Ellington appreciation thread (inspired by 'Diminuendo in Blue')

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dB Cooper

Listening to the legendary Paul Gonsalves 26-chorus sax solo in 'Diminuendo in Blue' from 'Newport '58'. So I thought I'd start a thread for people to share their favorite Ellington tunes and/or stories. There's a saying in the classical world, 'Haydn did it first'. In jazz, you'd probably say the same about Duke. Amazing musician. A giant.

I also particularly like his collaboration album with Coltrane. But theres so much Elington... What are your favorites?

S Clark

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"Money Jungle" w/ Max Roach and Charlie Mingus with Fleurette Africaine being my favorite cut.   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGowJd-eJOM

dB Cooper

Apparently Mingus was pissed off at what he saw as being relegated to 'sideman' status (as opposed to 'collaborator') on the date and did everything he could to make life difficult for Ellington musically. There was originally a second studio session planned but supposedly Ellington said 'F*** that.'

md92468

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There are only a handful of albums I make sure I listen to beginning to end every few months...Ellington Indigos is one of them. Gets better every time...

dB Cooper

I wanna check that one out

andy_c

I wanna check that one out

It's a great one.  Very nice sound quality too.  Columbia had some kind of reverb chamber back then I think, and the effect is really pleasant.

LesterSleepsIn

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So many great Duke recordings to choose from. I’m also a fan of Money Jungle but my desert island pick would be This One’s for Blanton, a very stripped down Duke recording, sort of a Duke Unplugged. I still play the original Pablo vinyl but I’ve heard that the remastered cd is very nice, sq wise.

The Blanton-Webster band is also a favorite.


Duke Ellington Ray Brown Jimmy Blanton 



The Blanton-Webster Band




dB Cooper

I gotta check out the Ellington/Brown. Been getting into a lot of bass duet records (Charlie Haden did quite a few.) I was trying to check it out before buying but neither Apple nor Tidal has it. Probably a 'can't miss' given the players though.

I was introduced to Duke via




dB Cooper

There are only a handful of albums I make sure I listen to beginning to end every few months...Ellington Indigos is one of them. Gets better every time...

I looked this one up on Wikipedia and it has an interesting history. The mono and stereo vinyl releases had the same song list but some of the tracks were from different takes. The CD (CK4444) had a revised track order, two tracks which were not on the vinyl, and one of the vinyl tracks was omitted. Which version do you have? Just curious.