CD1
Selections from Peer Gynt Suites
1. Morning Mood
2. In The Hall Of The Mountain King
3. Solvejg’s Song
4. Ase’s Death
5. Anitra’s Dance
Suite Thursday
6. Misfit Blues
7. Schwiphti
8. Zweet Zurzday
9. Lay-By
At The Bal Masque
10. Alice Blue Gown
11. Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf?
12. Got A Date With An Angel
13. Poor Butterfly
14. Satan Takes A Holiday
15. The Peanut Vendor
16. Satin Doll
17. Lady In Red
18. Indian Love Call
19. The Donkey Serenade
20. Gypsy Love Song
21. Laugh, Clown, Laugh
Midnight In Paris
22. Under Paris Skies
23. I Wish You Love
CD2
Midnight In Paris
1. Mademoiselle de Paris
2. Comme Ci, Comme Ca
3. Speak to Me of Love
4. A Midnight In Paris
5. My Heart Sings
6. Guitar Amour
7. The Petite Waltz
8. Paris Blues
9. Javapachacha
10. No Regrets
11. The River Seine
The Count Meets The Duke First Time!
12. Battle Royal
13. To You
14. Take The ”A” Train
15. Until I Met You
16. Wild Man
17. Segue In C
18. BDB
19. Jumpin’ At The Woodside
Swingin’ Suites
Duke Ellington - Piano
Willie Cook, Eddie Mullins, Andres Meringuito - Trumpets
Ray Nance - Trumpet, violin
Lawrence Brown, “Booty” Wood, Britt Woodman, Juan Tizol, Matthew Gee - Trombones
Jimmy Hamilton - Clarinet, tenor sax
Russell Procope - Alto sax, clarinet
Johnny Hodges - Alto sax
Paul Gonsalves - Tenor sax
Harry Carney - Baritone sax, clarinet, bass clarinet
Aaron Bell - Bass
Sam Woodyard - Drums
At The Bal Masque
Duke Ellington - Piano
Clark Terry, Cat Anderson, Willie Cook, Harold "Shorty" Baker - Trumpets
Ray Nance - Trumpet, violin
Quentin Jackson, Britt Woodman, John Sanders - Trombones
Jimmy Hamilton - Clarinet, tenor sax
Russell Procope - Alto sax, clarinet
Johnny Hodges - Alto sax
Bill Graham - Alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax
Paul Gonsalves - Tenor sax
Harry Carney - Baritone sax, clarinet, bass clarinet
Jimmy Woode - Bass
Sam Woodyard - Drums
Midnight In Paris
Duke Ellington - Piano
Cat Anderson, Bill Berry, Harold "Shorty" Baker - Trumpets
Ray Nance - Trumpet, violin
Lawrence Brown, Chuck Connors, Lyle Cox - Trombones
Jimmy Hamilton - Clarinet
Russell Procope - Alto sax, clarinet
Johnny Hodges - Alto sax
Paul Gonsalves - Tenor sax
Harry Carney - Baritone sax, clarinet, bass clarinet
Aaron Bell - Bass
Sam Woodyard - Drums
The Count Meets The Duke First Time!
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
This is a strange mixture of Ducal recordings on a double CD from the Avid label.
Having reinterpreted Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite to mixed reviews, Ellington and Strayhorn had a go at five items from Grieg’s Peer Gynt in 1960. The liveliest track is In the Hall of the Mountain King, which starts mysteriously but soon peps up into a brisk
tempo, with some gorgeous sounds from the finest sax section on earth. The Duke plays a spirited piano solo and ends the track with some mischievous extra
notes. Solvejg’s Song is delivered by an impressive trombone, and an unaccompanied clarinet (probably from Jimmy Hamilton) wafts in the air. Ase’s Death is a gloomy funeral march, and Anitra’s Dance dances all the way to its end.
Suite Thursday
is a four-piece Ducal reflection on the world of John Steinbeck’s novel 1954 Sweet Thursday. Misfit Blues starts off in classical mode
but develops into an easygoing blues, while Schwiphti is a rather fragmentary up-tempo number before Paul Gonsalves lets loose with a swirling
solo. Lay-By is an attractive, bouncy piece which has been taken up by taken up by such artists as Stan Tracey. Ray Nance is featured for most of
the way on his distinctive violin, pizzicato as well as arco.
I reviewed
At the Bal Masque in 2011. I think “Masque” should have an acute accent on the E, but what do I know?
Midnight in Paris
tries to capture the Parisian atmosphere by means of performing Paris-themed tunes. Three of them are by Ellington/Strayhorn but the rest are such familiar
songs as Comme Ci, Comme Ca and No Regrets. The album might have been inspired by Ellington’s stay in Paris recording the music for the
film Paris Blues. The critic Scott Yanow called the album “Pretty music but far from essential”, but I find that it grows on you with repeated
listenings and contains several memorable touches as well as some fine solos.
Ray Nance’s trumpet savours I Wish You Love. Sam Woodyard’s hand-struck tom-toms add a Latin-American slant to Speak to Me of Love which
includes some neat clarinet obbligato from Jimmy Hamilton (mis-spelt “Jimmie” in the sleeve-note). The title-track is an attractive, hummable piece
composed by Billy Strayhorn. In Guitar Amour, the drums go rat-a-tat while Ray Nance’s violin performs a typically lyrical solo. The Petite Waltz has an intriguing section where the brass states a phrase and the saxes riposte with another phrase that sounds out-of-tune! The
theme of No Regrets is stated with emotion by Lawrence Brown, against some effective punctuating chords. Duke adds a brief piano postscript. And a
sanguine Johnny Hodges brings to a close this pleasant visit to Paris.
I reviewed
The Count Meets the Duke in 2012. It is a pity that the Avid version doesn’t give the track Until I Met You its more familiar title: Corner Pocket.
Tony Augarde
www.augardebooks.co.uk
CD Reviews
Avid AMSC 1158
