Disc 1 - London
Take the "A" Train
Duke Ellington: Introduction
Perdido
Caravan
Isfahan
The Opener
Harlem
Take the "A" Train
Mood Indigo
C Jam Blues
Don't Get Around Much Anymore
Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue
Single Petal of a Rose
Kinda Dukish & Rockin' in Rhythm
The Duke Ellington Orchestra
Recorded Feb 20, 1964 and Jan 22, 1963 in
London
Disc 2 - New York
Take the "A" Train
Satin Doll
Caravan
Skillipoop
Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall
Blues Medley: Happy-Go-Lucky Local / John
Sanders' Blues / C Jam Blues
Carolina Shout
Tonk
Things Ain't What They Used To Be
Melancholia / Reflections in D
Little African Flower
Bird of Paradise
Single Petal of a Rose
Duke Ellington (piano): Peck Morrison (bass)
Sam Woodyard (drums)
Willie "The Lion" Smith (piano on Carolina
Shout), Billy Strayhorn (piano on Things Ain't
What They Used To Be and Melancholia / Reflections
in D)
rec. 20 May 1964 at the Wollman Auditorium,
Columbia University, New York
From the brief few words
welcoming the Ellington band to London in
February 1964 – spoken unmistakably by Steve
Race – we are in for an exciting aural ride.
We are also, so far as I’m aware, in for an
audio representation of the Jazz 625 filmed-for-broadcast
concert that Ellington gave for the BBC, though
this is not mentioned in the booklet. A number
of these TV programmes were shown again many
years ago and then once again, more recently,
this time mucked about with the original presenters
excised and trendy new ‘talking heads’ parachuted
in; as the originals were in black and white
and the new presenters in colour it looked
spectacularly foolish. Since then DVD reissues
have followed though I can’t confirm whether
the original versions were used or the silly
modish ‘replacements’. In any case you can
supplement your audio experience with the
visual experience of seeing the band as well
as hearing them in other formats. The second
London concert in this double CD set was recorded
the previous year and not for Jazz 625.
The band was in especially
fine form for the 625 session – once past
Duke’s regular corny welcoming lines (‘We
love you madly’ and ‘…you’re so hip…we don’t
dare!’ for those unfamiliar with Ducal style).
There are some blazing trumpets in Perdido
in a strong arrangement and Cootie Williams
glowers and lowers in Caravan. Hodges
comes on like double cream in Isfahan,
a beautiful performance and Duke’s descriptive
verbal introduction to Harlem is well
worth a listen in itself, let alone the shifting
patterns of this tone parallel. Let’s be charitable
and pass over, yet again, Ellington’s bizarre
taste in vocalists – Ernie Shepard murders
Take the "A" Train unforgivably.
The second London concert features the same
band members and also Ray Nance’s violin as
well. Jimmy Hamilton excels on his clarinet
solo on C Jam Blues but another horrendous
vocalist, Milt Grayson, indulges his quasi-operatic
lungs in a losing battle with Don't Get
Around Much Anymore. Gonsalves sounds
gloriously unstale in his standby Diminuendo
and Crescendo in Blue.
The second disc is devoted
to a May 1964 concert at the Wollman Auditorium,
Columbia University, New York, given by Duke
and his trio – bassist Peck Morrison and Sam
Woodyard. Ellington laces established skills
and cheeky stride in Caravan. Skillipoop
is mainly Woodyard and Into Each Life Some
Rain Must Fall is a droll ‘poem’ and there’s
an excellent blues medley. Willie ‘The Lion’
Smith makes a valued appearance for Carolina
Shout and Billy Strayhorn for Tonk
and Things Ain't What They Used To Be.
Ellington gets more wistful it seems as
the concert develops and a succession of melancholically
tinged solos – introspective, impressionist,
affecting - ends the recital. Ellington always
denied being a pianist, always modestly claiming
only to be ‘a piano player’. Some piano player!
Documentation is full and
extensive and the sound is first class.
Jonathan Woolf
See
also review by Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
NIMBUS
NI 2704/05 [66:40 + 49:16]
