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Echoes of Harlem: A Salute to Duke Ellington Vol 2

Planet D Nonet

Label: Self Produced
Released: 2024
Views: 912

Tracks

Happy Anatomy; Flirtibird; Rocks In My Bed (Feat. Camille Price); Echoes of Harlem (Cootie's Concerto); Addi; Blood Count; Juniflip; Azalea; La Belle Plus Africaine; Caravan; Frustration; I'm Gonna Go Fishin'; Happy Reunion; The Shepard (Who Watches Over The Night Flock); Sophisticated Lady.

Personnel

Planet D Nonet

band / ensemble / orchestra

Charlie Miller

trumpet

Alex Colista

saxophone, alto

Christopher Tabaczynski

saxophone, tenor

Goode Wyche III

saxophone, baritone

Michael Zaporski

piano

Trevor Lamb

bass

Sean Perlmutter

drums

RJ Spangler

drums

Album Description

1) Happy Anatomy, by Duke Ellington, Copyright Chappell and Co., arranged by Trevor Lamb 2:20 solos: Charlie Miller (trumpet) & Chris Tabaczynski (tenor sax) 2 Flirtibird by Duke Ellington, Copyright Sony/ATV Harmony, arranged by Jeff Cuny, 2:28 solo: Alex Colista (alto sax) 3) Rocks in My Bed by Duke Ellington, 5:56 Composed by Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn, Copyright Sony/ATV Harmony adapted by J. Cuny solos: Alex Colista, Tbone Paxton, Chris Tabaczynski, vocal: Camille. Original chart courtesy of the Smithsonian, thanks to Andrew Homzy 4) Echoes of Harlem aka "Cootie's Concerto" by Duke Ellington, Copyright Sony/ATV Harmony, arranged by Jeff Cuny, 4:28 solo: James O’Donnell 5) Addi by Duke Ellington, Copyright Sony/ATV Harmony, Music Sales Corporation o/b/o Tempo Music Inc, and Music Sales Corporation, arranged by Joshua James, 3:43 solo: Alex Colista (alto) 6) Blood Count by Billy Strayhorn, Copyright Tempo Music Inc, arranged by Jeff Cuny, 4:17 solo: Alex Colista (alto) 7) Juniflip, by Duke Ellington, Copyright Sony/ATV Harmony, arranged by Jeff Cuny, 6:59 solos: Charlie (flugelhorn), Alex... Colista (alto), Goode Wyche III (bari), Michael Zaporski & Trevor Lamb 8) Azalea by Duke Ellington, Copyright Sony/ATV Harmony, arranged by Jeff Cuny, 4:53 solos: Michael Zaporski, Trevor Lamb & James O’Donnell vocal: Jam es O’Donnell 9) La Belle Plus Africaine, Copyright Sony/ATV Harmony o/b/o Famous Music LLC, arranged by Trevor Lamb, 10:20 solos: Alex Colista (clarinet), Trevor Lamb, Goode Wyche III, Alex Colista (clarinet) 10) Caravan by By Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington, Copyright EMI Mills Music, Inc. and Sony/ATV Harmony, arranged by the band, 8:13 solos: Alex Colista (alto), Charlie Miller (flugelhorn), Goode Wyche III (bari sax), Chris Tabaczynski (clarinet, Michael Zaporski (piano), trades with Sean Perlmutter(drums) Vocal: Tbone, Sean Permutter on cowbell, James O’Donnell on maracas 11) Frustration by Duke Ellington, Copyright Music Sales Corporation o/b/o Tempo Music Inc., arranged by Jeff Cuny, 4:49 solo: Goode Wyche III (bari) 12) I’m Gonna Go Fishin’ aka Main Title of Anatomy of a Murder By Duke Ellington and Peggy Lee Copyright Universal Music Mgb Songs o/b/o Denslow Music Inc. and Sony/ATV Harmony o/b/o Duke Ellington Music, arranged by Jeff Cuny, 4:02 solo: James O’Donnell 13) Happy Reunion by Duke Ellington, Copyright Music Sales Corporation o/b/o Tempo Music Inc., arranged by Jeff Cuny, 4:37 solo: Chris Tabaczynski (tenor) 14) The Shepherd (Who Watches Over the Night Flock) by Duke Ellington, Copyright Music Sales Corporation o/b/o Tempo Music Inc. arranged by Jeff Cuny, 7:34 solo: James O’Donnell 15) Sophisticated Lady by Duke Ellington, Mitchell Parish, and Irving Mills Copyright EMI Mills Music Inc. and Sony/ATV Harmony o/b/o Duke Ellington Music4:06 Arranged by Michael Zaporski, solo piano by Michael Zaporski. Planet Detroit Nonet’s last recording, “Blues to Be There: A Salute to Duke Ellington,” ELD-40, which came out in 2023 did very well for the band. The recording reached #16 on the JazzWeek chart beating out PD9’s Strayhorn CD which peaked at #17 back in 2016. The really big news was that the Salute to Duke Ellington recording was #1 on the Roots Report Big Band Jazz Chart for TWELVE WEEKS STRAIGHT! It was also #1 on the Michigan Roots Report chart and received excellent airplay from coast to coast and in Europe. The recording made national “Best of” lists like LA based writer Scott Yanow’s “THE TOP JAZZ RECORDINGS OF 2023.” The Michigan Roots Music Report put us at #4 in their Top 200 of 2023. Eric Hines at WNMC Radio in Traverse City placed us at the #1 spot on his list of the top 26. High praise came from JazzWeek which placed us at #55 in the top 100 of the year. The NACC chart (National Association of College and Community Radio stations) scored the recording at #11 in their top 100 jazz recordings of the year! Most recently on CJAM-FM over in Windsor, Canada, their program “the Freedom Principle” which features the music of the African Diaspora, the PD9 was listed in the top 30 of 2023. Mike Stratton, host of “A Groove Supreme” on WKAR in Lansing, MI just put the CD in HIS TOP TEN for 2023. Finally, Paul Donovan at KUVO in Denver listed the CD as #7 in its Top 10 of 2023. While we were performing shows around that CD, I kept adding new charts to the book of Ellington music that fit in with what we were doing. I realized I had enough for a Volume 2 last summer. Everything happens organically in life, and so it was with this project. Some songs were from the movie “Anatomy of a Murder” featured during a special tour of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula last summer where we performed in some of the places where Duke played when making that film. I needed more music from that film. “Echoes of Harlem” and “Azalea” are two tunes that James O’Donnell does with his band, the East Side Rhythm Rascals, and I really enjoyed hearing him play them with his band. I asked Jeff Cuny, our arranger, to chart them up for us. Andrew Homzy approached me about trading some charts and offered “Rocks in my Bed” which he had gotten from the Ellington collection at the Smithsonian. Once again, I sent it to Jeff to have him adapt it to our exact instrumentation and for Camille Price to sing. Cam was on our Strayhorn CD back in 2017 and is a dear friend and part of the PD9 family. Tbone Paxton sings the classic “Caravan” on this recording. We opted not to use a chart but rather use the riffs we play live on gigs from our “head arrangement.” This song is as close to how we sound at a gig as it gets in the studio. My musical brother Rick Steiger suggested “La Belle Plus Africaine” which really shows Duke in a modern light toward the end of his career. Trevor Lamb, our bassist, brought in this chart for us. Note the photo of him with Ellington bassist John Lamb, who played that song with Duke. The photo was taken in 2017 when Trevor was 19 years old, sitting in at a jam session in St. Petersburg, FL, while visiting family. I am the sort that appreciates these special situations. Putting together this entire album has been a special situation for me. RJ Spangler