1. Sultry Serenade
2. Hy’a Sue
3. Golden Cress
4. Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
5. Progressive Gavotte
6. Love You Madly
7. Build That Railroad (Sing That Song)
8. Fancy Dan
9. VIP’s Boogie
10. Monologue (Pretty & the Wolf)
11. Jam with Sam
12. Deep Night
13. Please be Kind
14. Smada
15. Take the ‘A’ Train
16. Rock–Skippin’ at the Blue Note
17. Satin Doll
18. Skin Deep
This was one of my favourite
periods of the Ellington Band. The Duke was
at the height of his creative talent and the
band was packed full of great soloists. The
band had also acquired a great overall feel
and the fact that in the late forties many
big bands were being disbanded, meant that
it was easier for the Duke to find more than
adequate replacements when anyone left. Ballad
singing had become the popular music and smaller
groups, first with R & B and then Rock
and Roll, took over the ballrooms. It is said
that it was only the money which came in from
the royalties from his compositions which
enabled the Duke to keep his band together,
and it was not until the Newport Jazz Festival
of 1956 that the band again became an icon
in the music business.
The Duke was always his own
man; he never followed fads, but at the same
time he was always ahead of the game as far
as big bands were concerned. During the period
this CD covers, the band saw very many changes,
but every departing musician was replaced
with a soloist of even greater quality than
his predecessor. Many of the tracks on this
record are Ellington compositions, with four
from Billy Strayhorn and the superb ‘Skin
Deep’ from Louie Bellson.
The first three tracks all
feature trombone players: Tyree Glenn on the
first two. He demonstrates his flexibility
with two fine solos, the second in the style
of the late Tricky Sam Nanton, who had by
this time passed on. The big warm sound of
Lawrence Brown is heard on track 3. ‘Don’t
Get Around Much Anymore’ has features for
Hodges, Carney and Nance as well as a fine
vocal from Al Hibbler.
Strayhorn’s ‘Progressive
Gavotte’ has features for Jimmy Hamilton,
Carney, ‘Shorty’ Baker and Hodges, and it
shows the musical influence of the time. It
is a source of great pleasure to me that the
Duke did not rearrange his earlier works,
but kept them in their original form for us
to enjoy again. ‘Love You Madly’ became a
feature of many latter-day concerts from the
orchestra. This first version features the
unknown but very competent Yvonne Lanause
on vocals. ‘Build That Railroad’ is a feature
for Al Hibbler’s vocal talents.
In early 1956 the Ellington
Band had a crisis when Johnny Hodges, Lawrence
Brown and Sonny Greer all left the band at
the same time. Fortunately the Harry James
Band were going through a thin time and the
Duke was able to recruit Willie Smith, spectacular
drummer Louie Bellson and secure the return
of Juan Tizol on trombone. The next seven
tracks feature these new recruits along with
brilliant trombonist Britt Woodman. Later
the band was strengthened again by the addition
of trumpet superstar Clark Terry, who has
been in the major league of trumpet and flugel
players ever since. ‘Monologue’ is a whimsical
tale excellently narrated by the Duke himself:
it could have been recorded yesterday! ‘Skin
Deep’ is very nearly unequalled as a drum
solo, which again has stood the test of time.
This is a really fine release,
the quality of the sound is excellent and
as usual Scott Yanow provides an interesting
and very informative sleeve note. I recommend
it without reservation.
Don Mather
CD Reviews
Naxos Jazz Legends
8.120814
