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Even back in the early '50s, Columbia Records took Duke Ellington seriously enough to place this album on its prestigious Masterworks label, heretofore reserved mostly for highbrow classical music and Broadway shows (later in the decade, though, it was retitled Hi-Fi Ellington Uptown and reissued on the pop series with an additional piece, "The Controversial Suite"). Also, this LP explodes the critical line that the early '50s was a relatively fallow period for the Duke; any of these smoking, concert-length tracks will torpedo that notion. The young Louie Bellson was powering the Ellington band at that time, and his revolutionary double-bass drum technique and rare ability to build coherent drum solos are put to astounding use on his self-penned leadoff track, "Skin Deep," which was quite a demonstration piece for audiophiles at the time. Old favorites from the Ellington hit parade are given extended treatments, with singer Betty Roche taking the A-train for a bebop-flavored ride, "The Mooche" spotlighting clarinetists Jimmy Hamilton and Russell Procope, and Ellington's boogie-woogie piano kicking off a super-charged "Perdido" for trumpeter Clark Terry. The centerpiece of the disc is a sharply drawn, idiomatically swinging, probably unbeatable performance of "A Tone Parallel to Harlem" that lays waste to any of the "symphonic" versions that turn up frequently at pop concerts. Another feature of this record is the great sound quality, a benefit of being entrusted to Columbia's best engineers.
© Richard S. Ginell /TiVo
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Duke Ellington, Associated Performer, Main Artist, Producer, Associated Performer, Producer - Louis Bellson, Composer, Drums, Lyricist - Mercer Ellington, Producer
Originally released 1952. All rights reserved by Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Duke Ellington, Associated Performer, Main Artist, Associated Performer - George Avakian, Producer - D. Ellington, Composer, Lyricist
Originally released 1952. All rights reserved by Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Duke Ellington, Associated Performer, Main Artist, Associated Performer - George Avakian, Producer - Betty Roche - Billy Strayhorn, Composer, Lyricist
Originally released 1952. All rights reserved by Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Duke Ellington & His Orchestra, Associated Performer, Main Artist, Associated Performer - George Avakian, Producer - Duke Ellington, Composer, Lyricist
Originally released 1952. All rights reserved by Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Duke Ellington, Associated Performer, Main Artist, Associated Performer - George Avakian, Producer - J. Tizol, Composer, Lyricist - E. Drake, Composer, Lyricist - H. Lenk, Composer, Lyricist
Originally released 1952. All rights reserved by Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Duke Ellington, Associated Performer, Main Artist, Associated Performer - George Avakian, Producer - D. Ellington, Composer, Lyricist
Originally Released 1956 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
Duke Ellington, Associated Performer, Main Artist, Associated Performer - George Avakian, Producer - D. Ellington, Composer, Lyricist
Originally Released 1956 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
Duke Ellington, Associated Performer, Main Artist, Associated Performer - George Avakian, Producer - D. Ellington, Composer, Lyricist
Originally Released 1948 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
Duke Ellington, Associated Performer, Main Artist, Associated Performer - George Avakian, Producer - D. Ellington, Composer, Lyricist
Originally Released 1948 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
Duke Ellington, Associated Performer, Main Artist, Associated Performer - George Avakian, Producer - D. Ellington, Composer, Lyricist
Originally Released 1948 Sony Music Entertainment
Duke Ellington, Associated Performer, Main Artist, Associated Performer - George Avakian, Producer - D. Ellington, Composer, Lyricist
Originally Released 1948 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
Duke Ellington, Associated Performer, Main Artist, Associated Performer - George Avakian, Producer - D. Ellington, Composer, Lyricist
Originally Released 1948 Sony Music Entertainment
Duke Ellington, Associated Performer, Main Artist, Associated Performer - George Avakian, Producer - D. Ellington, Composer, Lyricist
Originally Released 1948 Sony Music Entertainment
Album review
Even back in the early '50s, Columbia Records took Duke Ellington seriously enough to place this album on its prestigious Masterworks label, heretofore reserved mostly for highbrow classical music and Broadway shows (later in the decade, though, it was retitled Hi-Fi Ellington Uptown and reissued on the pop series with an additional piece, "The Controversial Suite"). Also, this LP explodes the critical line that the early '50s was a relatively fallow period for the Duke; any of these smoking, concert-length tracks will torpedo that notion. The young Louie Bellson was powering the Ellington band at that time, and his revolutionary double-bass drum technique and rare ability to build coherent drum solos are put to astounding use on his self-penned leadoff track, "Skin Deep," which was quite a demonstration piece for audiophiles at the time. Old favorites from the Ellington hit parade are given extended treatments, with singer Betty Roche taking the A-train for a bebop-flavored ride, "The Mooche" spotlighting clarinetists Jimmy Hamilton and Russell Procope, and Ellington's boogie-woogie piano kicking off a super-charged "Perdido" for trumpeter Clark Terry. The centerpiece of the disc is a sharply drawn, idiomatically swinging, probably unbeatable performance of "A Tone Parallel to Harlem" that lays waste to any of the "symphonic" versions that turn up frequently at pop concerts. Another feature of this record is the great sound quality, a benefit of being entrusted to Columbia's best engineers.
© Richard S. Ginell /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 13 track(s)
- Total length: 01:18:36
- Main artists: Duke Ellington
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Columbia - Legacy
- Genre: Jazz
Originally Released 1948, 1951, 1956 (P) 2004 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
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