There is truly no better way to appreciate 20th Century music than taking in the sounds of Duke Ellington’s Orchestra. Storyville Records has done a commendable job through the years of releasing vintage material via radio broadcasts, private recordings and concerts. They released a Duke Box a few years ago that presented the early and mid era of the Ellington band. This 7 cd and dvd set picks up where that one left off, starting in 1952 and ending during Ellington’s autumn and winter with orchestra and small band recordings in 1972. The separation of the box sets is a wise one, in that the earlier Ducal set featured the orchestra during the period of 78 rpms, and while Ellington sometimes stretched the boundaries of that limitation with 2, 4 and more sides for his extended compositions, he usually focused on short and concise pieces. With the introduction of the long-playing record, Ellington had a medium for his message of suites. Many of the newer pieces presented here are parts of a greater whole, and while there are singular songs such as “Satin Doll,” most of Ellington at this stage was his affinity for album-length themes.
The signature sound of this epoch was presented by the 20+ year reed section of Jimmy Hamilton/cl-ts, Johnny Hodges/as, Russell Procope/as/cl, Paul Gonsalves/ts and Harry Carney/bs-bcl. Hodges was on a solo stint in 1952, so Hilton Jefferson ably fills his seat for the November shows from Birdland. The trumpet section bragged of Cat Anderson, Clark Terry, Willie Cook and Ray Nance, who also sang and played violin here and there. Driven by drummer Ed Shaughnessy, the band stretches out a bit, even showing some bop chops on an arrangement of “Ornithology” and is entering the “Suite” era with pieces like “The Tattooed Bride” while the saxes rock on “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be.”
A 1958 show in Munich has Hodges back, and he shows his wares on the lovely “Jeep’s Blues” while the reeds reflect the Duke’s ‘30s “Jungle” era on a rich medley of “The Mooche,” “Black and Tan Fantasy” and “Creole Love Call” with drummer Sam Woodyard riding the whip on “Newport Up.” Next is a 1963 gig in Stockholm that has the trombone team of Chuck Conners, Lawrence Brown and Buster Cooper working overtime on “Afro Bossa” with thick toned Coote Williams rejoining the band for a welcome stint.
Most interesting is a collection of solo works by Ellington, and he is impressive on his four “Blues” pieces as well as a reflective “Meditation.” The rarely heard “TGTT/Little Purple Flower/The River-A Ballet Suite” is a glorious and intimate time, and other obscurities come to well deserved to light here. This is a real treat and worth the price of the box set in and of itself, as Ellington’s reflective, adventurous and thoughtful touch has dashes of stride and modern classical mixing together in a sublime fashion.
Rare studio recordings from 1966-67 feature some congas on the exotic “Tin Soldier” and “Untitled Blues” while the band bears down on sophisticated harmonies on “Up Jump” while Williams shines on “Amta” and Carney is palpable on “Eggo.” This is an intriguing era for the band, as Ellington was experimenting with various rhythms, times and sounds. Much of the material here has Ellington giving spotlights to one artist for each song, with Hodges, Williams, Brown, Carney and Gonsalves all shown in aria form on pieces like “Blood Count,” Salome”, Chromatic Love Affair” “Rue Bleu” and “Up Jump.” It’s easy to see why these gents rarely stayed away from the Ellington fold for long, as the leader knew how to make each musician play at his best.
Studio sessions from 1970-72 mix and match, as Wild Bill Davis brings his organ in for the mix, with “Mixt” and “Rext” showing a new dimension of the orchestra. A smaller band with the cameo of Harold Minerve/as-fl and Hodges replacement Norris Turney produce intimate pieces “Duke Ellington” and “New York, New York.”
The entire “Togo Brava Suite” from 1971 fills up the last cd, and it is a wild ride filled with riveting section work that sounds inspired by Charles Mingus as well as exotic percussion from Rufus Jones/dr, Joe Benjamin/b and Davis. Vocals by Nell Brookshire on “Blues” and Tony Watkins on “Something” continue Ellington’s experimentation with the human voice. Unlike many sounds from the 70s, this band holds up well and doesn’t sound dated at all.
The dvd has the 1962 band with the usual suspects delivering the band in stellar form on standards like “Take the ‘A’ Train” but also delving into obscurities such as “Blow By Blow.” Ellington does a trio groove on “Kind of Dukish” which shows his digital prowess.
This box set is going to give hours, if not days and years of listening pleasure. Completely life affirming, and a respectful anthology of Ellington during his long and luminous sunset.
Storyville Records