Caravan Ellington

The quartet that went by the name "Quadrant" (guitarist Joe Pass, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Ray Brown and drummer Mickey Roker) recorded two albums for Pablo; this one has not been reissued on CD yet. For this project, the group plays nine Duke Ellington compositions, Billy Strayhorn's "Take the 'A' Train," and Juan Tizol's "Caravan." The four masterful musicians play up to their potential; the interplay and blend between Jackson and Pass is appealing, and there are a fair share of exciting moments on the respectful and swinging set. Highlights include "Caravan," "Mood Indigo," "Main Stem" and "Rocks In My Bed."

This previously issued material (released on a single CD by Music Masters) features the Duke Ellington Orchestra during a very busy era. The veteran musicians were getting older but their very individual voices were still powerful, and Ellington was far from running out of gas at this point.

What an alliance: a legendary bandleader and composer, a pioneering bop drummer, and an unclassifiable (and often prickly) bass behemoth. It's no wonder that the tension between Duke Ellington, Max Roach, and Charlie Mingus is thick and extremely tangible, permeating this breathtaking 1962 album with passion and aggression. On the jagged blues "Very Special," Ellington establishes a weighty mood while his piano work almost borders on free jazz. Roach's sticks dance and prance across every inch of his kit on "A Little Max"; on "Caravan" he effectively shifts from exotic rhythms to straight time. ~ Amazon

Duke Ellington - The Duke at Fargo 1940: Special 60th Anniversary Edition (2000) {2CD Set, Storyville 84385-38932 1}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 557 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 367 Mb
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© 1940, 2000 Storyville | 84385-38932 1
Jazz / Big Band / Swing / Early Jazz

The widely heralded recordings made of Duke Ellington & His Orchestra during a 1940 concert in Fargo, ND, have been justifiably praised for their historic value as well as for the surprisingly good sound obtained by a pair of young amateur engineers with a portable disc cutter. Both the soloists and Ellington's unique-sounding blend of reeds and brass are very distinct. Some of these tracks previously appeared on the Jazz Society label, followed by a Book-of-the Month Club set, and all of them appeared on the now-defunct Vintage Jazz Classics, but this latest version tops them all for sound quality.

Dr. Cynthia Felton made quite the splash with her self-produced debut, Afro Blue: The Music of Oscar Brown, Jr. (2009). In the spirit of well-assembled theme recordings like Karrin Allyson's Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane (Concord, 2001) and Todd Bishop's Pop Art 4 disc, 69 Annee Erotique, Afro Blue is a solid look at a master's craft of writing lyrics for jazz pieces. Felton treads more familiar territory on Come Sunday: The Music of Duke Ellington, undertaking the project with an embarrassment of supporting artist riches that features Felton in several different format contexts, from bass/voice duet to little big band. In all formats, Felton swings effortlessly, and she comes out swinging on the opening "It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got That Swing," singing wide-open with no governor…

Duke Ellington was at the height of his popularity during the 1940s; at the same time, he was enjoying a creative peak and fronting one of the finest organizations he'd ever assembled, including trumpeters Cootie Williams, Ray Nance, and later Rex Stewart and Harold "Shorty" Baker, trombonists Lawrence Brown, Tricky Sam Nanton, and Tommy Dorsey, saxophonists Johnny Hodges and Ben Webster, Jimmy Blanton and Oscar Pettiford on bass, and drummers Sonny Greer and Sid Catlett. The material here includes Ellington's famous versions of "Take the 'A' Train," "Caravan," "The 'C' Jam Blues," "Mood Indigo," and "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)."