Nice laid back big band jazz from Duke Ellington, recordings around the 1920's ~ 1950's
Duke (Edward) began his musical career in New York, known as "The Washingtonians" playing the "Cotton Club" in Harlem and he was a composer, pianist and leader of this own jazz orchestra
Very cool, laid back jazz music with some light touches of craziness from the orchestra from time to time! At times instruments such as the reeds & trumpets sound like they are "talking", sounding a bit like a contemporary vocoder. Some tracks have vocals but the singers are not credited on this release.
The recording quality on these disc's is very good, probably originally mono source but not "noisy" - nice clean listen.
Duke Ellington - The Very Best Of
Mastersound (Mastertech)
Cat# 550862
2004
Australian release
Double CD case, front cover, internal 4 page booklet and the rear insert are all in very good condition. The internal booklet is pretty sparse on information, just the track listing and crediting the composers of each track. No mention of the orchestra members, vocalists etc
Both CD media are in good condition, visually inspected under a bright white halogen light source and I can see NO marks or scratches on CD #1 but I did see a couple of scratches right out on the edge of the data area CD #2. I then played the ENTIRE release, both CD's, and there are NO issues playing back any track.
CD# 1
Tracks: It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing), Take The A Train, Black And Tan Fantasy, Creole Love Call, Sophisticated Lady, I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good), Concerto For Cootie, Rockin' In Rhythm, In A Mellow Tone, Ko Ko, Perdido, Bojangles (A Portrait Of Bill Robinson), Harlem Air Shaft, Drop Me Off To Harlem, Daybreak Express, Stompy Jones, Harlem Speaks, Lightin', Solitude, Just A Sittin' And A Rockin', The C Jam Blues
CD# 2
Tracks: Mood Indigo, Stormy Weather, Caravan, Never To Lament, Main Stem, Jack The Bear, Ducky Wucky, Bundle Of Blues, Moonglow, What Am I Here For?, Warm Valley, Chelsea Bridge, Moon Mist, Delta Serenade, In A Sentimental Mood, All Too Soon, St. Louis Blues, Raincheck, Things Ain't What They Used To Be, Congo Brava, The Mooche, Cotton Tail
