I’m going to be completely frank with you. I listen to A LOT of music every day. Some of it good, some of it excellent, and a lot of it very average. Then, I come across something by Duke Ellington like this recent historical release by Storyville, and I wonder “why am I wasting my time listening to anyone else?”
Ellington’s 1969 band still boasted of heavy hitters like Cat Anderson/tp, Cootie Williams/tp, Lawrence Brown/tb and the velvety reed section of Russell Procope/as, Johnny Hodges/as, Paul gonsalves/ts, Harry Carney/bs, Norris Turney/as-ts and Harold Ashby/ts. The band shows it knows how to get the butanes high with a swinging “Rockin’ In Rhythm” with hip solos by Brown, Carney and Anderson. Duke himself is in hip form as he suavely introduces the songs and artists, describing Gonslaves’ solo on “Up Jump” as “tenorsaxophonic callitenics.” If you want something a bit more left of center, just get a load of Duke’s wild piano on “La Plus Belle Africane” with kinetic work by bassist Vicor Gaskin and drummer Rufus Jones, with Carney’s bari and Procope’s clarinet as exotic by anything on Black Swan. Jones lets some sparks fly as he solos on “Come Off The Veldt” before Hodges takes over on a swooning “Black Butterfly” and “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore.” This type of alto sax is what made scores of aspiring jazz artists switch to tenor, as they knew they’d never sound this good.
Then, if you’re in the mood for some Afro Cuban, check out the intro on the medley that includes a sizzling “Caravan” while if soul jazz is your thing, Wild Bill Davis pulls out the plugs during “Satin Doll” and “RTM” before some stomping blues by the smoking tenors of Gonsalves, Ashby and Turney” make you feel it’s a Texas Tenor reunion.
If you think that the current scene is a bit stale, just wait until you hear this; there may be no turning back.
Storyville Records