There’s a new hit play in NYC, with Duke Ellington’s music from the 30s being the background music for it. Here, you’ve got the ORIGINAL material, which is what you’d want anyway, as there isn’t today, three never has been, and there never will be anyone that can accurately replicate the patented jungle sounds of Duke Ellington’s orchestra. The wah wahing horns by Bubby Miley or Cootie Williams, the earthy reeds and the pounding rhythms were all patented by Edward Kennedy Ellington, and they still sound fantastic. Choppy and clipped horns in “Braggin’ In Brass” moody reeds on “East St. Louis Toodle-oo” with valved trumpet, Barney Bigard’s mystical clarinet on “Creole Love Call” have all aged wonderfully. The slapped bass on “It Don’t Mean A Thing” with Ivie Anderson’s celebratory vocals simply snaps like a towel in high school gym class, while the spontaneity in “Rockin’ in Rhythm” is almost combustable, the clarinet and trumpet solos being songs in themselves. Joyous sounds that hint of eternity.
Sony Legacy