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| Piano in the Background |
| Duke Ellington |
| első megjelenés éve: 1961 |
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| (2004)
[ + BONUS ]
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CD |
| 3.333 Ft
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| 1. | Happy Go Lucky Local
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| 2. | What Am I Here For
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| 3. | Medley: Kinda Dukish/Rockin' in Rhythm
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| 4. | Perdido
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| 5. | I'm Beginning to See the Light
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| 6. | Midriff
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| 7. | It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
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| 8. | Main Stem
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| 9. | Take the "A" Train
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| 10. | Lullaby of Birdland [*]
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| 11. | The Wailer [*]
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| 12. | Dreamy Sort of Thing [*]
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| 13. | Lullaby of Birdland [Alternate Take][*]
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| 14. | Harlem Air Shaft [*]
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Jazz
Recorded: 1960, Radio Recorder, Hollywood, California
Duke Ellington (piano)
Russell Procope (clarinet, alto saxophone); Jimmy Hamilton (clarinet, tenor saxophone); Harry Carney (bass clarinet, baritone saxophone); Johnny Hodges (alto saxophone); Paul Gonsalves (tenor saxophone); Eddie Mullens, Gerald Wilson, Ray Nance, Willie Cook, Andre Merenghito (trumpet); Lawrence Brown , Matthew Gee, Britt Woodman, Booty Wood (trombone); Juan Tizol (valve trombone); Aaron Bell (double bass); Sam Woodyard (drums)
Liner Note Authors: Irving Townsend; Patricia Willard.
At first glance, one might think that this album is another in a long line of standard-issue Duke Ellington compilations. However, this is a release created by the artist himself, and it presents sessions from May and June of 1960 with one of the best orchestras Ellington ever assembled. (Only the previously unissued "Harlem Air Shaft," one of five bonus tracks on the CD, was recorded in '61.)
The title of this collection is also something of a misnomer, since PIANO IN THE BACKGROUND prominently features the piano throughout. Each track boasts fabulous bluesy piano introductions, and, at the end of each tune, the ivories usually get the last word. This dramatic conclusion sometimes comes in the form of a final blow to the lower register of the keyboard, as on "Mid-Riff," "Main Stem," and "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)." These mysterioso rumblings of the piano make the tunes end with a kind of musical defiance not normally associated with jazz orchestras of the time. This is hard-swinging and inspired big-band music at its finest.
Recorded in 1960, Piano in the Background's title is a bit of a misnomer. While it's true that Duke Ellington often didn't appear on his recordings at all and this one is designed to showcase a series of new arrangements for the Ellington Orchestra, it also offers the composer and bandleader as a pianist leading the band. All of the album's original nine cuts, as well as its five bonus tracks, are introduced by the man himself at the ivories, and he also takes each one out. The selection here is a beauty: from "Happy Go Lucky Local" from "Deep South Suite" and the nearly forgotten "What Am I Here For," to a medley of "Kinda Dukish," "Rockin' in Rhythm," "Perdido," "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)," and "I'm Beginning to See the Light," to Billy Strayhorn's classics "Take the 'A' Train" and "Midriff." These arrangements are crisp, sometimes startling, and dynamically performed. The bonus material includes Strayhorn's "Dreamy Sort of Thing" and a couple takes of George Shearing's "Lullaby of Birdland" as well as Gerald Wilson's awesome "The Wailer." There is also a slippery read of the Duke's "Harlem Air Shaft," which was recorded at a session in 1961 and was previously unreleased. In all, this and the two discs that were reissued as companions to this one, Piano in the Foreground and Blues in Orbit, mark a highly creative and productive time in Ellington's long career.
--- Thom Jurek, All Music Guide |
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