Lady Clementine

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.

Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band, covering the years 1940-1942 in the great composer and bandleader's career, is essentially the third time that RCA has issued this material on CD. The first was a botched job, appalling even, with its flattened-out, compressed sound, along with a chopped version of "Take the A-Train" and other sonic and editorial errors. The second version was completely remastered and corrected the editorial problems, but featured no alternate takes from the band's performances. Beyond the original 66 tracks, nine additional cuts are featured here, including four brand-new master-take issues of "Another Pitter Patter," "Body and Soul," "Sophisticated Lady," and "Mr. J.B. Blues," as well as alternate takes of "Ko-Ko," "Bojangles," "Sepia Panorama," "Jumpin' Punkins," and "Jump for Joy"…

American expatriate Joe Dassin was one of France's most popular singers during the late '60s and '70s, initially building his name with stylized adaptations of folk and country material from his birthplace. As his career blossomed, Dassin turned increasingly to traditional-style chansons penned by some of the genre's best writers, scoring an all-time classic with his 1975 smash "L'Eté Indien." Notorious for his perfectionism, Dassin could play the introverted romantic, but his persona also played off of American archetypes and imagery.

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!