*** The Duke Ellington Corner ***

[JSngry]

Some, not all.

New Orleans Suite was the first "major work" to be released after Stray's death (surely you're read Dan Morgenstern's compelling down beat review of the time!) although if it was the first actually recorded or not, I don't know.

Edited February 20, 2008 by JSngry

[jostber]

Just ordered these:

Looking forward to some great listening. Since I am Norwegian, the Peer Gynt Suite wil be especially interesting to hear.

Edited February 21, 2008 by jostber

[Chuck Nessa]

Just ordered these:

Looking forward to some great listening. Since I am Norwegian, the Peer Gynt Suite wil be especially interesting to hear.

All good. Too bad the disc with the Grieg doesn't include the Nutcracker - another worthy outing.

Curious coincidence - I was the person to inform Duke Fantasy had issued the Latin American Suite (he was a bit bummed since none of that material was in the current "book") and the same week I attended the premier of the UWIS suite included in the "Ellington Suites" disc.

[Alexander Hawkins]

I love the Nutcracker stuff too - some wonderful Sam Woodyard IMHO!

[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!)

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?)

Wow, that would be great! I've never heard about that! Where did you read this? Anyone knows more about it?

[jostber]

More new reissues that are coming soon:

DVD:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Norman-Granz-Prese...8023&sr=1-5

[Guest bluenote82]

How is "The Far East Suite" everybody? I haven't heard this one. I own almost everything Duke has done, but I haven't gotten around to hearing this one yet.

Also, how is "The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse"? I haven't heard this one yet either. Thank you.

Edited February 23, 2008 by bluenote82

[Jams_Runt]

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.

How is "The Far East Suite" everybody? I haven't heard this one. I own almost everything Duke has done, but I haven't gotten around to hearing this one yet.

So, um... is it one of your favorites or not?

[papsrus]

How is "The Far East Suite" everybody? I haven't heard this one. I own almost everything Duke has done, but I haven't gotten around to hearing this one yet.

Also, how is "The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse"? I haven't heard this one yet either. Thank you.

...I'm speechless. ...

The two suites you mentioned are both wonderful.

Edited February 23, 2008 by papsrus

[Guest bluenote82]

How is "The Far East Suite" everybody? I haven't heard this one. I own almost everything Duke has done, but I haven't gotten around to hearing this one yet.

Also, how is "The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse"? I haven't heard this one yet either. Thank you.

...I'm speechless. ...

The two suites you mentioned are both wonderful.

Are they typical Ellington or were they different for him?

[marcello]

I'm almost afraid to ask, but what is "typical Ellington"?

I mean... oh, never mind.

But them, you'll like them.

[A Lark Ascending]

Despite saying I was going to wait a while I've ended up hunting down the Private Collection discs. All but two have proved easy to get hold of inexpensively.

Delightful music, mainly re-explorations of well known/earlier compositions. But this one (volume 5) is especially valuable:

Two lengthy suites - 'The Degas Suite and 'The River'. I have a classical recording of the later and recall hearing a concert performance some years back at the Royal Festival Hall.

Excellent. Thanks for the recommendations earlier in the thread.

Edited February 23, 2008 by Bev Stapleton

[jostber]

Recently ordered:

I'm in a Duke mood right now!

[papsrus]

Despite saying I was going to wait a while I've ended up hunting down the Private Collection discs. All but two have proved easy to get hold of inexpensively.

Delightful music, mainly re-explorations of well known/earlier compositions. But this one (volume 5) is especially valuable:

Two lengthy suites - 'The Degas Suite and 'The River'. I have a classical recording of the later and recall hearing a concert performance some years back at the Royal Festival Hall.

Excellent. Thanks for the recommendations earlier in the thread.

Both of these sound intriguing, the Vol 5 of the Private Collection especially. Thanks for bringing these up. The Vol. 5 Private Collection is now on order.

[jazzbo]

Vol. 5 and Vol. 4 are my two favorite of the Private Collections but they're all great. I just love the Suites on 5, and Ray Nance is all over 4.

[kh1958]

Vol. 5 and Vol. 4 are my two favorite of the Private Collections but they're all great. I just love the Suites on 5, and Ray Nance is all over 4.

My copy of volume 4 inexplicably came with volume 3 inside. Now after many years of procrastination, I find that volume 4 is hard to find. Is the person who has volume 3, with volume 4 inside out there somewhere?

[papsrus]

Vol. 5 and Vol. 4 are my two favorite of the Private Collections but they're all great. I just love the Suites on 5, and Ray Nance is all over 4.

My copy of volume 4 inexplicably came with volume 3 inside. Now after many years of procrastination, I find that volume 4 is hard to find. Is the person who has volume 3, with volume 4 inside out there somewhere?

Not hard. Try here.

(How's volume three?)

[Guy Berger]

How is "The Far East Suite" everybody? I haven't heard this one. I own almost everything Duke has done, but I haven't gotten around to hearing this one yet.

Also, how is "The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse"? I haven't heard this one yet either. Thank you.

...I'm speechless. ...

The two suites you mentioned are both wonderful.

The Far East Suite is a magnificent work period -- among the best stuff I have heard under Duke's name, from ANY period.

Afro-Eurasian Eclipse isn't as consistently brilliant, but it does include some stuff that is just fantastic. Highly recommended.

The Latin American Suite I like as well, but it is somewhat monochromatic.

Guy

[papsrus]

How is "The Far East Suite" everybody? I haven't heard this one. I own almost everything Duke has done, but I haven't gotten around to hearing this one yet.

Also, how is "The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse"? I haven't heard this one yet either. Thank you.

...I'm speechless. ...

The two suites you mentioned are both wonderful.

The Far East Suite is a magnificent work period -- among the best stuff I have heard under Duke's name, from ANY period.

Afro-Eurasian Eclipse isn't as consistently brilliant, but it does include some stuff that is just fantastic. Highly recommended.

The Latin American Suite I like as well, but it is somewhat monochromatic.

Guy

I'm listening now to "The Latin American Suite." It's new to me (I should put that phrase on a save-get key), and I think I know what you're saying -- there is a certain sameness to the music from one track to the next with those steady latin beats. But I'm finding it very rich melodically. Spicy good. And Ellington's understated playing throughout the album is brilliant. When his piano pops into the foreground, he really is a commanding voice. You can't not listen to what he has to say.

"The Sleeping Lady & the Giant Who Watches over Her" is one of the standout tracks for me, and a great example of the beautiful melody on this album. It's a joy to listen to a band this rock solid. A live performance must have been a spine-tingling experience.

("Far East" I love ... as with "Latin American," I'm still getting acquainted with "Afro-Eurasian").

Edited February 24, 2008 by papsrus

[kh1958]

Vol. 5 and Vol. 4 are my two favorite of the Private Collections but they're all great. I just love the Suites on 5, and Ray Nance is all over 4.

My copy of volume 4 inexplicably came with volume 3 inside. Now after many years of procrastination, I find that volume 4 is hard to find. Is the person who has volume 3, with volume 4 inside out there somewhere?

Not hard. Try here.

(How's volume three?)

Thanks, I bit the bullet and paid $12 for a used copy.

My extra Volume 3 is now on your doormat in a plain brown envelope.

[PristineAudio]

Thanks to papsrus for sending me to the Duke Ellington Corner - I'd just posted this in the Reissues section:

Take a listen to this:

"The Blues" - Duke Ellington Orch., Marie Ellington (vox), 19 December 1944, Carnegie Hall

I've rarely enjoyed listening to one of my remastered recordings as much as I have this one - it's a real classic and has come up a treat:

Duke Ellington at Carnegie Hall, 1944

Big band jazz can't really get better than this, can it?

Duke Ellington - leader, piano, arranger

Rex Stewart, Taft Jordan, Cat Anderson, Shelton Hemphill - trumpets

Ray Nance - trumpet, violin, vocal

Tricky Sam Nanton, Lawrence Brown, Claude Jones - trombones

Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Otto Hardwicke, Al Sears, Jimmy Hamilton - reeds

Fred Guy - guitar

Junior Raglin - bass

Hillard Brown - drums

Kay Davis, Marie Ellington, Al Hibbler - vocals

Billy Strayhorn - assistant arranger

Disc One

1. Blutopia (4:25)

2. Midriff (4:03)

3. Creole Love Call (6:34)

4. Suddenly It Jumped (2:53)

5. Pitter Panther Patter (3:00)

6. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) (3:59)

7. Things Ain't What They Used To Be (5:21)

8. Perfume Suite: Introduction (0:55)

9. Sonata (3:17)

10. Strange Feeling (5:13)

11. Dancers In Love (2:35)

12. Coloratura (3:26)

Disc Two

1. Black, Brown And Beige: Work Song (7:05)

2. Black, Brown And Beige: The Blues (5:29)

3. Black, Brown And Beige: Three Dances (6:33)

4. Black, Brown And Beige: Come Sunday (11:56)

5. The Mood To Be Wooed (4:51)

6. Blue Cellophane (3:18)

7. Blue Skies (Trumpets No End) (3:37)

8. Frankie And Johnny (8:14)

Recorded live at Cernegie Hall, 19th December 1944

Restoration and XR remastering by Andrew Rose, February 2008

Notes on this release:

This excellent recording from mainly clean acetate discs has really opened out thanks to the application of the XR remastering system. I took several modern recordings of music by Ellington as starting reference points with the aim of finding as much authentic fidelity as possible in the older recording. I was also able to deal with the mild surface noise, scratches etc., as well as correcting pitch thanks to the detection of residual 60Hz mains hum in the original - previous issues of this recording ran slightly fast.

There's more Ellington in the pipeline, BTW.

[A Lark Ascending]

Nice 34 min discussion about Rex Stewart between Alyn Shipton and Guy Barker here - up for the next few days:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazzlibrary/pip/d5lon/

Edited March 1, 2008 by Bev Stapleton

[papsrus]

Nice 34 min discussion about Rex Stewart between Alyn Shipton and Guy Barker here - up for the next few days:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazzlibrary/pip/d5lon/

Thanks for the link Bev.

[kh1958]

I just received notice of this upcoming DVD release, Norman Granz Presents Duke Ellington, The Last Jam Session.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013K2Z9...6930_pe_snp_Z9K

[papsrus]

Nice 34 min discussion about Rex Stewart between Alyn Shipton and Guy Barker here - up for the next few days:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazzlibrary/pip/d5lon/

Nice meaty discussion. Really enjoyed the insights into Rex Stewart's technique and sound. Prompted after listening to the program to go ahead and pick up a copy of Vol. 2 of the Small Groups.

... and then this ...

"Rex Stewart and the Ellingtonians"

Edited March 7, 2008 by papsrus