{"title":"Artist: Duke Ellington \u0026 His Orchestra","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"ellington-uptown-duke-ellington-and-his-orchestra-lp","title":"Ellington Uptown [Import]","description":"\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003eKEY FEATURES\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cb\u003e1xLP pressed on 180-Gram Audiophile Black Vinyl\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cb\u003eHoused in a standard sleeve\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003eRELEASE DESCRIPTION\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEven back in the early '50s, Columbia Records took Duke Ellington seriously enough to place this album on its prestigious Masterworks label, heretofore reserved mostly for highbrow classical music and Broadway shows. Also, this LP explodes the critical line that the early '50s was a relatively fallow period for the Duke; any of these smoking, concert-length tracks will torpedo that notion. The young Louis Bellson was powering the Ellington band at that time, and his revolutionary double-bass drum technique and rare ability to build coherent drum solos are put to astounding use on his self-penned leadoff track, \"Skin Deep,\" which was quite a demonstration piece for audiophiles at the time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOld favorites from the Ellington hit parade are given extended treatments, with singer Betty Roche taking the A-train for a bebop-flavored ride, \"The Mooche\" spotlighting clarinetists Jimmy Hamilton and Russell Procope, and Ellington's boogie-woogie piano kicking off a super-charged \"Perdido\" for trumpeter Clark Terry. The centerpiece of the disc is a sharply drawn, idiomatically swinging, probably unbeatable performance of \"A Tone Parallel to Harlem\" that lays waste to any of the \"symphonic\" versions that turn up frequently at pop concerts. Another feature of this record is the great sound quality, a benefit of being entrusted to Columbia's best engineers. Richard S. Ginell\/\u003cspan class=\"caps\"\u003eAMG\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTRACKLIST \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSkin Deep\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Mooche\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTake The A\" Train\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003eLISTEN\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAvailable on Desktop \u0026amp; Mobile\u003c\/em\u003e \u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" height=\"352\" width=\"100%\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/2VguLEdmtyFVixLWekdX73?utm_source=generator\" style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Duke Ellington \u0026 His Orchestra","offers":[{"title":"LP \/ Black","offer_id":43186539102399,"sku":"PPAN-ML4639-BK","price":39.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0620\/6947\/3471\/files\/tmp_2F1563904325661-sm8naiamn2f-ab480f759944c249e4007051040d328f_2F51EYZETDVCL.jpg?v=1713909511"},{"product_id":"masterpieces-duke-ellington-and-his-orchestra-lp","title":"Masterpieces [Import]","description":"\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003eKEY FEATURES\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cb\u003eMono recording\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cb\u003e1xLP pressed on 180-Gram Audiophile Black Vinyl\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cb\u003eHoused in a gatefold sleeve\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cb\u003eRecorded December 19th, 1950\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003eRELEASE DESCRIPTION\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Ellington went into the studio in 1950 to record the longer tracks on this LP, his orchestra was a bridge between its late-1940s configuration (the 5-man trumpet section) and its mid-1950s personnel. The sax section had settled into the form it would have for most of the ensuing two decades (old-timers Hodges and Carney and newcomers Procope, Hamilton, and Gonsalves); the trombone section had long-timer Lawrence Brown as well as Tyree Glenn and newcomer Quentin Jackson; and the drummer was still Sonny Greer, who had anchored the rhythm section since the beginning. Greer would retire at the end of the year, Hodges would defect for two years, Brown and Glenn would leave; Louis Bellson and Cat Anderson would join up and Ellington would begin to re-form. Ellington's orchestra from 1953 on would be a great, swinging, and sensitive one, but it would not make the same lush sound that this one did.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe arrangements and orchestrations all bear the hallmarks of Ellington's collaboration with Billy Strayhorn in the late 1940s: they are lush, symphonic, impressionistic, and densely (and adventurously) harmonic. \"Mood Indigo\", in particular, is a 15-minute tone-poem with shifting colors and key relationships as Ellington and Strayhorn bring the melody through a wide variety of guises, from Glenn's wah-wah trombone solo to Shorty Baker's lyrical waltz to orchestral and piano passages which do homage to the influence which Ravel and Stravinsky had on both of them. Great solos abound here and on the other tracks, most notably from Hodges, Brown, Hamilton, Gonsalves, Carney, trumpeters Baker and Ray Nance, and (most probably) Billy Strayhorn on piano, especially in \"Mood Indigo\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"The Tattooed Bride\" is the only new piece from the original \"Masterpieces by Ellington\" LP, and it is a beauty. The others of the original tracks - \"Sophistocated Lady\" and \"Solitude\" - are not laid out as inventively in their harmonics or structure. Of the group, \"Solitude\" is perhaps the weakest, but this is a relative term. Ellington would go on to pen many more extended, symphonic works, but none would have quite the multicolored, impressionistic tone-pallate that these do. And Strayhorn's presence would not be as pronounced in those future works as it is here: the orchestration and harmonies in particular bear his mark. These are masterpieces indeed: great works of art by two of our greatest composers\/orchestrators, and played by one of the greatest orchestras in Afro-American music. Andrew R. Weiss\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTRACKLIST \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMood Indigo\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSophisticated Lady\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Tattooed Bride\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSolitude\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003eLISTEN\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAvailable on Desktop \u0026amp; Mobile\u003c\/em\u003e \u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" height=\"352\" width=\"100%\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/4knin4mUVXdOknjQ3DtVvt?utm_source=generator\" style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Duke Ellington \u0026 His Orchestra","offers":[{"title":"LP \/ Black","offer_id":43186540183743,"sku":"PPAN-ML4418-BK","price":39.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0620\/6947\/3471\/files\/tmp_2F1563904037418-wp9ew8dihr-0cee9f7a716c2cfb24a504298ec0d951_2F886976979126.jpg?v=1713909516"},{"product_id":"nutcracker-suite-duke-ellington-and-his-orchestra-lp","title":"Nutcracker Suite [Import]","description":"\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003eKEY FEATURES\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cb\u003e1xLP pressed on 180-Gram Audiophile Black Vinyl\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cb\u003eHoused in a standard sleeve\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003eRELEASE DESCRIPTION\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1960, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn arranged their own virtuosic adaptation of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's \"The Nutcracker Suite\" for the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Featuring nine cleverly arranged movements (boasting equally smart titles like \"Toot Toot Tootie Toot\" and \"Sugar Rum Cherry\"), it's the quintessential Ellington blend of wit and sophistication.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt's amazing how swinging and sexy the Nutcracker Suite can sound.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStop a second and put on your thinking cap. Duke Ellington plays Tchaikovsky. I play this at my Christmas party every year and you should see my guests groove out to this. It's amazing how swinging and sexy the Nutcracker Suite can sound. \"Sugar Rum Cherry\" (Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy) sounds like strip tease music. I was down to my boxer shorts before my mother walked into the living room. In fact, I play this long after the holidays have passed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA Real Gem! Johnny Zhivago\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTRACKLIST \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOverture\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eToot Toot Tootie Toot (Dance Of The Reed-Pipes)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePeanut Brittle Brigade (March)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSugar Rum Cherry (Dance of The Sugar-Plum Fairy)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEntr’acte\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Volga Vouty (Russian Dance)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChinoiserie (Chinese Dance)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDanse Of The Floreadores (Waltz Of The Flowers)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eArabesque Cookies (Arabian Dance)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003eLISTEN\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAvailable on Desktop \u0026amp; Mobile\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Duke Ellington \u0026 His Orchestra","offers":[{"title":"LP \/ Black","offer_id":43186540249279,"sku":"PPAN CS8341-BK","price":39.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0620\/6947\/3471\/files\/tmp_2F1500061839965-3o0habjehqc-a57bd21ba62f8cb2f50ed46774323e96_2F61HjP3twQgL.jpg?v=1713909522"}],"url":"https:\/\/helixsounds.com\/collections\/artist-duke-ellington-his-orchestra.oembed","provider":"Helix Sounds","version":"1.0","type":"link"}