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"must have" Ellington dates, mid to late 60's, 70's


Rooster_Ties

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"New Orleans Suite", "And His Mother Called Him Bill", "Far East Suite"--all essential, simply must haves.

"70th Birthday Concert" and "Yale Concert" are also essential in my opinion. I know that you said that you were not as interested in live material. However, "70th Birthday Concert" and "Yale Concert" offer some very interesting, even unique contributions to the Ellington recorded history--they are not routine live sets by any means. Plus, they are a lot of fun to listen to.

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"70th Birthday Concert" and "Yale Concert" are also essential in my opinion. I know that you said that you were not as interested in live material. However, "70th Birthday Concert" and "Yale Concert" offer some very interesting, even unique contributions to the Ellington recorded history--they are not routine live sets by any means. Plus, they are a lot of fun to listen to.

Do tell. You've piqued my interest. :)

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"70th Birthday Concert" and "Yale Concert" are also essential in my opinion. I know that you said that you were not as interested in live material. However, "70th Birthday Concert" and "Yale Concert" offer some very interesting, even unique contributions to the Ellington recorded history--they are not routine live sets by any means. Plus, they are a lot of fun to listen to.

Do tell. You've piqued my interest. :)

"Yale Concert" has some interesting compositions that appear nowhere else, to my knowledge, and some performances where the soloists and the band were really "on", playing with inspiration, not just coasting through the old songs as on some live albums.

To me, "70th Birthday Concert" is a colossal masterpiece, one of the greatest jazz albums of all time by anyone. It is up there with something like "Mingus Ah Um" in terms of being a great recorded statement. Run, don't walk.

I think that the 1964--70 period is one of Ellington's finest in terms of recordings. Not in terms of new compositions compared to the 1920s through late 1940s , but he recorded some seriously wonderful stuff in the 1964--70 time.

Also, you do have "The Ellington Suites", I hope? That was released in the mid-1970s to the public. One side, "The Queen's Suite", was recorded around 1960 but never released. The other two suites were recorded much later. Another essential recording.

Edited by Hot Ptah
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This thread is is very worthy, Rooster.

What's really great is that every one that has been mentioned has supierior music and performances.

The 70th Birthday Concert is very good and has Wild Bill Davis on organ, but I prefer The Paris Concert myself.

I also dig The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse.

LislSteiner-Duke-Ellington-1960.jpg

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Another late 1960s Ellington which is really worth getting is "Second Sacred Concert". There are some beautiful songs, including "Heaven" (later covered wonderfully by James Newton). There is some stuff on the album that I consider filler, and it would probably rank after some of the others mentioned on this thread, but it is definitely something to seek out at some point.

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If this thread goes on long enough, ALL the work from this time period will be mentioned and it's ALL good!

I once thought I wouldn't be too interested in this period of Ducal extravagance but I was wrong, dead in the ground decomposed wrong.

I'll agree whole-heartedly with Brownie re: The Jaywalker. The "Piano Player" cd that came out on Storyville lately is also wonderful.

And I'll mention two that aren't actual Ellington band performances but are excellent (in my opinion) pieces of music by Duke/Strays that I just enjoy and enjoy (and didn't expect much from). Both are from musical efforts, one only had a brief life, the other I don't think was every performed:

Pousse Cafe (there is an Audiophile Records recording with Ellis Larkin on piano).

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Secret Ellington (small group ensembles of some great current players doing an interesting "libretto" and music).

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Edited by jazzbo
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I want to reiterate a recommendation for "New Orleans Suite." I've been listening to Ellington for a long time, and I like just about everything he did in the 60s and early 70s, but this suite really sticks with me. "Blues for New Orleans," with Johnny Hodges' last studio solo and duet with Wild Bill Davis, is absolutely majestic, and Cootie Williams is wonderful on the "Portrait of Louis Armstrong." I don't think there's a weak piece on this disc, and it really does capture the spirit of the Crescent City. Very highly recommended.

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I want to reiterate a recommendation for "New Orleans Suite." I've been listening to Ellington for a long time, and I like just about everything he did in the 60s and early 70s, but this suite really sticks with me. "Blues for New Orleans," with Johnny Hodges' last studio solo and duet with Wild Bill Davis, is absolutely majestic, and Cootie Williams is wonderful on the "Portrait of Louis Armstrong." I don't think there's a weak piece on this disc, and it really does capture the spirit of the Crescent City. Very highly recommended.

Absolutely!

I once took "Blues For New Orleans" to a Quartet Out rehearsal for recreational listening, and I tell you - it moved the whole bunch in a way I'd have never suspected. Out of nowhere, Dennis started dancing with his wife :eye: , Lyles started screaming encouragement to the bass player :eye::eye: , & Pete was babbling shit about how if everybody could play alto like Hodges, it wouldn't be such a loser's horn. :g:g :

Myself, I was just taking it all in, and thinking that if there's ever been a better example of the Ellington sax section's mojo on record, I've yet to hear it. Gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.

Very highly recommended.

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My copy of Ellington's 65-72 recordings "disappeared" some time ago and I need to replace it. All good suggestions above-I'd add a French cd I bought on ebay a few years ago-DE and his orchestra at the Theatre des Champs Elysees 1/29-30/65. An excellent recording and the band is in fine form with an interesting set of older and recent compositions. Disc 2 leads off with Take.... which takes a while to get going as Duke is late to the stage due to an overlong session with his hairdresser! Recommended.

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  • 1 month later...

I/m a big fan of New Orleans Suite, especially what comprised the first LP side. Damn good stuff, and all sorts of levels of personal poignancy in the mix.

Picked this one up b/c of your rec, Jim, and am listening to it right now--wow! I already have a lot of the recordings mentioned in this thread, but somehow missed out on this one... sometimes--often, actually--the musical universe of Ellingtonia seems endless.

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  • 1 month later...

Picked up "The Jaywalker" yesterday, having never seen or heard of it before. So far it's amazing. Thank you.

I picked up "The Jaywalker" recently because of this thread, and it is indeed amazing. I am struck by the fact that several of the songs were released in live versions on "Yale Concert", which made its first appearance on vinyl in the mid-1970s. Why were live versions released instead of these studio versions? In most cases there are small differences between the live and studio versions. Both are excellent in their own way.

It raises the entire questions of why were these "Jaywalker" studio sessions buried until the late 1990s, when many of the songs were deemed worthy of live release in the 1970s, and there were some lesser studio outtake collections issued in the mid-1970s, such as "The Intimate Ellington" and "Up In Duke's Workshop."

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