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*** The Duke Ellington Corner ***


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2 hours ago, xybert said:

Question regarding The Queen's Suite if anyone that was around at the time gets a chance: how anticipated was it's release? Were people clamouring for it or did it just kind of come out? Was the 'backstory' widely known in the years prior to it's release? Cheers. 

I remember it coming out on the Pablo LP - it was unexpected, at least over here. I think the story was that there was one copy presented to Her Maj so although known about, it wasn’t anticipated as a public release.

It certainly got radio airplay over here but I don’t recall it being a big seller. I still have my Pablo casette of this one !

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2 hours ago, sidewinder said:

I remember it coming out on the Pablo LP - it was unexpected, at least over here. I think the story was that there was one copy presented to Her Maj so although known about, it wasn’t anticipated as a public release.

It certainly got radio airplay over here but I don’t recall it being a big seller. I still have my Pablo casette of this one !

Cheers. So it seems like at least to the wider fandom it wasn't a holy grail in the years prior to it's release.

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"Single Petal Of A Rose" was first heard (by me, anyway) as performed by Ben Webster on impulse!'s  The Definite Jazz Scene Volume 1. Seemed to be a leftover from the See You At The Fair album. The liner notes say :The next offering is indeed an unexpected treat. Back in 1959 Duke Ellington composed and recorded a suite especially for the Queen of England - only one pressing was made and it was presented to Her Highness by Ellington. Called The Queen Elizabeth Suite, it included six short compositions...and so on. That was more or less the last I heard of it, believe there was mention of it  in the autobiography, but it certainly never seemed like anything that would ever surface...until it did!

I bought the Pablo album within the first week of release, and could tell from the first notes that it was going to be a permanent favorite.

I still remember that John McDonough gave it a 3.5 star review in DB and compared it to Henry Mancini in not necessarily positive terms. That was when I started to keep an eye on John McDonough as somebody whose head was not always screwed on totally straight.

 

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About a year ago, I bought the Centennial box and two of the discs skipped.  I found it again at a shop last week for $200.  When I asked about the return policy, the clerk removed the store's plastic and we discovered that it was a sealed copy!  I'm ripping it and the first disc has a minor scratch, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that nothing affects play.  

Assuming everything plays okay, I'm ecstatic to finally have such an important, rewarding set. :wub:  I have to be at around 70-80 CDs of Duke's music and I feel like I am still scratching the surface.

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19 minutes ago, Justin V said:

About a year ago, I bought the Centennial box and two of the discs skipped.  I found it again at a shop last week for $200.  When I asked about the return policy, the clerk removed the store's plastic and we discovered that it was a sealed copy!  I'm ripping it and the first disc has a minor scratch, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that nothing affects play.  

Assuming everything plays okay, I'm ecstatic to finally have such an important, rewarding set. :wub:  I have to be at around 70-80 CDs of Duke's music and I feel like I am still scratching the surface.

70-80 CDs of Duke Ellington seems so long ago, but not nearly enough at my house.

A quick count shows 167 CD releases on my shelves (including 2 & 3 CD sets in jewel boxes), plus 8 boxed sets of various size ranging up to the Complete RCA box. That doesn't include the numerous LPs.

 

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33 minutes ago, Ken Dryden said:

70-80 CDs of Duke Ellington seems so long ago, but not nearly enough at my house.

A quick count shows 167 CD releases on my shelves (including 2 & 3 CD sets in jewel boxes), plus 8 boxed sets of various size ranging up to the Complete RCA box. That doesn't include the numerous LPs.

 

I no longer have any Lps but I think I have as many EKE cds and box sets as you do. Not sure whether I'm bragging or complaining.  

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1 Brunswick Duke 78, but also one Vocalion Hodges 78 of "The Jeep Is Jumpin'" which is very much as much a treat for the eyes as for the ears, watching it go around that fast and wondering where they were putting all that music, there was so much happening so rapidly, surely this was not a three minute 78!

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