*** The Duke Ellington Corner ***

[A Lark Ascending]

The Centennial set is OOP, Papsrus - Amazon UK has three sets at £1376 to £1754....yes pounds! You already have things from that set (probably without alternate takes which I can always do without - I've restructured mine on CD-R to elimnate the alternates) - the 'Never No Lament' set, Fasr East Suite, ...and his mother etc.

I'd use the discography mentioned above and track things down that way. I've not heard the Naxos collections but they might be a way to build up a representative picture of the different eras.

Anyone know anything about these two 4 CD sets?:

The Amazon reviews are enthusiastic about Volume 1 as a comprehensive collection of its period but suggest Volume rushes through the 30s. I would suspect they draw from various labels, where the Centennial is just RCA related.

Edited February 3, 2008 by Bev Stapleton

[jazzbo]

Well, the music on these is excellent.

I have the music on other recordings and haven't bothered with the JSP, which likely lifted the music in their way from those same sources.

[jazzbo]

A new arrival tonight:

This rec is right on Bev. Sunset and the Mocking Bird is indeed gorgeous, and what follows as well. The music unfolds so gracefully. I have to say I love every one of these suites that I've heard -- Far East; Such Sweet Thunder; Black, Brown and Beige; and now this one.

It's so interesting to contrast these with his earlier swinging-like-crazy big band stuff.

Lonson just mentioned the RCA Centennial box in passing. I haven't checked back into the thread yet, but of those of you who've purchased it or listened to it, how do you feel about it?

A silly question -- Maybe better: For someone (like me) just beginning to really tap into Ellington in a deeper way, is it even worth wringing my hands over this set? Or is it wiser to move through the discography picking off things more selectively (almost can't miss with that approach) before considering such a mammoth (and expensive!!) set?

I would tend to think the latter, just because there is so much to choose from (thankfully). I know I've seen some "highlights" discs from this set. Maybe that's the more prudent way to go?

Any thoughts?

James try as I might I really don't know how to answer your question. Sure, since the RCA set is so highly priced these days, that's not the way to go. But Ducal music is so important that I'm not sure what route to suggest in grabbing the music, except keep at it. I'll confess that I spent a large amount of time and thousands of dollars in the nineties getting as much Ellington as I could because I became ADDICTED to the musical world he presents. I still grab Ellington I don't have. (And Ellington I already have!) And I find NO clunkers!

[papsrus]

Thanks for the input. I guess it's insane to even consider at this point. I spied a used copy at amazon for about $600, I believe. Even that is a considerable amount of money to be spending on music in one drop, to say the least. I think it's good advice to use resources such as this thread as a guide, rather than go bananas on a box which is going to provide some overlap anyways.

Envy those that have it though.

[A Lark Ascending]

Just to deter you from being tempted, my set had a couple of problems:

a) 'June' which lies at the end of one disc has never tracked properly on any CD player I've tried. I ended up buying a Classics disc with it on to add to my CD-R summary.

b) When 'ripping' from the discs several tracks on a number of discs have not transferred properly on an older computer - my new one can handle them.

Likely to be just my bad luck - but I wonder if the set was hurried out.

[king ubu]

Lon & Chuck, thanks for your replies regarding the RCA live and rare set - I guess I'll take a pass then... a rough guess would be I'm somewhere closer to having a third than to having half as much Ducal discs that Chuck thinks I ought to before jumping for that one...

There are definitely more important periods I still need to get more of, such as the DETS and the other Transcriptions - that's all great music, I assume, and compared to that, this RCA box may indeed just be some kind of weird footnote...

[bluesbro]

Lonson just mentioned the RCA Centennial box in passing. I haven't checked back into the thread yet, but of those of you who've purchased it or listened to it, how do you feel about it?

A silly question -- Maybe better: For someone (like me) just beginning to really tap into Ellington in a deeper way, is it even worth wringing my hands over this set? Or is it wiser to move through the discography picking off things more selectively (almost can't miss with that approach) before considering such a mammoth (and expensive!!) set?

It has a very important place in my collection, if only by the size of it. The biggest box I own. Not all of it is mastered the best it could have been, the book could fall apart at any minute.. still, it is worth more than the $300 I paid for it.

The other day I just played all the takes of 'Old Man Blues' non stop for hours. Im glad I have this box; even if you own some of the material I think you should start saving to get one.

[jimi089]

Lonson just mentioned the RCA Centennial box in passing. I haven't checked back into the thread yet, but of those of you who've purchased it or listened to it, how do you feel about it?

A silly question -- Maybe better: For someone (like me) just beginning to really tap into Ellington in a deeper way, is it even worth wringing my hands over this set? Or is it wiser to move through the discography picking off things more selectively (almost can't miss with that approach) before considering such a mammoth (and expensive!!) set?

It has a very important place in my collection, if only by the size of it. The biggest box I own. Not all of it is mastered the best it could have been, the book could fall apart at any minute.. still, it is worth more than the $300 I paid for it.

The other day I just played all the takes of 'Old Man Blues' non stop for hours. Im glad I have this box; even if you own some of the material I think you should start saving to get one.

I heard Elvis Costello say it was akin to having the entire works of Shakespeare on your shelf. I had the opportunity to hear almost the entire box through the generosity of a friend who lent it to me and there's a lot to digest. It's definitely for the Ellington scholars and completists. I've done some close analyses of Ellington takes in the past so it was fun for me to hear different versions of songs on the box.

[Ted O'Reilly]

"I heard Elvis Costello say it was akin to having the entire works of Shakespeare on your shelf." Hmmm. Mr. Costello is an Ellington authority, as well as a Shakespeare maven, is he?

I've been listening to the Jazz Track 933 (not Jazz Beat) "A Drum Is A Woman" over the weekend -- they've done a good job on it. And whatever its provenance, Jazz Track warns one and all that THEIR production is NOT to be copied.

(Value experts: what would a sealed, never-opened copy of the RCA Victor Ellington Centennial box be worth?)

[papsrus]

"I heard Elvis Costello say it was akin to having the entire works of Shakespeare on your shelf." Hmmm. Mr. Costello is an Ellington authority, as well as a Shakespeare maven, is he?

I've been listening to the Jazz Track 933 (not Jazz Beat) "A Drum Is A Woman" over the weekend -- they've done a good job on it. And whatever its provenance, Jazz Track warns one and all that THEIR production is NOT to be copied.

(Value experts: what would a sealed, never-opened copy of the RCA Victor Ellington Centennial box be worth?)

I'm no expert, value or otherwise, but there's a new factory sealed copy over at amazon marketplace for $729.99 here.

Notice, there's also a used for $1,37481, so .... ???

[Ted O'Reilly]

"I heard Elvis Costello say it was akin to having the entire works of Shakespeare on your shelf." Hmmm. Mr. Costello is an Ellington authority, as well as a Shakespeare maven, is he?

I've been listening to the Jazz Track 933 (not Jazz Beat) "A Drum Is A Woman" over the weekend -- they've done a good job on it. And whatever its provenance, Jazz Track warns one and all that THEIR production is NOT to be copied.

(Value experts: what would a sealed, never-opened copy of the RCA Victor Ellington Centennial box be worth?)

I'm no expert, value or otherwise, but there's a new factory sealed copy over at amazon marketplace for $729.99 here.

Notice, there's also a used for $1,37481, so .... ???

Thanks. I'll open mine, play it a few times, wreck the booklet, and put it up for sale...in Canadian dollars.

[king ubu]

Yeah, but the period of 1933-1939 is not covered at all by the RCA box and as I found, there's some fantastic stuff from those years (mostly for Columbia/ARC labels Brunswick and Vocalion). I managed to find several of the Classics covering those years, but some of them are very OOP... they'd amount to 14 discs, to cover the gap, whilst much of the material on these 14 discs is obviously part of the Mosaic, cover the small group dates from 1936-1940 (the years from late 1932-1936 are about four discs, the rest of 1936-1939 is ten!)

[Pete B]

If you do vinyl, you can look for the French series of double lps that cover the Columbia 1930s sides in complete chronological form - both small units and full band. I've not researched if they are truly complete, but the bulk of the recordings should be there. Every so often I see them on offer at reasonable prices - check Cadence or Euclid. There are no liner notes but they have complete discographical details. The sonics aren't necessarily the best, but they are acceptable, at least to my ears. I love that period of Ellington - they are definitely worth having.

Edited February 5, 2008 by Pete B

[bluesbro]

Well. . . the good news is that there is pretty much just the Columbia sides as far as that time frame goes.

If you can grab the two volumes of the Small Groups and if you can find the two cd set "Braggin' in Brass" that Columbia put out (it probably is out of print but may not be too hard to find) you have all but about a disc's worth. I've had the material for so long that I haven't been researching ways to get it NOW, but have an idea . . . . The Mosaic small group set is a really good way to get all the small group material if you can go that route.

A method that seems to mirror the Classics route are Naxos cds. It seems that their Vol. 6 in the Ellington series has quite a bit if not all of the missing in action titles not included on the Columbia cds. . . .

I tried Lon recommendation and ordered "Braggin in Brass"

WOW!!!

I knew the music was great, but was not expecting much on the sonics side. I was very happy to find out that there was NO noise reduction used for this set. Plenty of hiss, as opposed to the Duke Box released by Sony more recently with the same tracks.

Only thing I noticed is that 'I let a song go out of my heart' is slower than the version I am familiar with (recorded the same day). Is this a different slower take or was this a snafu in the 'Braggin in Brass' set?

Edited February 5, 2008 by bluesbro

[papsrus]

While I really enjoy discovering the various earlier Ellington periods (thanks to all the great help here), I find myself pulled by the richness of the Ellington suites, and so have ordered the African-Eurasian Eclipse, Latin American and New Orleans Suites to round things out here on that front. (On the shelf here already: Far East, Such Sweet Thunder, Black Brown & Beige, and The Ellington Suites. Love 'em all.)

At the risk of posing a dumb question, anyone else find these as compelling as I'm finding them lately, or have any thoughts on these three I have on the way?

btw: Listening to Standard Transcriptions now and Mercer Ellington seems to be a nifty composer in his own right ... "Jumpin' Pumkins" What a great tune! (and title!) This one's growing on me too.

[jostber]

That African-Eurasian is a great one! Got that last year, a classic from the later period.

[Swinging Swede]

papsrus,

If you don't have it already, you should quickly get Afro-Bossa. It's one of Duke's best albums IMO.

[papsrus]

This arrived today, and I'm just winding up a first listen:

Boy, you were right about Lotus Blossom, Bev. Tugs at the old heart strings.

A beautiful album start to finish.

Beyond Category also arrived today, so I'll be diving into that shortly.

Cuing up "And His Mother ..." for another go round first.

Edited February 9, 2008 by papsrus

[jostber]

I bought this recently:

A great set with a boppish groove.

[jazzbo]

Yes, glad they put this one out; I've had the mono lp for some time, and had Shawn transfer it to cdr, which he did with excellent results.

Now if only Mosaic would put out the expanded "A Drum is A Woman" as the first two cd "Mosaic Select." I'd buy one and probably three or four copies for Xmas presents.

[Swinging Swede]

Yes, if it's already remastered and ready, as it is rumoured to be, it should not be too difficult for Sony and Mosaic to make a deal, one would think.

[Guest bluenote82]

I happen to like more of his later stuff ----- post-Billy Strayhorn like "New Orleans Suite," "Latin Amercian Suite," "Blues In Orbit," "The Ellington Suites," "Far East Suite," to name a few. But his work with Strayhorn is fantastic too. I love "Uptown" and "Jazz Party."

[Spontooneous]

I happen to like more of his later stuff ----- post-Billy Strayhorn like "New Orleans Suite," "Latin Amercian Suite," "Blues In Orbit," "The Ellington Suites," "Far East Suite," to name a few. But his work with Strayhorn is fantastic too. I love "Uptown" and "Jazz Party."

Better check some of those for Strayhorn credits.

[medjuck]

Yeah, but the period of 1933-1939 is not covered at all by the RCA box and as I found, there's some fantastic stuff from those years (mostly for Columbia/ARC labels Brunswick and Vocalion). I managed to find several of the Classics covering those years, but some of them are very OOP... they'd amount to 14 discs, to cover the gap, whilst much of the material on these 14 discs is obviously part of the Mosaic, cover the small group dates from 1936-1940 (the years from late 1932-1936 are about four discs, the rest of 1936-1939 is ten!)

I thought I read after the release of the small group box set that Steve Lasker was working on a Mosaic box of this material (Or is it no all owned by SonyBMG?)

[Guest bluenote82]

I happen to like more of his later stuff ----- post-Billy Strayhorn like "New Orleans Suite," "Latin Amercian Suite," "Blues In Orbit," "The Ellington Suites," "Far East Suite," to name a few. But his work with Strayhorn is fantastic too. I love "Uptown" and "Jazz Party."

Better check some of those for Strayhorn credits.

Yeah, you're right, I forgot that Billy Strayhorn died in 1967 and was still working very closely with Ellington on those albums. Whoops....