Vinyl Albums - Comments by JazzBrit

Vinyl Albums - Comments by JazzBrit

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
JazzBrit 10th May 2022		Vinyl Album Duke Ellington And His Famous Orchestra - Duke Ellington's Greatest (1953)	Review What wonderful arrangements and performances! I grew up with this LP – my father was a great Ellington fan, who had seen the Duke in concert in the US before I was born. (When I was a youngster, we saw the orchestra together twice at the Hammersmith Odeon in London in Ellington's last years). The versions of "Sophisticated Lady" and "In a Sentimental Mood" on this record are symphonic movements in perfect miniature, with the subjects, developments and transitions compressed into a couple of minutes, somehow containing an expansive sound but intense and exciting because they are so concise. (You could call them the perfect antidote to Bruckner!). Other highlights of these particular performances and arrangements include the controlled dissonance in "Caravan", the power and beat of "Black and Tan Fantasy", the propelling swing of "It Don't Mean a Thing" and the sweet vocal of "I let a Song go out of My Heart". Other performances of these pieces recorded by the Ellington orchestra are equally wonderful but very different. I love hearing his different arrangements and performances of a given composition - it's part of the joy of listening to Duke Ellington - but I keep coming back to this LP. (I stream its tracks now - my copy is pretty scratched). 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?