Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » The Sophisticated Ladies: The Sophisticated Ladies Play Ellington

406

The Sophisticated Ladies: The Sophisticated Ladies Play Ellington

By

View read count
The Sophisticated Ladies: The Sophisticated Ladies Play Ellington
To successfully play a set of standards by Duke Ellington—such as pianist Marie Louise Schmidt, bassist Helle Marstrand, drummer Benita Haastrup and horn player Christina Dahl do on The Sophisticated Ladies play Ellington—requires musicians to become arrangers.

After all, many people are familiar with "Caravan," "In A Sentimental Mood," and Ellington's other master works. Most will be looking for something new.

The Sophisticated Ladies offer up 10 clever and fresh versions of Ellington, handing much of the melody work to Christina Dahl's lively, breathy saxophone. Her loose playing style gives many of the tunes a relaxed feel and, backed by the innovative drumming of Benita Haastrup, may cause you to fall in love with Ellington's music yet again.

You may also fall in love with these ladies, who play with confidence and ease. They're so comfortable playing on this studio date that it feels like something taped before an appreciative crowd.

Though the band comes at Ellington though the blues, Dahl and Schmidt can kick out some wonderful bopping scales that compliments their music. Adding Haastrup's often funky drumming makes for some surprising twists on familiar tunes.

Highlights include Dahl's improvisation on the melody of "In A Sentimental Mood," using an amazing vibrato to add dimension to her performance; Haastrup's beginning to "Very Special," which gets the whole band rolling in a groove; and the opening lines of "I Ain't Got Nothing But the Blues," which captures the mood of an after-hours, smoky lounge band.

Schmidt uses rolling arpeggios for "Come Sunday," adding a taste of Southern gospel, contrasted by her Ray Charles-ish opening to "The Shepherd," which follows.

Stripping Ellington down to a four-piece band may limit the sophistication possible, but the Sophisticated Ladies show just how strong the music can be.

Track Listing

Caravan; Sophisticated Lady; Hard Way; Looking Glass; Very Special; Come Sunday; The Shepherd; In A Sentimental Mood; I Ain't Got Nothing but the Blues; African Flower.

Personnel

Marie Louise Schmidt: piano; Helle Marstrand: bass; Benita Haastrup: drums; Christina Dahl: saxophone.

Album information

Title: The Sophisticated Ladies Play Ellington | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Music Mecca

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.