Duke Ellington

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also find, if you can, Ralph Gleason's long tribute/obit from Rolling Stone. the classic quote, from memory, on junkie musicians: "I never did understand that. I'm a cunt man myself."

M Matos (M Matos), Thursday, 5 June 2003 17:45 (9 years ago) Permalink

2 months pass...
I'm a little surprised by the high regard in which the Far East Suite is commonly held. I could only get myself to listen to it a couple times. Most of the time when I don't like a remotely canonical jazz recording, I can still sort of understand why it would be considered good. Kind of Blue and Point of Departure, for instance, both turn me off in large part because of my emotional reaction to them, and something about the tone colors used (more in the second case). But the Far East Suite sounded really kind of third rate to me. I'm sorry now that I didn't hang on to my library copy long enough to listen a few times, so I could say more now. Part of it may simply be that because of my heavy Arabic music listening, I am critical of the particular way Arabic elements are used here. (I know it says far east, but according to what I've read, it actually has more to do with Arabic music than with Indian. That's also what I hear.) Also the mixture of certain old school big band sounds, sounds that don't necessarily have to be use just because one is working with a big band, undermines the project for me.

Al Andalous (Al Andalous), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 13:20 (9 years ago) Permalink

The Blanton-Webster Years; I've been advised by people who know to avoid the new repackage of the same material in a cardboard case: "they fucked up the remaster" was his objection

I don't know - I have this and the remaster sounds fine to me, as good as you could expect for this period. I'm pretty sure that this is the same remaster that's in the Centennial edition.

o. nate (onate), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 14:49 (9 years ago) Permalink

(The packaging on the other hand leaves something to be desired. The little cardboard sleeves don't really hold the CDs in place. I wish they'd just used standard jewel cases.)

o. nate (onate), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 14:55 (9 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...
I borrowed Money Jungle from the library, and I like it okay. I like "Caravan" a lot, or at least the begin. And I like "Money Jungle." It's still probably not something I would buy, but I don't think it's an album that needs any apologies.

Rockist_Scientist (rockist_scientist), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 21:22 (8 years ago) Permalink

Somehow, all of my dad's old 45s were stolen except the ones I borrowed, and fortunately, one of those was "The Mooch." It's still my favorite Duke Ellington song, a world within a song, really...

Pete Scholtes, Wednesday, 15 September 2004 03:55 (8 years ago) Permalink

Harlem Air Shaft or Ko Ko would be my faves, both on the Blanton-Webster Band comp

mentalist (mentalist), Wednesday, 15 September 2004 04:35 (8 years ago) Permalink

"jump for joy" is probably the most astonishingly perfect record i know. everything is in place; it's constantly infectious and exciting; it sounds so fresh; and the lyrics are a total hoot. superlatives actually demean this record, so i'll stop.

"chocolate shake" is v. close.

amateur!!!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 15 September 2004 06:20 (8 years ago) Permalink

the way "jump for joy" ends is... oh my lord.

amateur!!!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 15 September 2004 06:21 (8 years ago) Permalink

anyway, for those of you scared of jazz, these are pop records.

amateur!!!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 15 September 2004 06:22 (8 years ago) Permalink

Has anyone heard Sir Duke, performances of his pieces by Bill Ware (vibes) and Marc Ribot (gtr)? I think it's really beautiful but I haven't heard that much 'real' DE.

sundar subramanian (sundar), Wednesday, 15 September 2004 06:26 (8 years ago) Permalink

I absolutely love Money Jungle, I don't get the "jamming" comment. To me it sounded like they were at each other's throats. And yeah "Solitude" is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever herad.

As for Far East Suite...it's absolutely beautiful. Can't think of anything else to say.

djdee2005 (djdee2005), Wednesday, 15 September 2004 06:56 (8 years ago) Permalink

anyway, for those of you scared of jazz, these are pop records.

Indeed. They are catchy and fill o hooks. With early to mid Ellington, due to recording technology, most songs were only around 3 minutes long. The classic Ellington / Strayhorn number Take The A Train packs a whole musical narrative in less than 3 minutes and has a great fadeout ending.

mentalist (mentalist), Wednesday, 15 September 2004 11:58 (8 years ago) Permalink

3 years pass...

I am listening to Jungle Nights in Harlem and you should too.

Oilyrags, Monday, 21 January 2008 03:24 (5 years ago) Permalink

I really love Far East Suite
and the shite with Coleman Hawkins.

If you don't like it, you're racist.

our work is never over, Monday, 21 January 2008 03:28 (5 years ago) Permalink

underrated record is 'side by side' w/ johnny hodges
sweets edison KILLS IT on trumpet

deej, Monday, 21 January 2008 03:29 (5 years ago) Permalink

Must look into that then!
I love those underrated ones.

our work is never over, Monday, 21 January 2008 03:33 (5 years ago) Permalink

Jubilee Stomp is an acceptable substitute if Jungle Nights in Harlem is not available.

Oilyrags, Monday, 21 January 2008 03:40 (5 years ago) Permalink

Damnit hes prolific.
I havn't heard any of this.

our work is never over, Monday, 21 January 2008 03:47 (5 years ago) Permalink

Jungle Nights and Jubilee Stomp are early stuff. On Bluebird, nice and cheap and very hard swinging and excellent.

Oilyrags, Monday, 21 January 2008 04:26 (5 years ago) Permalink

6 months pass...

I am really enjoying The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse, one of Ellington's last albums. I know it's supposed to be African-influenced -- and it is -- but it sounds even more rock-influenced, to me. Dark, thumping and rhythmic. Very unlike what I expect of Ellington (OTOH, I'm not all that familiar with his bread-and-butter big band work). Anyway, great disc. (n.1).

-------------
(n.1) I did cringe at the corny spoken-word opening of the album, tho. Minor quibble, I guess.

Daniel, Esq., Tuesday, 5 August 2008 10:55 (4 years ago) Permalink

haha, i LOVE that spoken word intro.
as has been noted in this thread, there's a ton of later period (60s-70s) Ellington that is amazingly good. One I didn't see mentioned is the piano/bass album with Ray Brown called This One's For Blanton. Sort of an album length sequel to the duets Duke did with Blanton way back when. The New Orleans Suite (Hodges' last album, I think) has some great moments as well.

tylerw, Tuesday, 5 August 2008 13:58 (4 years ago) Permalink

I have this and the remaster sounds fine to me, as good as you could expect for this period

I've kind of changed my mind on this. I think they did kind of screw it up - though it's still listenable if you turn the treble down a couple of notches on your stereo.

o. nate, Tuesday, 5 August 2008 16:07 (4 years ago) Permalink

yeah, i think maybe the first disc of the B|W Band comp is kind of dodgy, esp. on headphones. I've got an old double LP with a lot of the same stuff and it sounds better to me, even on my crappy turntable. That said, those recordings would be great recorded on a cell phone. goddam, some of it is unbelievably good.

tylerw, Tuesday, 5 August 2008 17:12 (4 years ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

I am really enjoying The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse

YES.

"Didjeridoo" is quickly becoming a tune I feel really gypped that I never got to play with my jazz combo in college

TOMBOT, Friday, 24 October 2008 07:15 (4 years ago) Permalink

emusic subscribers who don't have this record, you have wasted a month.

TOMBOT, Friday, 24 October 2008 07:15 (4 years ago) Permalink

Tom, you should post here too:
Ellington as pianist

Matos DJs on Wednesdays here and plays something from The Far East Suite almost every week.

If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Friday, 24 October 2008 08:35 (4 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

I've been listening to The Far East Suite pretty much nonstop, with a couple of plays of The Seattle Concert thrown in. Sound is rough, as it's a 1952 show (and Ellington's first LP as such), but really sweet. Clark Terry is really nice on "Perdido."

If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Wednesday, 10 December 2008 00:02 (4 years ago) Permalink

I should say the album is really sweet, not the rough sound.

If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Wednesday, 10 December 2008 00:03 (4 years ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

Duke Ellington becomes first African-American on U.S. coin

Jazzbo, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 14:59 (4 years ago) Permalink

this is great -

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gbfqxqejldse

Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 15:40 (4 years ago) Permalink

Eee, that does look good. Also expensive.

tylerw, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 16:46 (4 years ago) Permalink

Jazz man is first African-American to solo on U.S. circulating coin

double bird strike (gabbneb), Tuesday, 24 February 2009 16:49 (4 years ago) Permalink

I've been saying for years we need to get politicians off our money and artists on. Nice work, DC! We could get off to no better start.

Oilyrags, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 16:53 (4 years ago) Permalink

http://dcist.com/2009/01/dc_duke_ellington_quarter_released.php

Oh god, the comments.

"I looked up Duke Ellington"

Wow. Says it all, really.

Oilyrags, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 17:06 (4 years ago) Permalink

[6] | snoopydog

Who is Duke Ellington and why should I care about him? Are there any other individuals on the quarters that I missed? Usually it's some stupid mountain or some wild life from the state. Who's Duke Ellington? Was he the architect of DC? I thought that guy was French. Ellington does not sound French to me.

deej da 5'9 (deej), Tuesday, 24 February 2009 17:10 (4 years ago) Permalink

I realize that DC isn't exactly the center of intellectualism but really, a piano player who likes white suits?

Øystein, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 17:47 (4 years ago) Permalink

This is why I have instituted a strict "DO NOT READ COMMENTS ON INTERNET" policy. Talk about douchebags.

tylerw, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 17:59 (4 years ago) Permalink

a funny thing to post on an Internet message board, yeah, but I'm talking about newspaper comments, etc.

tylerw, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 18:00 (4 years ago) Permalink

Beat out Benjamin Banneker and Frederick Douglass. I guess I could live with any of those on a quarter. I still would like to replace Andrew Jackson on the 20 with someone a little less....genocidal, though.

Oilyrags, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 20:03 (4 years ago) Permalink

Charlie Parker never committed any indian massacres, did he?

Oilyrags, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 20:05 (4 years ago) Permalink

<a href=http://www.sendspace.com/file/oc5mla>;Shhhh!</a>

Oilyrags, Wednesday, 25 February 2009 14:59 (4 years ago) Permalink

What is that, video of Charlie Parker committing indian massacres? Whilst playing "Cherokee"?

tylerw, Wednesday, 25 February 2009 15:30 (4 years ago) Permalink

Jubilee Stomp

Oilyrags, Wednesday, 25 February 2009 16:41 (4 years ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

lol, just got this bizarre email from Amazon:

Dear Amazon.com Customer,

As someone who has purchased or rated music by Duke Ellington, you might like to know that New York, March 1959 is now available. You can order yours for just $950.00 by following the link below.
New York, March 1959 New York, March 1959
Duke Ellington
Price: $950.00

Album Description
New York, March 1959 by Ellington, Duke

This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

?????????????????

tylerw, Wednesday, 24 June 2009 15:16 (3 years ago) Permalink

Me too, discussion over here

CD PRICES: Did they ever become as affordable as the vinyl/cassettes they replaced? Why?/Why not?

It's a "burn on demand" CD, even

bendy, Wednesday, 24 June 2009 15:20 (3 years ago) Permalink

Customers Who Bought Related Items Also Bought

Mark G, Wednesday, 24 June 2009 15:48 (3 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

Duke puts it on wax.

Like making waffles.

bendy, Tuesday, 11 August 2009 22:13 (3 years ago) Permalink

9 months pass...

I bought a cheapy 3-disc Ellington set the other day and it is totally ruling my life.

GayQuil (The Reverend), Wednesday, 12 May 2010 06:32 (3 years ago) Permalink

RIP.

Did anyone read that book from last year Ellington's America or whatever it was called?

Can You Please POLL Out Your Window? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 23 February 2012 15:58 (1 year ago) Permalink

Yeah, I read it, it was great -- a little discussion of it upthread. One of the rare autobios where I came out of it with even more respect for the subject. He wasn't a saint, but it seems like he lived his life in a generally admirable way. For a genius anyway.

tylerw, Thursday, 23 February 2012 16:01 (1 year ago) Permalink

Sad news. Always loved the '44 "Creole Love Call." Had no idea she was from my hometown (or that that's where Duke discovered her).

Let A Man Come In And Do The Cop Porn (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 23 February 2012 16:03 (1 year ago) Permalink

Yeah she was great -- not really what people think of when they think "jazz vocalist" but Duke used her well in a lot of songs.
btw i made this spotify playlist of Duke in the 1970s - lots of cool stuff! http://open.spotify.com/user/tywilc/playlist/3KNtFDxQE5BBi9fCvNK5m6

tylerw, Thursday, 23 February 2012 16:04 (1 year ago) Permalink

RIP Kay Davis.

Nice playlist, Tyler! Thanks for the reminder to order a copy of Live at the Whitney, I need that.

Brad C., Thursday, 23 February 2012 16:26 (1 year ago) Permalink

yeah, i have this thread to thank for letting me know about the whitney gig -- it is really fun. that duet discs with ray brown is rad too.

tylerw, Thursday, 23 February 2012 16:28 (1 year ago) Permalink

"The three greatest composers are Bach, Delius and Duke Ellington"

--Percy Grainger

(just came across this quote in Bernard Herrmann's biography)

Axolotl with an Atlatl (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 23 February 2012 17:14 (1 year ago) Permalink

hee hee... Delius is like "who, me?"
Speaking of Ellington in the 70s - just saw this:
Duke Ellington Concert
Municipal Auditorium New Orleans (New Orleans, LA) Apr 24, 1970
http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/duke-ellington/concerts/municipal-auditorium-new-orleans-april-24-1970.html

tylerw, Friday, 24 February 2012 16:29 (1 year ago) Permalink

Was just about to post that! Can't wait to listen. It seems a bit short and heavy on the standbys, but I guess that's to be expected.

Let A Man Come In And Do The Cop Porn (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 24 February 2012 16:31 (1 year ago) Permalink

yeah, festival date, crowd-pleasing mode. but those can be the best when it comes to duke.

tylerw, Friday, 24 February 2012 16:40 (1 year ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

Happy 113th, Duke! WCKR birthday broadcast here.

Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Sunday, 29 April 2012 16:16 (1 year ago) Permalink

Thanks for the tip. Happy Birthday, Duke!

Stars on 45 Fell on Alabama (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 29 April 2012 18:31 (1 year ago) Permalink

happy b-day! here he is 50 years ago

tylerw, Sunday, 29 April 2012 19:17 (1 year ago) Permalink

Nice!

Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Sunday, 29 April 2012 19:34 (1 year ago) Permalink

9 months pass...

Don't know why it took me a decade to get around to watching Ken Burns' Jazz doc, but there was a fascinating bit about Duke composing the ambitious but melancholy 13 minute "Reminiscing In Tempo" after his mother's passing in 1935. Critics savaged it at the time, but it sounds like a groundbreaking masterpiece. The version I found, however, from a 9 disc Complete Brunswick, Columbia and Master sounds like crap, recorded off a scratchy 78. Anyone know the best version? I'm guessing it's the Best of 1932-39, as it was restored by Harry Coster from the Dutch Jazz Archive. Ironically Sony released the budget priced set just in 2008, but it's already sold out and now fetching prices over $75. Trade, anyone?

The Best of Duke Ellington: 1932-1939 [4CD]
Masterpieces 1926-1949 [4CD]
Reminiscing In Tempo (1991 comp)

Fastnbulbous, Friday, 15 February 2013 03:25 (3 months ago) Permalink

Further reading says the version I have is actually from the 11 disc Mosaic set, The Complete 1932-1940 Brunswick,Columbia and Master Recordings of Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, and it's supposed to be the best. That can't be right!

Fastnbulbous, Friday, 15 February 2013 03:59 (3 months ago) Permalink

Sadly, that's probably the case. I haven't heard, or heard of, a single instance of any Mosaic set having anything less than stellar mastering from the best available sources.

Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Friday, 15 February 2013 14:43 (3 months ago) Permalink

Had never heard this one (but there's tons of Ellingtom I haven't heard). This original 78 sounds really nice!

Nataly Dawn's echoey swamp sound (Dan Peterson), Friday, 15 February 2013 15:33 (3 months ago) Permalink


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