Ellington in the LP era

Had to leave in oddities like Mary Poppins and Ellington 65 in hope that someone can elaborate on them.

I've only heard about half of these, so I'm also hoping that some of these generate enough interest for me to seek them out. I'm still getting blow away by Afro-Eurasian Eclipse, my first Ellington purchase in a few years. I think late Ellington might be my favorite Ellington. So bursting with life, so tenaciously digging for the new.

i know so little of him yet everything i do i absolutely love

money jungle has received hundreds of airings at my place, and will probably win just because it's so well known but yeah, i would love to hear from some hedz about what's good

New Orleans Suite is magnificent. It represents Johnny Hodges' last work - I think he died maybe 2-3 days after his solo feature on "Portrait Of Sidney Bechet" - and also features some amazing flugelhorn playing from Canada's own Fred Stone (sadly no longer with us, but at the time his day job was in the horn section of Lighthouse), sounding remarkably like our own Harry Beckett in places.

Jumpin' Punkins is IIRC a sort of odds-n-ends collection of some pretty old sides with a few real gems on it

i have a live version of "sunny side of the street" with johnny hodges on it; ellington reminds the crowd that the bar closes at 1, but "unfortunately" the band will be playing until 1:30

I will be keeping an eye on this so I can find some good recommendations on where to start.

So many great records. And you left out two of the best! Far East Suite (which would have gotten my vote) and Masterpieces -- "concert-length" studio recordings of older material (an incredible "Mood Indigo.") Will decide between Money Jungle and ...and His Mother Called Him Bill probably.

Guy, you just beat my post:

An absolutely crucial omission is the "Far East Suite," 1966.

"Afro-Eurasian Eclipse," "New Orleans Suite," and "...and His Mother Called Him Bill," are all so, SO good; it's nuts that he had such good records 1966 and on.

Shoot, I though Far East Suite was on that list... I knew there was going to be something missing.

xpost: Money Jungle is a great place to start with Ellington. It was the record that got me into jazz. That clattering "Caravan" and the enveloping warmth of "Fleurette Africaine" were the lightbulbs.

perhaps one of the two At Newport can stand in for Far East Suite....

Great idea for a poll! But yeah, Far East Suite... That's probably my all-time favorite Ellington work. Latin American Suite is very nearly as good, with the band sounding like fucking gracefully galloping elephants on "Brasilliance."

Haha, so many albums! I consider myself a pretty big Ellington fan, but I've only heard a small number of these. I voted for "And His Other Called Him Bill ..." which has been knocking me out all year. Really adventurous and passionate -- great playing from start to finish. And the sound quality itself is astounding as well -- beautifully recorded. I had binged on the early years for a while, so listening to this super clear, pristine album was startling. But yeah, other key ones I like are Far East Suite, Money Jungle, Afro-Eurasian, Blues In Orbit, Masterpieces, Uptown ... so many albums! There's another missing mid-60s one called The Popular Duke Ellington which is very good as well.

Okay...I voted the absolutely perfect ...and His Mother Called Him Bill over Money Jungle because it seemed perverse not to go orchestral.

xpost: Money Jungle is a great place to start with Ellington.

not really. its a great, amazing record and highlights some unexpectedly modern-sounding piano work from him, but is probably as un-representative as you can get

and yeah my vote would definitely be for 'far east suite,' tourists point of view ftw

what other ellington work has that kind of stabby, modern-sounding yet still totally boogie-woogie piano playing?

I dunno, Money Jungle might not be a bad place to start for someone more versed in bop kind of stuff. But you're right, it's not super-representative of Ellington. An amazing record though. Some *tense* playing. I kind of imagine that Mingus (who thought of Ellington as God) made a conscious decision to kick Duke's ass a little bit, to get him to work outside of his comfort zone. And Ellington responds wonderfully. Have always wondered why that record is (comparatively for the era) so poorly recorded, though.

Wow, what a list. I've only heard six of these and would love to read more about any of them, not just the obvious favorites.

The collaboration with Louis Armstrong isn't listed. It's not something that would get a lot of votes, but it's a fun album and definitely worth hearing.

Indigos was my introduction to Ellington and served that purpose well. All standards, nothing very dramatic, but the arrangements and sequencing sustain a mood beautifully.

um excuse me, but you seem to forget that 'Ella & Duke at the Cote D'Azur' just might be one of the best records ever. no excuse for not including it.

Write-in for
http://dynamic.images.indigo.ca/ProductImage.aspx?lang=en&width=140&isbn=074646550625&cat=music&quality=85

Jazz Party -- lives up to its title!

For unreleased in their time studio dates (like the Gonsalves feature), there are also Unknown Session and Happy Reunion. So many records, what are you gonna do?

The story behind that Rosemary Clooney album is good too. She was with child at when they were about to record the album and under doctor's orders she was confined to her home in LA, so Billy Strayhorn flew out and stayed at her house to run through the songs with her. After about ten days he flew back east to finish the arrangements and oversee the recording of the instruments, then returned to LA to overdub the vocal tracks.

Money Jungle C/D?

Another thing about Blue Rose, the title track is apparently a harmonic predecessor to "Giant Steps."

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

OK, of the offered choices, I am going with Ella Fitzgerald/The Duke Ellington Songbook.

When you listen to the Ella Songbooks and you get to the Ellington one, you can feel the energy level jump up a few notches. Ella kicks into gear with that band behind her amd really starts to swing.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Not a lot of Ellington listeners, I guess. Yikes.

1958 Side by Side

great record

Such Sweet Thunder is currently my fave Duke album, but have also been clutch of others which are also amazing, but damn SST is so good.

excuse my shite inglish:p

I love Such Sweet Thunder and Far East Suite. I arrived at him in the middle 90s as somebody listening to Martin Denny and Les Baxter and the "Space Capades" collection CD and Esquivel - he is many times more "important" than this obviously, but he is also the Duke of all musical exotica. He's FUN.

I think the monumental status scares people off who could be getting some groovy kicks.

Yeah the Far East Suit and the Coleman Hawkins collab. are both masterpieces as well.

Don't know enough Ellington to comment with context, but "Hi-Fi Ellington Uptown" is brilliant (save the awful vox on "Take The A-Train').

Would love folks familiar with the canon to rank them all.

Latin American Suite is nearly as brilliant as Far East Suite, and has, for me, one of the most thrilling moments of Ellingtonia ("Brasilliance").

Yeah that Latin American Suite is another great album. Ellington's piano style is amazing and is a true wonder (excuse my fumbling inelegance) but it has this crisp, classical minimalist quality allied to his ability to swing like fuck, it is so brilliant. I have been slowly getting into lots of jazz artists in the last decade and a half and really wish I had checked out Ellington sooner.

many libraries have the Smithsonian collection, and what they picked of Ellington (and everybody before that too) is all great. "Blue Serge" is haunting.

A short, very hot piece: "Acht O'Clock Rock" from the Afro-Eurasian Eclipse. Suitable for dropping into almost any mix tape. I am not up to writing about how profound this track is yet, but it's one of his most exciting short pieces (super-underselling it here).

^ that's a great one! Late 60s/early 70s Ellington had this incredible urgency and edge to how it swung (and was also the best-recorded work of his career).

Have to rep for "The Queen's Suite" here, the other two suites on that cd aren't worldbeaters but the Queen's... well, rules!

I have been listening to the New Orleans Suite a lot recently and it is very underrated.

Star-Crossed Lovers off Such Sweet Thunder is so beautiful.

Masterpieces (the 1951 LP, not the Proper box set) is incredible, isn't it? it has a sense of space and restraint that prefigures Gil Evans (or maybe Mingus at his most sedate) more than any other Ellington album I've heard, and it seems about 10 years ahead of its time in terms of sound quality and cohesiveness. I don't know if it's considered essential Ellington, though — the bland title and cover art don't do it any favors, nor does the fact that 3 of the 4 pieces date back to the 1930s (I guess purists prefer the original recordings?)

tbf the vocal sections are pretty awkward, though they only account for maybe 5 minutes of the album. the singer is still alive and tours her nursing home under the moniker Eve Duke.

What a coincidence-- I just listened to the Masterpieces LP this afternoon

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/music_box/2014/12/duke_ellington_s_best_album_masterpieces_by_ellington_reviewed_on_the_new.html

There is a great Fred Kaplan write up on it here.

"If there were nothing on this album but “Mood Indigo,” it would still deserve a special spot in the annals of 20th-century music."

absolutely otm

hm, now I need to hear Jazz Party too

Masterpieces is great -- though yeah, I could do without the (limited) vocal sections. Ellington had kinda weird taste in vocalists, didn't he?

thats a polite way of putting it I suppose

I dunno, I thought Ray Nance was great, though I guess he wasn't there for his vocals, necessarily. Always loved Ivie Anderson and Kay Davis. And while I can't say I loved Herb Jeffries, "Flamingo" just sounds wrong without his vocal. And "I Like The Sunrise," with Al Hibbler, is one of my favorite Ellington pieces...which is to say, one of my favorite pieces.

yeah i like Nance and both Anderson and Davis have their moments -- I think it's more just Ellington's (and Strayhorn's) preference for a kinda stilted "theatrical" delivery that hasn't aged quite as well.

what do you guys think of the Ellington/Clooney album?

i haven't heard it! I probably should check it out, I like rosemary clooney.

Apart from the Ella Fitzgerald live album and Mahalia Jackson on Come Sunday, I've personally not enjoyed any of Ellington's vocalists. But saying that there must be loads I've not heard, including the Clooney album.

I like Al Hibbler a lot. I'm just a stodgy dude, I guess.

The Clooney album is available through this cheapo box:

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71igilB36KL._SX355_.jpg

Listening to Masterpieces for the first time, thanks to this thread. Great record, didn't even mind the vocal sections, but yeah I'm kinda stodgy too.

I like Yvonne/Eva on Masterpieces, but she's no Baby Cox

thought this was cool -- ellington doing mingus' "The Clown"
http://www.bigozine2.com/TRKSB/CMrarities/CMrarities208.mp3

^ yeah, that's really great. In the Mingus doc, Triumph of the Underdog, Sue Mingus talks about that being what got Charles back into making music.

nice. does seem like duke genuinely had an affinity for mingus' music.

Various versions of how Mingus got fired from Ellington's band.

Mingus' account is my favorite (though maybe the least trustworthy?)

That article omits a good line from Mingus' account: "I'm afraid, Charles -- I've never fired anybody -- you'll have to quit my band."

haha, yeah, that is so good

Totally off topic here, but at the mo I'm totally in love with his late period hard swinging duo Album with Ray Brown.

Have to rep for "The Queen's Suite" here, the other two suites on that cd aren't worldbeaters but the Queen's... well, rules!

― a date with density (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, March 11, 2015 7:05 PM (one year ago)

yeah damn queen's suite is great