Jazz Articles about Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington: The Complete Live at Newport 1956

by C. Michael Bailey
August 10, 2005

Within the subatomic structure of American musical styles, the blues is the single indivisible particle with which all else is made. The blues combined with other influencing elements (eg. ethnic, religious, regional, cultural) form Country & Western, Bluegrass, Rock & Roll, Rhythm & Blues, Soul, Funk, Gospel and, yes, finally Jazz. It can be argued that the blues as expressed through Jazz is as much the pinnacle of artistic expression as Beethoven had reasoned Opera was. Within the realm of ...

Duke Ellington and Others: Melinda and Melinda

by Florence Wetzel
May 18, 2005

Woody Allen's new film Melinda and Melinda is an artful combination of comedy and drama, and the soundtrack likewise is a successful weaving of opposites. Allen combines toe-tapping jazz standards and classical music, the jazz cuts focused on pianists.Allen's taste is impeccable: there are three cuts by Duke Ellington ("Take the A Train," “I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart," and “In a Mellow Tone"), three by Erroll Garner ("The Best Things in Life Are Free," ...

Duke Ellington: The Centennial Collection & The Jaywalker

by Joel Roberts
December 16, 2004

Five years after the widely fêted Duke Ellington centennial, record companies are finding--or at least finding ways to remarket--still more treasure from the seemingly endless trove of Ellingtonia.

Duke Ellington Centennial Collection Bluebird 2004

Bluebird's latest, a 2-disc CD/DVD/audio/video collection, offers a fine overview of the 1927-1942 Ellington Orchestra, a period that spans the heyday of the legendary trumpeter Bubber Miley through the too-brief tenure of the virtuoso bassist Jimmy Blanton. Splendid renditions of ...

Duke Ellington: Blues In Orbit

by Rex Butters
November 10, 2004

Teo Macero's first Ellington recordings resurface in the latest version of the master's popular '58-'59 sessions issued as Blues In Orbit. With band still riding high after the '56 Newport triumph and fresh off the road from Europe, they recorded a jukebox full of 45 single-sized tracks that bear riveting performances by several classic Ellingtonians including Jimmy Hamilton, Ray Nance, Clark Terry, Britt Woodman, Harry Carney, and Billy Strayhorn playing piano on two cuts. And then there's Johnny Hodges. Hodges ...

Duke Ellington: The Jaywalker

by Norman Weinstein
October 19, 2004

The Jaywalker collects bits and pieces from the vaults of Ellington recordings the Master made for himself during 1966-1967. It was an impressive edition of the band, with Harry Carney, Cat Anderson, and Lawrence Brown on board, but little in these “unofficial recordings" is as striking as the Ellington output on big labels during the sixties. Yet this CD deserves attention, particularly for Ellington lovers, because of an exceptional set of nine musical sketches that Ellington composed ...

Duke Ellington: Blues In Orbit

by Jim Santella
August 2, 2004

Featuring the talented solo voices of alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges, tenor saxophonist Jimmy Hamilton, trumpeter Ray Nance, trombonist Booty Wood, and most other members of this 1958-59 Ellington Orchestra, this reissue swings with the blues. Alternate takes are included, and one of those has never been issued before.

“Blues in Blueprint" remains one of the album's high points. With Billy Strayhorn at the piano and Ellington snapping his fingers on two and four, bass clarinet and string bass ...

Duke Ellington: Ellington Uptown

by AAJ Staff
April 6, 2004

For the sake of honesty, I must admit that I have never particularly enjoyed music recorded before the '50s, though the occasional interloper has caught my ear and found itself an exception. The problem with the earlier music mostly has to do with technology. First, sound quality is a mixed bag (and often a disaster) by modern terms; and second, length limitations prohibited any stretching out, whether in solo or ensemble space. The latter consideration gets at the core of ...