Mulgrew Miller & NHOP

[Victor Christensen]

I am on the hunt for Mulgrew Miller & NHOP "The Duets" recorded january 15th 1999. It was not released commercially but made as a promo for Bang & Olufsen B&O CD 1, but it might have come out in Germany as Sony(D) 674.005-2 (CD).

Can't fint it anywhere on the net. Can somebody help with any info.

Vic

[relyles]

I have a CDR of this recording. It circulates around collectors of unreleased live recordings. I have never seen the actual promo CD.

[Dan Gould]

I have a CDR of this recording. It circulates around collectors of unreleased live recordings. I have never seen the actual promo CD.

Did I actually miss this one on the site-that-shall-not-be-named?

[relyles]

I have a CDR of this recording. It circulates around collectors of unreleased live recordings. I have never seen the actual promo CD.

Did I actually miss this one on the site-that-shall-not-be-named?

I don't think so. I got mine in an old fashion CDR exchange.

[Ted O'Reilly]

I have it, and it's great on all levels...playing, sound (bass a little hot for my taste), packaging.

A tribute to Duke Ellington and Jimmy Blanton, it's a sedate-looking hardcover booklet, holding the CD on the inside cover. There are brief bios of Miller and NHOP, and Ellington, with reference to Duke's Danish connections. That takes about half, with the remainder promotional material for B&O, tastefully done. Some info from the package's back inside page...

Mulgrew Miller, piano

Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen, bass

Recorded in Studio 3, Broadcast House, Copenhagen

January 15, 1999, in Cooperation with The Danish

Broadcasting Corp., Jazz Dept./P2musik

Producer: Ib Skovgaard

Recording & editing engineer: Niels Erik Lund

Executive producers: Hans P. Folmann, Jordi Sunol, Peter H. Larsen

Photos: Jan Persson, Bang & Olufsen

Cover & booklet design: MHI Partners

This recording, all or in parts, can not be rebroadcasted, commercial or non commercial, on radio with authorisation from producer. [i used it on the air, with permission from Peter H. Larsen]

3656651/06.99/Version 1.0

Tune listing:

1. C Jam Blues

2. Sophisticated Lady

3. Pitter Panther Patter

4. I Got It Bad

5. What Am I Here For

6. Mood Indigo

7. Blues In The PM's (Mulgrew Miller)

8. Come Sunday

9. Just Squeeze Me

10. Solitude

11. Caravan

12. O.D. Blues (NHOP)

Total playing time 51:19

"The tracks selected demonstrate how they might have sounded if Blanton and Ellington had extended their duets to cover more of Ellington's compositions..."

No, I'm not interested in selling it.

[relyles]

I received it before I knew that it had been released in any manner. It circulated simply as a "radio broadcast".

[mikeweil]

I have it - there were many copies available on ebay in Germany for a while. I was a bit underwhelmed, I must admit. The sound is bright and clear, but the piano doesn't really sound natural. Miller plays a lot more mainstreamish than usual, and they sound a bit under-rehearsed. For my taste, more a collectors' item than a must have.

[Ted O'Reilly]

I have it - there were many copies available on ebay in Germany for a while. I was a bit underwhelmed, I must admit. The sound is bright and clear, but the piano doesn't really sound natural. Miller plays a lot more mainstreamish than usual, and they sound a bit under-rehearsed. For my taste, more a collectors' item than a must have.

Chacun a son gout, I guess. I like it a whole lot, and find that Miller's not really mainstreamish (as if that's bad!), just nodding a bit to Duke. You say "they sound a bit under-rehearsed", I find it relaxed and loose. I agree it's not a 'must-have', but I'm glad I have it, and I'm not a collector.

[mikeweil]

Chacun a son gout, ...

Yes - I kept it, for sure, even bought a copy for a bassist friend. Rather than under-rehearsed, I should have said 'under-arranged' - there's a lot more compositional potential in the Ellington-Blanton duets, and I was a bit disappointed they didn't make more of that aspect. (John Lewis took a deep bow in that direction on the MJQ's For Ellington album.) But for a one-shot, probably unrehearsed session, it's very nice.