For Duke

Duke Ellington - Stockholm, June 1963 (2012) {La Maison du Duke MDD 002}
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© 1963, 2012 La Maison du Duke | MDD 002
Jazz / Mainstream Jazz / Big Band / Piano

La Maison du Duke is proud to present a collection of unpublished recordings of Duke Ellington, which come from an important stock of Ellington archives (Clavié collection), acquired by the association, which only a few collectors had access to today . The CDs are reserved for members of the Maison du Duke association and are not intended to be marketed.

Duke Ellington - The Complete Capitol Recordings Of Duke Ellington (1995) {5CD Box Set Mosaic MD5-160 rec 1953-1955}
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© 1953-55, 1995 Capitol Records / Mosaic Records | MD5-160
Jazz / Big Band / Swing

Historians and some Duke Ellington fans look askance at the brief period he spent on Capitol Records (1953-55). This was a hectic period in jazz, with bebop in the near-view, hard bop coming along as well, and the big band was considered by many to be a relic of bygone eras. Yet Ellington persevered, and not without another adversity: the temporary loss of signature alto player Johnny Hodges, who was off leading his own bands. The resulting five CDs worth of material collected here show an Ellington band more aimed at repetition, both of its own repertoire, which had sounded better in the 1940s, and of other bands' material.

Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington - The Great Summit Complete Sessions (1961) {2CD Ron McMaster 24-bit Deluxe Edition}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 739 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 296 Mb
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© 1961, 2000 Roulette Jazz / EMI | 7243 5 24546 2 4
Jazz / Mainstream Jazz

Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington were (and are) two of the main stems of jazz. Any way you look at it, just about everything that's ever happened in this music leads directly – or indirectly – back to them. Both men were born on the cusp of the 19th and 20th centuries, and each became established as a leader during the middle '20s. Although their paths had crossed from time to time over the years, nobody in the entertainment industry had ever managed to get Armstrong and Ellington into a recording studio to make an album together. On April 3, 1961, producer Bob Thiele achieved what should be regarded as one of his greatest accomplishments; he organized and supervised a seven-and-a-half-hour session at RCA Victor's Studio One on East 24th Street in Manhattan, using a sextet combining Duke Ellington with Louis Armstrong & His All-Stars.

Originally cut for the Japanese Baystate label and then later released by French RCA, this trio set by pianist Duke Jordan (with bassist Harry Memmery and drummer James Martin in Holland) differs from his usual recordings in putting an emphasis on blues, although not exclusively. Jordan performs six of his originals (including "No Problem," "Ben Sugar Blues," "Jordu" and "From Duke to Duke") plus "All the Things You Are," "C Jam Blues" and "St. Louis Blues." The classic bebop pianist's consistency holds up on this set (cut when he was 61), making the obscure LP worth searching for.

The title is bound to confuse (and possibly annoy) some blues purists. Except for a handful of straight blues numbers – including one of the most heartfelt T-Bone Walker tributes ever in "Duke's Mood" – Duke Robillard Plays Blues: The Rounder Years is mostly a rock-oriented anthology drawn from the post-Roomful of Blues but pre-Fabulous Thunderbirds stage of Robillard's career. No bonus tracks or previously unissued takes – just reissued material culled from four albums released on Rounder between 1983 and 1991. (Note that Robillard's "Rounder Years" also produced some fantastic swing music, but you won't find any of it here since it's been allocated to the sister compilation Duke Robillard Plays Jazz: The Rounder Years.) The '80s were an interesting decade for Robillard, as he took on a more stripped-down, roots rock (but still bluesy) approach with his trio, the Pleasure Kings, and then headed into that contemporary blues-rock zone often associated with the Fabulous Thunderbirds and Stevie Ray Vaughan.