Hank Jones Solol A Tribute to Duke Ellington

Hank Jones is one of the most gifted jazz pianists of the second half of the 20th century, and this salute to Duke Ellington is only slightly blemished by the sometimes overbearing string arrangements by Masahiko Satoh. His trio, with bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Jimmy Cobb, sticks to familiar selections from the vast Ellington songbook, with Jones occasionally switching to a Fender Rhodes electric piano or celeste. Happily the strings are omitted from cookers such as "C Jam Blues" and "Take the 'A' Train." Worth searching for.

Sonny Stitt - I Remember Bird & A Tribute To Duke Ellington (1977) {Rhino–Collectables COL-CD-7258 rel 2002}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 460 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 185 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 47 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1977, 2002 Catalyst / Rhino / Collectables | COL-CD-7258
Jazz / Bop / Saxophone

I Remember Bird/A Tribute to Duke Ellington (originally released as Sonny Stitt With Strings) combines 14 tracks on one disc from Stitt's long-out-of-print Catalyst sessions from 1977. Saxophonist Sonny Stitt was a disciple of Charlie Parker, and throughout his career released several dates that portrayed that influence in a better light, especially 1963's Stitt Plays Bird. A Tribute to Duke Ellington is the stronger effort, with Stitt employing a string section. This format works especially well on "In a Sentimental Mood," "Take the 'A' Train," "Jeep's Blues," and "Cottontail." It's not surprising that Stitt maintained the same approach to strings as Charlie Parker did a decade prior – soaring above them rather than being held down by them. This two-fer should please both the collector and casual listener alike.

On Nov 24th, 1980, Dizzy Gillespie invited 5 jazz legends - Milt Jackson, James Moody, Hank Jones, Ray Brown & Philly Joe Jones - to join him onstage in Montreal to play tribute to the legendary Charlie Parker. A limited quantity bootleg LP of the concert soon appeared and then disappeared from the marketplace and the tapes lay dormant for over 30 years. The pristinely restored “Concert of the Century” is now available on audiophile 180 gram 2LP vinyl and CD via the Justin Time Essentials Collection.

Greatest all-round musical figure of the 20th century, who achieved monumental status as a composer, bandleader, arranger, and instrumentalist. 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.

Like 1999's tribute to Gram Parsons, Return of the Grievous Angel, this successful collection revives the tired "tribute" concept and applies it in homage to a key figure in country music. Interpreting songs from across Hank Williams's short and troubled career, a range of high-profile artists use different approaches with equally gratifying results. Tom Petty, Sheryl Crow, and Hank Williams III play familiar songs with traditional arrangements (Ms. Crow's yodel is an eye opener); Beck, Mark Knopfler, and Keb' Mo' stay closer to their own idioms. Keith Richards's reedy vocal makes "You Win Again" all his own, and Bob Dylan, who has only rarely lent his services to these sorts of projects, leads his touring band through a blues shuffle on "I Can't Get You Off of My Mind." The estimable Lost Highway label has assembled an illustrious cast to sing the praises of the artist who inspired its name, and in doing so it has created a far better testament to its musical mindset than can ever be captured in the term Americana.

Gary Numan is known for robotic, stylized singing. His primitive electronics and pre-"new romantic" sound did nothing for me. A myriad, zealous voices will tell you that Numan was sings "good songs." Now, in this 2-CD collection of Numan interpretations you can hear those good songs without Numan's idiosyncratic delivery. The known and the unknown join to make proto-dance music out of mechanical master's material. Matt Sharp (Weezer) and Damon Albarn (Blur) cover "We Have a Technical." Also on the compilation are Gravity Kills, EMF, The Magnetic Fields, Jesus Jones, the out-of-place hip hop group Underdog (but, there's only one of them), Sukia, The Orb, Pop Will Eat Itself. One of my favorite cuts is "Metal" by Towering Inferno. Brian Eno described their Kaddish album as "frightening" and they are here joined by Eddie Reader. I also am very fond of the two versions of "Are 'Friends' Electric?" Techno rockers Republicaare joined by Numan himself for one version and Belgian discovery An Pierle offers another.