Ellington JSP - vol 1

[Chuck Nessa]

For once and for all I am trying to sort out all of the '20s Ellington recordings and this set is really confusing. Help please.

Edited July 15, 2011 by Chuck Nessa

[mjzee]

I have the 40-disc box. Would it help if I posted what it has from the '20's?

[Chuck Nessa]

Thanks but no. I really want to know which masters are (or aren't) in the JSP set.

[mmcgerr]

If you don't have one of the printed discographies (Duke Ellington's Story on Records, Rust, etc.), perhaps the quickest way to see what is and isn't on the JPS set is by comparing the track listing with the "Sessions" listing at www.depanorama.net. JSP seems to have eliminated alternate takes and a few master or issued takes (though which takes actually are included is another matter). So this first volume gives you one take each of nearly everything Ellington waxed in the first years of his recording career.

[Chuck Nessa]

I have discographies. I'm trying to understand which takes are included/excluded.

[mmcgerr]

Thanks for the clarification. I haven't seen a published analysis of the takes on the JSP set, one that would do the work for you. The DEMS newsletter, also available on depanorama.net, doesn't seem to have worked through the takes on the JSP, as it does with many Ellington issues. Perhaps you might want to use the depanorama.net "Sessions" listing to identify the sides on the JSP whose take numbers are in doubt, and then a/b those with the sound files of the different takes available at redhotjazz.com.