Without a dash of doubt, the greatest jazz orchestra was Duke Ellington’s band during 1940-41 when they had tenorist Ben Webster and bassist Jimmy Blanton creating some of the most creative music in the history of western civilization.
Band leader Mark Masters gives tribute to that famed Big Band, bringing together guests Tim Hagan/tp and Art Baron/tb to join in with the reeds of Kirsten Edkins, Jerry Pinter, Danny House and Adam Schroeder, a trumpet team of Scott Englebright, Les Lovitt, Ron Stout and Hagans, trombonists Les Benedict, Dave Woodley and Baron and a rhythm team of Bruce Lett with Mark Ferber. As opposed to the thickness of Ellington’s orchestra, the sound has a more mellow and light swing to it, with an easy hip feel to “Duke’s Place” (C Jam Blues), the easy bopper “What Am I Hear For” and the crisp “Perdido”. The clarinets meld well on the soft “Jack the Bear” and some nice trombone plunging takes place on “Passion Flower”. Hagan’s sweet tone works well on “Take the ‘A’ Train” and the sax section slithers through a fun ‘In a Mellotone”. If this album makes you dig deeper to find the original sessions, it has done its job well.