"We love you madly"

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

on the week round up i mentioned a Proper Box Set: Duke Ellington Masterpieces 1926 1949

here is some info about it

i entirely agree with the introductory paragraph about the sheer genius of this music ... the link is to an USA site but you can find it on the amazon uk as cd or dld ..

along with the 3 CD set of The Blanton Webster Band utterly indispensable jazz

had the Masterpeices on non-stop [well ish] for two days now can't stop listening and being knocked over by the arrangements and playing ...

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

Reminiscing in Tempo Part 1,2 3, & 4 are sheer genius; the quality of invention, of creating that sound for the first time

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

I picked up Blanton/Webster 4Cd box set (Discovery) and was knocked out how "modern" Blanton sounds. Lifts the entire band. Where Paul Chambers came from? This and Oscar Pettiford.

BN.

[Space Hilbert]

I have this set. The quality and consistency obviously go without saying. In one of those bizarre synchronicities I dug it out only recently to listen to while I finally got around to reading the copy of the Complete Sherlock Holmes stories my girlfriend lent me. The elegance of Ellington's compositions set off the elegance of Doyle's prose marvellously.

[muzzer]

Ellington is crying out to be discovered by "the younger generation" imho. The Complete Indigos album is one of my faves ever. I know Ellington purists maybe favour the earlier recordings but I think the later "greatest hits" style albums are just as good. And of course he was innovating to the end with the Sacred Concerts - whether one likes them or not. Harvey Cohen's book from a couple of years ago really put his story into context.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

Ellington is crying out to be discovered by "the younger generation" imho. The Complete Indigos album is one of my faves ever. I know Ellington purists maybe favour the earlier recordings but I think the later "greatest hits" style albums are just as good. And of course he was innovating to the end with the Sacred Concerts - whether one likes them or not. Harvey Cohen's book from a couple of years ago really put his story into context.

[clive heath]

.......and you can sample 5 CDs worth of Duke's amazing output for free!!! including some of the Blanton-Webster band on

http://www.cliveheathmusic.co.uk/transcriptions_11.php

[Nick Armstrong]

I have this set. The quality and consistency obviously go without saying. In one of those bizarre synchronicities I dug it out only recently to listen to while I finally got around to reading the copy of the Complete Sherlock Holmes stories my girlfriend lent me. The elegance of Ellington's compositions set off the elegance of Doyle's prose marvellously.

I like the way you think, SH (and it looks as though a Welcome! to the Forum is in order too) - bizarre synchonicities are the stuff of life (Delphi and RVW's 5th; Mahler and kebabs... Don't ask!)...

The Ellington - Conan Doyle conjunction is intriguing. One might have expected the Duke to hit it off better with the Lord (Peter Wimsey). I might have to try your cocktail these coming holidays, using my own 'Complete Sherlock Holmes' and some Ellington....

... of whom I too am a massive fan.

I think my favourite album of all (partly for historical reasons, involving my old Citroen DS23 and a trip to France) is "Ellington '56"

http://www.discogs.com/Duke-Ellingto...elease/4513378

[Serial_Apologist]

Question: what's the best way to listen to the music?
Answer: on a duke box.

[Tenor Freak]

Question: what's the best way to listen to the music?
Answer: on a duke box.

I've been listening to the Blanton/Webster band on Spotify...that is all.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

here is the challenge: listen to the Proper Box Set Duke Ellington Masterpieces 1926 1949 and

a] do not fall off your chair or weep at the magnificence of the creation several times
b] fail to recall several 'serious' composers whose reputation seems pretty overblown in comparison
c] remain unsurprised by the virtuosity of the soloists as it becomes more staggering over the years
d] refrain from playing it again the next day just to make sure of what you think you heard

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

here is the challenge: listen to the Proper Box Set Duke Ellington Masterpieces 1926 1949 and

a] do not fall off your chair or weep at the magnificence of the creation several times
b] fail to recall several 'serious' composers whose reputation seems pretty overblown in comparison
c] remain unsurprised by the virtuosity of the soloists as it becomes more staggering over the years
d] refrain from playing it again the next day just to make sure of what you think you heard

"Poor Bubber" on disc 4 of my Discovery box set is a gem. On repeat after repeat. Ellington small group...Duke, Blanton, Webster etc under Rex Stewart's name.

BN.

Listening to all this you can really see where Mingus came from and that's taking nothing away from him.

[Ian Thumwood]

I will make a bold statement about Ellington. The more I listen to his music, the more I feel that his influence over other musicians who fell under his spell is essential to defining the jazz vernacular. Whilst there are obviously exceptions, without Duke I think it would have been impossible to have had musicians as diverse as Mary Lou Williams, Monk, Mingus, Wynton, Andrew Hill, Stan Tracey, Herbie Nichols, John Carter or even William Parker. I feel his reach has been immense and the closer jazz composers seem to adhere to Ellington's model, the more "authentic" they seem as composers. Ellington is the most important influence on composition outside of Europe and I feel that he also had something to offer European composer's too. Debussy, Ravel and Messaien might be cited as influences too yet the ideas Ellington created seems to have an extremely powerful grip over how each new generation tackles jazz.

The wierd thing with Ellington is that you think you understand his music yet the voicings and way different instruments pick up the often perculiar intervals is often different from what you thought it might have been.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

absolutely agree Ian

[elmo]

I agree too, have been listening a lot to the 1940-1942 classics including the Fargo concert
This is really inspired stuff I can't think of any large jazz group that was able to combine complex arrangements with inspired solo's that had an organic quality such that solo and orchestration were equally inspired. there is nothing quite like it.
I think this music sounds even better now than when I first heard it 40 years ago, this music is light years away from that stuff I encountered (briefly) tonight by the BBC big band.
elmo