Duke Ellington - The Complete Capitol Recordings of Duke Ellington [1995] (5 x CDs)

SUNDAY JAZZ

DUKE ELLINGTON

Duke Ellington - The Complete Capitol Recordings of Duke Ellington [1995] (5 x CDs)

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 - May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life.

Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based in New York City from the mid-1920s and gained a national profile through his orchestra's appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. A master at writing miniatures for the three-minute 78 rpm recording format, Ellington wrote or collaborated on more than one thousand compositions; his extensive body of work is the largest recorded personal jazz legacy, and many of his pieces have become standards. He also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, such as Juan Tizol's "Caravan", which brought a Spanish tinge to big band jazz.

At the end of the 1930s, Ellington began a nearly thirty five-year collaboration with composer-arranger-pianist Billy Strayhorn, whom he called his writing and arranging companion. With Strayhorn, he composed multiple extended compositions, or suites, as well as many short pieces. For a few years at the beginning of Strayhorn's involvement, Ellington's orchestra featured bassist Jimmy Blanton and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster and reached what many claim to be a creative peak for the group. Some years later following a low-profile period, an appearance by Ellington and his orchestra at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1956 led to a major revival and regular world tours. Ellington recorded for most American record companies of his era, performed in and scored several films, and composed a handful of stage musicals.

Although a pivotal figure in the history of jazz, in the opinion of Gunther Schuller and Barry Kernfeld, "the most significant composer of the genre", Ellington himself embraced the phrase "beyond category", considering it a liberating principle, and referring to his music as part of the more general category of American Music. Ellington was known for his inventive use of the orchestra, or big band, as well as for his eloquence and charisma. He was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize Special Award for music in 1999.

This five-CD box set from Mosaic documents Duke Ellington's least-known period, his two years on Capitol. Although thought of by some as his off years because of the absence of Johnny Hodges, the set serves as evidence that a great deal of viable music was created. The problem was basically one of the times themselves, coupled with weaknesses at Capitol and its approach to marketing jazz. Ellington's move to the label followed four frustrating years at Columbia Records, where he was kept out of the studio for 20 months by a combination of the musicians' union strike and the label's laziness, and then allowed to record two startlingly ambitious LPs, only to see his sales (in an era dominated by singers and novelty tunes) plummet. He felt the new label would be able to sell his records better than Columbia, but it wasn't to be -- Capitol, although an aggressive, upstart company, wasn't well focused on jazz. In fact, however, during this period, Ellington's orchestra had 11 distinctive soloists including four very different trumpeters (Clark Terry, Cat Anderson, Willie Cook, and Ray Nance), and they were playing and even writing good music. In addition, there's a well-known trio set (sounding better here than on Capitol's own reissue) that showcases Ellington's underrated piano playing. Toss in the original version of "Satin Doll" plus the unusual Ellington '55 album, and one has a highly enjoyable reissue that Duke Ellington fans should pick up immediately. Two other virtues of this set that fans should consider are the extraordinary sound quality and the thoroughness of the historical annotation. To properly appreciate all of Ellington's best work during the period covered by the Mosaic set, one should also grab hold of the Discovery Records reissue of those Reprise recordings, Symphonic Ellington. (AMG review by Scott Yanow & Bruce Eder)

Historians and some Duke Ellington fans look askance at the brief period he spent on Capitol Records (1953-55). This was a hectic period in jazz, with bebop in the near-view, hard bop coming along as well, and the big band was considered by many to be a relic of bygone eras. Yet Ellington persevered, and not without another adversity: the temporary loss of signature alto player Johnny Hodges, who was off leading his own bands. The resulting five CDs worth of material collected here show an Ellington band more aimed at repetition, both of its own repertoire, which had sounded better in the 1940s, and of other bands' material. Singer Jimmy Grissom does a good job with the Ellington band, without the velvety, almost spooky polish of Herb Jeffries (as evidenced on the astounding Blanton-Webster Years collection) but with a sureness that even sounds like jump blues in spots. What comes from the full-band tracks here is a clear demonstration that Ellington's outfit was sharp in the early '50s, with Juan Tizol and Ray Nance playing at a peak. But what's invaluable from this box set are the Ellington small-band tunes. The piano-trio cuts, available separately on Piano Reflections, present Duke as a keyboard polymath, dropping modernist touches in his spacing and phrasing and still managing a great deal of coloristic depth. And then there are the totally startling long blues tunes with Ellington on electric piano. Preeminently interested in everything that seemed musically possible, Ellington makes the tunes shine. This collection serves as a long-form rebuttal to all the naysayers who scoff at the Duke's early 1950s work. (Amazon)

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Track lists

CD1

01 Duke Ellington - Satin Doll 3:00

02 Duke Ellington - Without A Song 3:00

03 Duke Ellington - Cocktails for Two 2:58

04 Duke Ellington - My Old Flame 3:13

05 Duke Ellington - I Can't Give You Anything But Love 3:11

06 Duke Ellington - Ain't Nothin' Nothin' (Baby Without You) 2:57

07 Duke Ellington - Stormy Weather 3:12

08 Duke Ellington - Star Dust 2:29

09 Duke Ellington - Three Little Words 2:45

10 Duke Ellington - Orson 2:52

11 Duke Ellington - Boo-Dah 2:54

12 Duke Ellington - Blossom 2:29

13 Duke Ellington - Ballin' The Blues 3:03

14 Duke Ellington - Warm Valley 3:22

15 Duke Ellington - Flamingo 3:42

16 Duke Ellington - Bluejean Beguine 2:42

17 Duke Ellington - Liza 3:15

18 Duke Ellington - Who Knows 2:37

19 Duke Ellington - Retrospection 3:58

20 Duke Ellington - B Sharp Blues 2:47

21 Duke Ellington - Passion Flower 3:07

22 Duke Ellington - Dancers in Love 1:56

23 Duke Ellington - Reflections in D 3:34

CD2

01 Duke Ellington - Melancholia 3:20

02 Duke Ellington - Prelude to A Kiss 3:04

03 Duke Ellington - In A Sentimental Mood 2:32

04 Duke Ellington - Things Ain't What They Used to Be 2:56

05 Duke Ellington - All Too Soon 3:08

06 Duke Ellington - Janet 2:14

07 Duke Ellington - Give Me The Right 2:46

08 Duke Ellington - Is it A Sin (My Loving You) 2:55

09 Duke Ellington - Don't Touch Me 2:02

10 Duke Ellington - Basin Street Blues 5:52

11 Duke Ellington - Big Drag 2:51

12 Duke Ellington - Hear My Plea 2:54

13 Duke Ellington - Don't Ever Say Goodbye 3:01

14 Duke Ellington - What More Can I Say? 3:08

15 Duke Ellington - Kinda Dukish 2:32

16 Duke Ellington - Montevideo 2:33

17 Duke Ellington - December Blue 2:43

18 Duke Ellington - I'm Just A Lucky So and So 3:02

19 Duke Ellington - It Shouldn't Happen to A Dream 3:14

20 Duke Ellington - What More Can I Say 2:40

21 Duke Ellington - Rockin' in Rhythm 4:02

22 Duke Ellington - Ultra Deluxe 2:54

CD3

01 Duke Ellington - Flying Home 6:17

02 Duke Ellington - Chile Bowl 2:43

03 Duke Ellington - Blue Moon 2:47

04 Duke Ellington - Oh Well 3:34

05 Duke Ellington - Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin' 2:44

06 Duke Ellington - Ultra Deluxe 2:48

07 Duke Ellington - Flying Home 6:11

08 Duke Ellington - What More Can I Say? 2:27

09 Duke Ellington - Serious Serenade 3:00

10 Duke Ellington - Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin' 3:55

11 Duke Ellington - Honeysuckle Rose 4:19

12 Duke Ellington - Night Time 2:16

13 Duke Ellington - Stompin' at The Savoy 5:07

14 Duke Ellington - Don't Ever Say Goodbye 2:18

15 Duke Ellington - Black and Tan Fantasy 5:12

16 Duke Ellington - Frivolous Banta 2:39

17 Duke Ellington - In The Mood 6:02

18 Duke Ellington - One O'Clock Jump 5:13

CD4

01 Duke Ellington - Things Ain't What They Used to Be 6:23

02 Duke Ellington - Happy-Go-Lucky Local 5:35

03 Duke Ellington - Rockin' in Rhythm 4:33

04 Duke Ellington - Falling Like A Raindrop 3:01

05 Duke Ellington - All Day Long 2:47

06 Duke Ellington - Bunny Hop Mambo 2:32

07 Duke Ellington - Isle of Capri 2:21

08 Duke Ellington - C Jam Blues 4:52

09 Duke Ellington - Band Call 2:32

10 Duke Ellington - Gonna Tan Your Hide 6:13

11 Duke Ellington - It Don't Mean A Thing 10:20

12 Duke Ellington - Smile 2:39

13 Duke Ellington - Echo Tango 2:36

14 Duke Ellington - If I Give My Heart to You 2:40

15 Duke Ellington - Chile Bowl 2:42

16 Duke Ellington - Bakiff 5:46

CD5

01 Duke Ellington - Twelfth Street Rag Mambo 2:36

02 Duke Ellington - September Song 2:53

03 Duke Ellington - Caravan 4:32

04 Duke Ellington - La Virges De La Macarena 4:02

05 Duke Ellington - Harlem Air Shaft (Alt Tk) 3:55

06 Duke Ellington - Harlem Air Shaft 3:55

07 Duke Ellington - Look What I've Got for You 2:46

08 Duke Ellington - Commericial Time 3:55

09 Duke Ellington - Clarinet Melodrama 5:42

10 Duke Ellington - Theme for Trambean 3:27

11 Duke Ellington - Coquette 2:33

12 Duke Ellington - Serious Serenade 2:50

13 Duke Ellington - Body and Soul 4:51

14 Duke Ellington - Discontented Blues 5:16

15 Duke Ellington - One in A Blue Mood 5:45

16 Duke Ellington - Lady Be Good 4:50

17 Duke Ellington - So Long 2:38

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