Duke Ellington

And His Mother Called Him Bill--tribute to Billy Strayhorn after his death, full of re-readings of Strayhorn compositions, very moving and elegiac.

The Far East Suite--Ellington goes to India, integrates it into his sound. This does not mean lots of tablas and such; they are still playing big band jazz, but the melodies and arrangements are Eastern-inflected.

The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse--ditto, but with Africa this time. One of the last albums he did (some of the tracks never got official titles). Some pounding stuff on this one. Also includes fabulous intro voiceover in which Duke cites McLuhan.

The New Orleans Suite--swings like hell. A few old blues and jazz classics mixed in with new compositions. Like floating down the river on a gambling boat, etc.

Such Sweet Thunder--Suite based on characters from Shakespeare. Some of his most prettiest melodies and most complex arrangements. Some of the tracks really do sound like the characters they're named for.

Money Jungle--Trio with Max Roach and Mingus. Has become slightly overrated I think--essentially they're just jamming--but it sounds sophisticated, loose and improvisational and hey, what a band.

Back to Back--Duet with Duke on piano, Johnny Hodges on guitar. Great blues wailing.

Black, Brown and Beige--the first and most famous suite. Never released in complete form (he kept reworking it after poor initial reception), but there's a great reissue with a good part of it, including Come Sunday, awesome spiritual with Mahalia Jackson.

Also: read any bio of him. Amazing man, interesting messy contradictory unbelievable American life.

I would also suggest Latin American Suite, which is very much in the mode of Far East, et al, and one of my sleeper faves among his albums, and the admittedly somewhat less successful Afro-Bossa; coupla killer tunes on there.

It's astonishing to hear how the band lifts off after Jimmy Blanton joins. He was only 20 and he reinvented jazz bass. One of the great overlooked geniuses of the century.

Also agreed abt the Proper box being terrific value.

To me Money Jungle is having nice coffee and pastry in the morning music. It's got atmosphere and it sounds good, but they're not splitting the atom or anything. I think Mingus is the best thing on it, he's rolling along.

Blood Clot really is amazing. It billows and hangs in the air. That's my favorite Ellington album I think.

blood clot? tell me more...

Stuart Nicholson's Reminiscing in Tempo is a good book - a mainly oral history of Ellington.

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=11:27:40|AM&sql=Atyb8b5f49sqh

And as much as I love the version of "Blood Count" on And His Mother . . ., when I hear the tune in my head I hear Andy Bey's version (with lyrics) on his amazing Shades of Bey album.

After rereading the initial question, I must ad another vote for the Blanton-Webster set. If you don't fall in love with at least some of this music, I question what it is you like music for.

While I love the later album/suite oriented era, I think his earlier swing-era and pre-swing material sometimes gets short shrift because people assume they know it because they know "Take the A Train" and "Satin Doll." Plus there are about a kabillion different Ellington collections from his earlier days, so it's hard to know how to tackle it.

RCA owns a lot of great early Ellington; if you see any single discs on their Bluebird imprint from Ellington's early career in a used bin, grab 'em (not least cause they're out of print). As much as I like prime and late Ellington, my life would be poorer without "The Mooche," "The Dicty Glide," the earliest "Mood Indigo," and countless more.

Also, there are two great two-disc sets titled something like The Duke's Men, which feature mid-period small-group recordings. Lotta great stuff on there.

Later Ellington: search the "Queen's Suite", which contains the lovely piece, "Single Petal of a Rose". It's on a CD called "The Ellington Suites" on OJC

vote three for The Blanton-Webster Years; I've been advised by people who know to avoid the new repackage of the same material in a cardboard case: "they fucked up the remaster" was his objection.

I really love The Far East Suite, it's the only thing I know from way later, obv I need to explore more

and I was beaten to recommending the Proper box, so I'll second that

I don't know - I have this and the remaster sounds fine to me, as good as you could expect for this period. I'm pretty sure that this is the same remaster that's in the Centennial edition.

"chocolate shake" is v. close.

As for Far East Suite...it's absolutely beautiful. Can't think of anything else to say.

Indeed. They are catchy and fill o hooks. With early to mid Ellington, due to recording technology, most songs were only around 3 minutes long. The classic Ellington / Strayhorn number Take The A Train packs a whole musical narrative in less than 3 minutes and has a great fadeout ending.

I am listening to Jungle Nights in Harlem and you should too.

I really love Far East Suite
and the shite with Coleman Hawkins.

If you don't like it, you're racist.

underrated record is 'side by side' w/ johnny hodges
sweets edison KILLS IT on trumpet

Must look into that then!
I love those underrated ones.

Jubilee Stomp is an acceptable substitute if Jungle Nights in Harlem is not available.

Damnit hes prolific.
I havn't heard any of this.

Jungle Nights and Jubilee Stomp are early stuff. On Bluebird, nice and cheap and very hard swinging and excellent.

I am really enjoying The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse, one of Ellington's last albums. I know it's supposed to be African-influenced -- and it is -- but it sounds even more rock-influenced, to me. Dark, thumping and rhythmic. Very unlike what I expect of Ellington (OTOH, I'm not all that familiar with his bread-and-butter big band work). Anyway, great disc. (n.1).

-------------
(n.1) I did cringe at the corny spoken-word opening of the album, tho. Minor quibble, I guess.

haha, i LOVE that spoken word intro.
as has been noted in this thread, there's a ton of later period (60s-70s) Ellington that is amazingly good. One I didn't see mentioned is the piano/bass album with Ray Brown called This One's For Blanton. Sort of an album length sequel to the duets Duke did with Blanton way back when. The New Orleans Suite (Hodges' last album, I think) has some great moments as well.

I have this and the remaster sounds fine to me, as good as you could expect for this period

I've kind of changed my mind on this. I think they did kind of screw it up - though it's still listenable if you turn the treble down a couple of notches on your stereo.

yeah, i think maybe the first disc of the B|W Band comp is kind of dodgy, esp. on headphones. I've got an old double LP with a lot of the same stuff and it sounds better to me, even on my crappy turntable. That said, those recordings would be great recorded on a cell phone. goddam, some of it is unbelievably good.

I am really enjoying The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse

YES.

"Didjeridoo" is quickly becoming a tune I feel really gypped that I never got to play with my jazz combo in college

emusic subscribers who don't have this record, you have wasted a month.

Tom, you should post here too:
Ellington as pianist

Matos DJs on Wednesdays here and plays something from The Far East Suite almost every week.

I've been listening to The Far East Suite pretty much nonstop, with a couple of plays of The Seattle Concert thrown in. Sound is rough, as it's a 1952 show (and Ellington's first LP as such), but really sweet. Clark Terry is really nice on "Perdido."

I should say the album is really sweet, not the rough sound.

Duke Ellington becomes first African-American on U.S. coin

this is great -

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gbfqxqejldse

Eee, that does look good. Also expensive.

Jazz man is first African-American to solo on U.S. circulating coin

I've been saying for years we need to get politicians off our money and artists on. Nice work, DC! We could get off to no better start.

http://dcist.com/2009/01/dc_duke_ellington_quarter_released.php

Oh god, the comments.

"I looked up Duke Ellington"

Wow. Says it all, really.

[6] | snoopydog

Who is Duke Ellington and why should I care about him? Are there any other individuals on the quarters that I missed? Usually it's some stupid mountain or some wild life from the state. Who's Duke Ellington? Was he the architect of DC? I thought that guy was French. Ellington does not sound French to me.

I realize that DC isn't exactly the center of intellectualism but really, a piano player who likes white suits?

This is why I have instituted a strict "DO NOT READ COMMENTS ON INTERNET" policy. Talk about douchebags.

a funny thing to post on an Internet message board, yeah, but I'm talking about newspaper comments, etc.

Beat out Benjamin Banneker and Frederick Douglass. I guess I could live with any of those on a quarter. I still would like to replace Andrew Jackson on the 20 with someone a little less....genocidal, though.

Charlie Parker never committed any indian massacres, did he?

<a href=http://www.sendspace.com/file/oc5mla>;Shhhh!</a>

What is that, video of Charlie Parker committing indian massacres? Whilst playing "Cherokee"?

Jubilee Stomp

lol, just got this bizarre email from Amazon:

Dear Amazon.com Customer,

As someone who has purchased or rated music by Duke Ellington, you might like to know that New York, March 1959 is now available. You can order yours for just $950.00 by following the link below.
New York, March 1959 New York, March 1959
Duke Ellington
Price: $950.00

Album Description
New York, March 1959 by Ellington, Duke

This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

?????????????????

Me too, discussion over here

CD PRICES: Did they ever become as affordable as the vinyl/cassettes they replaced? Why?/Why not?

It's a "burn on demand" CD, even

See also http://www.amazon.com/2007-2012-Building-Excluding-Cafeteria-Restaurant/dp/0497503093

Customers Who Bought Related Items Also Bought

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41PHXQ1W30L._SL500_SS100_.gif

Duke puts it on wax.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjKlFFp4-IE

Like making waffles.

I bought a cheapy 3-disc Ellington set the other day and it is totally ruling my life.

your saying so inspired me to listen to the yale concert, which re-blew my damn mind

Once I get my sound back, I'll have to track that down.

whenever this thread is revived, i worry that duke died.

nobody tell amatuerist what happened, i'm afraid it might break his heart

longish piece in the NYorker on Duke, http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2010/05/17/100517crat_atlarge_pierpont?currentPage=all

just saw that! amazing photo. was going to ask if anyone had read that new book -- i was just flipping through it at the bookstore.

Keep eyeing that one in the bookstore, but haven't taken the bait yet.

"Blazing Saddles" was made in 1974!

??

He's in it.

no he ain't, that's count basie

oh.

it's a good scene though.
http://www.morethings.com/fan/blazing_saddles/blazing-saddles-490.jpg

I love Basie & feel like he doesn't get enough love these days

Basie does seem sort of out of fashion it's true.

he's a little less varied when placed against Ellington, and a bit less of a monumental, American hero kind of figure ... but when it comes to swinging, he can kick Ellington's band's ass any day. Duke probably would've agreed.

its a Stooges vs. Stones sort of thing. Basie's sixties stuff with Neil Hefti has a late-career shine that's completely different than Ellington, but just as neat.

yeah i haven't heard a lot of late-period Basie, I should check it out. any specific recommendations?

Atomic.

i think that's the latest one I've heard ... but that's late 50s, right? He lived/recorded for a couple more decades ... oh i've also got this one from 1966, which is pretty off the hook. http://www.amazon.com/Live-at-Sands-Count-Basie/dp/B000009D1P/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1273683671&sr=1-1

Yeah, Atomic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E%3DMC2_%28Count_Basie_album%29

wait, who doesn't love basie?

he definitely insinuated himself into my generation's consciousness via his sesame street appearances.

and then there's this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaZOXF83zBg

(you really owe it to yourself to watch the whole thing. you will thank me.)

maybe i should take this to the basie thread, if one exists.

Listened to this a couple times in last year & still sounds great.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/518Q6SFZAZL._SS500_.jpg

I've been gradually acquiring volumes in the Private Collection series and so far all of those have been great. It blows my mind to think about him recording hours and hours of big band compositions on his own dime and just putting the tapes on the shelf. The excellent New Yorker article linked above describes how his work as a composer was inseparable from his constant interaction with the band. One of the main reasons he kept touring so hard in the leaner 50s and 60s years must have been to be able to write and record this way.

Lots of Duke material, including the Private Collection stuff, is available for cheap on emusic.

don't think i've heard any of the private collection stuff ... any tips on where to start? jesus there is so much Ellington. Scary thing is that pretty much all of it is pretty great!

The first one I got is v. 5, "The Suites, New York, 1968 & 1970," and that is pretty sweet.

Volume 5 kicks off with a take on "Such Sweet Thunder" that's one of my favorite tracks ever. The "Ocht O'Clock Rock" on Vol 8 is one of his funkiest numbers. I love the room sound on the Private Collection studio albums. For that reason, I like the "Ad Lib on Nippon" better than the one of Far East Suite.

cool, i'll check that out. love the late 60s Ellington sound.

oh nice, you can get a set of them for pretty cheap: http://www.amazon.com/Duke-Ellington-DUKE-ELLINGTON-Box/dp/B00006L5TC/ref=reg_hu-wl_mrai-recs

Are these private collection volumes in roughly chronological order? Because I majorly fuck with 60s Ellington and I wonder if the box of Volumes 6-10 is therefore the one for me.

Almost wish he wrote less sometimes - feel like I just can't get my mind around his body of work.

yeah, but it warms my heart to think that there's a lifetime of duke to listen to ...

The Private Collection series jumps all over the place chronologically. According to allmusic:

Vol. 1: Studio Sessions, Chicago 1956
Vol. 2: Dance Concerts, California, 1958
Vol. 3: Studio Sessions, New York, 1962
Vol. 4: Studio Sessions, New York, 1963
Vol. 5: The Suites, New York, 1968 & 1970
Vol. 6: Dance Dates, California, 1958
Vol. 7: Studio Sessions, 1957 & 1962
Vol. 8: Studio Sessions, 1957, 1965, 1966, 1967, San Francisco, Chicago, New York
Vol. 9: Studio Sessions, New York, 1968
Vol. 10: Studio Sessions, New Your & Chicago, 1965, 1966 & 1971

You'd think somewhere on the web there'd be a review of the whole series, but I'm not able to find one.

another great ellington deal: http://www.amazon.com/Original-Album-Classics-Duke-Ellington/dp/B000UO7IME/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1CGIV5J69DXFS&colid=1X3ACMTXW3S2I
5 50s albums for just about ten bucks

and then there's all these Treasury Shows too, yeesh: http://www.storyvillerecords.com/default.aspx?tabID=2627&productId=27249&state_2837=2

xpost that is a great deal! Stuff from when he began to record longer pieces thanks to the new LP format iirc.

in terms of their bands/styles (not nec. their overall impact) I've always thought of it like this

Basie:James Brown::Ellington:George Clinton

that's a good way to think about it. who's sly stone, though?
all of those records on that Original Album Classics thing are pretty great. Such Sweet Thunder, the shakespeare one, has some amazing stuff.

I've been collecting versions of Duke Ellington's "Caravan" for a while now. My favorite is a hidden track at the end of a best of Ferlin Husky CD. Or is it the Three Suns'? For some reason this song inspired the maddest cover versions, especially in the '60s.

who's sly stone, though?

lol I dunno would have to be someone who's classic period was in between or concurrent with Basie and Ellington...

maybe he's cab calloway

and xpost, yeah, i love hearing all the different interpretations of Ellington's event the not-so-good ones. For awhile I was collecting versions "Solitude" ...

*even* the not so good ones

this record is wild -- synthy, moog-y versions of Ellington standards
http://www.dustygroove.com/images/products/u/umilia_pier_odetoduke_101b.jpg

so my sister got me the "private collection" (all ten discs) for xmas. haven't waded through all of it, but everything so far is great. some of the ate 50s live shows, like at air force bases or something, are fab, really loose. you can hear the band talking to each other during songs onstage.

"some of the *late* 50s live shows"

tylerw's sister = hero

otm

I thought those were mostly studio recordings? I have a volume five, which includes of "The Degas Suite" and "The River," both of which are totally sprawling and brilliant. "The River" also has a section that prefigures "Portrait Of Mahalia Jackson," later to feature in the New Orleans Suite (and one of the most stunning moments in Ellington's oeuvre).

there are two or three discs of live stuff, the rest is studio. yeah the degas/river disc is incredible, so beautiful. had it turned up loud in the house last weekend and it sounded amazing, epic.

Cool, gonna try to get the rest of the Private Collection discs. That late-60s studio stuff is amazing, one of his career peaks (though it's not often regarded as such).

so weird! the 1975 super bowl halftime show was ... a tribute to duke ellington.
http://blogojazz.blogspot.com/2011/01/jazz-at-super-bowl.html

have been through a major Duke Ellington phase the past few days, also including the Ella Fitzgerald songbook records. WHAT A BAND!!!!!!!!!!!!

yeah i'm still rolling through the private collection. so good! just ordered the "black brown and beige" box set, too. 1944-46 recordings, i think.

That Ella Duke songbook record is great and definitely the jazziest of those songbooks. I'm hoping this recently unearthed Twelve Nights In Hollywood thing will give them a run for the money.

This thread doesn't seem to mention the great record he made with Rosemary Clooney, Blue Rose.

the spoken bits with strayhorn and ellington on the songbook set are great, too. so you've heard the 12 nights Ella set? i've been tempted by it, but don't reall have the cash at the moment.

oh! i see it's much cheaper than it was originally on amazon ... hmm.

I heard one song from it over the weekend. Hopefully will be hearing more soon.

back to duke -- i also just got the duke ellington's america book from the library. so far so good! glad to have something big to read about him, i haven't been nuts about the other bios i've read.

Nice podcast interview with Geoffrey O'Brien about Ellington's later work.

I'm about halfway through Ellington's America; so far, it's ridiculously informed/informative, and beyond essential.

yeah, that book is great, i just read it last month. not heavy on the personal life stuff (which is maybe a good thing?) but just sort of a fascinating journey through duke's career, with all kinds of fantastic details. even though it sounds kinda dull, the info about his finances is really interesting. always thought that maybe duke was exaggerating when he said he lost money keeping his band on retainer all those years, but it looks like it was true. he just loved having a band always there to play his music.

all the civil rights era chapters are great, too, as is his chapter on black brown and beige. really a wonderful book.

What was shocking to me was how long his (financially) fallow period was. I assumed it was for maybe 3 or 4 years in the 50s; turns out it was nearly ten years. I suspect it's impossible to get too into his personal life, since he was so guarded; Mercer's autobiography goes more into it than any other Ellington book, but it mostly amounts to things anyone could have guessed (flying into a seething rage upon hearing of Strayhorn's death, for instance).

yeah, in re: to finances, it's obvious he could've, at some point, just dissolved his band and just become a kind of freelance celebrity musician, and probably been a lot more successful in a business sense. have you ever read music is my mistress? i haven't and the descriptions in this new book don't make it sound very essential.

One of my favorite parts of the book is describing how Ellington and Irving Mill quite consciously marketed him as a "genius" and a composer as much as a band leader and recording artist, which bought Duke the time and leeway to become a genius composer. They were incredibly clever about balancing showbiz concerns with high art, making the pressures complement each other, rather than being in opposition.

I listen to late Ellington more than the early Ellington at this point. That podcast hits upon a lot of my favorite tracks- Ocht O'Clock, Ad Lib in Nippon, Blood Count. I've never heard the ballet they mention.

yeah! i mean, obviously, duke had the talent to back up the "genius" claim, but it was fascinating how early him and mills were pushing that aspect.

and i agree, the late ellington is what is really doing it for me these days. kind of want to put together a one-disc duke ellington in the 70s comp. don't have everything though!

I listen to late Ellington more than the early Ellington at this point. That podcast hits upon a lot of my favorite tracks- Ocht O'Clock, Ad Lib in Nippon, Blood Count. I've never heard the ballet they mention.

It ("The River") is on The Private Collection, Vol. 5. It's brilliant and fascinating, and also contains the germ of what would later become "Portrait Of Mahalia Jackson" (from The New Orleans Suite), one of his most heartbreaking themes.

^^^yeah, the river is amazing.

anyone heard this one? live trio recorded in 72.
http://pixhost.info/avaxhome/2007-12-22/001.jpg

yeah, in re: to finances, it's obvious he could've, at some point, just dissolved his band and just become a kind of freelance celebrity musician, and probably been a lot more successful in a business sense. have you ever read music is my mistress? i haven't and the descriptions in this new book don't make it sound very essential.

True about how he could've otherwise dealt with his financial situation, but with his band as his instrument, he would have probably felt somewhat adrift and unfulfilled.

I've read MIMM, and it's kind of goofy and all over the place. It's not chronological, and one chapter is usually a non-sequitur to the previous chapter (i.e., Chapter 4: Louis Bellson was a great drummer! Chapter 5: I really enjoy a good steak!) I mean, it's a fun read, kind of like going to dinner with Duke and listening to him talk for about six hours. But it's not the least bit revealing, unless you count an exact account of every single restaurant meal he ever ate in his entire life.

ha, well, that does sound kind of good. my library's got it, so i'll probably get around to it sometime soon.

The Whitney gig is a lot of fun; he plays some of his earliest material (and laughs with the audience about him being unable to play it now). Reminds me of James Booker just hanging out and reeling off medleys.

In the Uncommon Market has more trio stuff which I love.

wow, never even heard of that one. looks like a cool set, though. amazing how much ellington there is!

It's not well known, but it's on iTunes and it's got a bunch of great live performances from the early sixties. The trio bits are recorded in this Italian garden, I think, so there's tons of crickets etc, which sounds awful but it's really magical.

actually, I love all the room noise in his 60s recordings- he had a lot more open space in his work, and with recording fidelity improving there's cool little details. Like the guy going "dink-da-dink-dink" in between the call and response on "Limbo Jazz"

eesh, didn't even know this was happening. mosaic, y u so expensive

The Definitive Songs. The Definitive Orchestra. And Now...
The DEFINITIVE Edition.
The Complete 1932-1940 Brunswick, Columbia, and Master Recordings of
Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra

After achieving youthful acclaim in Washington, and making a successful move to New York fronting (at first) small groups, Duke Ellington entered the 1930s with an expanded line-up and an increasingly creative approach to composing. Weekly radio broadcasts and swank guests in the audience spread the word; Hollywood noticed his marquee smile and musical brilliance; and the orchestra began touring extensively, including trips to Europe. His fame and popularity were on the rise.

But more importantly, Ellington entered the '30s having perfected his method of using the group to experiment with arranging and orchestrating. Ensconced at the Cotton Club in New York at the end of the previous decade, Ellington catered to a lot of musical interests and needs - he played for the dancers, and for the jazz lovers. He relied on ideas from his musicians, and wrote for them as individuals rather than as anonymous section players. With all that work and a line-up of marvelous, distinctive musical voices, Ellington began the most creative period of his life.

"Sophisticated Lady." "Stormy Weather." "Solitude." "In a Sentimental Mood." "Echoes of Harlem." "Caravan." All of them and many more are a part of "The Complete 1932-1940 Brunswick, Columbia, and Master Recordings of Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra," an unprecedented 11-CD set that compiles these recordings for the first, and quite possibly the last, time. There would be many more exceptional compositions in the years following, including his highly regarded suites and longer works, but the scope of our latest, lavish Mosaic collection is the period when Ellington would establish himself as the most important composer ever in jazz.

Musicians Created Their Own Voices, and Interpreted His

"Jazz, if it means anything, means freedom of expression," he told writer Stanley Dance. And express himself is what he did, through the instruments of stalwarts and newcomers to the orchestra who not only created personality for Ellington's band - they were, in many instances, standard bearers in their own right for their respective instruments.

Barney Bigard on clarinet and tenor saxophone established links to the past with his New Orleans-style runs, executed with exceptional warmth. Harry Carney was the only important soloist on baritone saxophone for years, and the big bottom his instrument provided brought real gravity to the Ellington sound. The great trumpeter Cootie Williams joined to replace the fallen Bubber Miley, quickly perfecting Miley's growl and mute techniques while creating his own sound with the open horn. He was a master of establishing mood and emotion. Lawrence Brown had a ringing tone on trombone, which complemented Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton's earthy growl and Juan Tizol's fat sound. Trumpeter Arthur Whetsel, saxophonist Otto Hardwick, and the inimitable Sonny Greer on drums were all associates from the earliest days in Washington. Ben Webster began perfecting his tenor saxophone style during a brief mid-'30s stint with the band before being offered a permanent position in 1940. Late in the decade, Ellington discovered Jimmy Blanton, who would revolutionize bass playing with his terrific sense of swing and dead-on intonation before illness led to a tragically early death. And what can be said about Johnny Hodges, the silky smooth alto saxophonist who influenced generations of musicians? He was, in a line-up of superstars, a cut above all.

Ellington made use of them all, for their personal styles as well as for his own unique voicings that placed trombones at the apex of their range and clarinets at the bottom, or by putting unusual notes in the baritone instead of giving the instrument the chord's dominant tone. His compositions, the unique personal style of his players, his innovative arrangements, and his confidence in his soloists to raise any composition to a new level, combined to provide him with a palette unequaled in music.

The Complete Collection

Our set comprises a massive 11 discs featuring well over 100 Ellington compositions. In addition to the above-named musicians, guest stars Bing Crosby, Ethel Waters and the Mills Brothers make notable appearances. Ellington's female vocalist Ivie Anderson proves she was tailor-made for the band along with other superb band-mates Freddie Jenkins and Wallace Jones on trumpet, Fred Guy on banjo and guitar, Wellman Braud, Billy Taylor and Hayes Alvis on bass, and the unique cornetist Rex Stewart.

The exclusive Mosaic booklet includes a complete discography of the dates, a revealing essay and track by track analysis by Steven Lasker, and a number of rarely seen photographs. We urge you to order early - like all Mosaic sets, this edition is strictly limited, and given the importance of the music it contains, we're expecting significant interest.

RIP Kay Davis, Ellington vocalist
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/02/23/arts/obit-davis/obit-davis-popup.jpg
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/arts/music/kay-davis-91-dies-ellington-used-her-voice-as-instrument.html?_r=1

RIP.

Did anyone read that book from last year Ellington's America or whatever it was called?

Yeah, I read it, it was great -- a little discussion of it upthread. One of the rare autobios where I came out of it with even more respect for the subject. He wasn't a saint, but it seems like he lived his life in a generally admirable way. For a genius anyway.

Sad news. Always loved the '44 "Creole Love Call." Had no idea she was from my hometown (or that that's where Duke discovered her).

Yeah she was great -- not really what people think of when they think "jazz vocalist" but Duke used her well in a lot of songs.
btw i made this spotify playlist of Duke in the 1970s - lots of cool stuff! http://open.spotify.com/user/tywilc/playlist/3KNtFDxQE5BBi9fCvNK5m6

RIP Kay Davis.

Nice playlist, Tyler! Thanks for the reminder to order a copy of Live at the Whitney, I need that.

yeah, i have this thread to thank for letting me know about the whitney gig -- it is really fun. that duet discs with ray brown is rad too.

"The three greatest composers are Bach, Delius and Duke Ellington"

--Percy Grainger

(just came across this quote in Bernard Herrmann's biography)

hee hee... Delius is like "who, me?"
Speaking of Ellington in the 70s - just saw this:
Duke Ellington Concert
Municipal Auditorium New Orleans (New Orleans, LA) Apr 24, 1970
http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/duke-ellington/concerts/municipal-auditorium-new-orleans-april-24-1970.html

Was just about to post that! Can't wait to listen. It seems a bit short and heavy on the standbys, but I guess that's to be expected.

yeah, festival date, crowd-pleasing mode. but those can be the best when it comes to duke.

Happy 113th, Duke! WCKR birthday broadcast here.

Thanks for the tip. Happy Birthday, Duke!

happy b-day! here he is 50 years ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrtURbLzCBo

Nice!

Don't know why it took me a decade to get around to watching Ken Burns' Jazz doc, but there was a fascinating bit about Duke composing the ambitious but melancholy 13 minute "Reminiscing In Tempo" after his mother's passing in 1935. Critics savaged it at the time, but it sounds like a groundbreaking masterpiece. The version I found, however, from a 9 disc Complete Brunswick, Columbia and Master sounds like crap, recorded off a scratchy 78. Anyone know the best version? I'm guessing it's the Best of 1932-39, as it was restored by Harry Coster from the Dutch Jazz Archive. Ironically Sony released the budget priced set just in 2008, but it's already sold out and now fetching prices over $75. Trade, anyone?

The Best of Duke Ellington: 1932-1939 [4CD]
Masterpieces 1926-1949 [4CD]
Reminiscing In Tempo (1991 comp)

Further reading says the version I have is actually from the 11 disc Mosaic set, The Complete 1932-1940 Brunswick,Columbia and Master Recordings of Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, and it's supposed to be the best. That can't be right!

Sadly, that's probably the case. I haven't heard, or heard of, a single instance of any Mosaic set having anything less than stellar mastering from the best available sources.

Had never heard this one (but there's tons of Ellingtom I haven't heard). This original 78 sounds really nice!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsT4XLcrg4Q

Recently picked up the 1940 Fargo live set (recently reissued after being out of print for a couple of years).

Holy fucking shit. This is incredible. For one thing, the sound quality easily equals or bests that of the studio recordings from the early 40s. But more than any other Ellington record, even better-recorded later live records, this gives the clearest impression of what it must have been like to hear this incredible orchestra live.

Duke Ellington played Afghanistan 50 years ago this week:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24165743

More background on his 1963 State Department tour, including video of one of his Baghdad shows:
http://ehsankhoshbakht.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/DukeIran.html

nice!

Whoa, is the Ben Williams posting upthread (ten years ago) the jazz bassist?

Terry Teachout's latest book is Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington. He's making the book talk rounds for this. Teachout is criticized by some for his neo-con politics (I recall Christgau mixing praise and criticism in his take on Teachout's Louis Armstrong book)

National Review interview!

LOPEZ: How could music be Ellington’s mistress, as the saying goes, when the man appears to have had so many mistresses? Did a lack of discipline hurt both his personal and professional life?

TEACHOUT: I don’t know whether that question is answerable. He was, after all, a hugely prolific composer who left behind a considerable number of masterpieces, so he must have been doing something right. But we can’t know how many more he might have written had he not diverted so much of his time and energy into the pursuit of women — though it’s also important to remember that he believed this pursuit to be musically inspirational.

http://www.nationalreview.com/node/362692/print

I'll be skipping this one. Teachout wrote an awful essay that largely dismissed Ellington's longer works, and Ellington as a composer, as inadequate for not utilizing the formalized tools of "classical music" that his music shouldn't have aspired to anyway.

Also, Christgau otm re: Teachout's politics.
http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Rock-Roll/Pops-as-Pop/ba-p/2578

ugh:

LOPEZ: One of the “peculiarities” of Duke Ellington’s career, you write, is that “he was a major composer but not an influential one.” Why is that? How does that happen?

TEACHOUT: He wrote great music, but his techniques were so intensely personal and unique unto himself that they were for all intents and purposes inimitable. Hence he didn’t influence anybody — all that other artists could do was play his songs in their own ways.

Does Teachout even know what the word "influential" means?

The idea that Ellington wasn't (and isn't) widely imitated is just .... strange

um hello mingus?

just think what Ellington could have accomplished if he had had as little sex as Teachout

brad c with the sick burn

Megalol @ that not influential bs

The pr hype for the book says on the longlist for the 2013 National Book Award for nonfiction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uiAN4_8ihw

On the Money Jungle tip, here's Ellington playing Fleurette Africain solo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW-0K58pwII

reading the teachout book now -- lots of good stuff in it for sure, but yeah, he does have some fairly wacky ideas about ellington's music and influence. and he gets pretty judgy mcjudgerson about ellington's personal life.

Spoiler alert -- You might not want to read the below if you're gonna see "American Hustle"...

In a pivotal scene in "American Hustle," Christian Bale's character is drawn to Amy Adams' character and her charm bracelet depicting Duke Ellington.

During a lavish pool party, Irving Rosenfeld (Bale) locks eyes with Sydney Prosser (Adams) from across the room. Rosenfeld approaches Prosser and as she reaches for a plate of vegetables, he grabs her arm.

"Is that Duke Ellington on your bracelet?" Rosenfeld asks.

"As a matter of fact it is. He died this year, ya know?" Prosser responds.

"I know. I doubt anyone else here knows or cares about it," he said.

"Well, I care about it. He's saved my life many times," she said.

"Mine too. Which one?"

"Jeep's Blues," she said.

Rosenfeld, a con man, then invites Prosser to hear the album. The meeting sparks a partnership and romance that is key to the plot of the David O' Russell-directed film, which was released last week and is picking up a lot of awards season buzz.

http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2013/12/american_hustle_uses_charm_bra.html

Ha, that was one of the few bright spots in the film for me.

Ethan Iverson has posted a pair of pieces on Teachout and his book on Do The Math:
An interview with Teachout
and
Reverential Gesture: "A personal celebration of Duke Ellington that disagrees with some of the musical analysis in Teachout's biography."

thanks, those are both great

Ellington is a huge yawning gulf in my listening. The only stuff I have in my iPod is Blues in Orbit, Money Jungle, and the 3CD box Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band. (I have Black, Brown & Beige and Newport 1956 on CD at home, too.) All of it's fantastic, of course, but I really have no idea where to go next. It's not like there's bad Ellington, I'm sure, but I wish his discography wasn't quite so massive, so I could get a grip on it with a four- or five-CD box or two.

this is actually the thing that got me way into ellington way back when: http://www.propermusic.com/product-details/Duke-Ellington-Masterpieces-1926-1949-4CD-10468
4 discs covering 1926-1949. i'm sure that because it's on a cheapo euro label, there might be better sounding versions of this material out there, but I really enjoy it.

Pretty fascinating footage here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q9rI39JcM0

if you're down with the blanton-webster band, then you might find a set like this useful for filling out your picture of ellington:

Early Ellington: The Complete Brunswick and Vocalion Recordings of Duke Ellington, 1926-1931

there's something about the sounds here. like, that people were doing that, then.

I haven't heard that one, but I love The OKeh Ellington (an insanely-in-need-of-remastering CBS set from the early 90s). What you said about the sounds, that they're doing that then, it applies here. This must have blown so many minds back then -- I mean, it's blowing minds now, for fuck's sake.

man that footage is fantastic. I love later Ellington a whole lot and I feel like watching that stuff develop really brings out its strengths

sometimes i feel like he's too good. makes it hard to realize how amazing what they're doing is, because you're just awash in the pleasure of the sounds.

just getting into duke really, it's way more complex than i thought it would be

That Teachout interview upthread that Øystein posted, he actually makes a few good points, but fuck:

Ellington basically gave up on true large-scale composition after A Tone Parallel to Harlem. That’s the last time he tried to write a large-scale, self-contained, organically developed musical structure.

Not true: "The Degas Suite" (not broken into smaller parts, despite its title) from 1968 and "The River" from 1970.

What albums are those on?

They're both on The Private Collection volume 5.

Cool I've never had any idea which vols to get from that series.

"The Queen's Suite" is one of my favorite late Ellingtons.

He should have done a "Queens Suite" too...

Love The Queen's Suite!

The Vol. 5 dealie is definitely up there with the best late Ellington work. "The River" has an early incarnation of what would later become "Theme For Mahalia Jackson." One of my all-time favorite moments in his oeuvre (and not a dry eye in the house).

I actually went to a school named after Duke Ellington, and we played tons of Ellington stuff in jazz band, so I got a big early dose. I still feel though like his catalogue is just ridiculously overwhelming.

Playing them and then playing like Basie and Neil Hefti charts and stuff (which are all great) you really get a sense of what a totally different level Ellington was operating on compositionally. Like other big band composers you get this tidy sense of melody, then the solos, then the sectional "solis" then back, but Ellington, even though it has some of that, idk it feels somewhere in between that and Stravinsky or something.

yeah it is overwhelming, but it's just great how you keep finding amazing stuff lurking in there. like this one i think i just heard this month from the late 40s:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRc_Nvum6l0

This is an (I think) underappreciated tune of his I always loved. It's actually a slightly different version of a tune he did for the Anatomy of a Murder soundtrack, but I like this version more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emd4gB9UtCc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emd4gB9UtCc

The Blanton-Webster Band set is an ideal starting point, but yeah, it's a pretty daunting discography.

But the guy never made a bad record, so you could just about blindly pick anything.

i've said this before on ilm, maybe on this thread, but i was familiar with various things of ellington's for a long time, which i appreciated plenty, prior to him really clicking for me because of the blanton-webster set.

right I know the blanton-webster stuff pretty well, but there's so much else

The first thing I heard after the B-W set was The Far East Suite, which completely floored me. After that, I sought out all late 60s suites.

I used the Penguin Guide as a reference, but I was also taking a tutorial on Ellington in college at the time. Every piece that was played in class, I thought, "Wow, this is great...wow, THIS is great...shit, they're all great."

yeah I like the far east suite

Latin American Suite and Afro-Eurasian Eclipse are nearly as good. "Brasilliance" on the former is just...I mean, what is this?
http://youtu.be/eB1SApN1OM4

if I had to get one ellington primer, you guys would suggest Blanton-Webster? I saw there were a couple of different versions of the set on amazon, both with reviews questions their sound quality.

yeah I'd go with that. I mean, you're going to have some "sound quality" issues on any issue, it's just the nature of the original recordings.

If you're going for that era, get Never No Lament, not the old RCA Bluebird set. Besides the shitty denoise-ing on the Bluebird set, those CDs were/are pretty susceptible to "disc rot."

The period after Blanton-Webster is good, too (sometimes I prefer it), but I've had to live with a Bluebird set analogous to the B-W Bluebird set. The Naxos Jazz Legends "Black, Brown and Beige" CD might be good, though.

i don't have any problems with the sound on the 'never no lament' set (the blanton-webster set i have)

it's 'warm'

yeah never no lament is the one I listen to so maybe I wasn't aware of the problems

one of the things I love about his compositions/arrangements is the way he really lets the countermelodies and harmodies compete with the "melody" in strength, so you don't really get the effect of a "melody" over "chords" but more like moving tonal clusters

like sometimes I don't even feel like there is a single line that sticks out as the melody in the group sections

that's a peculiarity he shares with Delius (I didn't think about it until I read that Percy Grainger quote where he was like "the greatest living composers are Delius and Ellington")

Happy 115th, Duke! 24-hour WKCR birthday broadcast: http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/wkcr/story/duke-ellington-birthday-broadcast-tuesday-april-29th

My high school on NPR
http://www.npr.org/2014/04/29/307785387/the-public-school-where-the-duke-lives-on

Nice. Sting & Paul Simon did a benefit for the school earlier this year

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/matthew-shipp-offers-a-stirring-tribute-to-duke-ellington-at-bohemian-caverns/2014/04/28/978f84ec-cee0-11e3-a714-be7e7f142085_story.html

avante-jazzer Shipp

Would've loved to have seen that. I saw that trio about a month ago, and they were astounding. Shipp incorporated "What Is This Thing Called Love?" (which I took as a nod to his fellow Delawarean Clifford Brown), and Dickey put on one of the most sensitive and inspiring percussion performances I've seen in years.

Did you gasp yesterday when the guy announced the next album as Monkey Jungle!?! After the break he repeated the correct title several times.

Posted by curmudgeon on the RIP thread:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/27/arts/music/herb-jeffries-singing-star-of-black-cowboy-films-dies-at-100.html?_r=0

Very surprised not only that he was one of the last living Ellingtonians, but that he was the last living member of the Blanton-Webster band.

man, that guy had an interesting life... wonder if the documentary about him is any good?
this clip is something:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORaSnWF2SX4
though i'll admit to never having been nuts about that song

Thanks for posting that! Interesting arrangement, too -- different from what was released at the time.

It took me a while, but I grew to dig his voice. The first Ellington piece I (knowingly) heard was "You, You Darlin'" off the Blanton-Webster band set. I thought his singing was square and corny, but eventually heard how it worked with the rest of the orchestra. I can't imagine "Flamingo" any other way -- even Mingus' version (which is great) feels like something's missing without Jeffries.

The poster Ben Williams of 11 years ago up-thread is eternally otm, some of the greatest music ever created on there.

Lately I cannot stop playing Ellington Uptown, The Far East Suite + Such Sweet Thunder. What a player/artist/arranger, he even makes Mingus sound like a mere gifted acolyte.

whoa never knew that ellington recorded w/ conny plank! this doesn't sound like neu! but it does sound damn good.
https://soundcloud.com/groenlandrecords/duke-ellington-his-orchestra-afrique-take-3-vocal/
As described by Henrik von Holtum, who wrote the album’s liner notes:

Duke Ellington’s musical works are seemingly well documented; the likelihood of finding a good, unreleased Duke Ellington recording is slight at best. When Grönland Records called and told me they had found exactly that in Conny Plank’s estate and asked me if I wanted to give it a listen, I felt pretty honored, and excited. The music of Duke Ellington is – in my worldview – to jazz what Bach’s oeuvre is to classical music: THE great benchmark, or – to raise it up onto an even higher pedestal – the Old Testament, the alpha and omega. With both Bach and Ellington, you can sit down at a piano simply to go through it building chords and something great always happens. This music is so rich, and it is virtually indestructible.

I listened to the recordings for the first time in Grönland Records’ offices. One session, two songs: three takes each of “Alerado” and “Afrique.” They weren’t just alternate takes, like you often get on reissues of jazz classics; you can really hear Ellington working. He’s not just looking for the best take to get something clearly defined, he’s experimenting.

The tempi change, solo instruments are switched around, and, on the last take of “Afrique,” you can even hear soprano vocals. “Alerado” is a straightforward swing number, it features Wild Bill Davis on the organ, and, most notably, Cat Anderson on the trumpet, who provide a foundation for striking concepts of sonority and solo performance. The musical approach to “Afrique” is freer and more avant-garde; the foundation of the piece is a tom-tom based beat that is sustained throughout and layered with improvisations and arranged segments.

Conny was fascinated by how great the difference in tone was between his prior studio work and those takes; the Ellington big band was delivering something totally different, something better than he was accustomed to. It resulted in a recording that even Conny could be happy with. This session seems to have given an important impulse to his work, independent of the praise he received from the master.

This casts the bon mot often attributed to Conny that “every band gets the sound it deserves” in a different light; it no longer comes across as an arrogant remark, but as a clear conception of a simple fact: one can only produce what’s there – if the performance isn’t any good, technology won’t help either. So, for him, it was a moment of realization and revelation.

And ensuring that the performance was spot-on was one of Conny’s great talents. Independently of one another, artists he later produced repeatedly described how vital his kindheartedness, tranquility and circumspection were to producing successful recordings.

so cool

Whoa new exotica-mode Ellington produced by conny plank??? Is this out yet?

out july 10

this is insanely exciting

Seriously can't wait for this.

Wow this will be great.

I have been going through a major Ellington binge for the last couple of months, I have barely listened to much else lately tbh

waht

I didn't know much about Ellington other than his dad was a butler at the White House. I read a bit of the Terry Teachout book today and he portrays him very much as a brilliant last minute-meister who drove his band mad with mad with his consistent idle procrastination, rather than the driven musical Stakhanovite I was expecting. It was an amusing revelation for me(considering his 1700 compositions in 5 decades) that adds to his legend if anything.

Duke salutes the Beatles!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oCnFvz8YKc

https://youtu.be/0eaTmoPmJPU

Duke Ellington - Reflections In D -- a friend posted this.. apologies if it's already in the thread

"Well gentlemen, Sullivan's wardrobe department is letting me off the hook with the lace cuffs, but the rest of you are going to have to roll with it."

I am really getting into Bonga off the Afro Bossa album recently.

You thought the recently-discovered hi-fidelity Armstrong recordings were something?

Dig THIS!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEU1bIxZHDo

Digging it

Nice one!

So much bass! Which is to say, there's bass. And guitar too. Really gives a sense of how the early rhythm section would have motored the live orchestra.

this is great: 15 minutes of the ellington tribute at the white house in 1969.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW9PdAY8_D0&feature=youtu.be

Wow! Thanks for posting that!

Always loved this exchange, after Ellington kissed Nixon four times:

Nixon: "Four kisses? Why four?"
Ellington: "One for each cheek."

so suave, flirting with Pat and accepting his Medal of Freedom with a shout-out to Strayhorn

<3

It must have felt good for him to go to the White House as a revered 20th century icon and thinking his old man used to occasionally work as a butler there to get by.

that improv at 8:40...nobody in his league

yeah totally!

a shout-out to Strayhorn
it's funny, i feel like it's become part of the Ellington "narrative" that Strayhorn didn't get the credit he deserved ... but I feel like on virtually every live recording I've heard, Duke gives him a shout out. (i know strayhorn might've been overshadowed by the Ellington genius mythos, but it doesn't seem to be Duke's fault anyway).

I'm loving his Three Suites today, especially his majestic peer gynt.

Finally remembered to play Blue Rose (the mono-LP-era R Clooney collabo). It's really good.

There's something very hard to cover about Ellington. I'm part of a jazz facebook group that has a different theme each week where various musicians post their videos on that theme, and this week it's Duke Ellington. Somehow nearly everyone sounds dumb when playing Ellington tunes.

https://dgwh4hty77sxy.cloudfront.net/9107-medium_zoomcrop/image.jpg

very fine is this, Strayhorn out of Ellington's shadow for an album and with it seems most of his band and Johnny Hodges.

bought a used copy of the Latin American Suite on RSD, what a stunning record

his ability to synthesize latin music into what he did without resorting to cliche tropes or signifiers like "hey check it out - congas!" is really amazing

such ambitious music, reminds me a bit of the "third stream" stuff I've heard but without a stick up its butt

his ability to synthesize latin music into what he did without resorting to cliche tropes or signifiers like "hey check it out - congas!" is really amazing

otm, and The Far East Suite is similarly brilliant in this regard. There's no "Hey, let's throw a sitar and/or koto into the arrangement TO PROVE WE WERE REALLY THERE." Those late '60s and early '70s suites are some of my favorite work of his.

I need to track down Far East Suite what are the other ones?

New Orleans Suite is a fucking masterpiece for starters.

The New Orleans Suite is great, as is The Private Collection, Volume 5 which includes two suites: "The Degas Suite," and "The River," the latter of which includes a theme later used on New Orleans Suite.

The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse is essential; if you like Latin American Suite, you'll love this.

There's a compilation called The Ellington Suites which includes The Queen's Suite (1959), The Goutelas Suite (1971), and The Uwis Suite (1972) -- not quite on the same level as Afro-Eurasian, but still pretty fascinating.

love the suave intro by Duke on Afro-Eurasian Eclipse as well, it never gets old.

Rikki tikki

Queens Suite is on the level of the others but I agree the other two suites on that cd are not quite.

all the Private Collection albums are excellent, especially the studio recordings

xps
I should have mentioned you should check out Afro Bossa as well.

yeah, private collection boxes are fantastic (and usually pretty cheap).
recent ellington I've been getting into is the concert in the virgin islands (which confusingly is not a live record). great version of "chelsea bridge".

I have that and Afro Bossa on a weird 2fer but I have not really put them through their paces yet

picked up a nice copy of New Orleans Suite yesterday, wow....this lives up to my expectations

this is really intensely rewarding music

thanks everyone, been slowly picking some of these up and it's good to have recommendations

recently been listening to a lot of this one:

https://www.discogs.com/Duke-Ellington-An-Explosion-Of-Genius-1938-1940/release/2949550

Love so many of those tracks - got to know them on the excellent Braggin' in Brass album of his 1938 sides. "Pyramid" is an excellent cousin to "Caravan."

yeah "Pyramid" is really a standout there

just saw "anatomy of a murder" the other night, after long admiring the soundtrack. was VERY cool to see how the music was used in the film.

i really dug the scene from the club where ellington's jazz band can be seen playing. here they are:

https://imgur.com/Qvyjcb1

to the best of my knowledge that's L-R grady tate, jimmy woode, clark terry, jimmy hamilton.

is that right ? i would've thought sam woodyard would be playing drums, but this guy doesn't look anything like him.

also i like how ellington is called "pie-eye" in the film. cool bass drum design, too:

https://imgur.com/a/qgCuvNJ

oh FUCK

ok here we are:

https://i.imgur.com/Qvyjcb1.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/YRd9fHp.jpg

Cool. I need to watch it too.

really love cootie williams' vocals on this tune:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O9bnB4_9UY
PECKIN' - Johnny Hodges and his Orchestra, vocal by Cootie Williams (1937)

that doesn't look like grady tate to me. Wiki says the soundtrack is James Johnson on drums. Having trouble finding a good pic of him to compare.

Yes to Peckin'. My fav of his jive songs.

Also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA1gfjvpFOE

A new series has launched called Ellington In Order, a remastering of just about everything Duke recorded.

That’s good!

There is no physical release; it’s streaming-only.

That’s bad.

https://open.spotify.com/album/4ornuDeqxrpKPMnh5zKxNN?si=5hGa-gJJQdCX-j92fEV8yQ

hmmm — yeah, seems like they could do one of those 100+ CD sets a la Beethoven or Bach ... it'd probably sell!

Exactly — and considering the target audience for Ellington isn’t likely to be listening via streaming, a big CD box a) would presumably be cheap to produce, and b) would sell.

But at least this material is finally getting remastered, especially his ‘20s sides — I don’t think the 1991 OKeh Ellington set has ever gotten a sonic upgrade.

A new series has launched called _Ellington In Order_, a remastering of just about everything Duke recorded.

_That’s good!_

There is no physical release; it’s streaming-only.

_That’s bad._

https://open.spotify.com/album/4ornuDeqxrpKPMnh5zKxNN?si=5hGa-gJJQdCX-j92fEV8yQ🕸

Ah, the Hoffman forum has the answer: it’s just Sony-owned stuff (which now they own the Victor masters is a lot).

True, it's not everything Duke recorded, and I'm not enough of an expert to know how much tune-overlap there was from one label to another, especially among the smaller labels. But supposedly the Vocalion material isn't part of this, which is odd since I assumed Sony owned those, like they do Robert Johnson's Vocalion sides.

Last I knew the Vocalion stuff was owned by Decca, now owned by Universal.

The RCA Victor stuff alone is huge. The "Centennial" box set from 1999 was probably the last time any of those records were remastered from the best sources from RCA's vaults. (I *think* it was mostly original metal parts too, which is typically rare but not that surprising for an artist of Duke's stature.) I used to covet that set - a whopping 24 CD's - but the mastering was really bad. If you listen to any of the Ellington stuff John R. T. Davies mastered, it's clear they jacked up the high end and did something wrong where you have that loud high-pitched noise that shouldn't be there. (Has nothing to do with typical surface noise, they just messed something up with those transfers.)

Some great RCA LP's like ...and his mother called him Bill and Far East Suite but I really want the Blanton-Webster band records from 1940 to 1942 re-done, that alone took up six discs of the Centennial box set thanks to the additional duets and small combo stuff which was also great. If it's available as a download, I'll settle for that - again, it's been close to 25 years since this stuff has been remastered.

Should clarify, "it's clear they jacked up the high end and did something wrong" is in reference to RCA's 1999 Centennial set.

Comparing the two versions of The Mooche the Victor version sounds really sharp and the Okey version sounds about the same general quality as I remember from 90s CDs.

I didn’t even know the opening track, so neat to walk though his career the way the band experienced it.

but I really want the Blanton-Webster band records from 1940 to 1942 re-done

The very existence of that massive RCA box was frustrating — I wasn’t going to shell out $400 or whatever it was for a bunch of things I already had, things I didn’t necessarily want (the Tanglewood concert), and things I was sure would get their own release soon anyway (Blanton-Webster). The mastering of the Blanton-Webster recordings was, as you said, poorly done, but it was actually a marked improvement over the ‘80s CDs of that band, which sounded like a landline phone. A year or so after the big box came out, RCA started releasing many of its elements as standalone sets (e.g., the mid-‘40s recordings 3CD set, which actually sounds fairly decent)…but it was years until the Blanton-Webster material got its own release. When it finally came out it was in cheap, flimsy packaging, and then it quickly went out of print. I hope this current project brings the same necessary fidelity to these recordings that, say, the most recent Robert Johnson set received.

It looks like Ellington In Order is available for download on HDTracks. I listened to a few samples, compared them with The OKeh Ellington, and...this feels like a missed opportunity. Maybe the comparison to the Robert Johnson set isn't fair (after all, guitar and voice is probably easier to futz with mastering-wise than a 12-15 piece orchestra), but the new remasters don't sound dramatically different. They do sound different, and a little better -- slightly fuller, a little more bass -- but it's not the revelation it could or should have been. I dunno, I probably had unrealistic expectations that advancements in technology over the last 30+ years would've resulted in more of a sonic upgrade. ymmv.

i remember getting the remastered Blanton-Webster CD set in the mid-'00s. it sounded fucking awful because they decided to leave in all this digital clipping, or something?

https://i.discogs.com/LkVQURXYwybpf77OllTlS47I9e6ITPkFqsNJGqvJGpA/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:543/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI2MDI3/MzYtMTYxNzUwMTYw/MS02MTA3LmpwZWc.jpeg

so i have stuck with my original CD from the '80s. much better in my opinion:

https://i.discogs.com/wMShlgdGSP8MLEbXuVMg2qsVHbi8R6GZOWIYkz5RKSQ/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:594/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTEwMTc1/MTQ3LTE2MzE0MzY0/MzgtNTgxNi5qcGVn.jpeg

but i'd be interested in checking out another, new remaster of these recordings.

Yeah, that was a real disappointment — same mastering as on the big 1999 RCA box, as far as I know. Things like “Jack The Bear” especially are really frustrating for what you mentioned, when the reeds come in at the beginning — I don’t think it’s digital distortion, but just a shitty mastering job that over-emphasized the high end so that any distortion on the 78 would be magnified. That said, I still prefer it to the ‘80s set, but it sucks that the choice is limited to either something that sounds like a megaphone, or dealing with that brittle/bright mastering.

For early ‘40s Ellington, the 1940 Fargo set has vastly superior sound to any ‘40s Ellington studio recordings I’ve heard. I’d almost recommend it to a newbie over the ‘40s studio dates for that reason, despite not having certain key songs (like “‘A’ Train”), and you really get a sense of how exciting it must have been to see that orchestra live.

If you want a cheap, easy way of hearing how good early '40s Ellington can sound, find this CD:

https://www.discogs.com/release/4740444-Duke-Ellington-Rockin-In-Rhythm

Very common, very cheap, but it was remastered by the late, great John R. T. Davies. (Part of a series of jazz samplers that formed a survey on jazz history, courtesy of the UK magazine publisher Marshall Cavendish.) "Ko-Ko," "Cotton Tail" and "Jack the Bear" actually sound natural - no shrill EQ, no excessive noise but no noise processing like NoNoise or CEDAR either. It's a damn shame Davies didn't do a complete and comprehensive collection before he died.

this is what I have, any of you tru headz wanna comment on the mastering/sound?

https://www.discogs.com/release/2949550-Duke-Ellington-An-Explosion-Of-Genius-1938-1940

Sony/RCA put out a 4CD set in 2008 covering 1932-1939 in what I assume are newer transfers than The Okeh Ellington. The mastering is less aggressive than the RCA Centennial box. I always thought the latter sounded remarkably present but also, as mentioned above, unduly harsh at times with that weird high-pitched noise coming in, usually toward the end of a track.

...but that set doesn't cover the Okeh material, I see. Never mind, carry on!

in my opinion, for pre-war ellington, you need:

The Okeh Ellington 2xCD (Columbia) [1927-1930]
The Complete 1936-1940 Variety, Vocalion & Okeh Small Group Sessions 7xCD (Mosaic)
The Blanton-Webster Band 3xCD (RCA Bluebird) [1940-1942]

curious what others would add, but this has been enough for me.

Just now seeing: In Order Volume 1 (1927-1928)---43 songs, 2 hrs. 11 min.--is also on YouTubeMusic; maybe they've got the rest, or will have:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l_NlTYi1pu5LbIIUR-eDP6MPfBuUSMJD4

I feel like this guy should be selling this through an auction house:

Here’s a truly once in a lifetime opportunity for Jazz and Duke Ellington affectionados.

From the estate of Dr. Ted Shell, an original founder of the first Ellington Society in Washington, DC and personal friend of the Duke, this massive collection of tapes consists of recorded live concerts, rehearsals, outtakes, radio and television broadcasts and interviews by Duke Ellington spanning the decades from the 1939 - and possibly earlier - up to the 1970s.

The unique collection consists of 523 reel to reel tapes. The catalog alone, meticulously compiled and typewritten is 267 pages long. A glimpse can be seen in the photos below, as well as the preamble listing contents of about two thirds of the tapes.

Part of Dr. Shell’s collection of Ellington ephemera now resides at the Smithsonian Institution.

Listing with photos here.

Respected auction house “Canuck Audio Mart”

Guernsey’s was too shady