If no one has told you this yet, please remember that you heard it hear first: you don’t understand 20th Century music until you’ve heard Duke Ellington, who is inarguably the most important musical artist of his century (and yes, that includes The Beatles, thank you). If you don’t have any of his music in your collection, this four disc, 77 song collection is an excellent place to start, as it includes a heaping mix of his hits.
If you can call Ellington’s most popular music “hits”, as all of his material here is a musical work of art, filled with sonic wonders. His unique way of creating a personal orchestral sound by allowing each artist to display his own personal style made for some of the most wondrous music to ever come into contact with your cochlear bone.
Ellington’s band went through various phases during this 27 year era, with wonderful “wah wah” brass and woody clarinets on pieces such as “East St. e Louis Toodle-Oo”, the Ravelish “Black and Tan Fantasy” , dreamy “Creole Love Call” and “The Mooch” to the wild juxtaposition of horns on the sine qua non of “Mood Indigo”, while “Rockin’ In Rhythm” was a wild romp that still excites to this day. The list of soloists who made their names in Ellington’s band is wide and of legend, but none were as important as baritone saxist Harry Carney, who is felt throughout the set, but featured on “Sophisticated Lady”, while alto saxist Johnny Hodges is not far behind as on “The Gal From Joes” and “Things Ain’t Wha They Used To Be”. Legendary bassist Jimmy Blanton is featured on the gauntlet throwing “Koko” while the famous sax section is featured on “In A Mellotone” and breathy tenor Ben Webster shining on “C Jam Blues”
The “classic” band with Blanton and Webster from 1939-41 gets a lot of space here, with a bit of R&B coming in post WWII with “I’m Just A Lucky So and So” and then some hits like “Satin Doll” and drummer Louis Bellson being featured on “Skin Deep”. Think of this collection as a starting point to ultimately collect everything Ellingtonian. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday. Here’s looking aat you, kid.