Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Duke Ellington Orchestra: Big Bands Live
Duke Ellington Orchestra: Big Bands Live
ByBig Bands Live: Duke Ellington Orchestra, is the second release from the Jazzhaus music label's "Big Bands Live" series, and it captures the group in top form in a previously unreleased 1967 concert recording in Stuttgart, Germany.
The fourteen-piece group opens with brief ride on the orchestra's theme, "Take the "A" Train," before launching into another Billy Strayhorn jewel, "Johnny Come Lately." Ellington sparkles on piano in front of John Lamb's walking bass, his spare elegance giving way to the orchestra that gathers momentum, sounding juiced up and full of fire as they feed off the enthusiastic audience.
For the most part, the thirteen tunes here aren't the most famous in the Ellington songbook and less than full-on Ellington fans probably won't recognize "Swamp Goo," "Rue Bleue," "The Shepherd," or "Kixx," which are all vintage Ellington compositions. The soloing is consistently first rateEllington's classy piano intros, trumpeter Cootie Williams' jungle cat growls, baritone saxophonist Harry Carney's deep, mellifluous little concertos, and Johnny Hodges' angelically beautiful alto saxophone.
The year 1967 saw the releases of a couple of extraordinary Ellington studio albums: ...and His Mother Called Him Bill (RCA ), and Far East Suite (Bluebird ); live and tearing it up, Big Bands Live: Duke Ellington Orchestra is a superb addition to this fertile period in Ellington's creative output.
Track Listing
Take the "A" Train; Johnny Come Lately; Swamp Goo; Knob Hill; Eggo; La Plus Belle Africaine; Rue Bleue; A Chromatic Love Affair; Salome; The Shepherd; Tutti for Cootie; Freakish Lights; Kixx.
Personnel
Duke Ellington Orchestra
band / ensemble / orchestraDuke Ellington: piano; Cat Anderson: trumpet; Cootie Williams: trumpet; Herbie Jones: trumpet; Mercer Ellington: trumpet; Paul Gonsalves: tenor saxophone; Johnny Hodges: alto saxophone; Harry Carney: baritone saxophone, clarinet; Russel Procope: clarinetr, alto saxophone; Jimmy Hamilton: clarinet, tenor saxophone; Chick Conners trombone; Lawence Brown: trombone; Buster Cooper: trombone; John Lamb: bass; Rufus Jones: drums.
Album information
Title: Big Bands Live | Year Released: 2012 | Record Label: JazzHausMusik
< Previous
Phish: 12/6/97 The Palace of Auburn H...
Comments
About Duke Ellington Orchestra
Instrument: Band / ensemble / orchestra
Related Articles | Concerts | Albums | Photos | Similar To