Jazz Articles about Duke Ellington

like 314

Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington: The Great Summit: Complete Sessions

by Mark Corroto
September 1, 2000

Jazz fans are a lot like sports fanatics. Just as we would turn out to see the now seventy year-old Arnold Palmer shoot over par or Willie Mays play in an old timers game, we cherish the recordings of elder jazzmen. In 1961, the sixty-somethings Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong got together for two days of recording. The great innovators wrote no new chapters in jazz history, created no controversy, and played nothing we hadn’t heard before (almost). It was ...

like 519

Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington: Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington: The Complete Sessions

by AAJ Staff
August 1, 2000

Could it be that two of the greatest geniuses contributing to the development of jazz music were born a mere year apart? Yes, it could be. No, it may not be. Well, it depends on the legitimacy of a birth and the authenticity of records. Louis Armstrong, not knowing his actual birth date and unabashedly proud of his native country, asserted that he was born on July 4, 1900. A baptismal certificate discovered years after that assertion shows ...

like 397

Duke Ellington: Duke Ellington:The Reprise Studio Recordings

by C. Andrew Hovan
January 1, 2000

Of course, 1999 was the centennial celebration of the birth of that exalted American icon- Duke Ellington. And never a nation to not make the most out of a creative marketing ploy, any label with some Ellington in its holdings made a mad dash to remaster, repackage, compile, or generally work the hell out of its product line. Producing a set with the greatest intrigue of the lot, Mosaic's reissue of material from one of Ellington's most misunderstood periods mines ...

like 197

Duke Ellington: Ellington Centennial Releases

by C. Andrew Hovan
August 1, 1999

The 100th anniversary of the birth of bandleader and composer Duke Ellington came this past April. In its wake, the record companies decided to take advantage of the momentous occasion to put together some fine reissue packages, some quite large and others single disc affairs, that will please many an Ellington devotee and hopefully market the music to novice ears.

Starting off with the grandest concept to display the Ellington magic, RCA Victor has assembled a 24-CD boxed set entitled ...

like 321

Duke Ellington: Ellington At Newport 1956 (Complete)

by C. Michael Bailey
June 1, 1999

Eating Crow in the Snow These very words sprung from this critic's mouth: “Miles Davis was more important to American Music than Duke Ellington." Nothing could be further from the truth. Both men are important, essential artists to read about and listen to if one desires to understand American Music, specifically, Jazz. But my previous statement was foolhardy hero-worship. Within the electrons of this magazine space, I have my “Desert Island" top ten recordings. One of these is Ellington At ...

like 459

Duke Ellington: The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (1927-1973)

by Mitch Myers
June 1, 1999

Edward Kennedy Ellington came into this world on April 29th, 1899. On this hundredth anniversary of his birth, it's important to remember that Duke Ellington was the greatest jazz bandleader/composer that America has ever seen. While there are a slew of great CD re-issues being made available to commemorate the Duke's immense contribution to jazz, none are as far reaching and comprehensive as “The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (1927-1973)." Duke wrote more than 2000 compositions ...

like 309

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Highlights from the Centennial Edition

by Jack Bowers
May 1, 1999

A three–disc Ellington hors d’oeuvre, assembled to whet one’s appetite for the main course, a comprehensive 24–volume boxed set entitled The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings, 1927–1973, honoring the memory of the maestro in the hundredth year since his birth. As we mentioned last month, the set includes a complete discography, personnel lists and a number of enlightening essays about Ellington and his music by experts in that area. It is divided into six subsets — ...