DUKE ELLINGTON - Duke
Ellington in Gröna
Lund 1963
Storyville Records 1038330
CD1: Boo-Dah; Laura; Main Stem; Take The A Train; Suite Thursday; Deep Purple; Silk Lace; New Concerto For Cootie; Tootie For Cootie; The Star Crossed Lovers; Things Ain’t What They Used To Be.
CD2: Intermission Music; I Didn’t Know About You; All Of Me; Jeep’s Blues; Rose Of The Rio Grande; Black And Tan Fantasy; Kind Of Dukish & Rockin’ in Rhythm; In A Sentimental Mood; Mr Gentle And Mr Cool; Lullaby Of Birdland; Mood Indigo; Sophisticated Lady; I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart/Don’t Get Around Much Anymore (medley); One More Once Or One More Bossa Nova; One More Once Or One More Twist.
Cootie Williams, Eddie Preston, Rolf Ericson, Ray Nance: trumpets; Lawrence Brown, Chuck Connors, Buster Cooper: trombones; Jimmy Hamilton, Russell Procope, Johnny Hodges, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney: reeds; Duke Ellington: piano; Ernie Shepard: bass; Sam Woodyard: drums.
“Sometimes the band could be awful; but when it was on it was wonderful.” This was one view about the Ellington band. There was truth in it. Discipline was as foreign to many of the musicians as sobriety. In the summer of 1963 the band had stopped travelling for a few days to play six nights at the Dance Inn at Gröna Lund. Routine was forgotten, old pieces brought out, refurbished and everything was played with a zest and vitality that was not always present.
One of the great Ellington concert CDs is the ‘The Great Paris Concert’ (February 1963). The Gröna Lund concert, from June of the same year, is almost as good and at times it is better. Cootie Williams had just returned after his 22 year break. His brand of trumpet virtuosity laced with with passion is heard on ‘New Concerto for Cootie’.
Johnny Hodges with his unique sound is well featured with his improvisation-lite solos - five pieces in all.
The most under-rated soloist Paul Gonsalves plays on an intriguing version of ‘Laura’ and his serpentine tenor snakes his way through the inventive arrangement. Later he is featured wending his way through ‘In A Sentimental Mood’ one of Ellington’s most sophisticated standards.
The real star of the whole concert is Ellington who spent most of his life denigrating his skill as a piano player. For the truth just listen to his intro into ‘Take the A Train’. He has played that piece almost every day since 1940 and yet here he finds something new. You can hear the joyfulness and his enjoyment, his delight in the variations he creates. Throughout the concert Ellington takes every opportunity to play at length.
Bringing out ‘Suite Thursday’ first played in Monterey in 1960 is a challenge to the band and its soloists. Ray Nance violin at the ready animates the final movement, ‘Lay-by’, with a solo that is very different, much longer and wilder than the one that he played in California.
The start of CD2 uniquely features the relaxed Ellington casually improvising for eight minutes as he waits for the recalcitrant band to reassemble. Eventually he is joined by Ernie Shepard and Sam Woodyard and everything morphs into Hodges playing ‘I Didn’t Know About You’.
One rare arrangement is George Shearing’s ‘Lullaby of Birdland’. Ellington gives a long piano introduction before Rolf Ericson takes over.
Some of Ellington’s standards are given longer readings rather than being compressed into the dreaded medley.
The key piece of the second CD is ‘Mr Gentle and Mr Cool’ featuring Paul Gonsalves and Ray Nance who is again on violin. It is a once heard never forgotten piece as they play off each other cheered on by their leader. Worth noting is Ellington’s intro very different than what he has done before.
If you want an example of one of the finest groups of musicians Ellington ever assembled, here it is. Storyville have packaged the music well and the liner notes by Ken Steiner will enhance your listening. Storyville has also been responsible for issuing music from the massive stockpile of recordings that Ellington left. Let’s hope that there is more music of this quality to be discovered and enjoyed.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
Storyville Records 1038330
CD1: Boo-Dah; Laura; Main Stem; Take The A Train; Suite Thursday; Deep Purple; Silk Lace; New Concerto For Cootie; Tootie For Cootie; The Star Crossed Lovers; Things Ain’t What They Used To Be.
CD2: Intermission Music; I Didn’t Know About You; All Of Me; Jeep’s Blues; Rose Of The Rio Grande; Black And Tan Fantasy; Kind Of Dukish & Rockin’ in Rhythm; In A Sentimental Mood; Mr Gentle And Mr Cool; Lullaby Of Birdland; Mood Indigo; Sophisticated Lady; I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart/Don’t Get Around Much Anymore (medley); One More Once Or One More Bossa Nova; One More Once Or One More Twist.
Cootie Williams, Eddie Preston, Rolf Ericson, Ray Nance: trumpets; Lawrence Brown, Chuck Connors, Buster Cooper: trombones; Jimmy Hamilton, Russell Procope, Johnny Hodges, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney: reeds; Duke Ellington: piano; Ernie Shepard: bass; Sam Woodyard: drums.
“Sometimes the band could be awful; but when it was on it was wonderful.” This was one view about the Ellington band. There was truth in it. Discipline was as foreign to many of the musicians as sobriety. In the summer of 1963 the band had stopped travelling for a few days to play six nights at the Dance Inn at Gröna Lund. Routine was forgotten, old pieces brought out, refurbished and everything was played with a zest and vitality that was not always present.
One of the great Ellington concert CDs is the ‘The Great Paris Concert’ (February 1963). The Gröna Lund concert, from June of the same year, is almost as good and at times it is better. Cootie Williams had just returned after his 22 year break. His brand of trumpet virtuosity laced with with passion is heard on ‘New Concerto for Cootie’.
Johnny Hodges with his unique sound is well featured with his improvisation-lite solos - five pieces in all.
The most under-rated soloist Paul Gonsalves plays on an intriguing version of ‘Laura’ and his serpentine tenor snakes his way through the inventive arrangement. Later he is featured wending his way through ‘In A Sentimental Mood’ one of Ellington’s most sophisticated standards.
The real star of the whole concert is Ellington who spent most of his life denigrating his skill as a piano player. For the truth just listen to his intro into ‘Take the A Train’. He has played that piece almost every day since 1940 and yet here he finds something new. You can hear the joyfulness and his enjoyment, his delight in the variations he creates. Throughout the concert Ellington takes every opportunity to play at length.
Bringing out ‘Suite Thursday’ first played in Monterey in 1960 is a challenge to the band and its soloists. Ray Nance violin at the ready animates the final movement, ‘Lay-by’, with a solo that is very different, much longer and wilder than the one that he played in California.
The start of CD2 uniquely features the relaxed Ellington casually improvising for eight minutes as he waits for the recalcitrant band to reassemble. Eventually he is joined by Ernie Shepard and Sam Woodyard and everything morphs into Hodges playing ‘I Didn’t Know About You’.
One rare arrangement is George Shearing’s ‘Lullaby of Birdland’. Ellington gives a long piano introduction before Rolf Ericson takes over.
Some of Ellington’s standards are given longer readings rather than being compressed into the dreaded medley.
The key piece of the second CD is ‘Mr Gentle and Mr Cool’ featuring Paul Gonsalves and Ray Nance who is again on violin. It is a once heard never forgotten piece as they play off each other cheered on by their leader. Worth noting is Ellington’s intro very different than what he has done before.
If you want an example of one of the finest groups of musicians Ellington ever assembled, here it is. Storyville have packaged the music well and the liner notes by Ken Steiner will enhance your listening. Storyville has also been responsible for issuing music from the massive stockpile of recordings that Ellington left. Let’s hope that there is more music of this quality to be discovered and enjoyed.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
