:laola0: :lala:
The Complete 1932-1940 Brunswick, Columbia, and Master Recordings of Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra (11 CDs)
(Release Date: November 2010)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 clainet 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 Whetsol, bassist Otto Hardwicke, 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 Jimmie Blanton, who would revoltionize 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 generatons 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 pallete unequaled in music.
zudem, von ebendort:
Ella & Duke at the Cote D’Azur (3 LPs)
(Release Date: November 2010)You really never know how music festival special events will turn out. Promoters dream them up, like prize fights. Get the two biggest heavyweights in the ring, and you’ve got yourself a gate.
For the audience, there can be an electric charge in the moment, hearing favorites in unfamiliar pairings. In retrospect rarely do you experience anything explosive. That was not the case in 1966 when Ella Fitzgerald met Duke Ellington, for the final time in their careers.
The festival at Antibes/Juan-les-Pins, on the French Cote D’Azur, had already established itself as a destination for jazz lovers drawn to the lovely Mediterranean summers, when events follow each other throughout the season. The jazz event enjoyed an excellent reputation through the 1960s, and remains one of the top jazz festivals in the world. But it’s hard to imagine any achieving as much raw emotion as the collaboration by these two acknowledged masters.
A Special 12-inch LP Release
Now, Mosaic’s 3 LP re-release of „Ella & Duke at the Cote D’Azur“ on 180-gram vinyl recalls the event for a new generation of listeners. It is a re-release of the original 2-LP set, plus the Ellington album „Soul Call“ issued from the same concerts. Essentially, our set presents everything that was chosen, approved and released by the producer and the artists at the time.
At the time, Ella couldn’t know that she and Duke – who had shared the recording studio and the stage with her before – would never appear together again. But the First Lady of Song delivered in that concert series like she was singing for the ages.
The weekend series was charged with feelings for an extremely sad reason – Ella was forced to fly to New York, and missed the first night of the festival, because of the sudden death of her half-sister Frances. That she could return to France to honor the booking is remarkable in itself. That she could unleash such extraordinary musical power in her trio and big band performances is almost unbelievable.
Big Band and Small Group Presentations
The concert format presented Ellington and Ella together with the orchestra; the orchestra alone without vocals; and Ella with a sometimes stripped-down version of the orchestra, but mostly accompanied by the Jimmy Jones Trio. Where Ella’s studio performances could be almost too perfectly lovely and self-possessed, in these concert dates she seemed to connect to the lyrics with unique emotionalism, and to an inner confidence that allowed her to stretch beyond the norm. You expect fireworks in her rendition with the band of „Mack the Knife,“ and Ella doesn’t disappoint. Another Ella favorite, „It Don’t Mean a Thing,“ gets an incredibly jazzy rendition – free and fun for her and for Ellington guests Jo Jones, Ben Webster and Ray Nance (sharing vocals with Ella). The recordings prove that, as magisterial as Ella was in the studio and so in control of her gifts, she could be a woman unleashed in concert.
Her always-admired scatting took on new musicianship in the presence of such renowned soloists, and on ballads she achieved unparalleled nuance and texture. In particular, the lovely „The More I See You,‘ backed only by pianist Jimmy Jones, reaches a startling level of intimacy.
Mutual Respect
The Ellington orchestra was his mid-sixties configuration featuring long-time associates Cootie Williams, Lawrence Brown, Harry Carney, Ray Nance, and the great Johnny Hodges, plus Cat Anderson, Mercer Ellington, Russell Procope, Sam Woodyard, Paul Gonsalves and more, including special guest appearances by Ben Webster and Jo Jones.
A highlight of the date is his recording of the extended composition „La Plus Belle Africaine,“ introduced on tour earlier in the year. It features John Lamb on a bowed bass solo, clarinetist Jimmy Hamilton, and Harry Carney on baritone saxophone.
Friends since the 1930s, Ella and Duke only recorded later in their careers: first for their collaboration on the Ellington installation of her series of „Songbook“ sets in 1957; during the „Ella at Duke’s Place“ recording in 1965; and earlier the same year of the Cote d’Azur recordings for the „Stockholm Concert.“ Clearly for these two, getting together was more than a casual gig. It was a opportunity to celebrate their combined contributions to the music.
Our set – available in an LP-only release — includes 20 compositions, an historical analysis and track by track breakdown by Brian Preistly, plus many rarely seen photographs. It includes something else – history. Please don’t miss owning it.
--
"Don't play what the public want. You play what you want and let the public pick up on what you doin' -- even if it take them fifteen, twenty years." (Thelonious Monk) | Meine Sendungen auf Radio StoneFM: gypsy goes jazz, #158 – Piano Jazz 2024 - 19.12.2024 – 20:00 | Slow Drive to South Africa, #8: tba | No Problem Saloon, #30: tba