Duke Ellington

I love the old and some of the modern big band jazz.  The master is the Duke.  He wrote such great tunes for his soloists: Johnny Hodges, Ben Webster, and many more.  His band ran from the late 20s all the way to when he died in the 70s and his son carried it on for a while longer.

I have lots of Duke Ellington on CD and some vinyl.  Two of my favorites are And His Mother Called Him Bill (a tribute to Billy Stayhorn) and The Far East Suite.  Both are from the 60s and represent some of his more modern recordings.  The album he did with Coltrane is also one of my favorites.  And the one with Armstrong.  The one with Coltrane is small band combo and the one with Louis is with a little larger group.

He has a touch of classical in his music, good arrangements etc.  Anyways, if you do not have some than download one of the above and sit back and listen to American Classical Music.

Also, NAXOS has  a new recording called Black, Brown, and Beige recorded by the Buffalo Philharmonic. It consists of nothing but Duke Ellington tunes recorded by an orchestra.  I am sure the Buffalo orch. is not a major one but the disc received good reviews and high ratings.  I am going to download a copy.  It is only $5.99 on AMAZON and I have sampled it.  Sounds great.

That is, remember It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing!

One more comment,

Other great big bands: Count Basie, Lew Tabackin and Toshiko Akiyoshi Big Band, and the Thad Jones and Mel Lewis Big Band.  One old, one from the 60s-70s, and one more modern with a Eastern touch to much on the music.  All great stuff.

Uncle Joe!!