Search - Duke Ellington :: Live at the 1956 Stratford Festival

Excellent Ellington concert from 1956 !!!

Michael R. Lachance | Maine, USA | 01/02/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A truly classic recording with some truly fine performances by everyone in the band. Jimmy Hamilton shines early on with his embellishments of 'Clarinet Melodrama' which is a fine composition in several 'voices', following a musical progression of sorts through several changing tempos. Britt Woodman adds his talents to the set in 'Theme Trambene', a bouncy jaunt up and down through the range of his accomplished trombone. Of course, this concert does include several standard Ellington pieces, all performed with the skill and emotion you'd expect from the band at this stage in their career. Harry Carney shines in 'Sophisticated Lady' as does Ray Nance on vocals and (then newcomer) Paul Gonsalves on sax in a truly GREAT rendition of 'Take the A-Train'. Cat Anderson then brings in some bull fighting vigor from his trumpet/cornet in 'La Virgen De La Macarena', an amazing flair of a song with extreme virtuosity. Next, Duke walks us through the entertaining story of 'Pretty and the Wolf' a humorous monologue describing the ways and means of a fiesty man and a fiesty woman courting one another on the dance floor. The true gem of this concert however, lay with the 'Harlem Suite' which is performed here in its infancy shortly after Elington completed it, (perhaps the earlist known recording of this composition). A themed composition in several parts, illustrating the Harlem that Duke grew to love and cherish, even with its faults. Audio quality is very good overall, bordering on Hi-Fi, with some VERY faint surface noise throughout. Mono. This CD is required Ellington and should therefore be in every fan's collection!"