Duke Ellington Frankie And Johnny

Duke Ellington's orchestra in 1945 was riding quite high, with annual Carnegie Hall concerts, constant performing and recording, and appearances on many radio broadcasts. This disc features both studio recordings and a few V-Discs taken from radio shows. The latter are most notable for including the extended two-part "Frankie and Johnny" and the 12-and-a-half-minute "New World A-Comin'," while the studio recordings are highlighted by "Jumpin' Room Only" and three of the four parts of "Perfume Suite." With such soloists as Tricky Sam Nanton, Lawrence Brown, Al Sears, Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, and four trumpeters, Ellington's big band remained at the top of its field as World War II came to an end.

Thankfully, Duke Ellington's live performances were well documented in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s - and there is hardly a shortage of live Ellington recordings that are available on CD. Spanning 1943-1969, The Duke in Washington doesn't focus on any one concert. Instead, this Danish release (which Storyville released in 1999) was recorded at six different places - the interesting thing is that all of them are in Washington, D.C. (the Duke's home town) or nearby in Maryland and Virginia…

Duke Ellington - The Duke Box 1940-1949 [8CD BoxSet] (2006) {Storyville}
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© 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!

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 - Carnegie Hall Concerts (1943-1947) {Prestige 8CD Box Set, Joe Tarantino Remaster rel 2010}
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© 1943-47, 2010 Prestige / Universal | 0600753232491
Jazz / Big Band / Early Jazz / Swing

2010 eight CD box set from the legendary Jazz pianist, composer, arranger and Big Band leader. This box set contains a plethora of material that Ellington recorded at the legendary venue, Carnegie Hall, during the height of the Big Band movement. Spanning the years 1943-47, this box set features 85 performances by Ellington backed by some of Jazz's greatest musicians including Johnny Hodges, Ben Webster, Junior Raglin, Al Hibbler, Claude B. Jones, Harry Carney, Oscar Pettiford, Sonny Greer, Ray Nance, Jimmy Hamilton, Al Sears and Ellington himself.

Duke Ellington was the most important composer in the history of jazz as well as being a bandleader who held his large group together continuously for almost 50 years. The two aspects of his career were related; Ellington used his band as a musical laboratory for his new compositions and shaped his writing specifically to showcase the talents of his bandmembers, many of whom remained with him for long periods. Ellington also wrote film scores and stage musicals, and several of his instrumental works were adapted into songs that became standards. In addition to touring year in and year out, he recorded extensively, resulting in a gigantic body of work that was still being assessed a quarter century after his death.

Duke Ellington called his music "American Music" rather than jazz, and liked to describe those who impressed him as "beyond category. He remains one of the most influential figures in jazz, if not in all American music and is widely considered as one of the twentieth century's best known African American personalites. As both a composer and a band leader, Ellington's reputation has increased since his death, with thematic repackagings of his signature music often becoming best-sellers. Posthumous recognition of his work include a special award citation from the Pulitzer Prize Board.