Caravan Ellington

The Genius of Duke Ellington, bandleader extraordinaire, pianist and greatest American composer of the 20th century is celebrated in the 93 ducal masterpieces featured in this 4 CD box set. Ellington's achievements as composer, arranger, pianist and bandleader touch a bewildering variety of levels, producing music that has never been surpassed, music that has been a constant inspiration to numerous other musicians, and those who truly appreciate Ellington's achievements.

This 24-CD box, which dwarfs even most Bear Family sets in scope, is essentially everything Ellington cut for RCA-Victor over a 46-year period. There are gaps, especially after 1946 when he jumped to Columbia, but otherwise, this is all of it. One quickly discovers that, by virtue of its leader's taste, combined with the good sense of RCA-Victor's recording managers, this was a band that did little, if any, wrong on record…

Duke Ellington - The Duke Box 1940-1949 [8CD BoxSet] (2006) {Storyville}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.84 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.24 Gb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 55 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2006 Storyville Records | 108 8600
Jazz / Big Band / Early Jazz

The Duke Box contains a generous serving of more than eight hours of music from what many consider the greatest decade of the greatest orchestra in the history of jazz. What's more, the Duke and his men, among them the incomparable Johnny Hodges, Ben Webster, Lawrence Brown, "Tricky" Sam Nanton, Harry Carnet, Rex Stewart, Barney Bigar d and Jimmy Blanton are captured live in dance halls, night clubs, concert halls and radio studios…with a you-are-there feeling absent from most commercial recordings. We are lucky indeed that these slice-of-life sound documents survivie, or were made in the first place, such as the unique Fargo dance date, and hearing it chronologically places this grand music in a very special and illuminating perspective. There are numbers you may know but never heard like this before and when there are several versions, each is different , and then there are some things that even seasoned Ellingtonians will encounter for the first time. So come on in for your special date with the immortal Duke!