Jazz Articles about Doug Ellington

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Doug Ellington & New Urban Groove: Life

by Todd S. Jenkins
January 24, 2006

Trumpeter Doug Ellington's new release conveys some interesting ideas with generally solid musicianship. As they are described in the liner notes, some of Ellington's notions are overly clever and border on pretentious, but all in all this is a very enjoyable effort.

The opening “Xenophobia begins with a vibrant bass vamp that soon supports a bustling theme. Ellington and alto saxophonist Chazz Alley blow two separate layers, a most effective structure. At times Alley sounds remarkably like late-period Bud Shank ...

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Doug Ellington & the New Urban Groove: Life

by Dan McClenaghan
December 31, 2005

The musical bar is set pretty high when the artist's last name is Ellington. Trumpeter/composer Doug Ellington is, for the record, Duke Ellington's grand nephew; and with music pulsing through his bloodstream, Life, with his band the New Urban Groove, gets deep into jazz improvisation, and also deep into the groove.The ensemble thrives on contrasts: Chazz Alley's gritty, on-edge, strung-tight alto sax backed by a rock-solid rhythm on the opening “Xenophobia." On “Looking Forward to Summer/Jeanne Lousie," pianist ...