Back to Back
1. Wabash Blues
2. Basin Street Blues
3. Beale Street Blues
4. Weary Blues
5. St. Louis Blues
6. Loveless Love
7. Royal Garden Blues
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Harry Edison - Trumpet
Johnny Hodges – Alto sax
Duke Ellington – Piano
Leslie Spann – Guitar
Jo Jones – Drums
Sam Jones – Bass (tracks 2, 3, 5-7)
Al Hall - Bass (tracks 1, 4)
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Side by Side
8. Stompy Jones
9. Squeeze me
10. Going Up
11. Big Shoe
12. Just a Memory
Johnny Hodges – Alto sax
Jo Jones - Drums
Duke Ellington – Piano (tracks 1-3)
Harry Edison – Trumpet (tracks 1-3)
Al Hall – Bass (tracks 1-3)
Leslie Spann – Guitar, flute (tracks 1-3)
Ben Webster – Tenor sax (tracks 4-9)
Roy Eldridge – Trumpet (tracks 4-9)
Lawrence Brown – Trombone (tracks 4-9)
Wendell Marshall – Bass (tracks 4-9)
Billy Strayhorn – Piano (tracks 4-9)
The Count Meets the Duke First Time!
13. Jumpin’ at the Woodside
The Count Basie Orchestra
Count Basie - Piano
Thad Jones, Sonny Cohn, Snooky Young, Lonnie Johnson - Trumpets
Henry Coker, Quentin Jackson, Benny Powell - Trombones
Marshall Royal - Clarinet, alto sax
Frank Wess - Alto sax, tenor sax, flute
Frank Foster, Budd Johnson - Tenor saxes
Charlie Fowlkes - Baritone sax
Freddie Green - Guitar
Eddie Jones - Bass
Sonny Payne - Drums
The Duke Ellington Orchestra
Duke Ellington - Piano
Cat Anderson, Willie Cook, Fats Ford, Eddie Mullins - Trumpets
Ray Nance - Trumpet, violin
Louis Blackburn, Lawrence Brown, Juan Tizol - Trombones
Jimmy Hamilton - Clarinet, tenor sax
Russell Procope - Alto sax, clarinet
Paul Gonsalves - Tenor sax
Harry Carney - Baritone sax, clarinet, bass clarinet
Aaron Bell - Bass
Sam Woodyard - Drums
CD2
Side by Side
1. Let’s Fall in Love
2. Ruint
3. Bend One
4. You Need to Rock
Duke Ellington meets Coleman Hawkins
5. Limbo Jazz
6. Mood Indigo
7. Ray Charles’ Place
8. Wanderlust
9. You Dirty Dog
10. Self Portrait (Of the Bean)
11. The Jeep is Jumpin’
12. The Ricitic
Duke Ellington – Piano
Coleman Hawkins – Tenor sax
Ray Nance – Cornet, violin
Johnny Hodges – Alto sax
Harry Carney – Baritone sax, bass clarinet
Aaron Bell – Bass
Sam Woodyard – Drums
The Count Meets the Duke First Time!
13. Battle Royal
14. Take the “A “ Train
15. Wild Man
16. BDB
Personnel as for CD1, track 13
Two of Duke Ellington’s best albums were recorded without his whole orchestra. They were a couple of sessions taped in 1959 by a small group containing a
few Ellingtonians and some others. The LPs were entitled Back to Back and Side by Side, and they make up the best part of the first CD of
this double album. I don’t know what the vaunted “Phase Compensated Stereo” is, but I can’t hear any difference from the recordings I know.
The advantage of the small groups was that they left more room for solos – which are good to hear, especially as they are from some top jazzmen. The
atmosphere was like an informal jam session, and the recordings had a nice reverberant acoustic, giving the recordings depth and presence.
The personnel for Back to Back was essentially the same as for the first three tracks of Side by Side. There were only two Ellingtonians
(Ellington and Hodges). I was glad to hear guitarist/flautist Les Spann in the line-up, as he is a fine player and appeared on far too few recordings
before he died. Jo Jones’ echoing drums add bite to the proceedings. The repertoire includes three blues by W.C. Handy and the soloists seem relaxed and
eloquent, leaving plenty of space between the notes to create an airy atmosphere.
Side by Side
includes two compositions by the Duke: Stompy Jones, the well-known vehicle for leisurely improvisation, and the rare Going Up (also
known as Floor Show). It is good to hear these excellent musicians extemporizing buoyantly on such jazz standards as Fats Waller’s Squeeze Me and Harold Arlen’s Let’s Fall in Love. Best of all is Ben Webster and Johnny Hodges developing Just a Memory with
relaxed ease.
I reviewed
The Count Meets the Duke
in 2012 and have nothing to add to that review, except to stress my opinion that To You is the best track on the CD and, despite its flaws, this album
is indispensable for anyone’s collection. But the five tracks here are out-takes from the recordings. I can’t mention many noticeable alterations in these
versions, although the solos are obviously different. But it is clear why these were out-takes. For instance, the flute makes a fluff towards the end of Wild Man.
I also reviewed the Coleman Hawkins disc in 2014.
Tony Augarde
www.augardebooks.co.uk
CD Reviews
Avid AMSC 1157
