Earl Hines Plays Duke Ellington

[B. Goren.]

According to an e-mail message I recieved from CD Universe, this CD will be reissued and available on June 30.

IMHO this is one of Hines' best recordings and for sure one of the best solo recordings in my collection.

If you like Earll Hines and/ or the music of Duke Ellington, this 2 CDs set is a must for you.

Edited June 24, 2009 by B. Goren.

[jazzbo]

I have all three volumes of this, have had them for years now, and I agree, this is a wonderful set. Fantastic music executed with passion and drive. This is JAZZ.

[jazztrain]

My recollection is that there were four LPs on MJR of this material (two of them as a "two-fer" plus two single LPs). Anyone know if this CD reissue is complete?

I have all three volumes of this, have had them for years now, and I agree, this is a wonderful set. Fantastic music executed with passion and drive. This is JAZZ.

[paul secor]

My recollection is that there were four LPs on MJR of this material (two of them as a "two-fer" plus two single LPs). Anyone know if this CD reissue is complete?

I have all three volumes of this, have had them for years now, and I agree, this is a wonderful set. Fantastic music executed with passion and drive. This is JAZZ.

The three volume set includes everything. I have the two volume set and, imo, those contain the best of the Hines/Ellington material. I imagine others' mmv.

[mikeweil]

I have the two CD issue - it's fascinating to hear how the Fatha makes the Duke's music sound as if it were his own. And still it sounds like Duke. That's greatness.

[thomastreichler]

I have the 3-CD set "Jazz Royalty - Earl Hines Plays Duke Ellington" on New World Records containing the following tracks:

Disc: 1

1. Love You Madly

2. Sophisticated Lady

3. I'm Beginning to See the Light

4. Black and Tan Fantasy

5. Warm Valley

6. Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me

7. "C" Jam Blues

8. Caravan

9. Everything But You

10. Mood Indigo

11. Just Squeeze Me

12. Come Sunday

Disc: 2

1. The Creole Love Call

2. I Ain't Got Nothin' But the Blues

3. The Shepherd

4. Don't Get Around Much Anymore

5. Black Butterfly

6. Take Love Easy

7. The Jeep is Jumping

8. Heaven

Disc: 3

1. In a Mellotone

2. Solitude

3. It Don't Mean a Thing

4. I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart

5. Satin Doll

6. In a Sentimental Mood

7. Don't You Know I Care

8. I'm Just a Lucky So and So

9. Prelude to a Kiss

10. All Too Soon

I don't know whether this is the complete session. At any rate it is one of the best solo piano recordings ever!

[Peter Friedman]

Thanks for mentioning this Hines / Ellington material. It has been quite some time

since I heard it and this encouraged me to pull one of the CDs off the shelf and play

it.

[jazztrain]

To close the loop on this, here's the CD listing from Tommy T along with notations providing the LP from which each track came (where 1-A-2, for example, refers to Volume 1, Side A, track 2). The conclusion is that the 3-CD set provides everything on the four MJR LPs, albeit in a somewhat different order.

Disc: 1

1. Love You Madly 1-A-1

2. Sophisticated Lady 1-A-2

3. I'm Beginning to See the Light 1-A-3

4. Black and Tan Fantasy 3-A-1

5. Warm Valley 1-A-4

6. Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me 1-A-5

7. "C" Jam Blues 1-B-1

8. Caravan 3-A-3

9. Everything But You 1-B-2

10. Mood Indigo 1-B-3

11. Just Squeeze Me 3-B-1

12. Come Sunday 1-B-4

Disc: 2

1. The Creole Love Call 4-A-1

2. I Ain't Got Nothin' But the Blues 4-A-2

3. The Shepherd 4-A-3

4. Don't Get Around Much Anymore 2-A-3

5. Black Butterfly 4-B-1

6. Take Love Easy 4-B-2

7. The Jeep is Jumping 4-B-3

8. Heaven 4-B-4

Disc: 3

1. In a Mellotone 2-A-1

2. Solitude 2-A-2

3. It Don't Mean a Thing 2-B-1

4. I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart 2-B-2

5. Satin Doll 2-B-3

6. In a Sentimental Mood 2-B-4

7. Don't You Know I Care 3-A-2

8. I'm Just a Lucky So and So 3-A-4

9. Prelude to a Kiss 3-B-2

10. All Too Soon 3-B-3

[thomastreichler]

Another one to look for is the 2-cd set "Four Jazz Giants" on Solo Art. On these sessions Earl Hines is playing tributes to W.C. Handy, Louis Armstrong and Hoagy Carmichael (these three plus Hines being the four jazz giants).

[jazztrain]

Presumably these are drawn from the Audiophile LPs. Dare I ask if this set is complete?

Another one to look for is the 2-cd set "Four Jazz Giants" on Solo Art. On these sessions Earl Hines is playing tributes to W.C. Handy, Louis Armstrong and Hoagy Carmichael (these three plus Hines being the four jazz giants).

[thomastreichler]

Presumably these are drawn from the Audiophile LPs. Dare I ask if this set is complete?

The set has all the music from the three Audiophile LPs "Hines Does Hoagy", "My Tribute To Louis" and "Comes In Handy", recorded in two days in 1971, a few days after Armstrong's death.

[Chuck Nessa]

Still have the lps. The Armstrong tribute is a favorite.

[Ted O'Reilly]

The late Dick Wellstood was a friend of mine, a great pianist, a grumpy wit, a pool-shooter, a bicyclist and wonderful writer. Among his best prose was a liner note for "Quintessential Continued", Hines' second solo Chiaroscuro LP released as CR-120. I copied it out once, for a journalism student who had asked for an example of Writing-About-Jazz-In-A-Jazz-Way... I think this Hines topic is just the right place for it. (I trust this is okay with Hank O'Neal, who had the wisdom to ask Wellstood for the words).

EARL HINES -- AN APPRECIATION

Behold Earl Hines, spinner of yarns, big handed virtuoso of the black dance, con man extraordinaire, purveyor of hot sauce.

Behold Earl Hines, Jive King, boss of the sloppy run, the dragged thumb, the uneven tremolo, Minstreal of The Unworthy Emotion, King of Freedom.

Democratic Transcendant, his twitchy, spitting style uses every cheesy trick in the piano-bar catalog to create moving cathedrals, masterpieces of change, great chains of tension and relaxation, multi-dimensional solos that often seem to be about themselves, or about other solos -- "See, here I might have played some boogie-woogie, or put this accent there, or this run here, that chord there...or maybe a llittle stride for you beautiful people in the audience..." Earl Hines, Your Musical Host, serving up the hot sauce.

For all the compexity in his playing, Hines exercises fairly simple harmonic vocabulary, and in any event his peculiar stuttering rhythmic sense gives his phrasing so much force as to make harmonic analysis almost meaningless. The dissonances he uses are more the result of his fascination with the overtone of the piano than of any concern with elaborate harmonic substitutions. Accented single notes making the upper strings ring, or open fifths or octaves sounded a tone or semi-tone apart (either will do) at opposite ends of the keyboard are to him amonong the most beautiful of sounds.

His is the music of Change, based on the rhythms of the body in a graceful way unique to the older Jazz players. This may be why he is more successful as a soloist than as a trio pianist. The trio's oscarine petercision, a crutch for many, is a cage for Hines. It's need for relentless accuracy and predictable responses only betrays the tiny imperfections of freedom in his playing; when he is playing alone, these imperfections meld into a sweet flexible instrument of expression.

Hines is not a "stride" pianist. His rhythm is too straight four-four, too free. He does not possess the magisterial dignity of James P. Johnson, the aristocratic detachment of Art Tatum, the patience of Donald Lambert, the phlegmatic unflappability necessary to maintain the momentum of stride. Hines needs silence in the bass, room to let the flowers grow, space to unroll his showers of broken runs containing (miraculously) the melody within, his grace-noted octaves ("That's the way we make the piano sing!", -- Eubie Blake), and his wandering, Irish endings.

His is Freedom in Discipline, infinite choice in a limited sphere, the tension of Will vs. Material -- his is human creativity. Behold Earl Hines, King of Beasts!

--Dick Wellstood

Now, that is Earl Hines! That is Jazz Writing! That was a great pianist himself, Dick Wellstood speaking with affection, knowledge and skill. He nailed what Hines was about, and was jazz is about, in my opinion.

[jazzbo]

Ted, Thanks for sharing that. I love the piano playing of both Hines and Wellstood.

[Chuck Nessa]

I loved the Wellstood notes the first time I read them when the record was new. It is a shame the three Quintessential records haven't been reissued on cd.

[Ted O'Reilly]

I loved the Wellstood notes the first time I read them when the record was new. It is a shame the three Quintessential records haven't been reissued on cd.

Agreed! And I only have two of them on LP.

[jazzbo]

I just ordered the Solo Art. Thanks for the mention, that one blew past me, though I do remember seeing one of the lps.

[Ted O'Reilly]

Hines did a couple of fine solo LPs in the early '70s for the Swaggie label from Australia that are well worth searching out as CD reissues: "Earl Hines plays George Gershwin" (CD 403) was done in New York; "The Australian Sessions" (CD 405) was taped in Sydney and Melbourne studios. Naturally, that one includes Waltzing Matilda.

[B. Goren.]

Earl HInes Plays Cole Porter is also recommended:

[jazzbo]

Earl Hines' playing is recommended.

[kh1958]

I believe Mr. Nessa posted this recommendation previously, but if you don't have Earl Hines at Home on Delmark, you should.

[Spontooneous]

Back to Earl Plays Duke for a minute.

Is this really a reissue?

These things have been continuously available from New World Records for a long time.

The label is run as a nonprofit, the customer service is very good, and the discount for ordering a whole lot of CDs is just dandy. Hint hint.

[jazztrain]

Another one worth checking out is the "Legendary Little Theater Concert." The story, as I recall, is that his appearance there and the subsequent album really helped bring him to back in the public eye after a period of relative neglect.

[Brad]

The Duke Cds are on back order at CDU.

[B. Goren.]

I believe Mr. Nessa posted this recommendation previously, but if you don't have Earl Hines at Home on Delmark, you should.