 will appear at some point and perhaps that will resolve these anomalies. To my discography, I have added the take numbers for Washington Wobble and I Can't Give You Anything But Love. It should be possible to follow which take is on which date because the recordings still occur in the same order in both lists (if that makes sense). With regards to vocalists on this latter number, i guess the In Order list is in error. Listening again to these tracks, I do believe the discography I put out is correct in identifying the vocalists as Irving Mills and Baby Cox. ...I believe at the project's end, Chuck is going to make available all the information he has accessed for these releases which will be all our Christmases come at once for Ellington enthusiasts and which will I hope and expect render my own 'stop gap' account on my blog redundant!" All definitely a work in progress!

The 'Azure' label was a series of cassettes produced privately by the Duke Ellington Music Society and impossible to come by nowadays, I think. The Jazz Violin Sessions have been released by La Maison du Duke in France. That release is likely still available to members of La Maison. The details are here: http://www.maison-du-duke.com/c7j8vr2v58/fichiers/CD_Fiche_MDD008.pdf

You're welcome! Thanks for visiting.

This is the information I have managed to glean about the footage... https://villesville.blogspot.com/2019/11/perdido-and-more.html

Just passing on info of a proposed Duke Ellington Conference - the 25th in the series of International Study Group conferences - which will be held at The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Birmingham, UK 25-27 May 2018. A 'Call for Papers' has been issued and further details are available here. Many thanks!

The only 'new' material on here is the single CD of Gröna Lund material which does not replicate anything from the earlier 2CD set but is only about thirty minutes long and consists mainly of 'the dreaded medley'. Everything else has been out before on individual releases, including the DVD material - the Goodyear jazz show. Worth bearing in mind if you have collected all the previous Storyville releases, though.

I have a Woody Herman Capitol Recordings to add to the list at £100 - A Basie Roulette Studio and a Basie Roulette Live box - again £100 each. Just for local pick up - or I will deliver between the outskirts of London (don't fancy driving through London during the Olympics!) and Carlisle - plus points east and west for petrol at cost. Thanks for looking!

I have the following Mosaic boxes for sale but for local pick up only in Bury, near Manchester UK -or I'll happily deliver them within a 300 mile radius for petrol at cost. £70.00 each Anita O'Day: Complete Verve and Clef recordings Peggy Lee/ June Christy: Complete Transcriptions Stan Kenton: Complete Capitol Recordings 1943-47 (slight 'ding' to box corner - as bought. Everything else is mint) Oscar Peterson: Complete Clef/ Mercury Studio Recordings 1951-53 Harry James/ Gene Krupa Complete Capitol Recordings. I also have a copy of the 18 disc Nat 'King' Cole Trio set which I would sell for £250.00 - again, there eis a slight ding to the box corner - but otherwise mint - all but the first disc still sealed. All in excellent condition - O'Day/ Christy/ Lee/ Peterson sets still sealed. Please PM me if interested. Thanks!

Seconded. I have the 10" 'X' disc of that on RCA amongst other sources for this music. It is sublime. Rex Stewart features as major character in the children's novel Riding on Duke's Train by Mick Carlon which was part of my Christmas reading. I found the novel rather charming! Many thanks for the thread. I am pony just beginning to explore Rex Stewart's contribution to the Ellington Orchestra - and his own work solo. As a discographical enquiry - is the album Rex Stewart in Paris on the Barclay label (I think) the same material as the 10" Ellingtonia on Dial? Many thanks.

It may just be a finicky customer - don't let that take away any of the pleasure of owning this set. A lot of these titles have seen cheap PD issues over the years - I think it's great that they are finally being made available legitimately - and a 'complete works' version.

The Ella set is currently withdrawn from Amazon.co.uk because they claim the product was "not as described". Anyone know why this might be the case? Thanks.

I sprang for the Hampton - mainly because of the Ellingtonians featured direct from the original metal parts!

I didn't think the prices were up to much! Could be a case of getting the 'fearless leader' and 'side steps' boxes for me, then. Thanks for the responses.

In an email today from True Blue Music, they say the Complete Coltrane on Prestige, Davis Chronicles: Complete on Prestige, Evans Complete Riverside, Monk Complete Riverside, Tatum Complete Pablo Group and Solo Masterpieces are to be re-issued mid- July - prices in the region of $80-$180. I might spring for the Monk. I'm interested in the Coltrane, too -but which is better sound/ completist wise? The Coltrane Complete or those three five-and six-disc sets Fearless Leader, Interplay and Side Steps? Any advice appreciated. Cheers!

There is an ebay auciton presently for eight sketches by Paul Gonsalves. The sketches are owned by one of the sons of Joe Castro. In the item description, the vendor writes about Doris Duke and the jam sessions recorded at Falcon Lair. I am now aware that one such session has been released on CD (Zoot Sims with the Joe Castro trio Live at Falcon Lair)but in his description, the vendor writes: "I'm selling these to finish a body of Jazz created in the 50's to 60's at Doris Duke and my father's home's Falcon Lair and Duke Farms. The transfer of the Masters has taken 11 years 500+ masters never heard soon to be released all very high quality. Zoot-Getz-Mulligan. Gene Ammons, Teddy Edwards, Leroy Vinnegar, Lucky Thompson, Oscar Pettiford, Dexter Gordon, everyone." Is much known about the recordings from these sessions? Are copies in circulation or is this something of a find? I've posted details about the auction and a link ($15 000 for 'buy it now'!)at my blog villesville.blogspot.com (can't get the hyper link to work. Sorry!) I have no connection to the vendor or the auciton - just interested in the recordings, Doris Duke (who I must admit before today I knew nothing about) - and interesting Ellington connections to a record label he shared with Castro. Any further information greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

At the risk of making a nuisance of myself, there are the albums Atmosphere for Thieves and Lovers, Duke's Up in Bed with the same cover and at least one more album - the name of which escapes me at the moment - with that same cover. Are these albums drawn from the Sunday/ Saturday sessions, Bill Coleman etc - or are these further performances in Ben's discography? Thanks!

Thank you for all the replies and thanks, Chuck, for pointing me in the direction of this material on CD.

I don't have access to Lord and would be very grateful if someone could tell me the relationship between the 'Saturday','Sunday' and 'Midnight' sessions at the Montmartre on vinyl Black Lion and the Black Lion Webster CDs - three, i think, collected at one time in a box set. The Black Lion recordings of Ben in Europe are very confusing for me - so any help appreciated. Thanks!

I understand that a Cd which comes as part of a DVD package on Bud Shank called Against the Tide contains one track from the score pre: studio musicians being added - I think. I just bought the DVD recently but have not had a chance to listen yet.

I've sent for this release from Amazon.co.uk On the Duke-LYM discussion list, one poster commented on the sound which is apparently good. I am amazed to see this set issued at this price. indeed, I am amazed to see Sony issuing any new CDs - much less Ellington's thirties period. Surely many of these titles are seeing their first 'official' release on CD? I cannot wait for this set to arrive and audition it. In the age of the download - and the CD nmeltdown - I am encouraged ny this. Maybe much more of Ellington's catalogue ios going to be re-issued? the material on these CDs was earmarked by Mosaic was it not for later this year? Hope that release isn't scuppered by this issue. Any news on where Mosaic are at with their Ellington orchestra 30s re-issue?

As for the Miller/Thornhill/Evans evolutionary link, so long as we don't go too "literal" on that, I can see that, yeah, for sure. The thing about Miller's band that sometimes gets overlooked is it's extreme diversity in repertoire, and as you note, the sheer quality of the writing no matter what the "type" of material. Perhaps that's a "technical" vs "spiritual" issue, but there's no way that muisc of any kind is strictly "either/or" when it comes to that!