Duke Ellington: The Making of New Orleans Suite by Steve Siegel (Jazz Profiles)

[Elmo]

As Ellington entered his sixth generation of music making in 1970, New Orleans Suite sated the appetite of both Ellington's older followers and provided a gateway for new converts who, having discovered Ellington for the first time, purchased his older works and carried his legacy forward.

https://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/2026/08/duke-ellington-making-of-new-orleans.html

[hopkins]

14 hours ago, Elmo said:

As Ellington entered his sixth generation of music making in 1970, New Orleans Suite sated the appetite of both Ellington's older followers and provided a gateway for new converts who, having discovered Ellington for the first time, purchased his older works and carried his legacy forward.

https://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/2026/08/duke-ellington-making-of-new-orleans.html

I can testify to that. My father bought this album when it came out, so I grew up with it (I was 5 in 1971...). It has always fascinated me, and certainly fed my interest in all things Ellington later on. 

Here are my "album notes", with excerpts from Eddie Lambert's book and additional reviews: https://storage.googleapis.com/cloudplayer/album.html#1733564086035

Edited August 26 by hopkins

[JSngry]

Beyond category. Yet the essence of jazz.

[mr jazz]

Nice to have this in an excellent quad release.

[hopkins]

1 hour ago, mr jazz said:

Nice to have this in an excellent quad release.

How do you play it? Do you have a special amplifier? 

I actually bought the Quadraphonic Blu-ray, and extracted the tracks to listen to them individually - which was interesting enough, but I don't have what it takes to play them combined (I assume you need 4 speakers). Here is a video I published on YouTube of one of the tracks which features Hodges and Davis...you can hear them more clearly than in the stereo mix, obviously because the other instruments are not recorded in the foreground.

 

Edited August 26 by hopkins

[mr jazz]

Oppo 205 into my AVR. 5 speakers and 2 subs placed around my listening area. This BR quad was especially well done so a treat for the Dukesters!

[HutchFan]

9 minutes ago, mr jazz said:

Oppo 205 into my AVR. 5 speakers and 2 subs placed around my listening area. This BR quad was especially well done so a treat for the Dukesters!

I wish I could hear that recording on your system!   

 

[hopkins]

17 minutes ago, mr jazz said:

Oppo 205 into my AVR. 5 speakers and 2 subs placed around my listening area. This BR quad was especially well done so a treat for the Dukesters!

Thanks. Perhaps I will bring it to a store that has a multi-channel system and ask to play it. Sounds like it is worth it!

[medjuck]

If you know anyone with a BluRay player and surround sound speakers they should be able to play it.  That's all I did with the couple of WB 4 track BluRays I bought (Gil Evans and Mingus).   I didn't know about the BluRay Ellington.  Just ordered it so thanks to mr jazz for pointing it out. 

Edited August 27 by medjuck

[hopkins]

3 minutes ago, medjuck said:

If you know anyone with a BluRay player and surround sound speakers they should be able to play it.  That's all I did with the couple of WB 4 track BluRays I bought (Gil Evans and Mingus).

Hi, unfortunately I don’t but I’ll manage to find a store.