Three Ellington Reissues From 2004

Duke Ellington’s career spanned most of the history of jazz in the previous century. He was the bridge between contrapuntal New Orleans jazz and more modern large ensemble jazz, and though he never was faddish, his compositions touched, at various times, on bebop, symphonic jazz, hard bop, gospel, cool jazz, and even some of the more avant-garde experiments of the late 1960s. He managed to keep his large band on the road and on record throughout the 50s, 60s, and until his death in 1974, utilizing some of his own funding to do so. No other artist save for Louis Armstrong has had as long a career or remained as influential for so long.

During that lengthy career, it was inevitable that Ellington work for a number of record labels, and even with industry consolidation, there are many different owners of pieces of the Ellington puzzle. RCA chose to use Ellington’s 100th birthday in 1999 to release the incredible 24-disc (and its 3-disc essential version) Centennial Collection. That collection included all of the maestro’s work for RCA, including the work of the legendary Blanton-Webster band. Columbia, now part of Sony Music, did release some items that year, but still had a lot of prime Ellington sitting in their vaults gathering dust.

Early 2004 saw the release of Festival Sessions, Ellington Masterpieces, and Ellington Uptown. There is no question that all of these albums are important pieces of Duke’s musical development at the time they were recorded, and all deserve the remastering they get here.

Masterpieces by Ellington was originally recorded in December of 1950. The original vinyl release was designed to take advantage of the advent of the LP, which allowed for longer compositions than the previous 78 rpm format. Ellington had already bumped up against the time constraint of the 78 rpm format, recording suites that took both sides of a recording or sometimes more than one record. Even so, the listener could not hear the pieces uninterrupted since he or she would have to flip the disc or change records.

The LP changed that, and on this recording several Ellington, well, masterpieces, are given sweeping new concert arrangements that reveal not only the beauty and durability of the original compositions, but also the incredible talent available to Ellington in his band and the great subtlety of which that band was capable. The original recording consisted of four tracks—“Mood Indigo,” “Sophisticated Lady,” “The Tattooed Bride,” and “Solitude.” These already gorgeous compositions were given more modern treatments which emphasized their harmonic complexity. Two of the pieces—“Mood Indigo” and “Sophisticated Lady” feature the vocalizations of Yvonne Lanauze. “The Tattooed Bride” was a bold, relatively new Ellington composition, debuted in 1948 at, Carnegie Hall.

Altogether they provide a program of music that takes everything Ellington had done up until that time—the sophisticated ‘jungle music’ of his Cotton Club years, the bluesy jazz of the Blanton-Webster years, the ambition of his concert hall suites and the beauty of the simple popular song form—and rolls it into one giant, American statement.

In addition, this recording marked the end of the road for three longstanding Ellington band members: altoist Johnny Hodges and trombonist Lawrence Brown (both of whom later returned to the Ellington ensemble) and drummer Sonny Greer. No doubt there were those who doubted that Duke would be able to recover from the loss of such talent, particularly Hodges, whose sound had become an identifying element within the band. Not that Ellington’s band was lacking for talent, even without these three. The band on Masterpieces includes Cat Anderson, Ray Nance, Quentin Jackson, Mercer Ellington, Russell Procope, Jimmy Hamilton, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney, and Wendell Marsh.

All of these musicians acquit themselves well, of course. Procope turns in some of his remarkable clarinet work on “Mood Indigo” and Carney’s trademark baritone sax sound can be heard on ensemble passages of that same piece. It’s interesting to hear the clarinet figure so prominently on “Mood Indigo” in light of Barney Bigard’s claim, in 1976, that he wrote the major portion of the piece. Certainly the clarinet has the right balance of brightness and smoky sultriness to lend the composition its lush, late-night quality.

Harold “Shorty” Baker and Lawrence Brown are heard to great effect on “Sophisticated Lady,” as is Harry Carney’s exquisite bass clarinet.

“The Tattooed Bride,” with its enigmatic title, is a vehicle for Jimmy Hamilton, though it also features Cat Anderson, Brown, Baker, Procope, and Carney. It’s the most aggressive and swinging number on the album, though it does have its quieter moments as well. Ellington was likely going to continue to write longer and more intricate pieces of music regardless of the technology available for recording them, and “The Tattooed Bride” provides ample evidence of this. “Solitude” receives a gorgeous eight-plus minute reading as well, with the solo spotlight falling on Carney, Brown, Nance, Hamilton, Jackson, Gonsalves, and Ellington himself. Written in 1934, the work here receives a definitive statement, with some of its bluesier qualities emphasized by many of the soloists.

Rounding out this reissue are three tunes recorded after the original LP was recorded. “Vagabonds” and “Smada” were recorded in December of 1951. “Vagabonds” was a Juan Tizol composition arranged by Ellington. Tizol had returned to the Ellington band following the departures of the previous year, and brought with him altoist Willie Smith and drummer Louis Bellson from the Harry James Band in what came to be known as the Great James Robbery. The final tune here, “Rock Skippin’ at the Blue Note” was penned by Billy Strayhorn before a gig at Chicago’s Blue Note after he and drummer Bellson had spent the afternoon walking along the shore of Lake Michigan.

Ellington Uptown features the fruits of that plundering of the Harry James band, with Tizol and Bellson playing major roles, though Hilton Jefferson was the new lead alto player by then. Like Masterpieces, Uptown features a number of well-known numbers from the Ellington book, some re-arranged as lengthy concert arrangements, as well as the recently-minted “Tone Parallel to Harlem (Harlem Suite).”

The opening track, Louis Bellson’s “Skin Deep” is hard-edged, swinging, and totally modern, laced with the peppery firepower of Bellson’s two-bass drum kit, an innovation not seen in again in popular music until the advent of rock.

From there the group launches into a hot rearrangement of “The Mooche” which features both Jimmy Hamilton and Russell Procope on clarinet. The opening thematic statement is reminiscent of a clarinet trio, a device often heard to great effect on a variety of Jelly Roll Morton recordings, which was almost certainly the source of Ellington’s inspiration. Though Ellington considered Morton’s music to be dated and felt that he was the more modern arranger, even during his Cotton Club days, there can be little doubt that Morton, as the chief composer and arranger of the New Orleans style of jazz, was influential on Ellington, though it always remained a debt Ellington was unwilling to acknowledge. Hilton Jefferson is also heard here, and though his bright sound is not a match for the dusky romanticism of Johnny Hodges, he is an able and effective addition to the band.

It would seem that no Ellington number has been recorded more often—even by himself—than the signature tune “Take the ‘A’ Train.” It has generally been accepted that the piano work here (a nearly two minute intro) is played by Billy Strayhorn, though that has been contested by Clark Terry and others who were at the sessions. We will likely never know for certain, as the two pianists use to sometimes trade places during the same track, but it hardly matters—both pianists were excellent and both played in the service of the tune rather than for personal glorification. Vocalist Betty Roche enters quickly, singing lyrics loosely based on the original Strayhorn lyrics, but heavily infected with scatting (including some Louis Jordan-style call-and-response with the band). Following her statement, the piece goes into a half-tempo section that features a dreamy Paul Gonsalves solo perhaps meant to evoke a late night ‘A’ train ride to Harlem. That reverie is quickly snapped in the last two minutes of the piece, where Gonsalves continues his solo at breakneck pace, ending with a solo cadenza. The piano intro and Gonsalves’ solo work make this one of the best recordings of the piece. “A Tone Parallel To Harlem,” a concert hall work, and a reprise of returning bandmember Juan Tizol’s composition ‘Perdido’ rounded out the album’s original release.

The reissue features two additional Ellington suites that certainly fit the “Uptown” theme of this collection. “The Controversial Suite” demonstrates the beginnings and the most recent developments in jazz music at the time in its two movements, “Before My Time” and “Later.” “Before My Time” is Ellington’s tribute to the New Orleans style of jazz as well as another round in his attempts to prove himself a more serious composer and arranger than Jelly Roll Morton. Had Morton lived longer, it is quite possible that he would have been producing works for the concert hall much like Ellington, indeed some of his newly discovered late works point in this direction. Nonetheless the section is a beautiful tribute to the early jazz styles of New Orleans, and Ellington demonstrates his deep understanding of the tradition. “Later” is a full-tilt large ensemble blast of sometimes strident harmonies that evokes the experiments of Stan Kenton, among others.

The reissue of Ellington Uptown also contains the complete “Liberian Suite,” a piece that the orchestra debuted at Carnegie Hall in 1947. Consisting of one song, “I Like the Sunrise” (featuring vocalist Al Hibbler) and five “Dances” (which were choreographed in 1952 by Lester Horton) the piece utilizes modern arrangement techniques and harmonies and is Ellington’s first composition to follow the formal suite format. It’s a sumptuous piece of music heard here precisely as originally recorded for the first time since 1949.

Festival Session, recorded in 1959, acknowledges the growing importance of the summer festival season for jazz listeners and performers. Here Ellington attempts to capture the flavor of the band’s festival performances in the studio, even making announcements about the material or the soloists as though he were speaking to an audience. It’s a bit disconcerting, and the material isn’t quite as complex as the previous two recordings, but it does swing like mad. And Ellington had been reborn at a festival, the 1956 Newport Festival, to be precise, where tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves blew chorus after chorus on “Diminuendo & Crescendo in Blue.” So he was well aware of the type of program with which to create excitement in the festival environment.

The CD begins with yet another go at Juan Tizol’s “Perdido,” this time in a Basie-esque arrangement that features flugelhorn player Clark Terry, who had been poached by Ellington from Count Basie’s band. Indeed, the arrangement of “Perdido” heard here is structured very much like a Basie chart, pushed along by a fiercely swinging rhythm section punctuated by sharp but relatively simple horn section commentary. “Copout” is a Gonsalves feature, taking advantage of the tenor man’s fantastic creativity and ability to produce a sequence of solo choruses that brought an audience ever closer, ever farther along the road to sheer ecstasy until they were in frenzy.

“Duael Fuel,” presented in three parts, is a feature for the two-drum setup of Sam Woodyard (right channel) and Jimmy Johnson (left channel). The two drummers trade eights linked by unison figures played by the entire band in the first part, which is a dynamo of energy and excitement. The relatively brief Part Two features an out and out swinging band section, complimented by Duke’s Basie-style piano interjections. The Third Part belongs to the two drummers, and is a fantastic education for any drummer to hear. Duke and the band play the audience again, applauding and cheering at one point. It’s easy to envision how festival crowds might have responded to this rip-roaring number. But Ellington had not forgotten his more serious aspirations as a composer, as evidenced by “Idion ’59,” a three—art suite that offers many of the elements Ellington had made famous in the previous few years—gorgeous clarinet work, smoky after-hours horn voicings—but also never forgets to swing.

Mercer Ellington’s “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be,” like “Perdido” was a favorite of Elington audiences. Johnny Hodges’ signature alto sax work is filled with the blues, yet creates a majestic and elegant statement. Then there’s “Launching Pad,” a number that was written by Ellington and Clark Terry, yet is usually credited only to Ellington. Regardless, it’s a hip number that’s so cool it’s hot. The reissue adds on a couple of tracks as well. “V.I.P.’s Boogie” was originally part of a suite that Ellington wrote for a dance performance, and then retitled for release on 78-rpm recordings. “Jam With Sam” was used by Duke to introduce the soloing band members, using various humorous devices to appeal to the (in this case non-existent) audience. It’s not the strongest track on the CD, but it does provide a high-energy finale.

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