Classical Music

The eleventh double-CD in this special D.E.T.S. (Duke Ellington Treasury Series) program continues the reissue of all of Ellington.

Classical Music

Classical Music

A European tour with Miriam Makeba in 1970 had brought Parlan to Copenhagen, where four off-days gave him time to look around the city. He liked what he saw and two years later he settled down in Copenhagen. Horace Parlan enjoys playing solo piano – but haven’t had the chance to do it all that often. Parlan’s aim in making this CD was to give highly personal interpretations of compositions which he has cherished over the years but which have not been over-recorded. He says: "I am not a Tatum – I have to make the material fit my particular style and I spent quite a bit of time working on the arrangement. I wanted to do a reflective CD – no racehorse tempos, no pyrotechnics – and also make the harmonic structures as interesting as possible."

Classical Music

This box set includes a DVD and 7 CDs. Sidemen include Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Jack Teagarden, Coleman Hawkins, Earl Hines, and Barney Bigard.

Classical Music

The three sessions here were recorded in N.Y.C. in 1945 - 2 live sessions (Apollo Theatre and Zanzibar Club) plus one studio session (Radio City Music Hall). The 143 minutes (44 tunes) of music on this double-CD have never been released before. The repertoire is classic Ellington/Strayhorn material - including one Strayhorn medley and two suites ("Trio in Blue" and "Perfume Suite") - plus several tunes which were never recorded commercially. Recorded at the end of WWII, the purpose of these three programs - besides providing wonderful music - was to promote the sale of U.S. Treasury bonds to help the war effort. A major attribute of this double-CD is the inclusion of several tunes that Ellington never recorded commercially, like "Fickle Fling", "Hollywood Hangover" and "I'd Do It All Over Again". The great musicianship and enthusiasm of Ellington's orchestra includes countless fine solos - especially with Johnny Hodges and Rex Stewart - and features some great vocals by Al Hibbler, Kay Davis and Joya Sherrill.

The brief and dazzling life of MCM Records was a labor of love that captured many treasured live performances from the last flowering of the classic Chicago Blues age. With this 8 CD box set you get a front seat to shows in the vibrant blues clubs of Chicago in the 70's. These energetic and raw live recordings capture both to-be-legendary performers and others, and were recorded by french blues afficionado Marcelle Morgantini on reel-to-reel. When Morgantini came into some money on her 50th birthday, her only wish was to go to Chicago and record the blues. To that end, she made live recordings of many blues greats including Magic Slim, Big Mojo Elem, Jimmy Dawkins, John Littlejohn, Eddie Clearwater, Eddie Taylor, Bobby King, Jimmy Johnson, Luther Johnson and many more, remastered for this special box set.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Hear Wilson's trio with guest artists such as Dizzy Gillsepie, Coleman Hawkins, Kai Winding, and J.J. Johnson!

3 CDS 1 DVD.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Through the last years Danish bassist Thomas Fonnesbaek has evolved to one of the best and in demand bass playeres in the world playing and recording with other top artistssuch as Enrico Pieranunzi, Justin Kauflin, Lars Jansson, Sinne Eeg, Monty Alexander, Arron Parks and many others. Fonnesbaek has synesthesia (the ability to "see" music as colors in his mind). Combined with equillibristic skills on his instrument this make him a remarkable musician. There are no weaknesses in Thomas Fonnesbæk's playing. A strong melodic, harmonic and rhythmic sense makes him a complete musician. As a composer he is influenced by both the Scandinavian melancholy and the American jazz tradition. Thomas Fonnesbæk and Justin Kauflin are ready to follow up on the critically acclaimed album Synethesia from 2017. This time they are joined by Billy Williams on drums, making this a trio record. The result is 'Sharing,' and it is nothing short of extraordinary.

Heine Hansen’s piano is playful, even bubbling and almost singing, like an early bird in the first days of spring. On his long awaited debut album, Hansen unfolds his signature sound on eleven new compositions of his own. Until now, he was best known as a sideman – modest, but highly respected as an elegant accompanist. In all probability Denmark’s most ethereal, swinging jazz pianist. A signature is something so personal it can’t be replicated; Heine Hansen plays the piano with a unique sense for applying rhythm and melody. With Thomas Fonnesbæk on bass and Alex Riel on drums, a truly beautiful symbiosis of eloquent melodies and precise playfulness emerges like rays of sunshine finding their way through green leaves. Music critic Christan Munch-Hansen writes: “Grooves in shades of green. Fresh and light-hearted – yet with the melancholy of autumn and winter beneath the surface, encoded in the weave. Small bittersweet melodies and impressionistic touches. Brief references to jazz history as well as the tonality of Scandinavian and European music.” Heine Hansen is a talent in his own league: This spring, he was awarded the Ben Webster Award of 2016. Heine Hansen will be performing with Riel and Fonnesbæk during Copenhagen Jazz Festival 2016. Signature underscores Hansen’s merits and connects Scandinavian simplicity with graceful warmth.

Here are more precious wartime broadcasts that Duke made for the U.S. Treasury Department, these dating from October 13 and 20, 1945. You don't have to buy the war bonds, but you will treasure these: Take the 'A' Train; Autumn Serenade; I'll Buy That Dream; Mood Indigo; After All; C-Jam Blues; Perdido; Caravan; If I Loved You; Ko-Ko 51 tracks on 2 CDs!

LP Jacket.

Classical Music

Classical Music

The Duke Box 2 picks up the story of the great Duke Ellington band in the early 1950s and spans the next 20 years or so of his remarkable output. Spanning the years in which Ellington regularly toured Europe and Scandinavia, The Duke Box 2 offers a rich selection of performances illustrating a tirelessly inventive musical spirit on tour with changing personnel and occasional guest artists. CD3 features never before released live recordings from a 1963 concert in Gröna Lund, Stockholm—a veritable treasure for the committed Ellington fan. The box also includes the well-renowned Jaywalker (CD5) and Piano Player (CD4) albums whose music always deserve a re-visiting. Among other gems are late 1970s recordings from New York, some of the last music Ellington ever put out.

The bonus DVD combines a series of short films of the Ellington band in action and despite the sound being recorded first and the performances showing the band miming, this curiosum offers a fascinating glimpse of The Duke in action, and the audio is of course technically excellent.

REVIEW:

This box set of seven CDs, one DVD and an illustrated booklet celebrates the latter part of Duke Ellington's monumental career. It opens with the so-called "Silver Jubilee" 1952 coast-to-coast broadcasts from Birdland in New York City by NBC.

But the Birdland gig was no simple trip down memory lane. Ever anxious to be seen to be on the cutting edge, Ellington used it to demonstrate the ability of his orchestra to absorb the changes brought about by be-bop. The music suffers somewhat from NBC's desire to emphasize the cultural importance of the occasion, with celebrities in the audience called to the microphone by MC William B. Williams to attest. These include—most interestingly—British critic, pianist and composer Leonard Feather.

Things calm down on CD2 with a pretty typical 1958 concert in Munich featuring Ducal compositions new and old, plus the inevitable "greatest hits" medley.

On CD3 the band is caught on tape while playing a week-long booking at the Gröna Lund amusement park in Stockholm.

The remaining CDs are from the Ellington "stockpile," recordings of self-financed sessions from the Duke's own vaults. No.4 is of particular interest, concentrating as it does on Ellington's mostly unaccompanied piano playing.

CD5 was recorded—by the full orchestra—at the RCA studios in New York in 1966-67. It is memorable for two things: Cootie Williams' playing of "The Shepherd," a magnificent slow blues that Duke later incorporated into his Second Sacred Concert; and for Ellington's musical dialogue with conga drummer Emmanuel Abdul-Rahim.

CD6, from 1970—1972, reveals Ellington nearing the end of his life but still capable of springing surprises. He attempts to come to terms with the "New Thing" via such enigmatic compositions as "Rext" and "Flute" and new, spare arrangements of "Sophisticated Lady" and "I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good."

The video on the DVD was filmed at Pathé Studios in New York in 1962. It captures Paul Gonsalves in full flight on "Blow By Blow" and Sam Woodyard doing some astonishing things with his drum kit on "Kind Of Dukish."

It's a lot to digest but Duke Box 2 provides a highly entertaining and well-rounded portrait of one of the few jazzmen truly worthy of the title genius.

-- AllAboutJazz.com (Chris Mosey)